Is it about to become unplayable in Minecraft ? The Elytra are getting nerfed. They were simply too good and are now being adjusted.
The players of Minecraft are eagerly waiting for the second part of the big “Caves & Cliffs” update, which is supposed to be released in 2021. However, development will likely take a bit longer as one “experimental” update chases the next.
The latest patch targets the flight ability in Minecraft, as the Elytra are getting nerfed. However, the flight cloak will also receive a small improvement elsewhere as compensation.
What are Elytra? The Elytra are an “endgame” item in Minecraft that players can find in the End. Their true usefulness is revealed in the normal world, where you can dive from cliffs, glide through the surroundings, or give yourself a turbo boost with rockets to gain altitude – at least until now.
What is changing now? When players use Elytra and want to speed up with rockets, it will be significantly slower than before. It will no longer be possible to achieve an extremely high speed by chaining multiple rockets together. The maximum speed will be throttled, making flying with Elytra less rewarding.
At the same time, there is also a clear improvement for the Elytra. The flight cloak will no longer consume durability if you only use it for gliding – only the enhancement with rockets requires durability. This means you can dive from the new, high cliffs without having “Mending” on the Elytra. So those who want to explore ravines and love to plunge from the tallest mountains will have a much longer time enjoying the Elytra.
Why is this being done? There are several reasons that the developers mention:
- Traveling with Elytra is too fast compared to all other transportation methods. As a result, the alternatives are hardly worthwhile. They want to create a bit more balance here.
- On many servers, there are lags when players start flying around with the Elytra. They often fly faster than the chunks (sections of the game world) can load, which significantly affects performance. With the even larger world in the new patch, this problem will likely become even more pronounced.
This is how the community reacts: In the Minecraft subreddit, most players don’t seem to mind a nerf to the Elytra if, in return, other transportation methods are improved a bit. Especially minecarts needed some strong improvements to feel relevant again. Thus, psi237 writes with over 3,000 upvotes:
Please make minecarts faster so they at least become relevant again as a travel method.
This is supported by a suggestion from Mangobonbon, which also received over 1,000 upvotes:
And make it so that they can be connected. We now have the chain block in the game, why don’t we use it for that? I would really like minecarts as trains, with chests that bring ores from my mines to my base.
The discussion on this topic goes a bit further, as doubleUsee also writes:
“Give me minecarts that can connect and I will be the happiest person, they don’t even have to be faster.”
However, keep in mind that these are experimental changes to the upcoming patch. It is quite possible that the adjustments will be reversed or that further changes may be made to balance the Elytra.
