Trading • 5 min read

Minecraft Villager Tool Trading Guide: Get the Best Tools

Unlock the secrets to acquiring top-tier tools in Minecraft by trading with villagers. Discover which villagers offer the best trades and how to maximize your chances of getting the tools you need.

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Introduction: Why Villager Trading is Key for Tools

Toolsmith Trade Examples

Iron PickaxeTypically 5-7 Emeralds
Diamond AxeTypically 10-13 Emeralds + One Axe
Enchanted Diamond ShovelVaries greatly; 13-22 Emeralds + One Shovel

Overview of the benefits of villager trading for acquiring tools.

Villager trading represents a crucial element in Minecraft's progression system, particularly when it comes to acquiring high-quality tools efficiently. While crafting and exploration both offer avenues for obtaining tools, villager trading presents a more controlled and potentially cost-effective alternative.

  • Overview of the benefits of villager trading for acquiring tools.
  • Comparison to other methods like crafting or finding tools in chests.
  • Introduction to the Toolsmith villager and its role.

Crafting tools, especially those made of iron, diamond, or netherite, requires significant resource investment. Exploration, while exciting, relies on chance encounters with chests that may or may not contain desired tools. Villager trading, on the other hand, allows players to directly exchange resources for tools, often at favorable rates, especially when the villager is cured of zombie villager status which results in a discount on all trades.

Compared to crafting, villager trading can save considerable time and effort in resource gathering. Mining for diamonds or netherite, for instance, is a time-consuming process.

Villagers often offer these resources at a fraction of the mining cost, making it a faster and more efficient approach to tool acquisition. While finding tools in chests offers a resource-free option, it's heavily reliant on luck.

There's no guarantee of finding a specific tool or one of high quality, such as a diamond pickaxe with Fortune. Trading provides a targeted way to obtain the exact tools you need, with the added bonus of being able to level up the villager to unlock better trades.

Enter the Toolsmith villager, a dedicated artisan specializing in the creation and exchange of tools. The Toolsmith serves as a primary source for iron tools, and sometimes enchanted diamond tools.

Understanding how to find, interact with, and level up Toolsmiths is essential for optimizing your tool acquisition strategy. They offer a sustainable and reliable source of tools, eliminating the need for constant resource grinding or dependence on chance encounters. By strategically employing Toolsmiths, players can equip themselves with the tools they need to conquer any challenge Minecraft throws their way.

"Trading with villagers, especially Toolsmiths, is the most reliable way to obtain high-quality, enchanted tools in Minecraft."

The Toolsmith: Your Go-To Tool Trader

Identifying the Toolsmith villager profession.

The Toolsmith villager is easily identifiable within a village setting. Like other villagers, Toolsmiths have a distinct appearance characterized by their clothing and occupation.

  • Identifying the Toolsmith villager profession.
  • The Toolsmith's characteristic appearance and workstation (the grindstone).
  • Initial trade offerings and how they improve with experience.

A Toolsmith villager wears a brown apron over their usual villager garb, signifying their craft. Identifying them visually is the first step in establishing a trading relationship.

Another crucial identifier is the Toolsmith's workstation: the grindstone. A grindstone near an unemployed villager is a beacon, indicating that you can potentially convert that villager into a Toolsmith by allowing them access to the grindstone. The grindstone is therefore essential to designating a villager as a toolsmith.

Upon their initial transformation, Toolsmiths offer a basic set of trades. These typically include selling iron tools, such as iron axes or shovels, in exchange for emeralds.

They also often buy coal, which can be a great way to offload surplus coal from mining expeditions and simultaneously gain emeralds for further trading. The initial trades serve as a foundation for a more rewarding relationship. It's essential to engage with these early trades to begin leveling up the villager and unlocking access to more valuable and efficient tools.

As you continue to trade with a Toolsmith, their experience level increases. This unlocks new and improved trade options.

Higher-level Toolsmiths may offer diamond tools, sometimes even enchanted with valuable enchantments like Efficiency or Fortune. These enchanted diamond tools are invaluable assets for any player.

