Weapon guide
A good sword order starts before the anvil opens. Decide the damage enchantment, choose the utility enchantments that fit your world, and then combine books in a way that keeps the final sword from carrying too much prior work. The goal is not merely to make a maxed-looking sword; it is to finish a weapon you can afford, understand, and keep usable without wasting the rare books that define the build.
The first decision is not the combine order. It is the damage identity of the sword. Sharpness is the general-purpose choice for most survival worlds because it helps against many targets. Smite is excellent if the sword is mainly for undead mobs such as skeletons, zombies, wither skeletons, or the Wither. Bane of Arthropods is narrower and usually chosen only for a specific spider or silverfish use case.
Because these damage enchantments conflict, you should not stage books until the choice is final. If you accidentally build a Sharpness book and later decide the sword should be Smite, that book may still be useful elsewhere, but it cannot become the same sword. Make the conflict decision first, then plan the rest.
A typical all-purpose sword uses Sharpness, Unbreaking, Mending, Looting, and often Fire Aspect. Knockback and Sweeping Edge are preference choices. Knockback can keep mobs away, but it can also push enemies out of reach. Sweeping Edge is helpful for groups in Java Edition, but not every environment treats it the same way. Fire Aspect is useful for cooked drops and damage over time, though it can complicate some farms or enderman fights.
Rank the enchantments by value before combining. Damage and Looting usually define the sword. Unbreaking and Mending define long-term durability. Preference enchantments should not force the whole build into Too Expensive. If a late optional enchantment makes the plan fail, it is often better to skip it than to rebuild the entire sword.
The safest sword route usually combines books into small groups before the final item combine. For example, one staged book might hold Sharpness and Looting, while another holds Unbreaking and Mending. Fire Aspect or Sweeping Edge can be paired where the calculator finds the lower cost. This keeps the sword itself from gaining prior work too early.
Avoid adding single books to the sword one after another unless the calculator shows that it is still cheap. A sword that receives Sharpness, then Looting, then Unbreaking, then Mending, then Fire Aspect directly has a long item history by the final step. That history is exactly what makes a finished sword unexpectedly expensive.
Two Sharpness V books are not always equal. A clean Sharpness V book from a villager or loot chest can be much easier to use than one made from many low-level books. The same applies to Looting III, Unbreaking III, and Mending. If you build every source book from smaller pieces, plan those smaller pieces too, because the hidden history comes with the book into the final combine.
Also decide which enchantments deserve the cleanest books. A clean damage or Looting book usually matters more than a preference enchantment, because it affects the core route. Put the strongest sources on the main sword, and use older or heavily combined books only after the calculator shows the final item still has room.
If you have several copies of the same enchantment, test different sources. The calculator can compare the visible set, but you also need to know whether the book was already worked. When in doubt, use the cleaner book on the most important sword and save the messy book for a less expensive item.
For a common Sharpness sword, test this kind of structure: pair Sharpness with Looting, pair Unbreaking with Mending, pair optional Fire Aspect or Sweeping Edge with the cheaper side, then combine staged books before applying to the sword. The exact left-right order should follow the calculator result, not memory, because cost can change with source history.
Before spending levels, enter the sword and books into the workbench, compare Least XP and Least Prior Work, and confirm the final combine is safe. If you plan to keep modifying or repairing the sword, the prior work route may be worth a slightly higher immediate level cost. If you only need the sword finished now, the least XP route may be enough.