The god set for every item, at a glance
- Sword: Sharpness V, Looting III, Sweeping Edge III (Java only), Unbreaking III, Mending. Optional: Fire Aspect II, Knockback II.
- Pickaxe: Efficiency V, Unbreaking III, Mending + Fortune III or Silk Touch.
- Axe: Efficiency V, Unbreaking III, Mending + Fortune III or Silk Touch; Sharpness V if you use it as a weapon.
- Shovel: Efficiency V, Unbreaking III, Mending, Silk Touch (or Fortune III for gravel/flint farming).
- Hoe: Efficiency V, Unbreaking III, Mending, Fortune III or Silk Touch.
- Helmet: Protection IV, Respiration III, Aqua Affinity I, Unbreaking III, Mending.
- Chestplate: Protection IV, Thorns III (optional), Unbreaking III, Mending.
- Leggings: Protection IV, Swift Sneak III, Unbreaking III, Mending.
- Boots: Protection IV, Feather Falling IV, Depth Strider III, Unbreaking III, Mending (+ Soul Speed III if you use soul sand).
- Bow: Power V, Unbreaking III, Flame I + Infinity I or Mending.
- Crossbow: Quick Charge III, Unbreaking III, Mending + Multishot I or Piercing IV.
- Trident: Impaling V, Unbreaking III, Mending + Loyalty III or Riptide III (plus Channeling I if you have Loyalty).
- Mace: Density V (or Breach IV), Wind Burst III, Unbreaking III, Mending + Sharpness V or Smite V.
- Fishing rod: Luck of the Sea III, Lure III, Unbreaking III, Mending.
- Elytra and shield: Unbreaking III, Mending.
The choices that actually matter
Most of a god set is not controversial - Unbreaking and Mending go on everything, and each tool's core enchantment (Efficiency, Sharpness, Power, Protection) is obvious. The decisions that change how the item plays are the mutual exclusions: Fortune versus Silk Touch on tools; Sharpness versus Smite versus Bane of Arthropods on a weapon; Protection versus Blast Protection versus Fire Protection versus Projectile Protection on armour; Infinity versus Mending on a bow; Multishot versus Piercing on a crossbow; and Loyalty versus Riptide on a trident. Pick the branch that matches your play, not the one that sounds strongest - a Silk Touch pickaxe paired with a Fortune pickaxe beats any single 'best' answer.
Enchantments people overrate
- Thorns III: costs durability on every hit and burns anvil levels; useful in PvP, mediocre in survival.
- Knockback II: pushes mobs out of your own farm's kill zone - often actively harmful.
- Fire Aspect II: great for cooked drops, poor if you rely on looting specific items.
- Depth Strider and Soul Speed: excellent in their niche, useless elsewhere - do not put them on your main boots unless you actually swim or walk soul sand.
Enchantments people underrate
- Mending: with Unbreaking III it makes gear effectively permanent. It is the single highest-value enchantment in the game.
- Efficiency V: the jump from IV to V is what lets a Haste beacon insta-mine stone.
- Aqua Affinity: doubles mining speed underwater for one cheap book level.
- Swift Sneak III: the only way to move at full speed while sneaking, which matters in the Deep Dark.
How much does a full god set cost?
A complete god set is not one anvil job - it is ten to fifteen merges per item if you do it badly, or six to nine if you plan the order. Every merge adds a prior work penalty to both items, so combining enchantment books with each other first and applying the result to the gear last is dramatically cheaper than adding books one at a time. Run each item through the calculator to see the exact step-by-step order and total level cost: the difference between a planned and an unplanned sequence is typically 10-20 levels per item, and often the difference between finishing and hitting 'Too Expensive!'.
Getting the enchantments themselves
- Enchanting table at level 30: the cheapest route for one-off enchantments, but random.
- Librarian villagers: lock in the exact books you want (a Mending librarian is the classic first trade to farm).
- Fishing: enchanted books from Luck of the Sea III rods, especially early game.
- Loot chests and structures: end cities, bastions and ancient cities carry top-tier books.
- Raid and trading farms: emeralds convert into any book via librarians, which is the endgame supply.
Version notes to keep in mind
Sweeping Edge exists in Java Edition only - on Bedrock, skip it and treat Fire Aspect or Knockback as the flex slot. The mace (added in 1.21) brings its own set: Density and Breach are mutually exclusive, and Wind Burst changes how fall-damage combat works, so a mace build is planned differently from a sword. Older guides that recommend 'Sharpness V on everything' also predate the modern villager trading economy - with a librarian farm, a full god set costs time, not luck.