Mob Menagerie: Warden

I'm no expert no the matter, but wardens seem to spend most of their time lurking deep within the rock, only hauling themselves out into the fetid air of the caverns when they detect something walking above. Who knows, maybe they just want a hug? 

If so, those hugs are brutal – wardens have the strongest melee damage of any mob in the game. They also have a sonic boom ability that goes through obstacles and is almost impossible to dodge. Perhaps we can rule out the “hug” theory.

Wardens are also immune to fire and lava damage, don’t take knockback, and cause a Darkness effect to any players in a 20-block radius. If you manage to defeat one somehow, it’ll drop a little experience and a sculk catalyst – worth it?

In my opinion, the best way to deal with a warden isn’t to defeat it, but to avoid or distract it instead. To do this, you need to understand a few things about its behavior. 

First – the warden is totally blind, and relies on its senses of smell, touch, and vibration detection to find its prey. This means that you can sneak past in front of one, and it might not notice you at all. 

Second – wardens are easily distracted. Throw a snowball or fire an arrow somewhere, and they will wander off and try to find where it landed. This can buy you some precious time to escape!

Third – wardens will eventually calm down and crawl back into the stone. This can take a couple of minutes, so get some distance between you and the warden, then sit very still and make no noise, and you might just escape with your life.

Good luck. You’ll need it!