Toppling the Treetop Tangle

Have you reached the top of Treetop Tangle? It’s a terrifying place, swarming with zombies, giant spiders, a million creepers, and – at the very top – a formidable foe. You can jump into this free Fauna Faire seasonal mission as soon as you’ve completed Creeper Woods. It’s a great way to get some good early gear, but the ordeal of battling through enemy hordes to reach the summit is even more satisfying.

Welcome to the jungle

You start at the bottom of the tree, and there’s no time for a safari, unless you count being eaten by dozens of spiders as a safari. It’s immediately clear that his tree wants to kill me at every step. I need to grab some weapons and face my fear of heights. And tree zombies. Minecraft Dungeons zombies love trees and brains. 

Luckily the loot drops come quickly. Defeat a few mobs and you’re sure to find a glaive or a whip, which are ideal mid-range melee options for fending off angry creepers. Once you survive a tough battle around a poisonous totem, Treetop Tangle’s story unfolds. The higher you climb, the more you become one with the jungle. 

I quickly discover the Root Rot Armor. It’s a useful piece of support gear that boosts your health potions to heal nearby allies. To be honest, I’m mainly wearing it because the hood and glowing green eyes make my hero look quite scary, and not at all because I forgot my armor at the camp and began the mission in my blocky birthday suit. With Root Rot Armor equipped I start to fight back against the jungle, with the help of some animal friends.

Wild ocelots roam Treetop Tangle; be careful not to accidentally attack them. Ocelots are natural enemies of creepers, who will flee at the mere sight of an ocelot on the prowl. It’s probably best not to name them and get too attached, but the furious Sir Cross-elot and Mr Kill-the-boss-elot served me well during some tense battles. Plus, when creepers are on the run, it’s really fun to pick them off with your ranged weapon while the wildcats chase them down. 

As you’re battling through spider nests and jungle zombies towards the nightmarish Treetop Whisperer, the boss of the mission, be sure to pause for a moment to say hello to the pandas that have made Treetop Tangle their home. They are peaceful beasts, so they won’t join you in combat, but are happy to munch bamboo and offer moral support.  

At the top of power

We’ve got ocelots and pandas on our side, now for the BEES! Treetop Tangle is one of only a few missions where you can acquire the Buzzy Nest artifact. This lets you plant a bee nest that spawns three friendly (and enormous) insect pals that ruthlessly hunt your enemies until they buzz off. They’re great if you suddenly find yourself ambushed in one of Treetop Tangle’s upper foliage areas where the mobs blend into their surroundings. 

Towards the end of the mission, I’m dressed up in jungle camouflage, leading a small army of creatures and swinging a glaive through huge mobs of enemies. This is what Treetop Tangle is all about. Ocelot and Hunter’s Armor drop in this mission too, so you can choose exactly what sort of apex predator you’d like to become. You’ve probably already discovered some Hunter’s Armor on your travels, it’s a reliable choice with a nice ranged attack boost for holding off swarms. Ocelot Armor gives you some useful damage reduction and a dodge-roll boost that’s ideal for soloing missions at the beginning of your journey to higher difficulty levels. 

At the very apex of the foliage lives the massive Treetop Whisperer. He’s a huge leafy golem who smells, and is not my friend. Take care not to get boxed in by his vine summons, and stay out of the way of his leapleave henchmen. Oh, and look out for being poisoned, too. This tree is a nightmare!  

The journey is worth the effort, though. Now I’ve defeated the Treetop Whisperer and grabbed as much gear as I can, it’s time to summon a friend and show them the terrors and delights of Treetop Tangle, too. Dressed up in matching Root Rot outfits with a pair of glaives (and even more bees), I think we can push the difficulty level up and beat the mission in half the time. The horrible creeper hordes will be fighting us at every step, but as long as there’s a friendly ocelot nearby, we can’t lose.