Wither Skeletons & heads

[PhilHibbs]

Even if you couldn't move a skeleton spawner into the nether(which you can, even trough a normal portal) You could always build a vanilla mob grinder. With *gasp* pistons. And stuff.

The drop rate is so low that I'd have to spend hours in the Nether just waiting around instead of programming my Sortron or building my first steam boiler.

 

[Poppycocks]

The drop rate is so low that I'd have to spend hours in the Nether just waiting around instead of programming my Sortron or building my first steam boiler.

It's 4% per skelleton with a max looting sword. That's one skull per 25 skeletons on average. One spawner is 4 skeletons 3 of them withers on average, each 20 seconds on average. That's 3 minutes of whacking for a single skull if you're lucky. 10 minutes for 3.

:|.

 

[Icarus White]

It's 4% per skelleton with a max looting sword. That's one skull per 25 skeletons on average. One spawner is 4 skeletons 3 of them withers on average, each 20 seconds on average. That's 3 minutes of whacking for a single skull if you're lucky. 10 minutes for 3.

:|.

I believe what he was trying to say was that without a spawner, he'd have to wait around the Nether forever. (Although he doesn't seem to have taken your grinder suggestion into account.)
Anyway. By your math, getting three skulls takes... 25*3=75 withers.
No idea how often you can find wither skeletons just running around, though, especially if you have to fight off blazes in the meanwhile.

The reason I asked about the Mystcraft fortress page was that it would probably be easier to set up a grinder without having to worry about ghasts or lava (or pigmen, for that matter). It would be tricky positioning it entirely over the fortress, though...

 

[Poppycocks]

I believe what he was trying to say was that without a spawner, he'd have to wait around the Nether forever. (Although he doesn't seem to have taken your grinder suggestion into account.)
Anyway. By your math, getting three skulls takes... 25*3=75 withers.
No idea how often you can find wither skeletons just running around, though, especially if you have to fight off blazes in the meanwhile.

The reason I asked about the Mystcraft fortress page was that it would probably be easier to set up a grinder without having to worry about ghasts or lava (or pigmen, for that matter). It would be tricky positioning it entirely over the fortress, though...

Heh, you'd be surprised how fun that can be.

What I did last time I was doing this, I refurbished the fort as a quake map . Added some areal faith plates, obsidian plates dispensing heal splash potions / arrows / portals and to be honest, I was quite enjoying the experience.

I'd go a step further if I did it now though. I'd make a special MPS armor just for this challenge map, spread a few charge pads with very slow generators beneath them . Would be fun.

Heck, I was considering making a mod which'd allow for making arenas like this with custom drops and quake weapons, and scorekeeping and stuff. Damn, that would be a blast.

 

[nickRepublic]

Its been said before, but using a portal gun to transport a skeleton spawner into the nether through a regular nether portal works. The spawner will spawn wither skeletons 80% of the time.

I built a normal mob farm with a drop. You can place oil in the nether and it acts just like water to push mobs to the middle. Let the wither skeletons (and regular skeletons) build up at the bottom, then go and kill them for sculls (or souls, if that is your goal).

 

[Poppycocks]

Its been said before, but using a portal gun to transport a skeleton spawner into the nether through a regular nether portal works. The spawner will spawn wither skeletons 80% of the time.

I built a normal mob farm with a drop. You can place oil in the nether and it acts just like water to push mobs to the middle. Let the wither skeletons (and regular skeletons) build up at the bottom, then go and kill them for sculls (or souls, if that is your goal).

Mobs go up ladders. Build a drop that gets the skellies out of the 8 block "check if there's too many mobs around the spawner" range, lead them away with oil to where you want to raise them up, make 'em go up a ladder and into the 16 block "check if the player's close enough to spawn mobs" range, but still out of the 8 range where the player can kill them at his own leisure.

Or use conveyor belts, those things are SWEET.

 

[nickRepublic]

Mobs go up ladders. Build a drop that gets the skellies out of the 8 block "check if there's too many mobs around the spawner" range, lead them away with oil to where you want to raise them up, make 'em go up a ladder and into the 16 block "check if the player's close enough to spawn mobs" range, but still out of the 8 range where the player can kill them at his own leisure.

Or use conveyor belts, those things are SWEET.

Yeup that's the more complicated method haha. More effective because it allows the mobs to keep spawning while you kill them.

I setup a turtle at the bottom of mine to kill and collect drops while I afk'd at the top, but I kept it general in my original post for the OP asking about collecting souls.

 

[Poppycocks]

Yeah, I've got a tendency to beeline for gravgun, build a netherspawners, build a sspawner and a diamond machine to go with it.

All these mods sure are diamond hungry and I refuse to be kept!

 

[KnightOwl]

Can anyone verify that Wither farms still work as of DW 5.3.2?

 

[YX33A]

Can anyone verify that Wither farms still work as of DW 5.3.2?

Well, DartCraft exists now, has Bottled Withers(it's a bit tricky to make, but worth it), and doesn't need wither skulls, so my wither skeleton farming days are long done. Just Bats, Zombie Pigmen, and Ghasts for my wither.(and some other stuff, but still, well worth it)(The zombie pigmen are only for gold, which I turn into a diamond with EE3, which you need one or a sapphire for your inert core, and I don't have access to infinite sapphires yet, so Magic it is)