Minecraft Releases Copper Items and Mobs
Minecraft announced on July 1st that they intend to introduce copper armor, weapons, chests, and the copper golem in the fall game drop, rendering copper more useful.
Avid players might remember the copper golem from the 2021 Mob Vote. Even though it lost to the Allay, a large portion of the Minecraft community was still disappointed that the copper golem would be shelved indefinitely. But now, Minecraft is adding this mob into the fall game drop.
“It feels really good that the copper golem is making a comeback,” commented Mojang’s Game Director Agnes Larsson. “When we look at the visions for future game drops, we always revisit old ideas as well.”
The copper golem can be summoned by placing a pumpkin over a copper block. In summoning this mob, a copper chest will also appear, while you can also separately make a copper chest by placing eight copper ingots around a normal chest on a crafting table. The color of the chest and the golem depends on how oxidized the copper block is. After being spawned or placed, both the chest and the golem will continue oxidizing. Although the chest will continue being a chest, you can still deoxidize it by using an axe on it or waxing it with a honeycomb. On the other hand, the golem will move more slowly when oxidized more and turn into a statue when fully oxidized. You can stop oxidation using a honeycomb on it, deoxidize it by using an ax, or kill it anytime, which will drop one to three copper ingots.
After spawning, a copper golem will retrieve a maximum of 16 items out of the nearest non-empty copper chest and search around for a regular chest or trapped chest and put items in if the chest holds no items or holds a corresponding item. The copper golem will make inventory and item sorting an automated process, making player’s lives easier.
“One big thing for me is that the copper golem can add life to your builds. It’s kind of like adding inhabitants in a way … and I think that’s charming,” emphasized Larsson.
Even more, Mojang and other Minecraft makers are releasing copper tools (hoes, shovels, and pickaxes), weapons (axes and swords), and armor (helmets, chestplates, leggings, and boots). This will especially help beginners in the early game.
“We haven’t added a tool and armor tier since the Nether Update, so this is a really big and exciting thing,” declared Eric Grimsborn, a senior gameplay engineer.
In Minecraft, the most common ore is coal, then copper. Since copper is so abundant, tools, weapons and armor crafted using copper will be placed between stone and iron in terms of durability and damage.
“It’s easier to find copper than iron,” added Larsson, “so for players early in the player journey, we think it would be helpful that we add this tier of copper tools between stone and iron.”
Even though copper is ranked low, it has a higher enchantability than even diamond, so players can place very powerful enchantments on copper tools, weapons, and armor. Copper also has a higher attack speed than iron, which is useful for rapid strikes and fast mining.
“I hope the update will see a lot more people using copper and making sure to mine it and put it into tools,” said Matthew Clohessy, another senior gameplay engineer.
Most of the public likes the new updates. Many people have commented on how copper tools are very useful for quickly harvesting resources, while others talk about how the copper golem can help you focus on more important tasks in the game. One Reddit post exclaimed, “This is huge!” On the other hand, some people criticize Mojang for focusing on useless things. A Hypixel user commented, “I really hope they will work on actual new content soon instead of things that either no one asked for or aren’t useful.” Another pointed out, “We need gear in between iron and diamond instead of stone and iron.”
The game drop is scheduled for later in the fall, while it is already available in Bedrock Beta and Preview.
Good work 🙂
