The Latest Mounts of Mayhem Update Brings Forth a Stunningly Wild New Spear to the Game

The seasonal game drop for the block-building phenomenon has landed — and it features the initial fresh armament introduced into the title since the mace made its debut. The spear is finally here and it might just change how you play Minecraft, particularly when you thrive on pandemonium.

An Armament Designed for Chaotic Rides

The Mayhem Mounts update also adds a host of fresh elements and updates related to riding animals in the game. That driving concept made the spear the natural choice for this update, as the development team had long felt it was the moment to introduce a new weapon.

"From the outset, we understood that we desired a new weapon that would add some more range, and we designed it specifically for mounted combat," noted a senior product manager. "We prototyped a few different ideas, but the lance was the one that both played wonderfully when we ran our trials and also was visually fitting for the use case."

If you're asking yourself whether mounted combat means you can joust against your friends on horseback, the response is a resounding yes. In fact, there's even an combat move excellently designed for it.

"[Jousting on horses is a major use cases for the spear, and it's a blast," the lead says. "The spear has a dual attack system: You have the quick stab, where you pierce your enemy. But you also have a sprinting strike where you couch your lance and get greater injury [with] the more pace you have. So [it’s] tailor-made for jousting on horses."

Aerial Mayhem & Deep-Sea Exploration

The unruly pleasure doesn't have to stop there, though. If you're deep enough into the game that you've visited The End, the developers have an truly outlandish idea. "If you are very late, [spears are] excellent for equipping the wings and flying forth and unleashing absolute pandemonium," she suggests.

In other words: Aerial lance combat is now real, and it needs to become an competitive event without delay.

Another key feature in this latest drop is the Nautilus. This aquatic being, which is inspired by the seashells players have gathered for years, can be domesticated and ridden for underwater travel. Not only will it transport you through the water more swiftly than swimming, it'll also preserve your oxygen levels, so there's no need to come up for air for fresh air.

The other inclusions are largely things that are out to get you, as is the way of Minecraft. Naturally, there's also a undead nautilus popping up in the water, frequently with a Drowned on its back. If you succeed in take care of the Drowned, though, you can befriend the undead mount — or the standard version, for that matter — with a puffer fish.

"We've been thinking about this challenge on and off, and again, like with the spear and [adding] more mounts, it felt like the right time to also introduce something for aquatic environments," the lead elaborates. "For the Nautilus in particular, we had a number of concepts for underwater mounts that we wanted to try out, but the Nautilus design sketches looked compelling, and we have the tie-in to the Nautilus shell that was pre-existing in the game."

She also points out that there are actually a pair of variants of undead nautilus: standard and coral zombie Nautilus. "[The variants] add variety to what you discover underwater."

Desert Dangers and Long-Awaited Tweaks

Further inclusions include the Parched, desert-exclusive undead archers that can withstand the sun, which means there's no getting away from them if you end up in that region. Sometimes you'll see them on zombified camels, another fresh creature. Camel husks have an excellent design that sees their skeletal frame exposed. The applies equally to undead steeds, who have a analogous exposed-rib aesthetic and can sometimes be encountered after dark with a lance-wielding zombie on their back.

The final pair of items on the drop's list are minor quality-of-life improvements, including some much-anticipated changes to riding horses. Now, you can ford rivers and lakes while atop a horse. Furthermore, high-tier barding is now craftable at the crafting table, so you can give your horse the ultimate protection it is worthy of.

A Fittingly Chaotic Finale

Overall, the last content update of the year is a notable addition. The spear on its own — and the potential for chaos — would have constituted a major improvement. Throw in the Nautilus, and new threats seeking your end, and Minecraft's definitely getting a little more dangerous.

The Mounts of Mayhem content drop is out now for Java and Bedrock editions of Minecraft.