7 features you need to try first in Minecraft 1.21 update

Minecraft 1.21, also known as Tricky Trials, has brought with it a surprising amount of new content. This includes a major structure in the trial chamber, multiple mobs, a plethora of new status effects, aesthetic options, and paintings. And that's just scratching the surface. With so much content out there, it can be hard to figure out what should be prioritized in a new world.

Detailed down below are the seven features that you need to try first in any new Tricky Trials survival world.

Note: This list is subjective and solely reflects the opinions of the writer

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The first 7 features you need to try in Minecraft 1.21

1) Villager trading

An example of a trial chamber map, obtained via villager trading (Image via Mojang)

Setting up a Minecraft villager trading hall is one of the best possible things to do when first starting a survival world. This might seem counter-intuitive, but villager trading can quickly give players access to amazing gear, such as diamond tools, weapons, and armor. As of 1.21, however, it can also lead players straight to a trial chamber.

There's a new cartographer villager trade, specifically at the journeyman level, for an explorer's map to a nearby trial chamber. This trade isn't guaranteed, however, as it might be replaced by another explorer's map, such as one to an elusive Minecraft woodland mansion or dangerous ocean monument.

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2) Trial chambers

Trial chambers are by far 1.21's best and most impressive feature (Image via Mojang)

Trial chambers are inarguably the biggest Minecraft 1.21 feature. A large majority of the update's new features are found within the copper and tuff walls making up these dangerous structures. These copper and tuff walls include all of the new copper and tuff blocks added with the update.

Trial chambers also contain trial spawners. This is a new type of spawner that will spawn mobs regardless of light level. If a few waves of mobs are defeated, the spawner will spit out loot and enter a cooldown period. This loot includes trial keys needed to open Minecraft vault blocks. Vaults contain amazing loot, such as enchanted books, diamonds, and even tridents.

Both of this major update's new mobs can also be found within trial chambers. This makes them even better for seeing all that the update has to offer since players won't have to try to find a swamp to see bogged. Breeze mobs are only found in trial chambers.

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3) Ravamped bad omen

A player drinking an ominous bottle to get bad omen (Image via Mojang)

Bad omen also received a revamp in Minecraft 1.21. Raid captains and vaults can drop ominous bottles that apply the effect when consumed. Additionally, it no longer starts raids on its own. Instead, it is now a foundational effect that can turn into other effects. The two new effects that bad omen can turn into as of 1.21 are raid omen and trial omen.

Raid omen works essentially how bad omen used to. When a player enters a village with bad omen, it converts into raid omen. After a short countdown, a raid will spawn and attack the village.

Trial omen is the other new status effect that bad omen can turn into. Bad omen converts into trial omen when a trial spawner detects a player with bad omen. This converts trail spawners into ominous spawners and kicks off an ominous Minecraft event. If players can fight off the more difficult mobs, they might get the ominous keys needed to open ominous vaults.

Ominous vaults are rarer versions of regular vaults that have the best trial chamber loot. This includes enchanted books for mace enchantments and the heavy core needed to actually craft this new weapon.

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4) The mace weapon

The mace is one of the most fun 1.21 features (Image via Mojang)

The Minecraft mace weapon, as previously mentioned, is crafted using a breeze rod and a heavy core. This weapon has some amazing and unique utility. First, the mace can negate all fall damage, assuming the wielder hits a target on the way down. It also deals extra damage, depending on how far the fall was. This smash attack also has an AOE knockback blast, pushing other hostile mobs away.

1.21 is also introducing several new Minecraft mace enchantments, which make this weapon even better. Density increases the rate at which falls add damage; Breach makes armor less effective against mace attacks; and Wind Burst allows players to pogo back up into the air after landing a smash attack. This is a very fun and interesting combat style that makes the mace amazing to farm for early on.

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5) Wind charges

A wind charge opening both copper doors and trapdoors (Image via Mojang)

Another item that players are almost guaranteed to get from trial chambers are wind charges. These can be found as loot in both regular and ominous vaults. They can also be crafted using breeze rods dropped by breeze mobs. When thrown by players, they act almost identically to the ones fired by the mob: they deal little damage but can send entities flying.

Interestingly, they can also interact with several redstone components. This includes flipping levers, doors, and trapdoors and pressing buttons. This means that wind charges might find a home within some niche redstone builds, as well as on the hotbar of Minecraft PvP server players.

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6) The crafter

The crafter block is easily recognizable due to the crafting grid on it (Image via Mojang)

Minecraft's revolutionary new crafter block is another thing that players should prioritize trying out. These are new redstone components that can take items as input and automatically combine them into more complex items. In other words, the crafter has introduced automated crafting from many of the game's best mods into the vanilla game.

Items are placed into crafters from the top left to the bottom right of the crafting interface. This is vital to keep in mind when designing hopper tracks for feeding the crafters.

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7) New paintings

All of 1.21's new paintings (Image via Mojang)

Another very important piece of 1.21 content to check out are the 20 new paintings being added. Five of them are by the artist Sarah Boeving, while the other 15 are all by Kristoffer Zetterstrand. Zetterstrand is actually the same artist who did the game's original paintings, but all 20 fit right in. They all have strangely peaceful, yet otherworldly, vibes.

The best way to quickly get access to all 20 paintings is to make both a small tree farm and a Minecraft wool farm. This should provide plenty of sticks and wool, allowing for all 20 paintings to be used in a single base.