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Complete Guide to Minecraft Spears (Crafting, Damage)

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This post covers spears, which are widely regarded as one of the strongest weapons in Minecraft.

 

Contents

  1. Crafting / Overall Performance
  2. Jab attack / Left-Click
  3. Charge / Right-Click
  4. Enchantments

 

  Crafting / Overall Performance

There are a total of seven types of spears. Wooden, Stone, Copper, Iron, Gold, and Diamond Spears can be crafted using two sticks and the corresponding material. In contrast, the Netherite Spear is crafted through a smithing template, just like other Netherite tools.

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Spears have an attack range of approximately 2 to 4.5 blocks. Interestingly, they have a minimum range, meaning you cannot attack enemies that are within 2 blocks. However, they compensate for this with a long maximum range and the ability to pierce through targets.

Spears have two attack methods: a jab (left-click) and a charge (right-click).

More detailed information will be covered below.

  1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Damage 1 dmg 2 dmg 2 dmg 3 dmg 1 dmg 4 dmg 5 dmg
Attack Speed/sec 0.65sec 0.75sec 0.85sec 0.95sec 0.95sec 1.05sec 1.15sec
Attack Speed/tick 1.5384 1.3333 1.1764 1.0526 1.0526 0.9523 0.8695
Cooldown Time 0.75sec 0.7sec 0.65sec 0.6sec 0.7sec 0.5sec 0.4sec
Overall Stats Duration 15sec 13.75sec 12.5sec 11.25sec 13.75sec 10sec 8.75sec
Damage Multiplier  x0.7 x0.82 x0.82 x0.95 x0.7 x1.075 x1.2
Durability 59 131 190 250 32 1561 2031

 

  Jab attack / Left-Click

The Jab attack feels similar to the standard attack used by other weapons. However, it has the drawback that you cannot attack unless the attack gauge is fully charged, and critical hits do not occur.

In return, it offers several strong advantages. a long maximum attack range of 4.5 blocks, the ability to pierce enemies aligned in a straight line, and an increase of the hitbox by 0.25 when an attack successfully lands.

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While the Jab attack itself does not deal grave damage, it is frequently used in combination with the charge enchantment, which will be discussed later.

As the spear’s material improves, its damage increases, but its attack speed becomes slower, which is a notable characteristic.

  1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Damage 1 dmg 2 dmg 2 dmg 3 dmg 1 dmg 4 dmg 5 dmg
Attack Speed/sec 0.65sec 0.75sec 0.85sec 0.95sec 0.95sec 1.05sec 1.15sec
Attack Speed/tick 1.5384 1.3333 1.1764 1.0526 1.0526 0.9523 0.8695

 

  Charge / Right-Click

Often referred to as the signature feature of spears, the charge attack consists of three states Engaged, Tired, and Disengaged. When you first press right-click, there is a brief delay during which the spear is lowered, after which it enters the Engagement state. As the spear’s material improves, the charge attack can be initiated more quickly. However, its duration becomes shorter, requiring a higher level of skill to use effectively.

From left to right, the states are Engaged, Tired, and Disengaged. In the Engaged state, the spear is held horizontally forward. In the Tired state, the spear swings heavily up and down. In the Disengaged state, the spear droops downward.

  • Engaged – If the movement speed exceeds a certain threshold, the attack deals damage, knocks back enemies, and dismounts mounted targets.
  • Tired – If the movement speed exceeds a certain threshold, the attack deals damage and knocks back enemies, but cannot dismount them.
  • Disengaged – If the movement speed exceeds a certain threshold, the attack deals damage, but cannot knock back or dismount enemies.
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  1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Cooldown Time 0.75sec 0.7sec 0.65sec 0.6sec 0.7sec 0.5sec 0.4sec
Total Duration 15sec 13.75sec 12.5sec 11.25sec 13.75sec 10sec 8.75sec
Engaged Duration 5sec 4.5sec 4sec 2.5sec 3.5sec 3sec 2.5sec
Tired Duration 5sec 4.5sec 4.25sec 4.25sec 5sec 3.5sec 3sec
Disengaged Duration 5sec 4.75sec 4.25sec 4.5sec 5.25sec 3.5sec 3.25sec

 

One of the key characteristics of the charge attack is that its damage increases in proportion to movement speed. In addition, the player must reach a certain speed threshold to deal damage, knock back enemies, and dismount mounted targets.

Since the player’s normal sprinting speed is approximately 5.6 m/s, it is sufficient to deal damage and apply knockback, but generally too slow to dismount mounted enemies.

  1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Damage Multiplier  x0.7 x0.82 x0.82 x0.95 x0.7 x1.075 x1.2
Min Speed to  Damage 4.6m/s
Min Speed to Dismount Targets 14m/s 10m/s 9m/s 8m/s 10m/s 7m/s 6m/s
Min Speed for Knockback 5.1m/s
Sprinting
5.6m/s		 3 dmg 4 dmg 4 dmg 5 dmg 3 dmg 6 dmg 7 dmg
Horse
9.7m/s		 6 dmg 7 dmg 7 dmg 8 dmg 6 dmg 9 dmg 10 dmg
Elytra + Fireworks
33.5m/s		 23 dmg 27 dmg 27 dmg 31 dmg 23 dmg 35 dmg 40 dmg

 

  Enchantments

In addition to standard enchantments, spears have a unique, exclusive enchantment called Lunge. The Lunge enchantment consumes 1 durability per use and drains hunger based on its level, but propels the user forward. When used simultaneously with a jump, it allows the player to move more than 10 blocks forward.

  Lunge1 Lunge2 Lunge3
Cost Durability1 + Hunger1 Durability1 + Hunger2 Durability1 + Hunger3
Acceleration 0.458 0.916 1.374

In addition to this, spears can be enchanted with Sharpness, Smite, Bane of Arthropods, Looting, Fire Aspect, Mending, Unbreaking, Knockback, and the Curse of Vanishing.

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For more Minecraft-related information, please explore the other guides available here.

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