Ultimate Guide to Advanced Combat: Combat Strategies and Battle Techniques for Minecraft
128
Ultimate Guide to Advanced Combat: Combat Strategies and Battle Techniques for Minecraft
128eBook
Available on Compatible NOOK devices, the free NOOK App and in My Digital Library.
Related collections and offers
Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781633198067 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Triumph Books |
| Publication date: | 12/01/2016 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 128 |
| File size: | 39 MB |
| Note: | This product may take a few minutes to download. |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
The Ultimate Guide to Advanced Combat
By Triumph Books
Triumph Books LLC
Copyright © 2016 Triumph Books LLCAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-63319-806-7
CHAPTER 1
Introduction & the Order of Things
Here's To A New Version Of Our Old Favorite Block Themed Game
When it comes to Minecraft, it's usually a toss-up when we're looking at who's playing. Maybe you're the type that's been been playing the game on your computer from the early days when it was still in Beta and every so often a new update would change things up in the best of ways and add a bunch of new stuff.
You might also belong to the second group of Minecraft players that joined the party later and haven't really experienced too many updates yet so all of this might be new to you.
You might even be sitting anywhere in between, maybe there's been a couple updates since you've been playing for this short while but nothing really changed all that much when it went down.
Despite what kind of Minecraft player you might be, the chances are pretty good that if you're playing Minecraft on pc right now, or even on Xbox One, you've played through the 1.9 update or at the very least experienced what it's brought to the table.
It was kind of a big update, you can tell because for the most part that's what this book is going to be about. It was called "The Combat Update" because of how many changes they made to how you go about fighting monsters, bosses, and even other players. There's a little bit of functionality that no longer exists or at the very least has been changed into something different. There's quite a bit of new content added as well that you'll be able to find and use during your adventures out in the infinitely expanding Minecraft world you're playing in.
Now, we aren't going to blame you if all of this new stuff out in the Minecraft world sounds like discoveries you'd like to make on your own. If that's the kind of way you like to seek out the new changes and updates in games then by all means go for it. We're not fans of spoiling things for people who'd rather be the ones to go and see stuff for the first time by themselves.
Just know that from here on out, that's what this book is going to be about, nothing but the new stuff you'll be able to find after the Minecraft 1.9 update and how you're going to see and use it all during gameplay whether it be on your computer, Xbox One or any other device used to play the game.
So, like we've mentioned, this is the combat update. There's a lot of things that are different now and if you're just coming from the previous 1.8 versions of Minecraft, chances are you're going to be thrown for a loop.
If you've got any horses though, hold onto them for just a second because even though it's called the "Combat Update", there's plenty more to see that's will change how you play and it's not all focused on combat.
There are changes to the world and what you're going to see in it, changes to different mobs you'll see walking around, and plenty that has changed dealing with the items, weapons, and tools you can craft, find and use. So while we're going to be covering all of what will be in the 1.9 update, we're going to save most of what has to do with all of the "Combat" changes for the end. There's a lot of material here so we're going to cover everything else first and then finish it off in detail by giving you all an in-depth look at what you can expect when wielding a sword, amongst other things, against your enemies in-game.
Before we go any further however let's take a look at the order that everything's going to be covered in. There's a lot of new content to go over and rather than just jump right into the middle of it we're going to tackle this together one thing at a time.
The World
The first thing we'll go over is what you're going to see as soon as you start up a new world in 1.9 for the first time. Before you've got anything built or crafted, the first thing any player playing Minecraft comes in contact with is the procedurally generated world. It's filled with grass and dirt and blocks of every kind for you to harvest and use in your adventure. Out of all of the updates for 1.9, the changes you're going to see throughout the world are the least obvious right off of the bat. Don't let that worry you though, there are changes and they will be first on our list of things to cover. It'll cover everything from what spawns out in the world to what happens in different dimensions now compared to what happened before. It's not just the regular Overworld that has changed, places like "The Nether" and "The End" have been altered for this update as well so prepare yourself.
New Blocks
Next up are the new blocks added to the game. This ties in a lot with the changes you're going to see in the world so expect to see more than a couple things twice. Don't forget to expect a fair amount of new things too. There might only be a few of them but there's still a lot to say about what kind of new blocks there are. This also applies to some of the old blocks as well, the 1.9 update ran through some blocks that have been in the game for a while and changed how they work and even how some blocks sound when they're mined, chopped up, open/closed and plenty more.
