Best Crossbow Enchantments 2026: Multishot or Piercing?

Every crossbow should have Quick Charge III, Unbreaking III and Mending. The fourth slot is your choice between Multishot and Piercing, which conflict. Crossbows can’t take Power, Flame, Punch or Infinity.

The core three

• Quick Charge III cuts reload from 1.25 to 0.5 seconds. Non-negotiable. The enchanting table only gives I or II, so you’ll be merging books on an anvil.
• Unbreaking III matters more than usual here, because Multishot uses three durability per shot.
• Mending for the usual reason.

Multishot or Piercing

	Multishot	Piercing IV
Projectiles per shot	3, spread 10° apart	1, passes through 5 targets
Arrows you get back	Only the middle one	All of them
Shields	Blocked as normal	Ignored
Fireworks	Fires three rockets	No effect
Durability per shot	3	1

Pick Multishot for raids, crowds and firework rockets. Three explosive rockets per shot are among the strongest ranged damage in the game against groups of pillagers.

Pick Piercing if you shoot tipped arrows (you get them back), fight players who block with shields, or defend narrow corridors.

Builds

Raid crossbow: Quick Charge III, Multishot, Unbreaking III, Mending. Load firework rockets with a firework star.

Utility crossbow: Quick Charge III, Piercing IV, Unbreaking III, Mending. Pair with Slowness or Weakness tipped arrows.

Where the books come from

The enchanting table gives all four crossbow enchantments at some level. Quick Charge III and Piercing IV need either anvil merging or a book from chests or librarians. If your world has the experimental Villager Trade Rebalance turned on, librarians don’t sell crossbow enchantments at all, so you’ll rely on the table, fishing and chests; pillager outposts carry more Quick Charge books in that mode.

For the crossbow recipe itself, see how to make a crossbow. If you’re deciding between weapons, the best bow enchantments page compares the two.