Minecraft Dungeons guide: How to use the new Village Merchant

Of all the new vendors introduced to the Minecraft Dungeons camp with the recent Creeping Winter DLC, the Village Merchant is the most mundane. Here you have an ordinary merchant who has a collection of various artifacts, weapons, and armor. If they have something you want, you buy it. If not, well, you can ask them to “check back” or wait for a restock. The Village Merchant is the closest you’ll find to an old Village Store in your camp, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t a few tips and tricks you might need, which we’ve all compiled in this Minecraft. Dungeon guide.

Here’s everything you need to know about using the new Village Merchant in Minecraft Dungeons:

What is the village merchant in Minecraft Dungeons?

The Village Merchant is one of five new vendors added to Minecraft Dungeons, alongside the high-end Luxury Merchant and the Blacksmith, and they will sell you a wide variety of goods across multiple categories. The village merchant has up to six items for sale at a time, ranging from artifacts to weapons to armor. They will all have different power levels and enchantments (but always scaled to your level).

While the Luxury Merchant only sells a few expensive and powerful items that will cost you a pretty penny, the Village Merchant is more predictable. Check daily to see what they have, and if something looks particularly appealing, you can shell out the much more reasonable amount of emeralds to get there. By default, the village merchant only has two inventory slots, but he will open his stock to you if you help him with unique missions. Now that you know what the Village Merchant is for, let’s talk about how to use them.

How can I use the village merchant in Minecraft Dungeons?

Using the village merchant is as easy as having emeralds to burn. If you check in with the village merchant and notice they have a sick new sword that has exactly the enchantments you want, for example, check the price, then press and hold the corresponding button (“A” on an Xbox controller) for the magic to work. The Village Merchant won’t offer the most powerful gear, but everything will be reasonably priced (half to a third of the cost at the Luxury Merchant) and will all be strong enough for your current difficulty level.

The items the Village Merchant has in stock are quite random, so you’ll never know exactly what’s going to be there. It helps if you open the Village Merchant’s extra inventory slots, as it allows them to offer more at once (giving you more variety), but by default you’ll only have two things to choose from at that time. That being said, there are a few tricks you can use here if you need more choice, or want something but don’t yet have enough money to buy it.

The first thing the village merchant lets you do is restock. This means that you can now pay a little extra for the village merchant to offer a new selection of goods. You don’t have a say What will be offered, but at least it won’t be what was offered before, right? Restocking randomly replenishes all available inventory slots except those that have been reserved. Yes, you can reserve specific items and lock them in place, so they don’t go missing or get restocked. Before discussing the reservation, keep in mind that each restock will increase your price until you complete a mission.

To reserve an item, simply highlight it in the village merchant menu and press the corresponding button (“X” on an Xbox controller) and check that there is a small padlock icon on the image of the item. As long as an item is reserved, the village merchant will hold it for you, which is good of him. Then you can feel free to go for emeralds, possibly using our infinite emerald farm.

How can I improve the village merchant in Minecraft Dungeons?

The last step of our Village Merchant tour is how to evolve from Two-Slot-Joe to Too-Many-Options-Jane. The Village Merchant has limited space for items at first, but if you complete vendor-specific quests, you can unlock additional inventory slots for the Village Merchant to stock with more supplies. Each vendor (who can be upgraded) offers their own specific mission to complete, and the village merchant is no different. Being an ordinary villager, all they want is to confirm the safety of their friends and family from the grip of the evil Arch-Illager. This means rescuing villagers on your travels.

This mission has four tiers, requiring you to save 5, 15, 30, and then finally 70 villagers to unlock each location. These missions will follow together, so you only need to save a total of 70 villagers to complete the village merchant quests. Keep in mind that captive villagers aren’t present on all levels, so you’ll have to choose which levels to play in order to rescue the villagers. Creeper Woods is a good one and would allow you to complete these quests in a few hours at most.

Whenever you complete Village Merchant missions, he will permanently have six items to choose from, all of which can be subject to the same tools as before. You can choose to restock all inventory, reserve specific items, and buy whatever appeals to you at the advertised price. Fully upgraded, the Village Merchant can be a great help in choosing gear for your next loadout, or just helping out if you need a quick boost.