Loyalty vs Riptide: Which enchantment is better in Minecraft?

The trident is one of the more unique weapons in Minecraft. It can be used as a melee weapon or a ranged weapon.

Like many weapons and tools in Minecraft, tridents can have different enchantments applied to them. They can be enchanted with the likes of Loyalty, Channeling, and Riptide.

Loyalty and Riptide happen to be two of the best enchantments for the weapon. However, which is the better option?

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Why Loyalty is better than Riptide in Minecraft

A Loyalty-enchanted trident returning to its owner (Image via Mojang)

One could argue that Loyalty and Riptide are somewhat opposite enchantments in Minecraft.

Loyalty allows the trident to return to the player who threw it, removing the need to walk over and reclaim it. Meanwhile, Riptide throws the player alongside the trident itself. However, this only works when the player is wet. This means that Riptide won't work unless the player is in a body of water or the rain. This makes Riptide a somewhat situational enchantment, leaving Loyalty as a much more reliable option.

Compared to Riptide, Loyalty is also more helpful at keeping the player out of immediate danger. By allowing the trident to return, the player doesn't have to worry about throwing it and placing themselves within striking distance of hostile mobs or hazardous blocks.

Riptide, of course, has its applications for melee-friendly Minecraft players, but the fact that it only works with water involved is what limits it.

That isn't to say that Riptide is a bad enchantment. However, Loyalty can be used more often and keeps the player out of compromising situations since they're not traveling along with the trident.

If a player has Riptide on their trident and makes an errant throw, they can deal serious damage to themselves. They would either place themselves near hostile mobs or outright kill themselves if the trident is thrown into a bad location, such as a pool of lava.

Overall, Loyalty and Riptide are both excellent enchantments when used correctly, but Loyalty remains a better option due to its ability to keep players out of danger. It also makes the trident a very helpful ranged weapon in case players run out of arrows for their bow or crossbow.