Ghast

Ghast
Health Points	10 ()
Behavior	Hostile
Attack Strength	Varies by distance from Ghast and distance from center of explosion. Maximum damage: 17 ( x 8.5)
Drops	&format=original Ghast Tear (0-1) &format=original Gunpowder (0-2)
Location	Nether Wastes Soul Sand Valley
First Appearance	Alpha 1.2.0 (Halloween Update)
Network ID	57
Experience Points	5
Technical Name	minecraft:ghast

Ghasts are hostile, Nether dwelling mobs that float around and shoot explosive fireballs at players. Ghasts are cube-shaped with 9 large tentacles hanging beneath them, and their main body is an exact 4x4x4 block cube, but despite their ghost-like appearance and their ability to move through other mobs, they cannot move through solid blocks, and they do not take extra damage from the smite enchantment. Ghasts were first added in the Halloween update and will spawn anywhere in the Nether where there is a 5x5x5 block space.

Behavior

File:GSF-HV.png

Multiple fire charges being fired from a Ghast. Notice this is in Beta, so the fire charges are not textured. This came to be as of Minecraft 1.2.1.

When a ghast finds a player, it will keep floating around, but it will face a player and start opening its red mouth and eyes and spitting fire charges whenever it has a clear shot. The only warning a player will get is the ghast's high-pitched scream before the shot is fired. These fireballs create explosions and light nearby blocks on fire. Due to this, ghasts can very quickly cover the landscape with fire (this is most likely why you see fire on netherrack when you first enter the nether). Ghasts will always float around randomly unless a player comes within one chunk from one, which is when it will attempt to gain altitude but keeps shooting at a player. When wandering, ghasts will make peaceful, medium-pitched sounds, but when fighting, its sounds will sound more like high-pitched screeching.

Defeating a Ghast

To defeat a ghast, if it can be approached, it's best to stay behind walls as much as possible until the distance is close, when it will fly upwards, which is the easiest time to defeat a ghast with a ranged weapon like a Bow. If a player cannot get within range to get the ghast to fly upwards, then it's probably best to defeat it by knocking its fire charges back at it by left-clicking while holding any item, which will not always hit but is effective at defending and attacking at the same time. Alternatively, if multiple ghasts are around, then it is best to try and get one of the ghasts between a player and the other ghast, Causing one to kill the other. Another tactic with a lone ghast is to use a fishing rod (if close enough) to draw it close enough to damage it with a sword. Or if you have an elytra simply just fly to the ghast and do melee damage.

Trivia

• Ghasts' hit-boxes are off. Their tentacles "no-clip", which means that the head needs to be attacked to defeat it.
• When Ghasts turn away just before they attack, they will still be in the attack face, even if they're not firing any projectiles. 
• Ghasts cannot destroy any blocks with a blast resistance of 26 or higher (eg iron bars, Nether Brick Blocks, or cobblestone but cobblestones blast resistance lowers every blast and regular stone doesn't.)
• Ghasts will cancel their fire charge if a player that they are attacking moves behind a block.
• Ghasts always look and sound the same, no matter how bright it is, or where they are to a player.
• If the crosshair is moved on top of a ghast's fire charge, then the box around the equipped item will light up.
• Ghasts, if spawned in the End, will automatically be hostile towards the Ender Dragon.
• In snapshots between 1.4.7 and 1.5, the fireball's texture was accidentally changed to a diamond helmet and back again.
• The ghast's sounds are made by C418's cat. It's supposedly pretty much the sound it makes when disturbed while sleeping, or modification on the cat's sounds.
• The ghast is the biggest natural mob by volume, same with the Ender Dragon.
• There is a currently unused sound for ghast called "affectionate_scream.ogg".
• A ghast can destroy a portal by extinguishing it, potentially leaving no exit from the Nether. However, if they shoot the disabled portal again, it will relight the portal. both of these occurrences are quite rare without player intervention.
• When the ghasts were going to be added in Minecraft, they were planned to be spawned in the Overworld through the Nether portal a player created. This idea was removed. However, if the portal is large enough, ghasts can teleport through it and enter the Overworld.
• In the early days of the ghast, the fireball texture was, weirdly enough, a snowball.
• A rebound fireball will instantly kill a ghast on impact, no matter how much health the ghast has.
• If a spawner is made to spawn a ghast, then the ghast model will be bigger than the frame.
• Knocking a fire charge back toward a ghast and killing it will earn the Return To Sender achievement/advancement.
• Fire charges that are shot from ghasts can travel underwater, and they will do so with reduced speed.
• You can hit a fire charge that was shot by a ghast with a rebound fire charge that was shot by another ghast.
• Oddly enough, iron golems will not attack ghasts. This may be because of their explosive attacks and because of how high in the sky they are.

Gallery

File:GhastNew.png

Click for full Ghast gallery.