Why Minecraft 1.21 is the best update after Caves & Cliffs

Minecraft 1.21 has very quickly shot up the ranks of recent updates in the eyes of the community for a few different reasons. The biggest of these are the new Minecraft mace weapons, which add a super fun and hard-to-master new way to fight, and trial chambers, which offer a compelling combat experience.

However, these are just two of the many reasons why 1.21 is one of the best Minecraft updates in recent history. These two reasons, along with the rest, are detailed below.

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Why Minecraft 1.21 is the best update since Caves & Cliffs

Trial chambers are amazing structures

Trial chambers are as well designed as they are deadly (Image via Mojang)

Trial chambers are the coolest of 1.21's additions. These are large, stronghold-sized underground structures made entirely of copper and tuff. They are filled with different spawners that, if players can defeat them, will drop great rewards, including keys to the new vault block.

Vault blocks are a new loot system, unique to each player that loots them. These vaults can drop great items, including books for some of Minecraft's best enchantments, like mending, silk touch, and fortune, along with diamonds, emeralds, and even tridents.

Trial chambers are also super interesting due to their ominous variants. This is an optional way to take on a trial chamber caused by bad omen, that gives better rewards due to the more dangerous mobs that spawn.

If future structures all come with a secondary, more difficult, way to take them on, then combat and exploration will remain exciting mechanics for many years to come.

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Wolf changes make them viable combatants

Wolf armor makes groups of tamed wolves a true threat to hostile mobs (Image via Mojang)

Mojang has also finally tackled the longstanding issues with wolves head-on. The newly added dyeable Minecraft wolf armor, craftable using armadillo scutes, acts like shields for the animals, converting HP damage into durability damage. This finally gives a way for players to use their beloved pets in combat without having them be at risk of being insta-killed by mobs like creepers.

The extra wolf variations coming with Minecraft 1.21 might not have anything to do with wolf combat, but it's also a super cool change worth mentioning, along with wolf armor.

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Bad omen changes set up an exciting future of optional challenges

Bad omen's status effect symbol also got revamped in 1.21 (Image via Mojang)

Bad omen was a surprising feature to see revamped in 1.21, but the changes were more than welcome. Now, rather than automatically applying to players, bad omen is applied via consumable items called ominous bottles dropped by raid captains and Minecraft vault blocks.

The most interesting change to bad omen, however, relates to trial chambers. If players enter a trial chamber with bad omen, it will convert to trial omen and start an ominous event. These are an optional way to take on trial chambers that make them give better loot at the risk of more heavily armored mobs to fight. The interesting part of this change is what it might mean for future structure additions.

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The Crafter is revolutionary

The crafter is a redstone component that allows players to funnel ingredients to automatically craft items. This is probably the biggest change to the game from the update, at least in terms of its wide-scale impact on the future of the game.

Automation was always something fringe in vanilla, with the truest automation being added by Minecraft's best technical mods. This makes seeing it added in an official capacity a huge deal and an exciting indication of the bright future of redstone.