Minecraft Update Improves Combat Dramatically

It's always a big deal when the biggest video game in the world gets an update. Minecraft is still being played by billions around the globe, and its popularity shows no signs of waning anytime soon--in fact, if anything, it might be getting more popular, with Mojang releasing a Minecraft educational edition for uses in schools and a TellTale Spin-off which so far has proven to be… well… it's proven to be. That ain't bad, all things considered.

So, what else could be in the future for the ultimate sandbox game? Well, one of the things that had always held Minecraft back--or at least, vanilla Minecraft--was the fact that Combat was terribly lackluster. It was functional, sure, but other games that were inspired by it, from Terraria to Nom Nom Galaxy, were able to improve the combat and add significant depth to proceedings. Well, with the new 1.9 patch, Minecraft is stepping up its combat game--perhaps not enough to put it on even footing with the above games, but at least a step in the right direction.

Dubbed “the combat patch”, this baby will add a whole new host of features and depth to the combat thus far unexplored. For example--you can now use shields, which will be used to help defend you from attacks like arrows and other weapons. To help you use this shield, the game will now let you use weapons and tools in your off-hand, which means you can now hold a torch and hold a pick at the same time. Additionally, spamming your mouse will no longer give you an advantage in fights--weapons have a cool-down per swing now, and swinging prematurely will dramatically weaken the attack.

Weapons will now have different cooldowns. Swords, who now have a special sweeping attack, are pretty medium-teir. Hoes are fast, but do little damage. Axes are slow and damaging, and have a special crushing attack now.

Also in this update: new monsters to kill with these attacks!

There's a slew of new content in the patch, and you can find the full list here. If you have been absent from Minecraft for a while, maybe this will be your call to return? Or maybe you could finally escape the pit of addiction once and for all and move on?

...yeah, I didn't think so.