The trading cycle involves selling items the Toolsmith wants, then buying the tools that it offers. Trading is the main key to leveling up your toolsmith villager. Continuously leveling up your villager will offer better and better tool trades as you advance further into the game.

"Initial trade offerings and how they improve with experience."

Tools Available Through Trading: What to Expect

List of tools that can be traded (axes, pickaxes, shovels).

Tools Available Through Trading: What to Expect

Toolsmith villagers are invaluable assets for any Minecraft player looking to acquire high-quality tools. These industrious NPCs offer a rotating stock of axes, pickaxes, and shovels, serving as a reliable alternative to crafting your own, especially in the early to mid-game.

  • List of tools that can be traded (axes, pickaxes, shovels).
  • Tier of tools available (stone, iron, diamond).
  • Enchantment possibilities and how to influence them.

The specific tool types available vary depending on the villager's level and the current demand, but generally, you can expect to find a decent selection catering to different needs. An axe is perfect for chopping down trees, a pickaxe is crucial for mining ores and stone, and a shovel excels at clearing dirt, gravel, and sand.

The tier of tools available also scales with the villager's experience level. Initially, you might only find stone tools, which are a slight upgrade from wood but still relatively weak.

As you trade more with the villager and increase their level, they will begin offering iron tools, which are significantly more durable and efficient. The ultimate goal is to unlock diamond tools, the most powerful and sought-after tools in the game (before Netherite).

These tools offer unparalleled mining speed, durability, and effectiveness, making them essential for any serious player. It is important to consider the price of each tool to its durability and efficiency. Often it is worth trading for tools with a higher tier and more durability.

Enchantment possibilities add another layer of appeal to trading for tools. While the initial trades might offer unenchanted tools, higher-level toolsmiths will frequently offer tools with pre-applied enchantments.

The specific enchantments and their levels are randomized, but it's possible to influence the outcome. The villagers will restock their trades after a period of time, often offering different enchantments each time.

Players can strategically break and replace the Lectern block used by the villager until the desired enchantment appears. However, this method can be time-consuming and requires patience. Keep in mind that some enchantments, like Fortune on a pickaxe, can significantly increase your resource gathering efficiency, making the effort worthwhile.

Leveling Up Your Toolsmith: Unlocking Better Trades

How to level up a villager's profession.

Leveling Up Your Toolsmith: Unlocking Better Trades

Leveling up your toolsmith villager is essential for unlocking access to better trades, including higher-tier tools with powerful enchantments. The leveling process is relatively straightforward.

  • How to level up a villager's profession.
  • The impact of leveling up on trade options.
  • Tips for speeding up the leveling process.

Villagers level up by trading with them. Each successful trade contributes to their experience bar.

Once the bar is full, they will level up, gaining a new profession level (Novice, Apprentice, Journeyman, Expert, Master) and unlocking a new set of trades. The process involves consistently trading with the villager until they gain enough experience to advance to the next tier. After trading with the villager, the player must provide the villager with a workstation, which in this case is a Grindstone, in order for the villager to progress to a higher level.

The impact of leveling up on trade options is significant. At lower levels, the toolsmith will primarily offer basic stone and iron tools, along with less valuable trades like coal for emeralds.

As the villager levels up, the trade options expand to include diamond tools, enchanted tools, and better exchange rates for raw materials. Higher-level toolsmiths also tend to offer more favorable trades for items like iron ingots and diamonds, making them a reliable source for acquiring these valuable resources. The improvement in trade quality makes the effort of leveling up the villager well worth the investment.

Speeding up the leveling process requires efficient trading practices. The most effective method is to bulk trade with the villager, ensuring that you deplete their stock of a specific item before moving on to the next.

This maximizes the experience gained per interaction. Another tip is to cure a zombie villager into a regular villager.

Cured villagers offer discounted trades, allowing you to trade more frequently and level them up faster. Always keep a supply of emeralds on hand to facilitate continuous trading. Utilizing a trading hall, where multiple villagers are readily available, can also significantly expedite the process, allowing you to quickly level up several toolsmiths simultaneously.

Finding the Right Toolsmith: Biome and Village Considerations

The importance of village location for finding Toolsmiths.

