Melee, Ranged, Armor, Enchantment, Talisman & Artifact Tier List

This tier list ranks the weapons, armor, enchantments, talismans, and artifacts of Minecraft Dungeons II by measured and calculated performance. Use it to spot the strongest gear worth investing enchantment points into, and to compare new drops against the current meta.

How the rankings were made

Melee placements come from creator-tested dummy trials run in the early-access build (tested September 27, 2026, reviewed September 29), while the armor section was refreshed for the launch build on October 6, 2026. Melee weapons were ranked by single-target damage per second on a training dummy at level 101, each using its best technique — basic attacks, jump attacks, or jump cancelling — with Lightning Surge III applied where it helped. Every ranking carries a "creator tested" stamp and draws on measured spreadsheets from The Dungeon Fish plus endgame loadouts from creators including Mattitude, Dear Gamer, rifeye, LaserBolt, Pitcch, and Kane, all of whom cleared every boss on Hard. Ranged tiers use DPS calculated from game files rather than timed play. Tier cutoffs: S ≈ 400+ DPS, A ≈ 345+, B ≈ 300+, C ≈ 280+.

Melee — S tier

• Awesomeaxe (Unique) — A Strength-on-hit effect that roughly doubles damage; Mattitude's endgame weapon, which can drop as a rare Greataxe roll in the Sift.
• Heartbreaker (Unique) — A fast combo that triggers wave enchantments very frequently.
• Redstone Wrecker (Unique) — Jump cancelling pushes its DPS higher; its built-in wave deals 80% weapon damage, replacing the need for Lightning Surge.
• War Hammer — 500 DPS with basics plus Lightning Surge; the highest measured melee output.
• Mace — 420 DPS when jump-attacking with Lightning Surge; basic attacks alone manage only 182.
• Short Spear — 414 DPS on basics with Lightning Surge at a rapid 4.5 hits per second.

Melee — A tier

• Clobberer — 388 DPS jump-cancelling with Lightning Surge; basics sit at 157.
• Pickaxe — 371 DPS using a two-hit jump cancel.
• Claymore — 363 DPS with the two-hit jump cancel; plain attacks reach 191.
• Battle Hammer — 360 DPS while jumping; jump cancels tested worse than plain jumps.
• Shovel — 360 DPS jumping, with its third hit landing four times.
• Greataxe — 353 DPS via jump cancel.
• Greatsword — 352 DPS on basics; wide spin that lacks single-target punch without a wave.
• Riftslasher — 350 DPS on basics with +40% melee damage, but a weak jump attack.
• Shooting Star — A defensive pick with 20% melee evade.

Melee — B tier

• Battlestaff — 339 DPS.
• Twilight Dagger — 336 DPS, with a theoretical 589 if every hit triggered a wave.
• Longsword — 326 DPS.
• Mob Mallet — 318 DPS.
• Gauntlets — 317 DPS.
• Sword — 306 DPS.
• Double Sickles — 301 DPS.

Melee — C tier

• Scythe — 298 DPS.
• Glaive — 295 DPS.
• Meat Cleaver — 293 DPS.
• Sabre — 293 DPS.
• Axe — 291 DPS.
• Pike — 288 DPS.
• Cookiecutter — 285 DPS.
• Tidal Sickle — 282 DPS.

Melee — D tier

• Rapier — 265 DPS; built around Powershaker and Thundering rather than raw output.
• Double Daggers — 207 DPS, the lowest measured melee result.

Armor

All armor pieces share the same health values, so a piece's unique effect is what separates it from the rest.

S tier

• Hivemind Hardhat (Unique) — +70% positive-status duration, nearly doubling artifact uptime.
• Monstrosity Stompers (Unique) — +45% melee critical damage.
• Twisted Warden Blindfold (Unique) — +45% melee critical damage.

A tier

• Dauntless Greaves — +60% damage against full-health enemies.
• Humbler Antenna — Take 25% less damage.
• Humbler Carapace — Receive 40% more healing; pairs well with Health Synergy.
• Humbler Greaves — +50% melee damage to secondary targets.
• Rimefrost Longjohns — +50% melee damage to secondary targets.
• Twisted Warden Vest — 20% melee evade.

