Minecraft Sword VS Axe VS Trident, Which Is The Best Melee Weapon?

While Minecraft is all about building, farming and relaxing, there are a lot of hostile creatures in the vast open world. You can use various weapons to kill them, however, the most popular are swords, axes and tridents. In this article, Gurugamer is going to compare Sword vs Axe vs Trident in Minecraft to see which is the best melee weapon.

1. Sword VS Axe VS Trident, which has the better DPS?

Damage chart

Sword

Material	Wooden	Gold	Stone	Iron	Diamond	Netherite
Attack Damage	4	4	5	6	7	8
Attack Speed	1.6	1.6	1.6	1.6	1.6	1.6
Damage/Second (DPS)	6.4	6.4	8	9.6	11.2	12.8
Durability	59	32	131	250	1561	2031

Axe

Material	Wooden	Gold	Stone	Iron	Diamond	Netherite
Attack Damage	7	7	9	9	9	10
Attack Speed	0.8	1	0.8	0.9	1	1
Damage/Second (DPS)	5.6	7	7.2	8.1	9	10
Durability	59	32	131	250	1561	2031

Trident

Attack	Melee	Melee (critical)	Range
Attack damage	9	13.5 × 6.75	8
Damage/Second (DPS)	9.9	14.3	?
Durability	250

Analysis

In Minecraft Java, the axe has higher damage than the sword. It allows the player to focus their power on a single enemy alone. This lets the player deal very high single target damage to an enemy, taking them out in just one or two hits. However, the weakness of the axe is its inability to deal damage to multiple targets.

The Netherite sword is still the highest DPS weapon in the game.

The sword, on the other hand, deals less damage to enemies. However, it has the ability to do a swipe attack that damages multiple foes. Because of this, the sword is better when dealing with a group of enemies.

The trident is probably the most special weapon of the three, as it has no upgrade levels. In Java, the trident has as much damage as an Iron sword, however, it is as deadly as a Netherite sword in bedrock. Because of this, getting a trident early on would give you a much better time in combat.

Verdict

A trident is more powerful early on while an axe is the best in the late game with more damage for manual farms. The sword is pretty much the mid-tier of the two.

2. Which is the best weapon in Minecraft PVP?

To use the Axe as a weapon, you need to practice a lot with the hit and run tactic, smacking the enemy then dodging to wait for the next attack to be available. Sword's fast attack, on the other hand, allow players to chain combo much easier. This matters a lot in PVP where you have to fight other people.

However, when a shield is taken into account, the axe gets an edge with its ability to disable shields. Sword users, on the other hand, would be helpless.

The trident has no advantage over either the sword or the axe in PVP, however, players can use it as a throwing weapon. This allows them to take out some of the enemies' HP before or after engaging. Afterward, just switch to either the sword or axe to fight.

Verdict

The Axe is the best for PVP with shields, but for normal PVP, the sword has an edge.

3. Which is the best weapon in Minecraft PVE?

In Minecraft PVE, you often fight one or two enemies at the same time instead of getting yourself surrounded by a crowd. This is why the axe is effective - you can just one or two-shot an enemy so that they can't damage you. While the sword's sweeping attack allows you to fight multiple foes at the same time, you would not want to be surrounded at Normal or Hard.

Minecraft Trident Enchantments Repair — The trident is best used underwater as it deals extra damage to aquatic mobs with the Impaling enchantment.

The axe also allows you to break logs and blocks derived from wood faster than by using other tools. Lastly, the trident has a lot of useful enchantment for underwater combat, alongside a skill that can summon lightning.

Verdict

The Axe is a better PVE weapon in general, with the Sword rather lacking in extra features. However, the Sword is much easier to use. The Trident is only useful for its special feature.

4. How to get a Trident in Minecraft

The only way to get a trident in Minecraft is by killing a Drowned that is carrying a trident. Not all spawned Drowneds will carry a trident though. A Drowned has 6.25% (15% in Java Edition) to spawn with a trident. When you kill a Drowned with a trident, it will have an 8.5% of dropping a Trident. If your weapon has a Looting enchantment, the chance of getting a trident will increase by 1% for every level of the Looting enchantment.

The Drowned — Not all Drowneds will spawn with a trident in Minecraft

5. How to use Shields in Minecraft

PVE

To use a shield, just equip it on the off-hand slot and hold the interaction button to raise it. Using‌ a shield causes a player to slow to a sneaking pace, and after 5 game ticks (0.25 seconds), attacks coming from in front of the player are blocked, dealing no damage.

Players can not attack while holding up the shield - they must put it down first. Even explosion damage from creepers and TNT can be blocked. Most blocked projectiles that carry status effects (such as shulker bullets‌, flaming arrows, or tipped arrows) do not affect the blocker. Knockback from melee attacks and projectiles is prevented while knockback from other sources is reduced significantly.

PVP

The shield pretty much blocks everything the opponent can fire at you from long range. Tridents & arrows can be deflected into other targets. Just avoid axes, as each hit can disable shields for 5 seconds.

The shield directionally blocks all attacks coming from within 90° of the direction the wielder is facing, providing a full hemisphere of coverage to them. If the wielder faces straight up or straight down, they are likely to miss their blocks.