Should trees be added to the End, their style should be kept separate from both Overworld trees and Nether fungi in terms of shape, size and color to provide its own identity. We have logs in the Overworld and stems in the Nether, so End trees could use a different type of wood block. Perhaps they could reference the chorus plant (and be incompatible with bone meal since the End is not inhabited by skeletons or contain fossils) to maintain the dimension's unique theme of "a peculiar and desolate alien world." As for the color of the wood, it would be interesting to have a dark violet/purple wood block streaked with pale yellow.
Should trees be added to the End, their style should be kept separate from both Overworld trees and Nether fungi in terms of shape, size and color to provide its own identity. We have logs in the Overworld and stems in the Nether, so End trees could use a different type of wood block. Perhaps they could reference the chorus plant (and be incompatible with bone meal since the End is not inhabited by skeletons or contain fossils) to maintain the dimension's unique theme of "a peculiar and desolate alien world." As for the color of the wood, it would be interesting to have a dark violet/purple wood block streaked with pale yellow.
What if one of the possible new mobs that might get added, is some kind of skeleton variant that does drop bones? Otherwise, waiting for whatever seed/sapling/etc to grow, would make farming it a bit of a pain to do.
If the trunk you cut down is like that of the Stems from the nether, and are just purple with streaks of yellow, then sure. But the resulting planks that come from them, need to be a solid purple color, to match how every other plank is.
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Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on you. Fool me three times, hold up, rewind, That's not even possible.
What if one of the possible new mobs that might get added, is some kind of skeleton variant that does drop bones? Otherwise, waiting for whatever seed/sapling/etc to grow, would make farming it a bit of a pain to do.
If the trunk you cut down is like that of the Stems from the nether, and are just purple with streaks of yellow, then sure. But the resulting planks that come from them, need to be a solid purple color, to match how every other plank is.
Adding a new skeleton variant could work but you'd have to consider what its true purpose is besides providing the player with bones / bone meal. For example, the main purpose of the Nether variant of skeletons, wither skeletons, is to provide the player with wither skulls required to summon a boss in the game.
Chorus plants grow in a way somewhat similar to that of bamboo, so farming them shouldn't be slow or tedious, although if a new End skeleton was to be added I won't mind it being compatible with bone meal.
And yeah, the planks should be a solid purple color, dark enough to differentiate them crimson planks.
Adding a new skeleton variant could work but you'd have to consider what its true purpose is besides providing the player with bones / bone meal. For example, the main purpose of the Nether variant of skeletons, wither skeletons, is to provide the player with wither skulls required to summon a boss in the game.
Chorus plants grow in a way somewhat similar to that of bamboo, so farming them shouldn't be slow or tedious, although if a new End skeleton was to be added I won't mind it being compatible with bone meal.
And yeah, the planks should be a solid purple color, dark enough to differentiate them crimson planks.
You'd also have to consider the other Skeleton variants too, Bogged and Strays, that drop tipped arrows. Maybe these new ones could drop tipped arrows of levitation or something.
But if these new "trees" grow and act like all the other existing ones, they would be planted and grow into fully formed trees with harvestable "leaves" that can be composted. Could do that to get around a new Skeleton variant.
The problem with comparing this potential new tree to Chorus and Bamboo, is that Chorus/Bamboo, require multiple items to make their respective blocks. 4 Popped Chorus Fruit and 9 Bamboo. I personally wouldn't want to see another type that functions like that. I'd rather this new tree be farmable like every other tree, where it goes from a planted object into a tree. Maybe instead of a sapling or fungi, it could be a flower that grows into a 2-3 block tall tree with few leaves. Maybe something similar to those 1 tall Jungle bushes.
There are so many possibilities for how things could happen, and I wouldn't be bothered if they worked and the problems were small or non-existent.
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Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on you. Fool me three times, hold up, rewind, That's not even possible.
You'd also have to consider the other Skeleton variants too, Bogged and Strays, that drop tipped arrows. Maybe these new ones could drop tipped arrows of levitation or something.