Finding the Right Toolsmith: Biome and Village Considerations

The quest for a reliable Toolsmith often begins with understanding the significance of village location. Villages nestled within thriving biomes such as plains, savannas, or deserts offer a more consistent spawn rate for villagers, increasing the likelihood of encountering a Toolsmith.

  • The importance of village location for finding Toolsmiths.
  • Any biome specific variations in tools offered by Toolsmiths
  • Tips for constructing a trading hall for efficient access.

Conversely, isolated or smaller villages, particularly those in less populated biomes like snowy tundras or swamps, might present challenges in locating a Toolsmith. A well-established village with a sizable population is statistically more likely to produce various professions, including the coveted Toolsmith. Moreover, larger villages tend to have more workstations readily available, increasing the chances of a villager adopting the Toolsmith profession upon claiming one.

While the core function of a Toolsmith remains consistent across biomes, subtle variations in the tools offered can occasionally occur. For instance, a Toolsmith in a desert village might prioritize selling tools suited for arid environments, such as those that are efficient in mining sandstone or crafting desert-themed structures.

Similarly, Toolsmiths in colder biomes could offer tools designed for ice harvesting or snow removal. These biome-specific adaptations are not guaranteed but are worth noting for players seeking tools tailored to their immediate surroundings.

Furthermore, the prices of certain tools might fluctuate based on the availability of resources in the biome. A Toolsmith in a resource-scarce environment could potentially charge higher prices for tools crafted from those materials.

Constructing a trading hall is a game-changer for efficient access to Toolsmiths and their wares. The ideal trading hall concentrates multiple Toolsmiths in a single location, streamlining the trading process and minimizing travel time.

To begin, identify a central location and build a structure with individual cells for each Toolsmith, ensuring they each have access to their respective workstations. Employ a system of name tags and clear labeling to keep track of each Toolsmith's trades.

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Incorporate a centralized restocking system where you can quickly replenish the items they need to trade. Consider the lighting and aesthetics of the hall to create a pleasant trading environment. By optimizing the layout and organization of the trading hall, players can maximize their trading efficiency and obtain the tools they need with minimal effort.

Tips for Maximizing Your Tool Trades

Curing zombie villagers to reduce trade prices.

Tips for Maximizing Your Tool Trades

One of the most effective strategies for reducing trade prices with Toolsmiths is curing zombie villagers. When a villager is transformed into a zombie villager, curing them with a splash potion of weakness and a golden apple not only restores them to their original form but also permanently lowers their trading prices.

  • Curing zombie villagers to reduce trade prices.
  • Using the Hero of the Village effect to further reduce prices.
  • Trading frequently to refresh trade offers.

The price reduction is substantial and applies to all of the Toolsmith's trade offers. This process can be repeated multiple times, stacking the discount effect to an impressive degree.

However, it is crucial to ensure the safety of the villager during the curing process, as they are vulnerable to sunlight and other threats. Building a secure curing chamber and providing ample protection is essential for maximizing the success of this strategy. Curing zombie villagers requires some preparation and resources, but the resulting reduction in trading costs makes it a worthwhile endeavor for serious players.

The Hero of the Village effect, obtained by successfully defending a village from a raid, provides a temporary but significant discount on all trades with villagers in that village, including Toolsmiths. This effect reduces the prices of all items offered by the villagers, making it an excellent opportunity to stock up on essential tools.

The duration and strength of the discount vary depending on the difficulty of the raid, with higher difficulty levels granting more substantial and longer-lasting discounts. To trigger the Hero of the Village effect, players must actively participate in the village defense and ensure that the raid is defeated.

Building defensive structures, strategically placing villagers, and utilizing effective combat tactics are crucial for success. While the Hero of the Village effect is temporary, it offers a valuable window of opportunity to acquire tools at reduced prices and bolster your resources.

Trading frequently with a Toolsmith is crucial for refreshing their trade offers and gaining access to a wider variety of tools. Each villager has a limited number of trade slots available, and once those slots are exhausted, the villager will lock their trades for a certain period.

Engaging in regular trading sessions helps to unlock new trade offers and keep the Toolsmith's inventory updated. Furthermore, repeatedly trading specific items with a Toolsmith can level them up to higher tiers, unlocking more advanced tools and materials.

