The Latest Mayhem Mounts Drop Brings Forth a Stunningly Wild New Spear to Your World

The seasonal game drop for Minecraft has arrived — and it includes the first new weapon added to the title since the heavy club made its debut. The lance is finally here and it might just change how you play Minecraft, particularly when you love chaos.

A Weapon Forged for Mounted Mayhem

The Mayhem Mounts update also adds a host of fresh elements and updates focused on riding animals in the game. That focus made the spear the natural choice for this update, as the creators had already known it was time for a new weapon.

"From the outset, we understood that we aimed for a fresh armament that would provide extended reach, and we designed it specifically for fighting from atop a creature," stated a senior product manager. "We prototyped a few different ideas, but the spear was the one that both handled superbly when we tested our prototypes and also looked good for the use case."

If you're wondering whether mounted combat means you can charge at your friends on horseback, the response is a definite affirmative. In fact, there's even an combat move excellently designed for it.

"Mounted lance combat] is a major functions for the spear, and it's a blast," the lead says. "The spear has a dual attack system: You have the jab attack, where you simply impale your enemy. But you also have a charge attack where you lower your spear and get greater injury [with] the more momentum you have. So [it’s] perfect for mounted duels."

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 explored The End, the developers have an even more ridiculous idea. "If you are very late, [spears are] excellent for equipping the elytra and flying forth and unleashing absolute pandemonium," she teases.

In other words: Aerial lance combat is now real, and it deserves to be an Olympic sport right away.

Another key feature in this new update is the Nautilus. This underwater creature, which is modeled after the nautilus shells we've all been collecting for years, can be tamed and ridden for submarine exploration. Not only will it transport you through the water faster than swimming, it'll also conserve your breath meter, so there's no requirement to return to the surface for fresh air.

The other inclusions are largely things that seek your demise, as is the tradition of Minecraft. Unsurprisingly, there's also a undead nautilus spawning in the water, frequently with a zombie villager on its back. If you are able to defeat the Drowned, though, you can claim the undead mount — or the standard version, for that matter — with a spiky fish.

"We've been thinking about this issue periodically, and again, like with the spear and [adding] more mounts, it appeared to be the right time to also unveil something for underwater," the developer elaborates. "For the Nautilus specifically, we had a several proposals for underwater mounts that we wanted to experiment with, but the Nautilus design sketches looked compelling, and we have the tie-in to the Nautilus shell that was already in the game."

She also adds that there are actually two distinct kinds of undead nautilus: standard and coral-infested undead mount. "[The variants] add variety to what you discover underwater."

Desert Dangers and Long-Awaited Tweaks

Other additions include the Parched, desert-exclusive undead archers that can endure the sun, which means there's no escape from them if you find yourself in that environment. Sometimes you'll see them on zombified camels, another fresh creature. These passive, zombified camels have an striking appearance that sees their skeletal frame exposed. The applies equally to zombie horses, who have a analogous exposed-rib aesthetic and can sometimes be found at night with a lance-wielding zombie on their back.

The last two things on the drop's list are smaller gameplay updates, including some highly requested adjustments to equestrian travel. Now, you can cross waterways while mounted on a horse. Also, high-tier barding is now craftable at the crafting table, so you can provide your steed with the ultimate protection it is worthy of.

A Spicy Send-Off for the Year

In summary, the last content update of the year is a pretty good one. The spear on its own — and the mayhem it enables — would have constituted a significant enhancement. Combine that with the Nautilus, and more things trying to kill you, and Minecraft's definitely getting a bit spicier.

The Mayhem Mounts content drop is available for all major editions of Minecraft.