But if these new "trees" grow and act like all the other existing ones, they would be planted and grow into fully formed trees with harvestable "leaves" that can be composted. Could do that to get around a new Skeleton variant.
The problem with comparing this potential new tree to Chorus and Bamboo, is that Chorus/Bamboo, require multiple items to make their respective blocks. 4 Popped Chorus Fruit and 9 Bamboo. I personally wouldn't want to see another type that functions like that. I'd rather this new tree be farmable like every other tree, where it goes from a planted object into a tree. Maybe instead of a sapling or fungi, it could be a flower that grows into a 2-3 block tall tree with few leaves. Maybe something similar to those 1 tall Jungle bushes.
There are so many possibilities for how things could happen, and I wouldn't be bothered if they worked and the problems were small or non-existent.
The bogged and stray were added to provide an extra combat challenge in certain Overworld biomes (skeletons already existed in those biomes, so there hadn't been a reason not to spice them up, even if they didn't provide much of a use). Keeping the same philosophy for hypothetical End skeletons might work, but since skeletons have not existed in that dimension before and probably won't fit in well unless you add a new structure / more End biomes, it's best to give this new variant a good purpose or use, perhaps a rare drop like the wither skeleton, the representative variant of the Nether.
Taking that into consideration, tipped arrows could still be one of the secondary drops, although ideally not levitation ones as that'll make their attacks too similar to those of a shulker, a mob whose behavior is best kept unique.
I do like your idea with the End trees. In terms of shape, there's infinite models that could be implemented in the game, and it doesn't really matter which as long as the End's identity is maintained and few (if any) technical issues arise.
The bogged and stray were added to provide an extra combat challenge in certain Overworld biomes (skeletons already existed in those biomes, so there hadn't been a reason not to spice them up, even if they didn't provide much of a use). Keeping the same philosophy for hypothetical End skeletons might work, but since skeletons have not existed in that dimension before and probably won't fit in well unless you add a new structure / more End biomes, it's best to give this new variant a good purpose or use, perhaps a rare drop like the wither skeleton, the representative variant of the Nether.
Taking that into consideration, tipped arrows could still be one of the secondary drops, although ideally not levitation ones as that'll make their attacks too similar to those of a shulker, a mob whose behavior is best kept unique.
I do like your idea with the End trees. In terms of shape, there's infinite models that could be implemented in the game, and it doesn't really matter which as long as the End's identity is maintained and few (if any) technical issues arise.
Keeping effects to a single mob doesn't make sense though. Bees, Witches, and Cave Spiders all poison you. Zombies give you hunger. Wither and Wither Skeletons give you the Wither effect. Having a few enemies give a similar effect, through somewhat different applications seems fine. Shulkers reamin unique in the fact that they drop a very useful item, and they're the only enemy that can drop it.
Adding in another "boss" type enemy seems bad when the Warden exists the way it does. Withers give Nether Star, End Dragon gives an Egg (First time kill only), Elder Guardians give Sponges (Which are kind of rare as not every Ocean monument generates with sponge rooms)... And the warden drops something that can be found very easily in almost every Deep Dark biome. My second statement gave an out to not including any kind of skeleton. I was also trying to make Tipped Arrows a known thing, so the more enemies that can drop them, the more likely people will come across them. Trial chambers did this very well.
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Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on you. Fool me three times, hold up, rewind, That's not even possible.
Keeping effects to a single mob doesn't make sense though. Bees, Witches, and Cave Spiders all poison you. Zombies give you hunger. Wither and Wither Skeletons give you the Wither effect. Having a few enemies give a similar effect, through somewhat different applications seems fine. Shulkers reamin unique in the fact that they drop a very useful item, and they're the only enemy that can drop it.
Adding in another "boss" type enemy seems bad when the Warden exists the way it does. Withers give Nether Star, End Dragon gives an Egg (First time kill only), Elder Guardians give Sponges (Which are kind of rare as not every Ocean monument generates with sponge rooms)... And the warden drops something that can be found very easily in almost every Deep Dark biome. My second statement gave an out to not including any kind of skeleton. I was also trying to make Tipped Arrows a known thing, so the more enemies that can drop them, the more likely people will come across them. Trial chambers did this very well.