However, be mindful of the villager's work schedule. They can only restock during work hours, so make sure to allow the villager access to their workstation and ensure they are not blocked or distracted. Regularly interacting with your Toolsmiths guarantees access to a wider range of tools and ensures a steady supply of essential resources.

Troubleshooting Common Trading Issues: Addressing the 'villager won't trade' problem.

Key takeaways

Troubleshooting Common Trading Issues: Addressing the 'villager won't trade' problem.

Encountering a villager that refuses to trade can be frustrating. The most common reason is that the villager hasn't been assigned a profession or their workstation is inaccessible.

Ensure the villager is near their appropriate workstation (e.g., a grindstone for a toolsmith) and has been able to work there recently (typically within the last in-game day). If the workstation is too far away or obstructed, the villager won't link to it properly.

Bedrock Edition sometimes has additional quirks where workstations need to be closer than Java Edition. Also, check the time of day; villagers work during specific hours, and trading is unavailable outside those times.

Finally, ensure the villager can pathfind correctly; they need to physically reach their workstation. Pathfinding issues can be caused by complex builds or unexpected obstacles.

Consider placing the workstation in a simple, easily accessible location to rule out pathfinding problems. In extreme cases, try breaking and replacing the workstation to force the villager to relink.

Remember that a Nitwit villager (the green-robed one) cannot be assigned a profession and will never trade. Breeding more villagers and creating more job blocks is often the easiest solution.

Another less common but significant issue is villager gossip. If you've recently hit a villager (even by accident), they and nearby villagers may increase their prices.

While this typically affects already established trades, in some cases it can prevent a villager from offering new trades. Waiting a few in-game days often resolves this, as the negative gossip will eventually dissipate.

If the problem persists, consider moving the problematic villager away from the village center to prevent spreading the negative gossip. Curing zombie villagers grants them a significant discount on trades, often making them desirable for trading halls.

However, this discount can sometimes cause unexpected behavior if the villager's initial trades weren't properly unlocked. Breaking and replacing the workstation after curing can sometimes reset the trades to the intended values.

Troubleshooting Common Trading Issues: Dealing with undesired enchantments on tools.

Key takeaways

Troubleshooting Common Trading Issues: Dealing with undesired enchantments on tools.

When trading for enchanted tools, receiving undesired enchantments can be disappointing. Unfortunately, the enchantments offered by tool smiths are random, and there is no guaranteed method to influence them directly.

The best approach is to trade with multiple tool smiths to increase your chances of finding the enchantments you desire. Consider using a villager trading hall to efficiently manage several tool smiths simultaneously.

Remember that specific tool types are more likely to have certain enchantments. For example, Efficiency is more common on pickaxes than swords.

Understanding these probabilities can help you focus your trading efforts. If you receive a tool with undesirable enchantments, you have a few options.

The grindstone can remove enchantments, providing experience points in the process. This is useful if you only want the base tool and don't mind grinding away the unwanted enchantments.

Combining two of the same unenchanted tool will create a new tool. If one of these items is enchanted, the resulting tool will not be. You can get your desired enchantments on it with an enchanting table and books.

Another solution is to enchant tools yourself using an enchanting table and books. While this requires more resources (lapis lazuli and experience levels), it gives you complete control over the enchantments.

Using librarians to obtain specific enchanted books, such as Mending or Fortune, is a common strategy. The cost of enchanted books is affected by supply and demand.

If you keep trading for a book, the price will continue to rise, sometimes making it impossible to continue trading for books. Remember, you can reset a villager's trades by breaking and replacing its workstation, although this does come with the risk of losing desirable trades.

Also note that you can not combine unenchanted tools with enchanted tools on the crafting table. You must only use two unenchanted items.

Troubleshooting Common Trading Issues: Preventing villagers from changing professions.

Key takeaways

Villagers changing professions unexpectedly can disrupt established trading setups. The primary cause is that the villager can reach a different unclaimed workstation, taking precedence over their original one.

To prevent this, ensure that each villager is linked to only one workstation and that no other workstations are accessible within a reasonable radius. Surrounding the villager with blocks or walls can restrict their movement and prevent them from wandering too far.

