Minecraft Dungeons guide: How to beat the Skeleton Horsemen

The rarest of them all, and the most boring.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

In Mojang Studios' franchise-expanding ARPGMinecraft Dungeons, there are a total ofeight bosses. Four of these bosses are weaker “mini-bosses” that may appear in a multitude of places throughout, and the other four are stronger “main bosses” that only show up at pre-determined locations. In this Minecraft Dungeons guide series, we’ll go over each and every boss, their strategies and attack patterns, how to fight them, and ultimately the best ways to come out on top in every battle, even on Apocalypse Difficulty.

The skeleton horsemen are the least common of all the mini-bosses, and frankly the most boring of all of them as well. Here’s everything you need to know about them, and how to beat them on any difficulty.

What are the skeleton horsemen in Minecraft Dungeons?

As of now, there are four mini-bosses in Minecraft Dungeons. Three of them show up regularly, and each have their own strengths and weaknesses, and their own personalities. They all deserved a full guide, in some way shape or form. I can’t say the same of the skeleton horsemen. As cool as these super unique mobs are in vanilla Minecraft (if only because they’re incredibly rare), their elusiveness does not equate to a challenging battle in this third-person loot-them-up.

Skeleton horsemen make a big fuss when they appear in a flash, surrounding the players, using their bows to deal ranged damage as they run around. However, they’re let down because individually skeleton horsemen are extremely squishy, and it’s far too easy to pick them off one at a time, ending the battle in a matter of seconds. While it’s understandable that each of up to four parts can’t be super strong, it’s still a let down.

If that’s all the info you need, you’re free to go. Otherwise, read on for a little bit more info on how skeleton horsemen attack, and how to deal with them.

How can I beat the skeleton horsemen in Minecraft Dungeons?

The skeleton horsemen will ambush you with two to four mounted skeleton archers, and they’ll run circles around you and attempt to take you down with ranged attacks. Their ranged attacks actually deal a fair bit of damage, so slow moving players may struggle a bit more here, but it’s easy to pin down skeleton horsemen and take them down quickly, minimizing the risk they pose.

Melee-focused players

If you use melee weapons primarily, your strategy is simple: run at the skeleton horsemen and wail on them.Artifactsthat increase speed (especially the Death Cap Mushroom) can help you track them down, as skeleton horsemen don’t like to stop moving. Once you’ve got one, however, it’s usually the end for it, since they’re not effective at escaping from close quarters. Once once is dead, move on to the next one. It’ll be over in no time.

All the latest news, reviews, and guides for Windows and Xbox diehards.

Range-focused players

Ranged players can pretty much stand in one place and pick off the skeleton horsemen.Artifactsthat increase damage temporarily, like the Flaming Quiver, are a good option here, since skeleton horsemencando some damage to an unmoving and squishy target. Keep an eye on your health here, and use your health potion sparingly. If you need to move quickly, artifacts like Light Feather let you maneuver to a better position.

Souls-focused players

Since skeleton horsemen are almost always moving, it can be annoying to hit them with a souls-focusedartifactlike the Corrupted Beacon without inadvertently wasting your souls, so it’s probably better to resort to your primary weapons, and more straightforward abilities like the Harvester, which is a simple “everything in the area explodes” attack that can rip apart skeleton horsemen. Once again, it won’t take long.

Companion-focused players

Normally players that usecompanionswould have some caveats attached to their playstyle preferences, but in the case of skeleton horsemen it doesn’t make much of a difference. In fact, being able to engage multiple targets at once can be an advantage for companion-focused players, so you might find that once you’ve finished off one skeleton horseman the others are already falling. Just make sure to join the frey, and keep an eye out on your health.

What are some tips for every boss fight in Minecraft Dungeons?

Every boss is different, and every player approaches these bosses in a unique way. However, there are always tips and tricks that work in any fight in Minecraft Dungeons, regardless of how you play. Here’s a list of all the essential tips for every boss fight, which should aid you in winning even on Apocalypse Difficulty.

A disappointing boss

When I first ran into the skeleton horsemen (which was a good ways into my playthrough) I was instantly struck with excitement, which was almost immediately followed by disappointment. The skeleton horsemen might be the most boring boss in the entire game, if only because no matter my loadout or difficulty, they were always the easiest thing on the screen to contend with. Hopefully Mojang Studios makes some tweaks to this mini-boss and ramps up the difficulty, cause as it stands the skeleton horsemen are a tad boring and simple.

Minecraft explores the dungeons.

Minecraft Dungeons is the next saga in Minecraft’s story, and Mojang Studios have knocked another one out of the park. Awesome co-op combat paired with powerful loot, all at a crazy affordable price? There’s not much more you could ask for in an epic dungeon crawling ARPG.