Please remember this category is for features inside the latest pre-release only. To make a new suggestion for Java (like a block or gameplay suggestion), please use the appropriate category for your suggestion.

← Minecraft: Java Edition Snapshots
418
Follow

Deep Dark Experimental Snapshot Feedback

This week we released a side snapshot for Java containing a work in progress version of the Deep Dark feature set, including the Deep Dark biome, Ancient City structures, Sculk blocks and...THE WARDEN!

As well as your general feedback, the team also prepared some questions that they would love to hear your thoughts on after playing:  

  • Was the Warden challenging? If so, what did you enjoy / not enjoy about your encounters with the Warden? 
  • Describe any encounters you had with the Warden - did they feel enjoyable? 
  • Were you able to figure out how to sneak around the Warden? 
  • Were you able to loot chests in the Ancient Cities without being killed by the Warden? 
  • Describe how the darkness effect felt 
  • In your encounters with the Warden, how scared did you feel?  

For more details on in this snapshot and how to access it, check out the blog post over on Minecraft.net.

Avatar
Registered User shared this idea

962 Comments

Post is closed for comments.

Date Votes
Sorted by oldest
  • 2
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    Stacking up is currently a very effective way of escaping the warden. I suggest a sort of sonic scream attack the warden would do, only if the player is a high above it. It would knock the player down, making it easier for the warden to get them.

  • 1
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    Oh and sorry for not saying my general feedback.

    I originally believed that the Ancient Cities would trump Bastions in terms of loot and structure but I am a bit disappointed. But since it's an EXPERIMENTAL snapshot I'll stray from the loot since I hope it's a placeholder.

    But yeah my main concern is the design of the Ancient Cities. It feels more like a Nether Fortress than a new cool structure like the Bastions. Just long corridors that yes, are large like a Nether Fortress, but there's nothing unique besides the centerpiece.

    With Bastions you had different variations of the remnants and sure cause they were remnants and with the cities that might be a bit much.

    However there is nothing that stands out about the rooms that branch off from the Ancient Cities. I would expect houses or something, maybe even a barracks for weapon loot but no.

    If I could change something, it would be the size and variation of the cities. Perhaps higher points in the city besides the centerpiece. Like multiple floors or maybe some that spiral downwards. Having bastions in mind here ofc..

    maybe even a lore mural hidden somewhere in fragments?

    And finally the Deep Dark itself. There is nothing really unique about it. Sculk patches in a regular deepslate cave is a bit underwhelming in terms of content. Maybe like sculk springs or more interesting formations in the deep dark. And maybe something like harvesting sculk from spreading constantly? Sculk Falls? Soul geysers? Something unique...

  • 1
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    The Warden was extremely frightening, but at points, it did seem a little derpy. Doing things like chasing random bats or creatures that were nearby. I think one way to fix this would be to change how it generates so that the Ancient Cities are entirely surrounded by Deep Dark without things like Dripstone caves randomly intruding. 

    As many people are saying, it would be good for the Warden to have ways for it to not be cheesed by things like pillars, and hiding in a box. One idea I had was for the Warden to basically hide inside the ground when it can't get to a player, and then when it realizes it can reach the player again (if the player got off the pillar or something), it immediately pops up and begins chasing again. I think this would lure the player into a sense of false security and be quite terrifying. You wouldn't know if the Warden was actually gone, or if it had just gone into hiding.

  • 3
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    Here's a basic rundown of my thoughts.
    1. Loot
    The loot in the cities are very lackluster. Speed Swift is cool but something I don't think ill ever actually use over depth strider and soul speed. I know there is more loot planned that would be unique to the chests but I think two already existing items should be added to the loot tables: Enchanted Golden Apples and Otherside. The current best way to get enchanted golden apples is flying around a desert looking for temples. This is ridiculously easy to do, so for a structure much more complex and difficult it deservers a high probability of enchanted golden apples. Otherside imo is already way to rare (i spent hours looking through over 50 dungeons on an smp and I never found one myself) so it deservers a hard structure with high probability
    2. Warden
    I love how the warden feels, it is very easy to cheese however. My thoughts is that if you pillar up the warden will be able to jump up and hit you with hard knockback, knocking the player off their pillar. Maybe the warden should be able to swim faster in lava to prevent more cheesing
    3. Reinforced Deepslate
    The idea of reinforced deepslate is amazing, I love how it cant be obtained but can be pushed with pistons. wither immune so perfect for wither traps. I know it was unintentional, but i'd love if it stayed in.

