Is spear stronger than mace in Minecraft?

The Minecraft Mounts of Mayhem drop is set to introduce the spear, a powerful new weapon that features an array of attack styles. The ease of wielding it, paired with the unique Lunge attack, has made it a popular choice among players. However, how does it fare against the trusty mace?

Here's a deep dive into whether the spear is stronger than the mace in Minecraft.

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Minecraft weapon showdown: Mace vs spear

The Minecraft Mounts of Mayhem update is set to introduce the spear, a powerful new weapon that features two different attack styles. Apart from the powerful attacks, it also features the Lunge, a new dashing mechanic that lets players evade attacks or deal devastating damage. Now, the arrival of this weapon has made players wonder: Is the spear better than the mace?

Let's break this down and compare both weapons in terms of their strength. For the sake of this comparison, we will be comparing the netherite variant of the spear with the mace.

Damage

Both weapons have strong damage statistics (Image via Sportskeeda Gaming || Mojang Studios)

At the very outset, it must be mentioned that the spear in Minecraft cannot deal critical hits. So even if it deals a lot of damage, it falls short of critical or powerful hits from weapons like the mace.

The spear provides high damage and attack speed while offering a significantly large reach. It deals 5 hearts (10 HP) of base damage, with 4.35 DPS (Damage Per Second). Apart from the quick damage, the advantage of this weapon lies in its 4.5-block reach. Paired with the 0.87 attacks per second, it easily surpasses the limited range and speed of most melee weapons.

On the other hand, the Mace is a slow but devastating weapon. It delivers 6 hearts (12 HP) per fully charged hit with an attack speed of 0.6, which can multiply up to 5.4 DPS when landing a critical hit. While it has a limited reach of 3 blocks, the powerful smash attack deals devastating splash or AoE damage to mobs in the vicinity.

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Attack Styles

The spear in Minecraft offers numerous attack styles (Image via Sportskeeda Gaming || Mojang Studios)

As for weapon mechanics, the spear and the mace have two very different attack styles. The spear's charge attack relies on speed to deal devastating damage, while the jab attack is low-damage but deals knockback to opponents. When used alongside high-velocity aids like Elytra and fireworks, the weapon can deal over 40 HP worth of damage. This makes it a rather formidable foe in close combat.

Meanwhile, the mace trades speed for overwhelming power and damage. The signature smash attack after falling from at least 1.5 blocks uses gravity to its advantage and deals multiplier damage based on height. Additionally, a properly executed attack has the potential to one-shot some of the toughest opponents, making it especially great against armored mobs.

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Buffs

The mace in Minecraft can be buffed and made more powerful with many enchantments (Image via Sportskeeda Gaming || Mojang Studios)

As for enchantments, the spear can be buffed with spells like Sharpness, Smite, or the Bane of the Arthropods. While the Lunge enchantment offers massive damage and dash movement, it comes at a cost of hunger bars. Despite these improvements, the weapon cannot land critical hits. This could be especially troublesome against heavily armored or persistent mobs.

On the other hand, the mace has a clear advantage against the spear. Using spells like Breach and Density could make it a powerful, high-damage weapon that can take out armor without breaking a sweat. A Breach IV mace can outclass other weapons of higher ratings with ease.

Additionally, a combination of Density V and Strength II allows the mace’s Smash Attack to kill a full Protection IV Netherite player from only a 9-block fall. This makes it ridiculously powerful against fully-kitted mobs and players who have a tank build.

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Conclusion

While the mace in Minecraft can deal smash attack, the spear is more handy in overall combat (Image via Sportskeeda Gaming || Mojang Studios)

In regular day-to-day ground-level combat, the spear is the clear winner. The increased reach and faster cooldown allow players to deal successive damage with ease. While it cannot deal critical hits, the rapid cooldown and the Lunge attack make up for that with its host of use cases.

Meanwhile, the mace is ideal for players who utilize gravity to their advantage or prefer bulky melee attacks over relying on mashing their keys to land multiple hits with the spear. A well-timed smash attack from a sufficient height can easily take down most opponents. However, not every fight will offer the required altitude to fully make use of the weapon's devastating damage.

However, if players are faced with armored mobs in Minecraft, the mace is a more suitable choice to take them down. But the limited health of mace can make it a Hail Mary weapon that can be used only during emergencies. On the other hand, the spear boasts a significantly higher health, especially the netherite variant.

All things considered, the spear in Minecraft is clearly stronger than the mace, offering a swift combat style alongside an extended range. The quick cooldown and different attack styles make it great for most players. It is also a brilliant solution to deal with overwhelming hordes of mobs and keep them at bay with ease.

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