Five Years Later, Pocket, Gear VR And Windows 10 ‘Minecraft’ Are Finally Getting The End

Minecraft isn’t exactly a game with an end, but inasmuch as it does have one, it’s The End – and the game’s first boss monster, the Ender Dragon. First added to the game on November 18, 2011, The End is a dimension full of Endermen which requires jumping through some hoops to get to. It also contains the game’s first boss (the second being the Wither) in a difficult, skill-based fight which the player has to win to escape The End (and see Minecraft‘s credits).

Five years later, the Minecraft Pocket Edition – and Windows 10/Gear VR editions – will finally be getting their own End. According to a report from Engadget, Mojang developers are claiming that they’ve nearly, finally, brought the Pocket editions of Minecraft up to par with the desktop version and that among other changes, the newest update will be adding The End and the Ender Dragon.

For those who have never done it, reaching The End is not nearly so simple as a trip to the Nether. The player can’t actually build a portal to The End; the portals spawn when the world is created – current players may need to create a new world – and there are only three portals per world. Finding them is a bit of a scavenger hunt, and a dangerous one; at the very least, you will need to hunt Blazes and Endermen, never the safest tasks.

In order to actually start finding the End Portal, although there is a small chance of stumbling on it purely by chance, players need to craft eyes of ender by combining one blaze powder with one ender pearl. One isn’t enough; players will most likely need at least twelve. But a handful is enough to start hunting for the strongholds where the portals spawn.

Once you have your eyes, get out into the open and use one in the open air – it will travel a few blocks up into the air in the direction of the nearest stronghold, before – hopefully – dropping back the ground, where it can be collected and used again. Each time an eye is used, it has a one in five chance of shattering. Upon finding the stronghold – or, more likely, the patch of dirt the stronghold is far beneath – the eyes will shoot straight up with no horizontal movement.

The strongholds themselves are stone brick dungeons, filled with loot, monsters, and unique silverfish blocks and spawners. Go well-equipped, as they can quickly overwhelm you. The room generation is fairly random, but with some exploring, players will eventually find a room with a silverfish spawner and a circle of strange blocks around a pool of lava. Each of those blocks is an end portal frame: they can be activated by placing an eye of ender in the empty socket (and have a small chance to spawn with an eye already inserted).

When all 12 are filled, the end portal activates. Make sure you’re prepared – until you defeat the End Dragon or die yourself, you’re stuck there. At the very least, make sure you’ve got a bow and a good supply of arrows; you’ll need them to destroy the crystals that top the towers in The End, or the dragon will simply keep healing.

According to IGN, the new pocket Minecraft update will also raise the world height to 256 blocks from its current 128. Supposedly, there will be other content coming with this update, but Mojang has declined to “spoil” them – so we will remain cautiously optimistic for now.

Finally, it’s worth noting that all content in this update will also be added to the upcoming Apple TV edition, announced on October 27.

[Featured Image by Mojang AB]