Minecraft – best experience level for enchanting fishing rod

As far as I could tell from experimenting, the enchantments provide random effects, but the level of the effects is based on experience spent. So, an exp-level-5 enchantment is much more likely to be a level II or III version rather than a level I version. A sword with "Sharpness V" does a lot more damage than one with "Sharpness I", for example. It'll be a much higher-level enchantment spell, too.

Some enchantment spells create multiple effects, and I think the total level of all effects is equal to the spell level. So, a Level-I sharpness plus a Level-II Fire Aspect would be something like 7 exp levels (2 for sharpness, plus 5 for fire aspect). I need to figure out the actual exp level to enchantment level curve, but I think each level (I, II, II, IV, V) requires substantially more experience.

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Step One - Applying modifiers to the enchantment level

The first thing that Minecraft does is apply two modifiers to the base enchantment level. Each modifier is restricted to a certain range, with numbers close to the middle of the range more common than those near the ends.

The first modifier is based on the item's "enchantability," which depends on the material and the type of the item (see the table below). Minecraft picks a number between 0 and the enchantability, then adds that number plus one to the enchantment level. Bows have an enchantability of 1 for this purpose.

Shoot...SCORE!

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