Ancient Core

In the most recent snapshots the way to upgrade diamond gear to netherite has changed. To my understanding the change is primarily to increase the difficulty of getting netherite as well as adjusting to the new armor trims system. The fact that there is a crafting recipe to duplicate the upgrade entirely defeats the purpose of the added difficulty and instead makes obtaining the upgrade more of a tedius task. 

The difficulty of upgrading to netherite should focus more on obtaining netherite rather than the process of upgrading from diamond. Here is what I propose:

To keep bastions still involved, Piglin Brutes should have a new rare drop. To fit the theme of ancient debris, I think this drop should be an ancient core. This drop would be a comparable rarity to wither skulls. Once the player has obtained an ancient core, they can activate it by surrouding it with blaze rods in a crafting table. An activated ancient core is the only way to smelt ancient debris into netherite scrap. 

This fits well into the lore of the game because ancient debris is a material from the nether, meaning it is resistant to extremely hot temperatures. Normal fuels like coal from the overworld would not be able to produce a hot enough flame to melt it down. However, an activated ancient core could produce a hot enough flame capable of smelting down the ancient material. The activation being from blaze rods also works because blaze rods are already a fuel source.

Thank you for reading and consideration.