The spear is a brand-new weapon that dropped with the Minecraft Mounts of Mayhem update. After years of waiting, Mojang finally added a basic weapon you can craft with simple items. It has a jab and charge attack, plus its exclusive enchantment called lunge.
The spear's an interesting weapon, but there's a good case it'll never get as popular as a sword or axe. It'll likely stay a secondary option for special situations only.
Spear's base jab attack is not as powerful
From its debut in snapshots right up to the official release in Minecraft Mounts of Mayhem, the jab attack never got tweaked. Sure, the charge attack is unique because damage scales with your speed, but the jab is pretty basic.
For example, even a diamond sword's jab only does two hearts of damage to an entity. Stack that up against a diamond sword or axe, and the spear's jab damage doesn't come close. A diamond sword takes out a zombie in two swings, while an axe might need just one crit swing. Since you'll jab way more often than charge, it needed to hit harder to compete. That's why the spear won't be anyone's go-to weapon for the whole game.
Spear can only be used as a secondary weapon for special attacks
Another reason the spear won't match swords or axes is that its best strategy isn't simple to master. It really shines with a charge attack when you're moving fast.
The charge attack damage goes up based on your speed. So if you're swooping down on an elytra and charging, it can outdamage a sword or axe—even ones with sharpness enchantments. But you can't pull that off all the time, so it'll mostly be a secondary melee weapon for players, much like the mace.
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