Here's combat test snapshot version 8b!

Mostly balance changes this time, I think we're getting somewhere.

Features that have made a return:

• Returned eating interruption for getting hit (by players or mobs), also applies to drinking
• Returned bow fatigue for holding the bow pulled, but it doesn't start until 3 seconds. Bow fatigue will also cancel out "critical arrows"

Balance changes:

• Weapon enchantments are now included in the base damage when calculating crits and potion effects
• Strength I/II now adds +20%/+40% (was +3/+6 damage)
• Instantenous effects on tipped arrows are now scaled by 1/8, just like the duration of other effects
• Healing potions now heal 6 points per level (was 4)
• Cleaving now adds +2/+3/+4 points of damage (was +1/+2/+3)
• Liquid food (stews, honey, milk) can now be consumed faster (20 ticks, was 32 or 40 ticks)
• Potions can now be drunk faster (...

Ah, good point. Yes it's because their attack values are derived from the weapons they're holding.

The biggest problem I see with 1.9 is that it's harder for new players to understand. The feedback is also quite consistent that 1.9 doesn't work as well for PvP.

Since the end goal is to bring Java and Bedrock to parity, I need to be careful of what changes we want to bring to the millions of Bedrock players.

It's correct that these changes make Java Edition considerably easier in PvE.

I will think about it (endlag), but Minecraft is a bit different to most other games. I think I want to find something that keeps the simple and fun.

It's true that "most" players won't know about the reach bonus and that's fine. It's primarily intended as a concept for PvP. Competitive players will learn systems on a different level. One example is w-tapping, which has little use to a casual PvE player.

You can still "spam click", but from playtesting it was clear that the timed +1 reach attack added tactical options and played better.

Here's combat test snapshot version 7c!

I received some 3000 comments on the last post, and also got help from players testing some PvP changes (hence version "c"), so a number of changes have been reverted back to be more similar to version 5. This is a good thing, because now it feels like we're getting closer to a simple - yet deep and exciting - design for the combat mechanics.

Features that have been changed back:

• Returned the attack indicator
• Returned the "200% time" attacks (let's call them "charged" attacks) and the +1 reach bonus
• Returned sweeping to only work for charged attacks and when having the Sweeping enchantment
• Returned base reach to 2.5 blocks
• Removed the bow inaccuracy for holding too long
• Removed the eating interruption for getting hit

Features that have been adjusted:

• Missed attacks are still fast, but they don't count as charged. Because of how the programm...

Oh great catch! I've forgotten to update the Netherite items in this branch

Great feedback.

Yes I agree, shields should block explosions. I should look more closely on the damage types and make exceptions for more than just projectiles.

Regarding the armor vs weapon balance. The reason why we needed to make armor weaker was because the difference between having armor and no armor was too big. We had to give mobs really high attack values to make them matter for armored players, but non-armored would get slammered.

And then players already deal damage similar to the strongest mobs (Ravagers deal 12, which is similar to a crit by a player). Tuning this down slightly felt like the right move.

Regarding food I think there will be opportunities to add variety to food types, but I'd also like to make potions better somehow.