New Items
Similar to there being a list of new blocks added to the game, there's also a considerably sized list of items added to the mix for this Combat Update. We're not going to lie, a fair bit of it has to deal with "The End" and a lot of the new stuff you're going to find there, but there's still a little bit added for those players who like to spend most of their time trekking it old-school in the Overworld. This list of new items will be made up of anything from new tools or weapons to some new plants you can grow in your little square shaped garden next to your house.
New Functionality
This might be the second thing you're going to notice when you start playing your newly 1.9 updated Minecraft game. After you first take a look at how the world is now different, or maybe even during your exploration you're probably going to notice is all the little changes to how the game now works. It'll have to do with what you're going to see on the screen at different times. It's called the "Combat Update" so yes you can sure bet there are going to be changes there but that's not where it ends. You're going to see these small subtle changes almost everywhere, from how using a chest works to potion brewing and enchanting weapons and armor.
Stat Changes
Speaking of weapons and armor, guess what? They've changed too. Like we've been saying and will probably say multiple times more in this small book, this is "The Combat Update" and because of that a lot of the changes you're going to see are surrounding combat and how all that fun stuff works. This proves true especially for the weapons and armor in the game. We've been talking about there being a bunch of new things added to the game we know, don't get overly excited because at the moment you're still stuck with the same weapons and armor you've always had but what has happened is that now their stats have changed a little bit. What this means basically, and we'll go into more detail later obviously, is that the amount of protection that armor used to give you is changed with this update to a different number, for each armor set. The same goes for the weapons as well, the amount of damage they used to do is different from how much damage you're going to dish out now. It's not necessarily a bad thing so don't fret, there are other things they've changed to kind of even things out better but in this particular section we're going to go over how the statistics have changed and what this means for you, the player.
The Combat Update
We're saving the best sections for last in this book so obviously the meat and potatoes of the combat update are going to be detailed in this section. This will pretty much include all of the changed or new functionality included for the combat update and all of the blocks, items, weapons, enchantments, and anything else you can think of that will apply to what goes into fighting friendly mobs, neutral mobs, enemy mobs, or even other players.
Before we go any further let's take a look at a kind of short list of the things that you can expect specifically from what will be covered in the "Combat Update" section.
• Offhand Functionality: This one is what people are agreeing on as the biggest game changer. While the name of the section pretty much speaks for itself, trust us when we tell you it's more than simply now having the use of both of your blocky arms.
• Potion Effects, New Potions & Brewing: We mentioned this before but you're most likely going to be seeing a couple things in this book more than once. Heck this is already the second time we're telling you about this but in terms of different updates to the Minecraft world, we're going over things twice. While they might fit in their own section, (like new functionality) it's also important for you to know how these things change up how combat can work. So one of these things you might be hearing about twice is how potions and brewing is now different from how it used to be. But expect us to go more into detail on it for the Combat Update section.
• Bow & Arrow Changes: The bow and arrow has always been a very important part of surviving in Minecraft, in survival mode anyway. Other than that it's been used for target practice mini games and not too much else. Well just like a lot of other stuff in the 1.9 update, the bow and arrow is now different and here's where you're going to read about it.
• New Arrows: A big part of how the bow and arrow system has changed are the arrows themselves. It's basically half of the party and there a multiple different types of arrows now all with different effects and different ways to add them to your arsenal. It's such an addition that it gets its own section and you'll find in within the Combat Update section.
• Fighting the End Dragon, Again: This is another one that sounds pretty self-explanatory, and you'd definitely be right in thinking so. Ever since the first time the End Dragon was introduced to the game, Minecraft finally had a game ending goal and it was to kill this black flying terror. Well you can still do that, but with the advent of the 1.9 update you can now do it more than once. How exactly is that possible and what's more why would you even want to do that? There's a good answer to both of those questions in this book and it's probably safe to say you know where to go looking for it. It's one of the more exciting updates this time around and even before you kill it, if you're following along in this book, you'll discover that you will have more than a couple of reasons to keep the End Dragon alive besides trying to avoid the end the game.
CHAPTER 2World Changes
All Of That New Overworld Stuff
At first glance, after customizing it with your own world seed and other specifications, your first few seconds into your new world after the 1.9 update are not going to be much different from the first few seconds in any of your old worlds. As a matter of fact, out of all of the changes in the 1.9 combat update, the least of them actually have very much to do with changes in how the world is all set up.