A particularly effective method is to place the villager in a one-block hole with their workstation, preventing them from moving at all. Another crucial aspect is to trade with the villager at least once.

Once a villager has traded, their profession is permanently locked, and they will no longer be able to switch, even if other workstations are available. However, this locking mechanism only applies to their profession; their trade offers can still be reset by breaking and replacing their workstation until they are locked by acquiring a trade.

Be mindful of other players or redstone contraptions that might unintentionally move or break workstations. Even a brief removal of the workstation can reset the villager's profession if they can access another workstation in the meantime.

If using a complex trading hall design, thoroughly test it to ensure that no villagers can access unintended workstations. In multiplayer environments, clear communication and coordination are essential to prevent accidental modifications.

Remember that baby villagers will not have a profession, and they can claim one once they grow up. If you are using breeders, make sure to keep workstations away until the appropriate time to assign a profession.

When using powered rails, be careful to not push villagers too fast into unloaded chunks, since they can unlink from their workstations. You can also use name tags to keep track of which villager is which.

Conclusion: Becoming a Master Minecraft Tool Trader: Recap of the benefits of villager tool trading.

Key takeaways

Villager tool trading offers significant advantages in Minecraft, providing access to high-quality tools with valuable enchantments at relatively low costs. By setting up a well-organized trading hall, players can consistently acquire diamond tools with enchantments like Efficiency V, Fortune III, or Mending without relying solely on the enchanting table or tedious mining.

This is especially beneficial in the early to mid-game, when acquiring diamonds and experience levels can be time-consuming. Moreover, trading for tools with specific enchantments allows players to optimize their resource gathering, whether it's mining ores faster, increasing the yield of valuable resources, or repairing damaged tools.

The ability to control and manipulate villager trades, by breaking and replacing workstations, ensures access to desired tools and enchantments, surpassing the randomness of the enchanting table. Mastering villager trading turns into a core skill for experienced Minecraft players.

Experiment with different trading hall designs and villager management techniques to optimize your trading efficiency. Explore the benefits of curing zombie villagers for discounted trades, and consider the trade-offs between trading for pre-enchanted tools versus enchanting them yourself.

Remember to protect your villagers from threats like zombies and pillagers, and keep their workstations secure. The Minecraft community is constantly discovering new and innovative trading strategies.

Don't be afraid to explore online forums, videos, and guides to stay up-to-date with the latest techniques. Sharing your knowledge and collaborating with other players can also lead to new discoveries and improved trading setups.

The possibilities are almost limitless. Also, learn about raid farms for infinite emeralds to facilitate your trading ambitions!

Now it's your turn to share your experiences and insights! What trading strategies have you found most effective?

Do you have any tips or tricks for optimizing villager trading? Have you discovered any unique trading combinations or hidden secrets?

Share your expertise with the Minecraft community in the comments below. Let's work together to become master Minecraft tool traders! And most importantly, have fun building and trading, the world of Minecraft awaits your creative genius!

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FAQ

Which villager profession trades tools?
The Toolsmith villager is the one that trades tools in Minecraft.
What tools can a Toolsmith trade?
Toolsmiths can trade iron axes, iron pickaxes, diamond axes, and diamond pickaxes. They also trade bells.
What level does a Toolsmith need to be to trade diamond tools?
A Toolsmith needs to be at the Master level to trade diamond tools.
What is the workstation for a Toolsmith?
The workstation for a Toolsmith is a grindstone.
Can I change a villager into a Toolsmith?
Yes, if a villager is unemployed and near a grindstone, they will become a Toolsmith.
Do Toolsmiths offer enchanted tools?
No, Toolsmiths only trade unenchanted tools.
Is the Toolsmith the only villager that trades useful items?
No, many villagers trade useful items. For example, Librarians trade enchanted books, and Farmers trade food.
Alexey Ivanov — Founder
Author

Alexey Ivanov — Founder

Founder

Trader with 7 years of experience and founder of Crypto AI School. From blown accounts to managing > $500k. Trading is math, not magic. I trained this AI on my strategies and 10,000+ chart hours to save beginners from costly mistakes.