Enchantments

S tier

• Lightning Surge — A wave dealing 90% weapon damage at level III; it weakens mobs, though weakened mobs move and attack faster.
• Ancient Alchemy Enchantment — 60 souls per potion at level III, and it stacks — two copies return 120 souls.
• Bottomless Brew Enchantment — Potions stack to 4; chestplate-only.
• Health Synergy — Heals 35% of max health per artifact use.

A tier

• Swirling Enchantment — A 100% wave at level III.
• Soul Blast Enchantment — A 75% wave plus a soul damage-over-time.
• Thundering Enchantment — A 50% chance of lightning for 50% damage.
• Barrier Brew Enchantment — A potion leaves behind a well of roughly 50% damage reduction.

B tier

• Healing Smite Enchantment (Minecraft Dungeons II) — A solid defensive-melee option.
• Springload Enchantment — A 6-second speed boost after using an artifact.

C tier

• Poison Fog — A 30% wave plus poison.
• Frost Crescent Enchantment (Minecraft Dungeons II) — A 20% wave plus freeze.
• Crash Landing Enchantment — Knockback, with +5% damage per tier.

Talismans

S tier

• Fist of Iron - Minecraft Dungeons II Talisman — +35% melee damage at level 3.
• Tendrils of the Sprout - Minecraft Dungeons II Talisman — +40% damage above 75% health at level 3 (20% above 85% at level 2).
• Twisted Tooth - Minecraft Dungeons II Talisman — +140% souls at level 3.
• Glowstone Flask - Minecraft Dungeons II Talisman — 25% shorter potion cooldown.

A tier

• Thrifty Pendant - Minecraft Dungeons II Talisman — Up to +50% damage at level 3 while holding 9,000 emeralds (25% at level 1 with 7,000).
• Sigil of Beeswax - Minecraft Dungeons II Talisman — +35% max health at level 3.

B tier

• Sculk Badge - Minecraft Dungeons II Talisman — +15% positive-status duration at level 2.

Artifacts

S tier

• Fighter's Flute - Minecraft Dungeons II Artifact — Every hit crits while active, roughly 50–70% more damage; costs 45 souls.
• Warrior Drums - Minecraft Dungeons II Artifact — Doubles critical damage; combined with the Flute it reaches about 3.5x; costs 45 souls.
• Turtle Master's Mandolin - Minecraft Dungeons II Artifact — Roughly 50% less damage taken for the user and allies; 20 souls, 5-second cooldown.

A tier

• Battle Banner - Minecraft Dungeons II Artifact — Grants Strength for 45 souls, but you must fight inside its area.
• Grindstone - Minecraft Dungeons II Artifact — A flat per-hit damage bonus that scales any fast setup.
• Warding Chimes - Minecraft Dungeons II Artifact — Blocks all damage while active; 40 souls, 15-second cooldown.

B tier

• Death Cap Mushroom - Minecraft Dungeons II Artifact — Move and attack speed for 20 souls.
• Powershaker - Minecraft Dungeons II Artifact — Hits explode for flat damage, favoring fast weapons.

C tier

• Picnic Basket - Minecraft Dungeons II Artifact — Drops full-heal food for 15 souls.

Ranged

Calculated DPS values from game files. There are no B or D tiers for ranged.

S tier

• Greatbow — 180 DPS.
• Humbler Heartstring — 180 DPS.
• Heavy Crossbow — 113.7 DPS.
• The Close Ranger — 113.7 DPS.

A tier

• Scatter Crossbow — 90 DPS.
• Harp Crossbow — 90 DPS.

C tier

• Powerbow — 80 DPS.
• Paragon — 80 DPS.
• Shortbow — 55 DPS.
• Shooting Star — 55 DPS.
• Longbow — 50 DPS.
• Creaking's Reach — 50 DPS.
• Trickbow — 46.7 DPS.
• Phantom Wing — 46.7 DPS.
• Bow — 45 DPS.
• Ranger's Promise — 45 DPS.
• Crossbow — 40 DPS.
• Dual Crossbows — 40 DPS.
• Rapid Crossbow — 40 DPS.
• Double Crossers — 40 DPS.
• The Cross Pollinator — 40 DPS.
• The Shackler — 40 DPS.

Want to put these rankings to work? See the Best Builds and Endgame Builds pages for complete loadouts built around the top-tier gear above.