"Risk/reward kind of weapon": Minecraft developers discuss new weapon mace and its purpose

The new experimental Minecraft mace is an unexpected addition to the upcoming 1.21 update. It is the first weapon to be added to the game since the beloved 1.14, which added crossbows. It is intended to give players a unique way to fight, being able to translate fall damage into damage, even if this fall would normally be fatal.

During the announcement of the weapon, Mojang developer Nir Vaknin said:

"This risk/reward kind of weapon... that if you hit... you're gonna deal tons of damage... but if you miss, you're gonna smash yourself into the ground..."

(Time stamp: 1:27)

The developers further remarked:

"The mace is a heavy weapon, so it's not intended as a replacement for a sword or an axe. It's its own thing. It's something that the player can use to, well, push people away...The core thing that makes it special is that the longer you fall before hitting your enemy, the more damage you're going to do."

So, that leaves us with two questions - Is the potential damage enough to make this risk of death worth it during an average survival playthrough? What is the weapon's role in-game?

This article will provide more details about the mace inn Minecraft.

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Minecraft's new mace is quite powerful

You can 1 Hit a Warden......I love Mace! byu/WindLight_WL inMinecraft

The mace has a damage statistic of seven, meaning it deals a base of 3.5 hearts of damage. This damage is then increased by five, or 2.5 hearts, for every block the player falls past the first. And there does not seem to be a cap, with videos flooding the internet of players using maces to one-shot several of Minecraft's different bosses.

Scaffolding and Minecraft's upcoming wind charge items are also cheap ways to gain extra height and, therefore, damage. This makes PvP much deadlier, as massive sky strikes could be just a moment away at any time.

Paired with an elytra, the mace even lacks its one main drawback, as players with quick reflexes could pivot mid-air and fly away before hitting the ground.

The mace also has a unique AOE effect, as any mobs surrounding the struck mob will be blasted back by the force of the strike on the ground.

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Building on Mechanics

Mace+Elytra+Wind Charge byu/ghost_of_abyss inMinecraft

What makes the mace interesting, however, is the way it manages to combine and build on several disparate pre-existing game features in a way that feels natural and fun, all while justifying the item's addition.

For example, Minecraft's controversial combat system gives players a critical hit when falling. The mace takes this and builds on it in a very natural way: fall a little, get a critical, fall a lot, and deal massive damage. It also fits in very nicely with a few pre-existing features, such as scaffolding and elytra, giving players interesting ways of engaging not only with new content but with past content as well.

This seems to be the direction Mojang wants to take for future weapon additions, explaining the long gap between crossbows and the mace. The developers featured in the video discussing the mace confirm this, stating that the new, interesting ways to play were added in the spirit of the game's creativity.