So you want to learn how to make lingering potion in Minecraft? Honestly, I wish I'd found a guide like this when I first started experimenting with brewing stands. That time I accidentally turned my precious dragon's breath into useless rabbit stew? Yeah, let's not talk about that. This guide will save you from making those mistakes.

What Exactly Are Lingering Potions?

Imagine throwing a potion that creates a temporary effect zone instead of just splashing. That's a lingering potion. They're game-changers for PvP battles or when you need to trap mobs. Regular splash potions affect whatever they hit directly, but lingering versions create an area cloud that lasts about 30 seconds (depending on ingredients), affecting anything that walks through it. Perfect for defending your base!

Essential Materials You Must Have

Before diving into how to make lingering potion, gather these non-negotiables. Trust me, running to the Nether mid-brew is annoying.

Dragon's breath is the make-or-break component here. Last week, I spent three hours trying to collect it without proper gear - ended up respawning at my bed six times. Don't be like me. Bring:

• Strong armor (Diamond/Netherite)
• Slow falling potions
• Empty glass bottles (right-click on purple clouds)
• Ender pearls for quick escapes

Why Dragon's Breath Is Such a Pain

Honestly, Mojang made this unnecessarily hard. You can only get it during the dragon fight when she shoots purple acid clouds. Miss that window? Tough luck until you respawn her. And no, ghasts or endermen don't drop it despite what some forums claim.

Step-by-Step Brewing Process

Finally! The actual steps for how to make lingering potion work. I'll walk you through creating a basic lingering weakness potion since poison versions can get complicated.

Creating Your Base Potion

First things first: You cannot turn water bottles directly into lingering potions. Start simple:

1. Fill glass bottles with water (right-click water source)
2. Place 1-3 bottles in brewing stand
3. Add Nether Wart to create Awkward Potions

Your base is ready. Now for effects:

Adding Effects Correctly

Here's where many players mess up. Effect order matters! For weakness potion:

1. Add Fermented Spider Eye to Awkward Potion
2. Wait 20 seconds for transformation
3. Congrats, you have weakness potions!

Converting to Splash Potion

The crucial middle step everyone forgets:

1. Take your completed effect potion (like weakness)
2. Add gunpowder to brewing stand
3. Boom - splash weakness potion!

This took me forever to figure out my first time. I kept adding dragon's breath directly to regular potions like an idiot. Don't repeat my mistakes.

The Final Transformation

Now for the magic:

1. Place splash potion in brewing stand
2. Add dragon's breath
3. Wait for bubbling animation (about 30 seconds)
4. Retrieve your lingering potion!

All Lingering Potion Types

Once you know how to make lingering potion basics, experiment with these variations:

Personal opinion? Slowness lingering potions are criminally underrated. I once escaped four wither skeletons by throwing one at a corridor entrance. Bought me enough time to eat golden apples.

Pro Tips They Don't Tell You

After brewing hundreds of these, here's what I've learned:

• Cloud Duration Hack: Adding redstone to base potion extends cloud duration by 2 minutes
• Stacking Trick: Place clouds strategically - they stack effects if mobs walk through multiple
• Preservation: Store in shulker boxes with "Potion" label (lost three to my friend's "cleaning" rampage)
• Quick Access: Put on your off-hand slot during battles

But seriously, why don't tutorials mention you can throw them through portals? Game-changer for Nether defense systems.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

I've made every error possible so you don't have to:

• Wrong bottle order: Brewing stand processes slots left to right. Put ingredients in first!
• Fuel failures: Always keep blaze powder above 50%
• Bad positioning: Stand too close? You'll poison yourself (ask how I know)
• Wasted dragon's breath: Never brew just one potion. Make batches of 3!

FAQs About Making Lingering Potions

Troubleshooting Your Brews

Problem: Potion turned back to water bottle.
Fix: You ran out of blaze powder during process. Always check fuel!

Problem: Lingering cloud disappears instantly.
Fix: You forgot to add base effect ingredient. Redo from Nether Wart step.

Problem: Can't collect dragon's breath.
Fix: Ensure you're using EMPTY bottles on purple clouds (not splash potions).

When Brewing Just Won't Work

If ingredients won't combine, check:

• Brewing stand has blaze powder
• You're not trying to modify maximum duration potions
• No mod conflicts (common with automation mods)
• You're on Java/Bedrock latest version (older versions had bugs)

Advanced Combat Uses

Beyond basics, here's how pros use lingering potions:

• PvP Trap: Hide healing clouds near your base respawn point
• Mob Farming: Poison clouds above hoppers for automatic drops
• Boss Fights: Throw weakness clouds before engaging ravagers
• Troll Defense: Slowness potions around your diamond stash

My favorite move? During a raid, throwing instant damage lingering potions through iron bars. Mobs can't reach you but the cloud wrecks them. Feels illegal but totally works.

Resource Planning Table

Before starting your how to make lingering potion project, calculate costs:

See why dragon's breath farming is critical? It's always the bottleneck. Pro tip: Respawning the dragon gives 5-8 breath per fight if timed right.

Is All This Effort Worth It?

Honestly? For single-player survival, maybe not. But for these situations, absolutely:

• Hardcore mode where death = delete world
• Multiplayer anarchy servers
• Speedrunning certain challenges
• When you just wanna feel like an alchemy master

That satisfying purple cloud explosion? Pure dopamine. Even after all these years.

* * *

Look, mastering how to make lingering potions isn't quick. My first successful batch took three real-world days between dragon fights and brewing fails. But once you've got that purple bottle in your hotbar? Nothing compares for crowd control. Just promise me you'll stockpile dragon's breath - nothing hurts worse than needing "just one more" for that perfect poison trap. Happy brewing!