  • 0
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    So far the Warden and Deep Dark have been very interesting and fun to mess around with. However, the Warden is incredibly cheeseable at the moment, as water, bats, 3 block pillars, tiny holes etc. just make the Warden feel less scary then it should be. When it doesn't get stuck though, it feel terrifying trying to get away from it with only iron armor and not being able to see where you're going with the Darkness effect.

    To make it more of a threat, I feel that since there are Sculk Veins already, Wardens could summon a Veins Entity if it can't reach it's target within a certain time frame. After a telegraph of about a second, they quickly start chasing the target with the speed of an angry Enderman, going around corners if it needs to. You could also be able to outsmart the Veins and tangle them, which will make the Veins Entity go back to where it was summoned and despawn. The Warden should also have some sort of regeneration so that you can't just End Crystal it, as it feels cheep.

    Other than that, the Deep Dark biome feels a bit boring without a city, as it's just patches of Sculk. Larger more connected patches along with a Sculk themed light source would be cool. Overall though, I'm really looking forward to whats in store with the Deep Dark and hope that more interesting things like this are done in future updates.

  • 3
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    First, this is what works really well:

    The ancient cities are amazing and the layout is perfect. Multiple places to explore, find loot. The way and amount of sculk sensors/shrikers is good, seems fair. Not too many but also enough to be a challenge. the ambiance is amazing, the sound effects are perfect, visuals and design of sculk family and warden is great. Only the music is off. I would love to see some music for the deep dark similar to minecraft live as regular minecraft music do not fit the ancient cities and deep dark really well.

    I have a few comments on what could be better:

    The deep dark biome itself is a bit sad. I would have imagined the caves to be covered in sculk everywhere, very creepy. But its mostly small areas, looking like regular caves with small sad occasional piles of sculk. I would Increase the sculk in the deep dark a lot; put it on the ceiling, floor, walls etc.

    About the Warden; first it is constantly distracted with bats. And ignoring the player. But the main issue is that its so easy to "cheese". He can only jump one block, get stuck in water, stuck in lava. He needs to be able to counter pillaring. Like make the warden be able to climb walls if angry for a few blocks (even a few high, or make him able to jump higher), this way not giving the ability to break blocks but still counter easy cheese. Or give the warden same attack reach as a player, if we can hit him, he can hit us.

    And I hope that nametag a warden would prevent him from digging back down.

  • 0
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    Make the new enchant Swift instead of Swift Sneak so it also speeds you while you are just walking or running.

  • 0
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    Whilst the animation is really cool, I’m not a fan of the way the warden digs when it despawns, makes the warden look too goofy and less intimidating. Think it’ll be a lot better if the warden slowly sunk through the ground leaving a patch of Sculk where it sank when it despawns.

  • 1
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    I think that the aesthetic of the Deep Dark and the Ancient city is really well done. It reminds me of the ruins in Skyrim in a way. I enjoy how rare the Ancient city structure is but I feel like the Deep Dark itself is either too rare or not big enough when it generates. I think the Warden encounters were great to start. Him emerging and searching for the player is really well done, but the entire tension and fear of it is broken when he hears a bat and goes running around with it. It (IMO) breaks the entire feel of the Warden. Maybe make the warden immune to hearing bats? Or make it so he takes priority on the player rather than mobs. Otherwise, the challenge of looting the cities and moving around the warden is a fun new experience, I wouldn't say as hard as something like a bastion, but different. I think the Warden gets trapped in water way too much, making him very easy to avoid or cheese in combat. I feel like he should be able to move through water without a hindrance or make water not affect him at all. When I encountered the Warden, in all my times not just the first, I found the noise and experience as really well done, the audio plays a massive part. I think the Darkness effect is okay, (IMO) way too overkill. I get it's supposed to be a counter for cheesing and adding tension but I can't even see a single block in front of me. Maybe it should be toned down a bit? All in all, I love the feel, the sounds, and the Warden. However, I think it has more room to grow.

  • 0
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    Since the Warden finds you by hearing you, to avoid cheesing it, what if it screams? Like the scream is so loud (hopefully not audibly) that it hurts the player. It blurs and/or shakes the screen as an effect. Wool block can only partially reduce the damage.

