Mob Menagerie

Normally, slimes spawn in three different sizes – small, medium and large. They hop around aimlessly until they spot a player or iron golem, at which point they hop towards it to try to envelop it within their body – their preferred hunting method.

If you don’t move out of the way in time, you’ll be knocked back a huge distance. Normally that wouldn’t be a problem, but the terrain you’ll tend to encounter goats in is rather precipitous, and there’s every chance you’ll be knocked off the mountain entirely. Which hurts.

If so, those hugs are brutal – wardens have the strongest melee damage of any mob in the game. They also have a sonic boom ability that goes through obstacles and is almost impossible to dodge. Perhaps we can rule out the “hug” theory.

Striders are uncommon among Nether mobs in that they’re perfectly happy outside of the Nether. You’re good to take your new friend through a portal and down to the depths of the Overworld, to skate across the lava lakes found there. Just remember to keep them out of the rain...