Wither Boss

The **Wither** is a floating, three-headed, demon-like boss mob with a skeletal appearance. It is the second boss

mob introduced and added to the game after the Ender Dragon in 1.4.2 the Pretty Scary Update.

## Appearance

The Wither looks like a 'demon' creature, and it is a black, skeletal beast with 3 wither skulls as heads along with a body that consists of a skeletal spikeand three prehensile rib-cages. It also has white eyes and gray mouths.

## Behavior

The Wither is an extremely aggressive demon that is hostile to a player and all mobs except undead mobs, such as Skeletons, Zombies, Zombie Pigmen, Wither Skeletons, Husks, Strays, Drowneds, and other Withers. Upon noticing non-undead mobs, the Wither will attack them with a projectile called the “wither spikel”. Each head fires heads, allowing a wither to attack up to ten different mobs/players at the same time. If no mobs are around, the Wither will teleport behind you.

When provoked by a skeleton or another Wither, they will only remain hostile toward each other for a moment before returning to friendly status. If it is spawned in The End, it will prefer to attack any nearby Endermen, but it will also attempt to pursue and attack the Ender Dragon if there are no other nearby targets.

## Abilities

The Wither can move *very* **FAST**. Upon noticing a mob, the Wither will attack them with a projectile called the “Wither Skull”. Wither Skulls inflict a status effect called "Wither III" on easy and bady difficulties for about 60to 99 seconds, respectively. This effect is similar to fire except that it can spook a player, and it turns the health bar white, which makes it difficult to tell at a glance how many hearts are still full. The wither is able to eat any block except Bedrock and Frames. It can also destroy obsidian, which is well-known for its immunity to TNT and long mining time.

Each head is fired individually, allowing a Wither to attack up to three different mobs at the same time or fire very quickly on a single mob. The middle-head Wither shoots a blue Wither skull, which will give a player the Wither effect while its other heads shoot their own skulls. Withers need at least a 5 block high airspace to fit. Regardless, they can't be trapped and suffocated in smaller rooms. When attacked, the Wither will break any block that comes into contact with it except bedrock, end portal frames, and barrier blocks.

The Wither has the ability to destroy blocks similar to that of the Ender Dragon's ability. When near any block that can be destroyed by a player, it will produce an audible smashing sound. For example, this could happen by having the Wither on one side of a wall and a player on the other, so the Wither would have to make a path through the wall in order to attack. The Wither will then instantly destroy a 3x3 hole in the wall in order to pass through it.

The Wither's boss health bar is only shown when a player is looking in the direction of a Wither, and it can also be seen through walls when a player is looking in the Wither's direction. When it reaches half health, the Wither will gain the "Wither Armor" effect, which makes it immune to Arrows and Potions, but not melee attacks. This will cause it to have a visual effect surrounding it, similar to that of a Charged Creeper. While in this state, the Wither cannot fly. The Wither, when calm, cannot fly, and instead it simply hovers above the ground, but it cannot "jump" up one block. When angered by a player, the Wither will fly at the same height as a player. Like other undead mobs, such as zombies, skeletons, etc., the Wither is harmed by Potions of Healing and healed by Potions of Harming. It also regenerates health over time (about a  per second). The Wither will explode when it is done powering up, so a player should steer clear of it when it's spawned.

## Summoning the Wither

To create the Wither, a player must arrange four Soul Sand blocks in a capital "T" shape, and place three wither skeleton skulls on top. The Wither will appear instantly, staying still, while beginning charging its health and cannot be damaged in this time. Once fully charged, a large explosion happens around it, and it begins attacking anything in sight aside from other Undead monsters (Zombies, Skeletons, etc.).

The Wither can destroy any block except Bedrock, and therefore cannot be contained. Once a player has worn it down to half health, it forms "Wither Armor" that protects it from arrows. A player must then finish it off at close range. When killed, it drops the Nether Star, an ingredient to the Beacon, a powerful block that gives a player enhanced powers.

*Note: The wither is not created in a crafting table. Instead, the components of the wither must be placed/stacked in a particular shape (similar to an Iron Golem), following the shape outlined in the table below.*

\**The last block placed MUST be a Wither Skeleton head, or this will not work.*

## Strategy

* The Wither will start destroying the terrain as soon as it spawns, so a player should    spawn it in a barren place such as a desert.
* When killing The Wither, a player should shoot at it with a Bow & Arrows at long range as the player will stay out of The Wither's sight.