Bane of Arthropods Vs. Sharpness Vs. Smite: Which Should You Choose?
Despite its reputation as an enchantment table trap, specific technical setups justify keeping a Bane of Arthropods blade. If you construct an automated string farm around double cave spider spawners, string collection bottlenecks around sweep efficiency. Keeping a dedicated, cheap iron or diamond sword enchanted with Bane of Arthropods V and Sweeping Edge inside a chest next to the killing chamber lets you clear dozens of poisoned spiders with single left-clicks without burning durability on your primary exploration gear.
For any primary weapon, however, the enchantment is dead weight. Fixing an accidental roll is simple thanks to grindstone disenchanting. Placing the afflicted weapon into a grindstone strips all non-curse modifiers, returns a fraction of the spent experience, and leaves you with a clean item ready for books or another pass at the table. If you pull a Bane book from fishing, village chests, or raid loot, save it for emergency emerald trades with librarian villagers rather than slotting it into your gear.