Unless the player engages in combat very frequently, swords in general will see a far longer useful life. For the same reason, you will swing these swords fewer times in the long run, reducing the rate at which durability is expended. High damage swords are primarily advantageous because they kill mobs in fewer hits, defeating them faster and thereby reducing the chance of the Player being damaged in return. This method is efficient when defending a fortified building, but is nearly useless when exploring except for whenever the player encounters the 2-block wide spider. It is then possible to hit mobs without them seeing the player: this prevents mobs from retaliating. The player must of course have blocks over his head so that mobs do not come into the trench.

A way to use swords without being hit (and thus closing the gap between swords and bows) is to dig a trench such that the player's head is the same level as the mob's feet. Swords used to inflict more damage than bows - often significantly more depending on material, and even a wooden sword was on par with an arrow, but since the Beta 1.8 update, there are no (non-enchanted) swords that match a full-charged arrow (with a non-critical hit). The sword is a short range weapon - despite its appearance, it grants no range advantage over any other tool since Beta 1.9, including bare hands.

Sword craft online server