    Also, maybe add a similar item/block the screams and hurts the player other than the Shrieking Block.

  • 0
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    I love everything, but it should have even more loot

  • 0
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    Maybe too much wool in the structure, it make it really easy to explore the ancient cities, maybe add some corridor without wool or better, add some others blocks in the corridor, forcing the player to watch his steps to not walk accidently on an block that isn't wool

  • 4
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    the ancient city loot needs a little buff and its too easy to kill the warden with 3 blocks pillar up

  • 1
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    The Deep Dark isn't as distinct a biome as Lush or Dripstone caves - the patches of Skulk look a bit weird.

    The cities are cool but feel a bit empty - there are a lot of open spaces with nothing much in them. It doesn't really feel like a city, just a fortress.

    The Warden is currently cheese-able, but it's really cool.

  • 1
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    I think overall, the atmosphere and sound design of the deep dark are impeccably done. The extremely low light level, the skull echo noises, the insane size of the biome, all contribute to this incredible sense of atmosphere. The one bit of feedback I would add is some horror-esque music would be an amazing touch here, as the music used in the Minecraft live 2021 presentation of the deep dark was especially fitting, and would be amazing to have in the background while moving quietly and carefully. Anything atmospheric like this and scary for music would work really nicely.

    My first encounter with the warden was certainly memorable, but I realized after about 30 seconds of hiding that the warden couldn’t reach me where I was (two blocks up on some castle-like wall), no matter where I would walk along it. I know a solution is coming for this, but I think an ability to climb for the warden would be the best solution, and not just a projectile. The reason is because the warden doesn’t have clever enough pathfinding to be a threat to you on these walls, even with a projectile. I could easily move away if it shoots at me, but if it follows me up the wall I’m screwed, which is what I want.

    In addition, I think shriekers should be close together so as to make it so that avoiding spawning the warden is nearly impossible without sneaking everywhere. One shrieker is east to get deal with, but multiple shriekers means the warden will be summoned if you try to remove them.

  • 1
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    Wardens are pretty strong in standards but I found ways that just makes defeating the warden much easier which literally takes its purpose away of "avoiding it". Wardens should have a health boost to make it feel a little more tanky and harder. It should also be able to be immune to enchants, fall damage, drowing and burning because it could make the warden feel less cheesable since players can abuse these advantages.

  • 3
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    I hope they add map for structure that u can buy from wondering trader .

  • 2
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    Warden is easy to cheese but hard to beat otherwise. I feel like warden should have only about 80-120 hp however to make him much harder to cheese you could have it just crawl back in to ground if it can't attack the player and when it senses the player being near just pop up back.

  • 4
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    Make it nametaggable

  • 7
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    I fought one of those things, and 1 thing I noticed is that Wardens don't float in water, or swim in it, making it a good way to trap a warden and kill it. Were you working on that not being the case?

  • 1
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    I genuinely love this! I was actually scared first time i saw the Warden, fantastic job with the atmosphere. But as others have said, the Warden is very easy to cheese, building up or digging down so the Warden can’t get you, but I’m here to give some ideas and solutions.

    For pillaging up, the warden could have an animation for smashing the blocks you’re on, but not breaking them. Instead the smash will knock you off and as well maybe deal the Wardens usual insane damage.

    For breaking down under the floor, the Warden would have another smash animation, however very quick so the player can’t dig down too far. This smash would have these circular blue waves just as the sculk shrieker animation has, and these would in turn deal double the Wardens damage.

    Simple ideas for the Warden as Mojang has had issues with how they want to counter act these issues with cheesing the Warden. And just another thing, maybe add more chests inside of the ancient cities so it isn’t so scarce.
    Later!

  • 2
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    I feel like most feedback here is correct, the warden is an amazing addition to the game but the pillaring method makes him much too easy to beat.

    However, I think the biggest flaw in this snapshot is the Ancient City loot. I flew around one in creative after play testing in survival just to get an idea of the loot this structure has to offer, (especially for how rare they are) and to be quite honest I do not see a player incentive to enter the structure. The design of the structure is amazing and was really fun to explore in both a survival and creative setting, but the loot table makes it entirely avoidable. This needs to be looked at, the risk for reward is just not worth it.

