Okay before you raise your pitchforks, I know the persisting argument is Post 1.9 Vs. Pre 1.9. New combat is boring, Legacy combat is stupid, yadda yadda yadda. I'm not here to fight for or against anyone, and I know I have to say it because its a touchy topic.
I like both styles of combat.
1.8 combat may be simpler, but its more fast paced and that's what people like about it.
1.9 combat brought valuable ideas to the table but they didn't translate to what people liked about PvP before.
That is all it is. So I just want to propose a change that could incorporate the ideas behind the two styles, and see if we can come to a compromise that everyone likes, okay?
Attack Cooldown Vs. Attack Decay
The backbone of this suggestion is a new mechanic called Attack Decay. Its an alternative to the Cooldown system that is currently in the Java Edition. It reworks the concept of weapon cooldown but doesn't outright punish you for spam-clicking.
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Cooldown sets your attack power to zero after every swing and you'll have to wait for it to regenerate to deal another effective hit.
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Decay only uses a fraction of attack power on every swing, so you can swing as fast as you want, but that power slowly drains after a while.
So in short, Decay partially brings race-clicking back, but doing it continuously will tire you out eventually. It's a simple halfway point between the old system and new. Now with that established, let's see how it would affect weapons.
Weapons and Weight
Weapon weight and the decay system go hand in hand. If a weapon is heavier, it uses more power per swing giving you fewer swings that do significant damage. If a weapon is light, it uses less power and you can swing it as long as you want and still do significant damage.
For a classic balancing system, lighter weapons do less damage, heavier weapons do more damage.
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Short Swords are the lightest weapons and a go-to for legacy combat players. It does little damage, but with the ability to swing continuously for the longest, the damage adds up.
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Swords will be a bit heavier. They deal more damage but power decays faster. However, by not moving, the sweep attack can now be performed repeatedly regardless of power!
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Axes are now the precision weapons. They do heavy damage but because of heavy decay, they can only be swung effectively a handful of times. With this weapon, each swing counts.
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Hammers are the heaviest weapons. One swing drains their entire power. But when swung, a direct hit deals devastating damage and then continues to slam the ground for radial shockwave damage.
From heaviest to lightest, these weapons can all have their place in the Minecraft world. Whether it's in a Player Vs Player or Player Vs Entity situation.
Material tiers also work as they always do, a diamond hammer has better stats than an iron one and so on. I left out specific stats for these weapons because that's going to be impossible for just me to fairly balance out.
In Survival
Any tool or weapon that you find in a chest will have random values for damage and weight. For instance, you could come across a legendary hammer that is light but still does phenomenal damage, or you could end up finding a short sword that is extremely heavy and does minimal damage (aka a butter knife).
This randomization will make finding weapons in loot chest much more significant because even an unenchanted iron sword can have legendary stat, making you want to use it or keep it for enchanting later on.
Weaponhand Mode
Weaponhand mode is a new form of offhand mode that is better geared towards PvP combat. It's literally a reverse offhand mode. An item, presumably a weapon, is locked in your main hand while your offhand is free to scroll the hotbar.
This means you never have to let go your sword to eat food, drink potions. You can also throw potions WHILE you fight. It opens up a lot of new strategies. And finally, it goes perfectly with Attack Decay. You can do all of these other tasks while your power regenerates, so you don't have to be caught off guard.
Here is a simple mockup I did by switching my character to be a lefty. The Diamond Sword is my main weapon, and my offhand is actually scrolling through my hotbar instead. Free to use food, shields, potions, and the bow.
Conclusion
A system where old combat and modern combat meet halfway. Everyone can play how they want to play in the very same game.
- Old Combat Lovers brawl in the arena using swords and shortswords clicking as fast as they want, just how they like it.
- New Combat Lovers take to the monsters with axes, hammers, and shields timing their attacks just how they like it.
This concept got 220 votes on r/minecraftsuggestions, and everyone I've shown this to in the PVP community are on board with this idea. So I really hope that Mojang considers it as an experimental revision to combat at least.
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