Summary
- Mojang may update Minecraft's potion mechanics soon to improve player experience.
- Possible updates could include a potion guidebook and easier access to ingredients.
- New potions could be introduced in the future to enhance gameplay variety.
For over 16 years, Mojang Studios has continuously updated and expanded the biomes, details, and gameplay of Minecraft. From the release of the alternate dimensions, The Nether and The End, to the recent addition of the rideable Happy Ghast, Mojang has consistently strived to update Minecraft’s many features to improve the game and ensure it retains players' interest over the years. While not all of these updates and changes have been universally praised, most of them have been made to make some gameplay features easier or to flesh out mechanics and cosmetic variations. With this trend of updating, it’s plausible that Mojang may soon update Minecraft’s potion mechanics in various ways.
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A Brief Overview of Minecraft’s Potions
Since Minecraft’s inception in 2009, the blocky sandbox game has only leaned toward the realm of fantasy, especially with its inclusion of more magic-related enemies such as Skeleton archers and gigantic Spiders. While players were somewhat able to gain access to magic abilities with the introduction of The Nether Portal, players wouldn’t gain full access to magic mechanics in Minecraft until 2011’s 1.0.0 update for Java Edition. Here, Mojang would first officially introduce potion brewing and weapon enchantment mechanics into Minecraft. However, potions weren’t initially intended to be made with modern brewing stands but were instead first made with cauldrons in Beta 1.9 Prerelease 2. To create potions, players first had to find a blaze rod from the then recently added mob, Blaze, in Nether Fortresses.
Once blaze rods are acquired, a brewing stand could then be crafted with three cobblestone blocks. Players could then craft up to three glass bottles using three glass blocks. These bottles can be filled with water from any body of water to turn them into water bottles, which can be placed into the brewing stand. Originally, players only had to add Nether wart, glowstone dust, or redstone dust to make basic awkward, mundane, and thick potions, but 2016’s 1.9 Combat Update later updated the brewing stand, requiring blaze powder to fuel the potion-making process. Once basic potions are brewed, players can add a variety of ingredients to the brewing stand to make beneficial or harmful potions, such as using a golden carrot to make a potion of night vision.
Potential Updates to Minecraft’s Brewing and Potions
With recent updates to Minecraft making several features easier for players, such as making saddles craftable and lodestones being craftable with iron ingots instead of netherite, it’s likely that Mojang would make potion brewing easier if they were ever to update the mechanic in the future. While potion brewing isn’t exactly complex, it can be difficult for players to learn in Minecraft on their own without looking up tutorials online or receiving help from friends. One potential way Mojang could update potions is by introducing a sort of potion guidebook filled with all the potion recipes in Minecraft. Players could potentially access this book by getting to a master trading level with a Cleric Villager.
Another way Mojang could update potions is by making it easier for players to locate Blaze spawners and Nether Fortresses. Following 2019’s Village & Pillage Update, players can easily find brewing stands in villages, but it became a bit more difficult to find Nether Fortresses after the addition of several new Nether biomes and structures in 2020, including:
- Soul Sand Valley
- Crimson Forest
- Warped Forest
- Basalt Deltas
- Bastion Remnants
One way Mojang could rectify the issue of struggling to find Nether Fortresses is by allowing Piglins or Cartographer Villagers to trade players' maps leading to Fortresses for specific items. This could make it easier for players to begin brewing potions for those who struggle traveling in the Nether hellscape.
Possible New Potions in Minecraft
On top of making it easier for players to craft and find potion ingredients, Mojang could introduce a plethora of new potions to Minecraft in a future potion update. New potions and their related recipes have routinely been added in prior updates, such as 2018’s Update Aquatic, adding the potions of turtle master and slow falling, but most of these updates only added a couple of new potions. If potion brewing is made easier, it would make sense for Mojang to introduce a wide variety of new potions for both Minecraft veterans and novices to try out. Many of these new potions could additionally be implemented as a part of Witches’ arsenal or be included in a new, deadlier variation of the Witch mob.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 90 /100 Critics Rec: 84%
WHERE TO PLAY
Minecraft is a game made up of blocks, creatures, and community. You can survive the night or build a work of art – the choice is all yours. But if the thought of exploring a vast new world all on your own feels overwhelming, then fear not!
Minecraft has no set goal and can be played however you’d like! This is why it’s sometimes called a “sandbox game” – there are lots of things for you to do, and lots of ways that you can play. If you like being creative, then you can use the blocks to build things from your imagination. If you’re feeling brave, you can explore the world and face daring challenges. Blocks can be broken, crafted, placed to reshape the landscape, or used to build fantastical creations.
Creatures can be battled or befriended, depending on how you play. The world of Minecraft allows for epic adventures, quiet meditations, and everything in between. You can even share your creations with other players, or play in community worlds!
- Engine
- LWJGL, PROPRIETARY ENGINE
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op, Online Multiplayer
- Franchise
- Minecraft
- Number of Players
- 1-4
- Split Screen Orientation
- Vertical or Horizontal
- Genre(s)
- Sandbox, Survival
- Platform(s)
- 3DS, Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Wii U, PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PS Vita, Xbox One, Xbox 360
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
- How Long To Beat
- 129 Hours
- X|S Optimized
- No
- File Size Xbox Series
- 1.42 GB (August 2024)
