Minecraft announced a new weapon, the spear, in its “Mounts of Mayhem” game drop, scheduled for a 2025 holiday release. The new weapon, which has been in Java Edition snapshots since October, is designed to encourage more strategic approaches to combat by focusing on timing and positioning.

The spear offers two attack types, a jab and a charge, each with a distinct purpose. The standard jab is a quick melee strike with longer reach than a sword, enabling players to create space from enemies. The charge is a high-damage attack that deals more damage based on the player’s or their mount’s velocity.

This damage mechanic makes the spear particularly effective during mounted combat. A high-speed charge on a mount, like a horse or even an elytra, can deal massive damage. The technique is also effective for knocking mounted opponents off their animals. Dylan Thomas, a sophomore student from ERHS shares “I do like the mechanics… I think they should add a damage cap so they only do so much damage with the spear.”

For unmounted players, the spear can be used for crowd control, its long-reaching jab attack able to hit multiple enemies in a line. A sprint-jump combined with a charge can also create a velocity-based damage bonus, allowing for high-damage strikes without a mount. Jonathan Lin, a senior from ERHS shares “The new mechanics for the spear is actually really good and could possibly be the best weapon because of how the damage works.” We can gather that players are finding the spear fun, and a great addition to the game of Minecraft.

As of now, Mojang continues to refine the feature based on player feedback from snapshots, recent adjustments have included an increase to the charge attack’s damage and the addition of visual cues like effects for a successful charged hit.