How can I better hunt Endermen?

Question

Ever since Notch made Endermen teleport away from danger, they've gone from being scary to being giant chickens.

Case in point: Yesterday, I saw an Enderman and wanted his pearl, so I looked at him. He got mad and came at me, but after one hit from my iron sword, he skedaddled far, far away, and completely ignored me. Looking at him again did nothing. I ended up chasing him across 3 biomes (which remember are huge now in 1.0) before I finally got him.

Another case: This morning, I saw an Enderman and again wanted his pearl. I look at him, he gets mad, I hit him once and he loses interest. Several times I would spot him, sprint toward him furiously clicking with my iron sword in the hopes of landing a hit, and when I'm mere meters away, he glances at me over his shoulder with a "Oh, puh-lease" look and vanishes, leaving me amidst the purple particles and saddeningly Enderpearl-less.

How can I hunt Endermen better?

Answer 1

Attack their legs, never look at them.

If you don't look at Endermen, they seem less-inclined to teleport away.

Here's a video example:

Answer 2

If you can already make potions, do the enhanced instant damage potion. Throw in his direction without looking at him. If he doesn't die on this one, hit his legs – don't look at him, especially not his face.

Another method (easier) is to equip a bow and shoot from large heights. You have to aim a bit over his head – be sure not to aim the crosshairs at his head. That's how I got my 12 pearls.

Answer 3

The easiest option is just to wear a pumpkin as a helmet. Although this disrupts your view, Endermen won't teleport away or attack you when you look at them.

Answer 4

I have found Splash Potions of Poison II to be frighteningly effective against Endermen, more so than the instant variety (plus the noise & red flash from the damage make Endermen easier to find post-teleport.) I prefer the II potion, because the damage is very quick; Endermen do a lot of damage on the harder levels and so you want the fight to be as short as possible.

You will want to lead off with the potion, because Endermen generally teleport away from splash potions once they're aggressive. If you aggro one beforehand, you can still get a lucky hit in if you aim for close range and don't mind eating the poison damage yourself or drinking milk right afterwards.

Endermen hunting is actually much easier in SMP with a friend if you trade hits. The Enderman will come after the last player that attacked it, so when it teleports it won't generally try to get behind the both of you - just the player who made the last hit.

Because it's not actively avoiding the person who hasn't hit it last, they generally have a very easy time targeting and hitting the Enderman.

Answer 5

Use the looting enchantment sword if you can get a hold of one, also use a diamond sword, and attack their feet. I know it may seem costly but it's worth it. Another thing is is if you throw a splash potion of instant damage it will lower the endermen's health making it easier to kill

Answer 6

I find waiting to be the best option. If you want to kill it, don't look at it until you attack. It will teleport and stare at you, then teleport towards you and charge or teleport right behind you. Painful but it works. Unless he hits water. Then you will never find him.

Answer 7

This is a well answered post but I do it differently than the answers here so...here is my Endermen killing technique!

Since Endermen are 3 blocks tall and the player is a mere 2 blocks tall you can make little "Endermen-proof" areas and then aggro them by giving them the ol' stank eye. They then come pathetically stand at the edge of your safe zone and let you chop them up.

It's important to note that Endermen may not burn up in the daylight but they do become apathetic and uncaring. This is why if you stare at or attack an Enderman that is standing in the daylight he just teleports away almost immediately.

The safe zones I make are 5x5 floating platforms at 3 height from where ever you are standing. Just in case this isn't clear, here's a diagram.

x = Blocks
o = Open Space

o o o o o o o o o
o o x x x x x o o <-- Stand under the shelf!
o o o o o o o o o
o o o o o o o o o
x x x x x x x x x <-- This is the ground

Since hunting Endermen only makes sense during the night time, I illuminate the area directly around me so other monsters aren't as inclined to come say hello while I'm dealing with the Enderman.

This works best in the Desert biome (even better in the dragonless End) because you have the greatest rage of 'stank eye ability' but really, it works anywhere.

Hope this helps!

Answer 8

You can go out into the water and look at them, and when they come to get you they'll take damage from the water. I don't believe they'll teleport away if you do that.

Answer 9

I usually hunt them in a desert Biome as they are easier to spot from a distance- then if they are miles away or surrounded by other types of mobs i provoke them by looking at them to teleport to me. I then use my diamond looting sword on their legs to prevent them teleporting away and to get as many ender pearls as possible and sometimes i stand on a one block width path in the middle of a pond to make them approach me from one direction.