How the Riptide enchantment works in Minecraft

The Riptide enchantment in Minecraft is an enchantment for tridents. It grants players the ability to quickly propel themselves forward.

Tridents are a versatile weapon that can be used to strike enemies at melee distance or be thrown to do damage from range.

However, tridents that have been enchanted with Riptide, no longer function the same way when it comes to being thrown.

Instead of being able to be thrown, Riptide enchanted tridents allow players to vault themselves forward with the help of water, rain, or snow.

Essentially, players themselves will become a living projectile, and will do damage when they collide with a mob or another player.

This article will be breaking down how the Riptide enchantment works in Minecraft, as well as discuss how players can get it on their very own trident.

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How the Riptide enchantment works in Minecraft

There are three total enchantment levels for the Riptide enchantment, which will progressively increase the number of blocks that a player will be able to travel.

This means that with Riptide III, Minecraft players will travel a greater distance than if they used a trident with Riptide I.

The distance that players will travel when using a trident with Riptide, can be calculated using the following formulae.

Blocks traveled while in rain, snow, or standing in water = (6 x the enchantment level) +3

Blocks traveled while underwater = (4 x the enchantment level) + 3

In order for players to be able to use their Riptide enchanted trident to travel, they will need to be in contact with some form of water. The water can be in variety of different states, such as during weather conditions with snow and rain.

Riptide enchanted tridents can also be used underwater, but as noted previously, players will travel less distance underwater.

In a way, tridents enchanted with Riptide will act somewhat like a ranged weapon. Minecraft players will be able to reach greater heights by launching themselves straight upward, or go farther by launching themselves from a higher altitude.

When it comes to combat, players will deal throwing damage to any mobs or a players that they collide with. Players will also do increased critical damage if they are falling.

Players who successfully make contact with another entity, will suffer one durability to their trident on both Java and Bedrock Edition.

However, Java Edition tridents will suffer an additional point of durability for every time they are used by a player to vault forward. Players on Bedrock Edition have the capability to hit multiple targets at once.

A neat interaction to note is that tridents that have been enchanted by Riptide can be thrown by a dispenser, but they will travel about ten times faster than a normal trident.

Minecraft players should note that the Riptide enchantment is incompatible with the Loyalty enchantment. Under normal conditions, players can only have one or the other on their trident, and not both.

Using console commands to put both enchantments on a single trident will cause the weapon to no longer have the ability to be thrown. The trident will instead function as if it only had Riptide.

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Getting the Riptide Enchantment

An enchanting table in Minecraft (Image via Sportskeeda/Minecraft)

Riptide can be placed on any trident by using an enchanting table, expending experience earned by the player and some lapis lazuli.

Higher-level enchantments can be placed on appropriate items by surrounding an enchanting table with additional bookshelves. Minecraft players should note that higher-level enchantments will cost an increased amount of experience to obtain.

This enchantment can also be placed on a trident with an anvil and the correct corresponding enchantment book. Console commands can also be used to grant enchantments for players who do not mind a bit of cheating.

A complete guide for enchantments in Minecraft can be found here.