How to Deal With a Ghast in Minecraft

Ghasts are hostile mobs found floating in the nether. These gray, flying mobs are often heard ‘crying’ as they move around the nether and shoot fireballs at the player. They are extremely dangerous as they are usually high above the reach of melee weapons and deal a lot of damage. However, they are worth slaying for the loot that they drop which includes ghast tears used in potions of Regeneration and end crystals. Here is how to deal with Ghasts in Minecraft.

What is a Ghast in Minecraft?

Ghasts are large, square-shaped floating mobs with tentacles that naturally spawn in the Nether Wastes, Soul Sand Valley and Basalt Deltas. You can often hear a Ghast crying before you’ll be able to see one high above you. They tend to float around out of reach of players. They will attack the player if you wander within 64 blocks of them or as long as you’re in line of sight. They shoot deadly fireballs at you which deal the following damage based on difficulty:

• Easy: 7 Hearts

• Normal: 12 Hearts

• Hard: 22.5 Hearts

How to deal with Ghasts in Minecraft

Once they spot a player, you’ll hear them scream and open their eyes, shooting fireballs at you every 3 seconds. You can deflect the fireballs back into it via hitting or shooting a projectile at the fireball. Make sure you carry a bow and a large number of arrows to fire at the Ghast and take it out. It’s also recommended you wear a full set of iron armor to mitigate fireball damage.

Try to break line of sight which will cause it to stop shooting fireballs at you. Each ghast has five hearts of health, however unlike a few other hostile mobs they cannot regenerate their health. If you get ambushed by multiple ghasts at once, try to get a ghast between you and another ghast as they will take damage from friendly fire. Once slain, a ghast will drop the following:

• Gunpowder: 0-2

• Ghast Tear: 0-1

Note that if you hit a fireball using an item with the Looting enchantment, any mob killed by that fireball has its drops affected by the enchantment as though the mob was killed by directly using the item.