Don't expect to see a bunch of new trees or new biomes and environments that will astound and amaze, the changes in the world are really just focused on the tiny little details of certain blocks or different functional items you can place in the world. In terms of what actually is added to the algorithm that decides what your world will look like based off of the "world seed" there's really only about 1 thing new that you may or may not even come across in the Overworld. Most of the rest of the changes are happening in a completely different dimension and because of that we're going to be looking at those changes last.
So right off the bat we'll focus on some of the updated things we're sure you're going to come across at some point or another.
If you're playing in survival mode, it makes sense that at eventually you're going to be playing during the night time or maybe you're deep down inside a cave and have run out of torches. The point is that it'll be dark, and what happens in Minecraft when it gets dark? Monsters come out to play!
That part of the game hasn't changed really all that much but what has actually changed are some of the details of the same old monsters you know and love.
Mob Changes
CREEPER: The first one we'll take a look at is the Creeper.
Not too much has changed about the Creeper, it still looks the same and that hissing noise is still the last thing you want to hear when you're mining deep underground with an inventory full of valuables. With this new Combat Update, what the guys working on Minecraft have decided to do is decrease the damage that a Creeper explosion actually does to the player. It's going to depend on how much armor you're wearing and what difficulty your current game is set to just like it's always been but now overall you can expect there to be less damage done from a creeper blowing up in your face. We won't give you exact numbers here, if we did we'd have to do it for everything that's had its stats changed and this book would end up being way too long but what we can do is give you an example. Before the 1.9 update, a point blank creeper explosion would have either killed you or gotten rid of most of your health if you weren't wearing any armor. Now however you can expect it to do anywhere from half to 3 quarters of your health bar in the same situation on normal difficulty.
This new change for creepers also applies to "Supercharged" Creepers that have been struck by lightning. They'll still do less damage overall but if you're not wearing armor it's still probably a good idea to run rather than fight.
ENDERMEN: Next up are those tall dark strangers who aren't fans of direct eye contact, the Endermen.
If you were hoping that similar to Creepers, there would be some sort of damage reduction for these guys then keep dreaming because they're still just as tough as they always were.
If you've played the game before and couldn't chop down enough wood or mine up enough stone for a decent house for the first few nights in a survival world then chances are you're one of the many who made do with some dirt blocks. Making a starter hut out of dirt has been a staple of Minecraft ever since the early days of its first beta versions and suddenly, once Endermen were introduced, your dirt house wasn't so great anymore because along came a mob that could pick it apart one block at a time. It's happened to us, chances are it's happened to you, and while it's still happening even today, things have changed with this new update.
Before, when an Enderman stole a block of dirt out of your dirt hut walls or maybe even a grass block from your garden, they'd make off with it never to be seen again. Normally, this isn't a big deal, just grab another dirt block and replace the one that got taken. That's pretty much still the case for the 1.9 update.
The big change now is that if you come across that Enderman still skulking around your house with your precious dirt or grass block in its hands, and you happen to kill it, the block that it was holding will drop for you to take back.
All in all we're aware that this really isn't that big a deal, dirt blocks are all over the place and all you need to do to turn a dirt block into a grass block is place it next to another grass block with some light nearby. However it can be a big deal depending on the type of Minecraft player you are.
It's not everyone who plays but there's a certain population of Minecraft players that like to dig deep early on or even later in the game and try to make their big fancy base somewhere underground. For the longest time there's always been a small hitch to that plan. What happens if you want to bring the bright green grasses from the top layer of the Overworld down underground to your fortress deep in the ground? Before the silk touch enchantment came along this wasn't easily done.
The silk touch enchantment lets you mine and collect a block just as it was when it was still in the world. What this means is that if you dug up some grass with a shovel enchanted with silk touch then you would get a grass block instead of having a dirt block as per usual. The same goes for mining some stone, you'd get stone instead of having it turn into cobblestone.
That doesn't necessarily make it easy does it? You'd need diamonds, a book, and some obsidian to make the enchantment table and some bookshelves too just to have everything work out right. That's on top of the fact that you might not even get the silk touch enchantment, you don't really get to choose so you never really know what you're going to enchant that pick or shovel with until you've already spent the experience points.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Ultimate Guide to Advanced Combat by Triumph Books. Copyright © 2016 Triumph Books LLC. Excerpted by permission of Triumph Books LLC.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
Introduction & the Order of Things,World Changes,
Improved Functionality,
Attack Stat Changes, Weapons & Armor,
The Combat Update,