Mojang has just given players their first official look at Minecraft’s next update – Tricky Trials. Along with the rundown on what to expect, they also gave us a release date of June 13th. With such a short window between now and when we can play it, here are the five changes we anticipate the most for Minecraft’s Tricky Trials update.
Tricky Trial Chambers
The Trial Chambers are brand-new structures that can be found throughout the world. Not only will they be visually striking being built out of copper blocks, but there will be plenty to do. They’re home to two new mobs and some other challenges, although they didn’t explain what these are. The Trial Chambers will also be filled with traps designed to get in your head and lead you astray.
If the Trial Chambers aren’t enough action for you, you’re in luck. You can make them even more difficult if you can find an ominous bottle in a dungeon or from a raid captain. Drinking this will give you the Bad Omen effect, but if you avoid villages and go straight to a Trial Chamber, it’ll become Ominous and scale up the difficulty. Not only that, but it’ll scale up the loot you get to make it worth your while.
Two New Mobs
Minecraft’s new update is bringing with it not one, but two new mobs to contend with. Going deep enough into the Trial Chambers can see you face a spawner for either the Breeze or the Bogged. The Bogged will also spawn in swamps (bogs, get it?), but it’s unclear if the Breeze will spawn elsewhere. It’ll be exciting to see how fast they spawn and how tough they are to take down.
From what Mojang has shown of the Tricky Trials update, the spawners will appear in similar areas as they would in a standard dungeon. They’ll probably have the same durability and weaknesses as regular spawners, but they’ll certainly be better defended. The Breeze can hit you with a strong gust of wind that will send you flying, and the Bogged are poisonous, so mind your health before going in and bring some milk.
The Vault
If you’re wondering what the point of putting yourself through these Trial Chambers is, it’s for the loot. There will be rewards like armor pieces with unique ways to earn them. Once you’ve defeated a spawner, you’ll be given access to a Vault, where you get your rewards. If you play with more people, the challenges and rewards will be scaled accordingly, so be sure to gather a group of friends before heading in if you’re not feeling confident.
The Vault will function differently than a regular chest in that each player can only open it once. It requires a Trial Key, and each player will only get one per Trial. Once you’ve used your key, you’ll be rewarded but your friends will still have to claim their prize. This also means that the more people you bring, the more rewards your group will earn.
New Tricky Weapons
Not only are there new combat challenges to contend with, but you’ll have access to some new toys to complete them with. The Tricky Trials update will bring the Mace, a melee weapon you can use to crush your enemies – literally. Not only can you swing it like any other weapon, but you can use it for a “fall-attack” which will deal extra knockback depending on how high you fall from. It can also be boosted with three unique enchantments: Density, Breach, and Wind Charge.
If maces aren’t quite your speed, there’s another interesting option that you can bring back from the Trial Chambers. Defeating the Breezes will reward you with a Wind Charge, a thrown item that deals damage and knocks enemies back. On top of being useful in combat, you can also use it for traversal. The knockback from the Wind Charges will boost you when you jump, like using a rocket or grenade in old-school Halo.
The Crafter
If you haven’t used Redstone recently, dust off your books and prepare to use your knowledge. The Crafter is a new block in the Tricky Trials update that can craft recipes for you automatically. You’ll have to load it up with whatever resources you need, connect it to a Redstone power source and pick a recipe before it drops what you requested. This can be useful if you’ve got a lot of crafting to do, but other things have to get done.
From how it looks, there should be plenty of ways to craft using the new crafter. It appears only to be a single block, so depending on your skill level with Redstone, you could hook it up to some cool contraptions. Mojang showed it off with a water-conveyor belt, but you could surely use pistons or other mechanics. Regardless of your choice, Minecraft’s Tricky Trials update should let you expand your horizons even further than ever before.
