Ready for your first Minecraft jousting tournament? As revealed in the latest Minecraft Live presentation, the upcoming Mounts of Mayhem update will include the first new tiered weapon since the game’s inception: the spear. Having relied on axes and swords as the zombie-chopping weapons of choice for over 15 years, the spear is a surprising addition to Minecraft’s tiered arsenal.
Since Minecraft’s release in 2011, the blocky crafting game has received numerous updates, introducing lovely cherry blossoms, colorful axolotls, and even Ancient Cities. It’s a bit strange, therefore, that Minecraft never expanded its roster of main tools and weapons. True, we’ve seen a few new weapons over the years, such as the throwable trident, but none of these were craftable, tiered weapons. The most recent tiered tool, the hoe, was introduced in an alpha version of the game in February 2010.
The Mounts of Mayhem update will finally shake things up by introducing spears, causing swords to no longer be the default Minecraft weapon. The spear should unlock new ways to deal with Minecraft’s various foes and unlock new possibilities for PvP battles.
Being a “tiered” weapon means that the spear will come in various versions based on the resources you’ve used for crafting. You can make a wooden spear, an iron spear, a gold spear… Just like swords, axes, shovels, and pickaxes, the rarer the material, the better the durability and attack power. The crafting recipe is simple: place two sticks in a diagonal line, with an additional resource for the spearhead at the top. Two sticks and one copper ingot, for example, will turn into a copper spear.
Minecraft spears will have two different attacks, including a slow but high-ranged jab attack and a charge attack. The latter means you’ll have to hold the spear in your hand, then speed into your opponent – the faster you charge, the higher the spear’s damage output. Of course, charging while riding a horse, boat, or even the Elytra wingsuit is the best (and coolest) way to knock down your enemies.
What makes the jousting attacks a bit tricky, however, is their time limit. You must lower the spear to charge into an enemy, but you won’t be able to hold this position indefinitely due to its weight. The more valuable the spear, the heavier it’ll be, so a golden spear will be harder to wield compared to a wooden one.
Unfortunately, players aren’t the only ones who can wield spears; the zombies have gotten their hands on the new tiered weapon as well. What’s more, Mounts of Mayhem introduces the zombie horse mount, which spawns with a spear-wielding zombie rider included.
Besides the spear and zombie horse, Mounts of Mayhem introduces a new underwater mount, the Nautilus. That’s right, you’ll be able to explore the underwater world like never before – but make sure you’ve unlocked underwater breathing with some help from the local pufferfish. Beware of the zombie version of the Nautilus, which may be ridden by a trident-throwing Drowned, who’s probably every bit as dangerous as the horse-riding spear-wielding zombies.
The Mounts of Mayhem update and its spears are set to arrive later this year, following Minecraft‘s Copper Age update released on September 30.
