Why adding Minecraft netherite upgrade smithing template was unnecessary

Making a netherite armor set, tools, and weapons is one of the endgame activities in Minecraft. Netherite is one of the strongest materials in the game that adds extra durability and knockback resistance to diamond gear. It is found as rare ancient debris blocks in the Nether. Previously, turning a diamond gear into netherite only required a netherite ingot and a smithing table.

In 2023, however, Mojang added an extra item that was needed to do so. This item was called the netherite upgrade smithing template. An argument can be made that the addition of the netherite upgrade smithing template was somewhat unnecessary, especially since it makes the process of acquiring netherite gears quite difficult.

Note: This article is subjective and solely reflects the writer's opinion.

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Reasons why the netherite upgrade smithing template was unnecessary in Minecraft

Finding a netherite upgrade smithing template is as hard as finding netherite

Netherite upgrade smithing template can only be found in Bastion Remnants (Image via Mojang Studios)

Mojang added the netherite upgrade smithing template in 1.19 Wild Update, along with several other armor trim templates found in various structures. This addition was in line with the smithing table's UI change. Their initial aim was to add new designs for player armor through armor trims. Since netherite is also applied on the smithing table, they decided to create a new smithing template that will be necessary to upgrade diamond tools to netherite.

The addition of the netherite upgrade smithing template added an extra step to making netherite tools. While this could have been accepted by players if the smithing template was easily available, it was not.

The netherite smithing template has a 10% chance of generating chest loot in Bastion Remnants' general chests. The only chest in which these items will always be present is the treasure chest, located in the middle of the treasure room, Bastion Remnants. The treasure chest is also the hardest to reach since it is surrounded by lava and magma cube spawners.

Mojang added netherite to Minecraft in 2020 with the Nether Update. They added a new rare ancient debris block, which was an ore in the Nether that players were required to find to make netherite ingot that gets applied on diamond gear. This block itself is quite hard to locate as it generates the most at Y level 16, where the dimension is mostly filled with lava lakes and lava pockets.

Hence, the addition of the netherite upgrade smithing template meant that players were now forced to find two rare items to upgrade to netherite, which was not the case when netherite first launched.

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Netherite does not get any extra protective features to balance the extra difficulty

Netherite gear remained the same while the new smithing template increased the difficulty (Image via Mojang Studios)

In games, when a feature gets rarer or harder to use, developers usually add an extra positive feature to the end product to make it worth getting or using. This sort of balancing was not done to netherite.

On one hand, Mojang made it difficult to upgrade to netherite. However, they did not add any new feature to netherite that makes it even more powerful than it already is. Players might even question whether upgrading to netherite is worth it since they have to find an extra item in the toughest Nether structure to do so.

Though it is agreed that netherite gear has increased durability and better knockback resistance, they do not increase the base stats of any gear, like protection, attack damage, mining speed, etc.

An argument can be made that Mojang could have added something more to netherite after introducing the new smithing template.

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