    The Warden is easily the most challenging mob in the game. I don't have any great ideas for a loot table except for maybe an overworld-like take on the piglin bastion loot if that makes any sense. I hope this reaches the devs and that my feedback is considered. Thank you all for putting so much hard work into this update for us, and keep up the wonderful job you all have been doing for 10+ years now! <3

  • 2
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    The warden is AMAZING, pretty much everything I was hoping for it to be. There are a few glitches ive found such as the warden just disappearing randomly while testing them on the surface and they gets stuck really easily. I feel like the darkness effect should be nerfed a tad, it really does make you feel helpless but in my opinion a bit too much, short of placing torches everywhere you walk and giving away your location, it’s impossible to navigate. Once optifine comes out it may help a but with the dynamic lighting from holding a torch, but i don’t want to rely on that for it to be enjoyable y’know? The only other thing i feel like is a problem is how unbelievably determined the warden is to get you after it spots you, that may sound like “yeah thats the point” but i dont feel like you should be able to hear the warden still charging for you 300 blocks away, isn't he supposed to be blind? Thats all i can think of right now but all together the snapshot blew me away and i love it to bits! :)

  • 18
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    Since the warden isn't supposed to be killed,
    I would suggest that he digs down again,
    when he has 0 HP

  • 0
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    You can "Pot PvP" and "Crystal PvP" the Warden to death easily. It's easy to trap the warden and you can make it stuck in water.
    I think the Warden should have more health than the Bedrock Wither. It should be at least 650 HP.
    Currently, the Warden has the exact speed of that you can jump backwards and crit it but it barely reaches you.
    I would make the Warden immune against fall damage, burning, freezing, drowning, withering, explosions and magic.

    Since it was said that the Warden is not intended to be killed but to be avoid, it encourages the players even more to kill it. My suggestion for that to actually add a reward for killing it but give it an aura based shield (like the Wither and charged Creeper overlay) that makes it invincible.
    This shield can be broken with a special item that has to be crafted. The materials for that should be spread in the world, and one ingredient should be found in the Deep Dark, this ingredient can be found once per Deep Dark, so only one Warden per Deep Dark can have its shield broken. That special item has one use and the shield will only disappear for a short time.
    Killing the warden will reward you with stuff that helps to craft your own aura shield that acts like a Super Mario invincibility star. You should not get an advancement for killing the Warden but enabling the shield.

  • 7
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    Rename Swift Sneak to perhaps "Quick Sneak" (or something similar) so its not a tounge twister :P 

    Also spectating the Warden is normal, i'd suggest a black screen or something unique like that :D

  • 1
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    The Warden is terrifying, but i think if there was a way to trick it into thinking that the player is dead would be really cool. When i was fighting him, there was a random zombie that wanted to attack me, but the Warden heard him and killed him. Since he can't see, i think the Warden should think that he killed the player and not a mob once he does, and then go back underground.

  • 0
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    The Warden wasnt very challenging as it easily became stuck or distracted, thiugh I enjoyed encounters with it as they felt tense.

    In my first encounter he got stuck in a small hole, in another he couldnt get to me due to flowing water and in another one he couldnt jump off a structure to get near to me, but there was an encounter where he had a route to me and it felt very tense, I became stuck in a corner and had to distract him with snowballs. That wss very fun.

    Monstly I figured out how to sneak past him, but I didnt get much chance to really do that

    I was able to loot most chests, but in one area there were several shriekers next to them, so to loot them i had to go by them and break the shriekers several times. This may not be related to the general questions, but in general the city didnt feel as engaging as i thought it should. The atmosphere was really good, bht exploring it was mostly walking long hallways. Coming across structures with loot was not very common. In my opinon, there should be more sculk than there was

    The Darkness effect was pretty scary, but often it more felt annoying as I couldnt see anything at all. When I put the effect on to 50%, it was much more manageable

    The encounters were pretty scary, but that quickly faded once the warden got stuck.

  • 0
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    Something as simple as a bat can break the Warden. I though the Warden was chasing after me but it was actually going after a bat.
    This made the Warden ignore me, AND I JUST WANTED SOME ATTENTION!
    I could walk around him without sneaking like nothing dangerous was going on. This broke the immersion in my opinion, and i didn't feel scared anymore.

    Maybe make the Warden ignore bat's to provent it from breaking the immersion?

  • 0
    Registered User commented
    Comment actions Permalink

    Download is missing folder for .json file.