The ranged weapon selection interface for configuring an ancient hunt.
Ancient Hunt is a sequence of three sub-missions connected by two nether portals. It can be accessed by clicking on a nether portal found within Nether Room, a sub dungeon within Camp, as well as from the other dimensions tab on the mission select map. Ancient Hunt is the only mission in the game where gold can be obtained from mobs and chests. The ordinary mobs found within Ancient Hunt are more varied than in other locations, and never drop equipment when defeated.
Hunt doors lead to ancient dungeons and Gold Room.
There are always three sub-missions within Ancient Hunt, and the specific sub-missions that generate are random with no duplication. The three sub-missions can contain hunt doors, which lead to Gold Room or one of the various ancient dungeons. Gold Room contains piglin chests, which reward the hero with gold. Ancient dungeons contain ancients, a type of powerful mob which drops gilded gear upon being defeated.
Specific rune combinations are required to enable specific ancient dungeons to spawn within Ancient Hunt, and at least once ancient dungeon type must be able to spawn before the mission can be started. Ten ancients require items received through DLCs for them to be summoned. If the items are required through other means, these ancients may be summoned without owning any DLCs. Frostwarden requires items from Creeping Winter, Windbeard requires items from Howling Peaks, The Unending and Unstoppable Tusk require items from Flames of the Nether, Vengeful Mariner and Abyssal Eye require items from Hidden Depths, and Scuttling Torment, The Swarm, and Watcher of The End require items from Echoing Void. Consult the following tables to see the runes that specific equipment provide:
Reaching the exit door found in the third sub-mission ends the mission, and rewards the hero with a mission loot chest that always has thirty gold. Completing Ancient Hunt also rerolls the piglin merchant's items and resets the restock cost.
Added sound effects for ancients on the offering UI
Changed gold room generation. Previously consisted of a single long narrow corridor, stretching in a south-eastern direction containing only mobs and gold chests, and the ambient music and sound effects of the gold room.
Changed Spider Cave ambush and "Destroy the Spawns" objectives to occur upon entering the tile instead of upon contacting the web gate
Changed web gate of the Spider Cave to not show the purple gate glow
Increased the amount of gold received upon completing Ancient Hunt from 10 to 30.
Increased the amount of gold received from gold chests
Gold Chest
Minimum gold increased from 2 to 4
Maximum gold increased from 5 to 6
Rare Gold Chest
Minimum gold increased from 4 to 8
Maximum gold increased from 7 to 10
Issues
Issues for Minecraft Dungeons relating to "Ancient Hunt" are no longer maintained on the bug tracker since September 28, 2023.
Trivia
Despite being accessible early on, Ancient Hunt was stated to be intended to be played during the end-game.[4]
The Nether portal in Minecraft Dungeons does not necessarily transport the hero from the Overworld to the Nether and vice versa like in Minecraft. The portal can transport within one dimension. It is possible for a hunt to only consist of Nether locations or Overworld locations.
The "Ancient Hunt Deep Dive" article on minecraft.net displayed an image presenting unused pink squares in addition to the existing purple and grey squares to represent equipment enchantment slots.