5 best items to craft in Minecraft 1.21 update

Minecraft's 1.21 update, also known as the Tricky Trials update, is rapidly approaching its June 13, 2024, release date. As a result, countless players are preparing to delve into the update's trial chambers and collect all the goodies they contain. However, the update brings along plenty of new craftable items, some of which players will certainly want to get their hands on quickly.

While all Minecraft players have different preferences as to which items they'll craft first in the 1.21 update, it doesn't hurt to examine some of the items that may very well be a priority for players as they dive into Tricky Trials and all the content, additions, and features it brings along with it.

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Five of the best items to craft in Minecraft 1.21 Tricky Trials

1) The Mace

The mace may be one of Minecraft's strongest melee weapons if not the strongest (Image via Mojang)

By combining a heavy core found in Minecraft 1.21's ominous vaults in trial chambers and breeze rods dropped from the chambers' breeze mobs, players can craft the mace, an immensely powerful melee weapon. Although the mace only deals three hearts of damage on the ground, things become interesting if players are willing to take a vertical plunge and time their mace swings.

While in freefall, players can use the mace to make a smash attack. This attack accumulates damage based on how far a player has fallen, and if they land the attack successfully, they can inflict a massive amount of damage and also land safely thanks to the attack's ability to reset fall damage.

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2) Wind Charges

Wind charges can propel players to great heights or push back enemies (Image via Mojang)

Crafted by breaking down breeze rods, wind charges are the projectiles used by Minecraft 1.21's breeze mobs. Players can throw them, and while they don't deal much direct damage, they do have the upside of creating a rush of wind on impact. This can be used to propel players into the sky or knock enemies back as a means of crowd control.

Moreover, wind charges can be fired from dispensers, which should make for some interesting ways to scale heights or knock enemies into hazards.

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3) Potions of Oozing

Potions of Oozing can make collecting slime resources easier (Image via Mojang)

Excluding the reworked Bad Omen status effect, Minecraft 1.21 is receiving four entirely new status effects along with their corresponding potions and tipped arrows. Among these effects, the Oozing status effect is intriguing in particular, as it causes targets afflicted with the effect to spawn slimes when upon death.

For players who can always use more slime balls and slime blocks for builds, this new potion (as well as its tipped arrow) should prove to be incredibly useful for slime farming.

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4) Paintings

Minecraft 1.21 is bringing along 20 new paintings to decorate with (Image via Mojang)

Although paintings aren't necessarily new to the Minecraft 1.21 update, the Tricky Trials update is introducing 20 new paintings created by Kristoffer Zetterstrand and Sarah Boeving, many of which are inspired by real-world paintings. These new paintings work just like the others, so players may want to grab some wool blocks and sticks and craft some new paintings to place in their home/base.

With 20 new variations of paintings to utilize, players should be able to expand their decorative abilities significantly.

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5) Arrows of Wind Charging

Arrows of Wind Charging should prove to be useful in Minecraft 1.21's combat (Image via Mojang)

One of the other great new status effects in the Tricky Trials update is Wind Charged, which causes targets killed while the effect is active to disperse a wind burst similar to a wind charge detonation. When players combine a Lingering Potion of Wind Charging with eight arrows in a crafting table, they can craft Arrows of Wind Charging that should be excellent for crowd control in combat.

Each time an enemy hostile mob perishes, it will release a wind burst and knock back or scatter any allies it might have. This can be crucial in helping players avoid being swarmed by enemies, particularly on higher difficulties.