Minecraft spear update: Everything you need to know

Minecraft will soon receive the Mounts of Mayhem game drop, which will improve underwater exploration and overall combat. As of now, the nautilus mob and the spear weapon are the highlights of the update. While this new weapon might appear to be simple, it brings a complex combat mechanic to the blocky world.

The spear is a tiered weapon that gives you the ability to deliver a powerful attack to other mobs and players, but with some caveats. This weapon comes with both upsides and downsides, and you must practice using it before taking it out for combat. Here’s everything to know about the spear weapon coming to Minecraft and how it is different from other combat tools in the game.

---

The basics of spear weapon in Minecraft

The spear weapon can be crafted with multiple materials (Image via Mojang Studios)

Just like most of the weapons, you can craft the spear using wood, stone, and metals in the game. There are seven variants of the weapon: wood, stone, iron, copper, gold, diamond, and netherite. You can craft it using two sticks and one ingot in case of metal variants, and planks or blocks in case of stone and wooden spear.

The spear is also equipped by hostile mobs such as zombies, husks, and zombie horsemen. In the Nether, piglins and zombified piglins can spawn with the golden spear. The spear can also be enchanted, and as of now, the Lunge enchantment is exclusive to this weapon. You can also repair this weapon.

While the basics might make the spear look like any other weapon in Minecraft, it is completely different in terms of range of attack, damage dealt, and cooldown time. Here are the details of this weapon. Do note that spear is in beta stages, and the final version can be quite different from what we have now.

---

Attack and damage mechanics of the spear

Spear in Minecraft has a longer attack range and comes with jab and charged attacks (Image via Mojang Studios)

When it comes to attack, there are two ways to use the spear: jab and charged attack. The jab attack can be done using the attack button, with the damage depending on the type of spear you have. For example, gold and wooden spears do the least amount of damage, while the netherite and diamond variants do the most. Spears also have a longer reach of 4.5 blocks.

While the jab attack of higher-tier spears, such as netherite and diamond, is more, it comes with a trade-off. Spear variants that deal more damage also have lower attack speeds, meaning the wooden spear is the fastest, while the netherite spear is the slowest.

The other way of using the spear is the charged attack, which not only deals damage but also does knockback and even dismounts the player from their mounts. You can also increase the damage by increasing your speed while doing a charged attack. This includes attacks while running, on a mount, and even while gliding using an elytra.

This means you can take down the warden in just 13 strikes while using a netherite spear on elytra at maximum speed. But just like the jab attack, there are some trade-offs with the charged attack as well.

---

The trade-off for spear attacks

Better spears in Minecraft do more damage, but have their own weaknesses (Image via Mojang Studios)

There are three states of charged attacks: engaged, tired, and disengaged. Engaged deals damage, inflicts knockback, and dismounts the target. Tired attack is indicated by the spear being rotated sideways and shaking, and it just deals damage and inflicts knockback. The disengaged state lowers the spear down and only deals damage.

As with the jab attack, higher-tier spears deal more damage, and the charged attack starts faster than lower-tier variants. However, the higher-tier variants lose their ability to knockback and dismount faster than lower-tier ones. Not only that, but the better spears have a longer recovery time after a charged attack.

The mix of both negative and positive qualities makes the spear a greatly balanced weapon in Minecraft. While there is no release date for the Mounts of Mayhem update, you can expect Mojang Studios to release it by the end of the year.