The End... Again...: How to Respawn and Beat the Ender Dragon

The End... Again... requires you to respawn the Ender Dragon and defeat it a second time. After your first Dragon kill, the exit portal remains in the center of the End island. You can re-summon the Dragon by placing four End Crystals on the portal frame. This guide covers crafting End Crystals, the summoning process and how the second fight differs from the first.

Crafting End Crystals

You need exactly 4 End Crystals. Each crystal requires:

• 1 Eye of Ender
• 1 Ghast Tear
• 7 Glass blocks

The recipe is: fill the bottom row of a crafting table with Glass, place Glass in the middle-left and middle-right slots, place an Eye of Ender in the center, and a Ghast Tear on top.

Gathering materials

• Eyes of Ender (4): Craft from Blaze Powder + Ender Pearl. You need 4 Blaze Rods (one Blaze Rod = 2 Blaze Powder) and 4 Ender Pearls.
• Ghast Tears (4): Dropped by Ghasts in the Nether. Ghasts drop 0-1 tears on death. With Looting III, they can drop up to 4. Farm them in the Nether Wastes or Soul Sand Valley. Catch tears carefully as they can fall into lava.
• Glass (28): Smelt sand in a furnace. 28 sand blocks = 28 glass.

Summoning the Dragon

1. Enter the End through the stronghold portal.
2. Go to the exit portal in the center of the main End island. It is the bedrock structure with the Dragon Egg on top (if you have not moved it).
3. Place one End Crystal on each of the four sides of the exit portal frame. The portal frame has four bedrock edges; place a crystal on the middle block of each edge.
4. When the fourth crystal is placed, the summoning sequence begins automatically. The obsidian pillars regenerate, new End Crystals appear on top of them, and the Dragon spawns.

How the second fight differs

The Dragon fight itself is mechanically identical to the first one, with these differences:

• The exit portal stays active. You can leave at any time during the fight if things go badly.
• End Gateways already exist. Previous gateways from the first kill remain, giving you escape routes.
• No Dragon Egg drop. The Egg only drops on the first kill. Subsequent kills drop 500 XP instead of the first kill's 12,000 XP.
• New End Gateway. Each Dragon kill generates a new End Gateway portal, up to a maximum of 20. These gateways lead to different parts of the outer End islands.

Fight strategy

If you beat the Dragon once, you know the basics. For the rematch:

1. Destroy the End Crystals first. Shoot the crystals on top of the obsidian pillars with a bow. Some are protected by iron cages, you need to pillar up and break the cage manually, then destroy the crystal inside.
2. Wait for the Dragon to perch. The Dragon periodically lands on the exit portal. When it does, sprint to the portal and attack it with a sword. Beds also work as explosives on the Dragon (they explode in the End just like in the Nether).
3. Bring a Power V bow for shooting the Dragon when it flies overhead. Arrows deal less damage than melee, but you can attack during flight phases.
4. Carry Slow Falling potions. The Dragon's knockback can launch you into the void. Slow Falling gives you time to land safely.

Preparation checklist

• 4 End Crystals
• Full Diamond or Netherite armor (Protection IV)
• Diamond or Netherite Sword (Sharpness V)
• Bow (Power V, Infinity)
• 64+ arrows (if no Infinity)
• Slow Falling potions (2-3)
• Golden Apples (4-8)
• Building blocks for pillaring up to caged crystals
• Ender Pearls for emergency repositioning
• Pumpkin head (optional, prevents Enderman aggro)

Common mistakes

• Placing crystals on the wrong blocks. They must go on the exact middle block of each portal frame edge. If placed incorrectly, nothing happens.
• Not having enough Ghast Tears. Four tears can require killing 6-10 Ghasts due to the unreliable drop rate. Farm extras.
• Forgetting about Endermen. The End is full of Endermen. Wear a carved pumpkin on your head to avoid aggro, or bring a water bucket to place at your feet.
• Getting knocked into the void. The Dragon's charge attack deals knockback. Fight near the center of the island, not the edges.

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