Here's how Minecraft Chase the Skies update will improve the game's multiplayer experience

Minecraft is about to receive one of the most impactful updates in recent times. The Chase the Skies game drop brings a lot of changes on paper, but what you might not realize is how much it will influence the multiplayer experience of the blocky world.

For a really long time, the developers released updates that followed a cookie-cutter formula: hold the mob vote event, add the mob that won the event, and then maybe add a new area that can be discovered by players, such as the end city or the trial chambers.

However, this was not an optimal method because players had to wait for a long time to get something that didn't feel substantial. Hence, Mojang changed everything with the announcement of a new update structure: smaller but more frequent updates.

By far, all the updates have been great. The Spring to Life game drop improved the ambiance with mob variants, falling leaves effects, and firefly bush, among others. The next game drop will make exploration of the blocky world more fun.

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Minecraft Chase the Skies will make multiplayer more fun

Let’s go over the basics first: the Chase the Skies update brings new ghast variants that add flying mechanics, makes saddles craftable, introduces the locator bar UI feature, and makes the lead more functional. While all of these new features appear separate, an invisible “leash” connects them.

The new ghast variants make exploration interesting. The dried ghast can be found in the nether (or you can get the recipe material to craft one), and you have one more reason to visit the hellish dimension. Grow the dried ghast into the ghastling and then the happy ghast, and now you have a mob that can carry four players at the same time — a first of its kind.

Apart from the camel, which is very slow, and the boat, no other mob or even vehicle allows more than two players to travel at the same time. This is unfortunate, as Minecraft is more fun with friends. The happy ghast will allow four players to travel at once. But there’s more.

The locator bar is another addition with the Chase the Skies update, and it shows the location of other players who are nearby. This makes getting to your friend easier and more intuitive. This feature is specifically designed to make the multiplayer experience smoother.

However, the most important change coming to Minecraft might just be craftable saddles. For over a decade, players have asked the developers to make saddles craftable because it is a utility item rather than a rare loot. Unlike diamond armor or Totem of Undying, saddles are needed to ride mobs such as horses, pigs, and even the strider.

To find the saddle, you needed to explore the vast world of Minecraft. But for it to not be tedious, you needed a horse, which in turn required a saddle. This catch-22 situation of requiring a saddle to find a saddle was a big issue. Thankfully, the update will change things, and the developers have made sure that the recipe for crafting saddles remains cheap.

But how does it help in the multiplayer experience? Well, since the saddle can be crafted — that too easily in early gameplay — you can have multiple players with their own horses exploring the world.

The improvement of leash mechanics allows you to tie mobs to different objects, such as the boat. You can even attach a happy ghast to a boat, essentially making it a hot air balloon. This simple trick allows for two players in the boat and four players on top of the mob. A vehicle that can carry six players at once is something many players have wished Minecraft had.