How to Compare Two Tools Before Crafting or Enchanting

Line Up the Tooltips

Place both candidate tools in your inventory and hover each one without moving the mouse away between hovers. Read the same line on both — mining level first, then mining speed, then durability. Mining level is the gate: if one tool cannot harvest the blocks you need, its higher speed is irrelevant.

Weigh Speed Against Durability

A tool with a higher mining speed but a much smaller durability pool will need replacing more often. Check the durability line on both and estimate how many blocks each will break before it runs out. In modpacks with repair options, a fast tool with cheap repair materials often beats a slow, tanky one.

Check Enchantability Before Enchanting

Enchantability determines how strong the rolls are when you use an enchantment table. Hover both tools and compare that line. If you plan to invest levels and lapis into one tool, pick the higher-enchantability option, since the same enchantment session will yield better results on it.

Confirm Attack Speed for Weapons

For swords, axes, and modded weapons, attack speed decides how often you can land a full-damage hit. A weapon with high damage but low attack speed may deal less over time than a faster one. Compare the attack speed lines directly rather than guessing from the item's appearance.