That mostly depends on the effect you're talking about. Some status effects almost define the identity of the mob by providing it a unique way of attacking and thereby creating an interesting combat experience for the player. Poison is a very common effect that you can easily get through other means besides being attacked by mobs. Bees, cave spiders and witches all inflicting you with poison logically makes sense anyway, and the ways they attack are clearly unique to each to each other (e.g. cave spiders use melee attacks and witches throw splash potions). A player would therefore need to adopt a different combat strategy for each mob, something that makes the game enjoyable at it is.
The same goes for withers and wither skeletons, since they are both "wither-related" mobs, hence the names. You wouldn't take on a wither the same way you would a wither skeleton.
If the shulker and the hypothetical skeleton both shot levitation projectiles at you, then the combat experience is essentially identical: you float upwards, desperately trying to block the bullets / arrows, oh no, you got hit again, you drink a slow falling potion in panic, you pearl down to the ground and kill the mob before it could shoot another projectile at you. It doesn't make sense if you fight a skeleton variant the same way you would a shulker.
In response to your second point, a rare drop doesn't have to be an item required to summon a boss; the wither skeleton was only an example. Tridents, heavy cores and sponges are all good examples of rare drops. Some can be useful for combat; some can simply act as decorative souvenirs.
Like I said in my previous comment, I don't have a problem with skeletons dropping tipped arrows or tipped arrows themselves becoming more known by players.
That mostly depends on the effect you're talking about. Some status effects almost define the identity of the mob by providing it a unique way of attacking and thereby creating an interesting combat experience for the player. Poison is a very common effect that you can easily get through other means besides being attacked by mobs. Bees, cave spiders and witches all inflicting you with poison logically makes sense anyway, and the ways they attack are clearly unique to each to each other (e.g. cave spiders use melee attacks and witches throw splash potions). A player would therefore need to adopt a different combat strategy for each mob, something that makes the game enjoyable at it is.
The same goes for withers and wither skeletons, since they are both "wither-related" mobs, hence the names. You wouldn't take on a wither the same way you would a wither skeleton.
If the shulker and the hypothetical skeleton both shot levitation projectiles at you, then the combat experience is essentially identical: you float upwards, desperately trying to block the bullets / arrows, oh no, you got hit again, you drink a slow falling potion in panic, you pearl down to the ground and kill the mob before it could shoot another projectile at you. It doesn't make sense if you fight a skeleton variant the same way you would a shulker.
In response to your second point, a rare drop doesn't have to be an item required to summon a boss; the wither skeleton was only an example. Tridents, heavy cores and sponges are all good examples of rare drops. Some can be useful for combat; some can simply act as decorative souvenirs.
Like I said in my previous comment, I don't have a problem with skeletons dropping tipped arrows or tipped arrows themselves becoming more known by players.
Well as you said, how they inflict things are different. A shulker shoots a homing bullet, whereas a skeleton shoots a straight arrow that is easily dodgeable by simply moving to the side. Both considered projectiles, sure. Dealing with poison, despite how it's inflicted, is still the same. Box yourself in so you can get hit by anything else, or drink milk. Skeletons are not Shulkers, the same way Cave Spiders are not Witches. Skeletons distance themselves to shoot, and Shulkers remain stationary until damaged, and can teleport away. Cave Spiders are aggressive and close the gap, and Witches distance themselves if possible to throw their potions for damage. Doesn't seem like you're making much of an argument here.
My point in that second bit, was more that the drop has to be unique and useful in some way. And that it shouldn't be a drop for a boss summon, when one of the most recent bosses' drops are terrible. Fix the newest boss before thinking about adding a new one in. I don't have a problem with a drop from a new enemy being unique or useful, I actually encourage that. But I am adamantly against a new boss being added while the newest is just terrible in so many ways.
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Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on you. Fool me three times, hold up, rewind, That's not even possible.
Well as you said, how they inflict things are different. A shulker shoots a homing bullet, whereas a skeleton shoots a straight arrow that is easily dodgeable by simply moving to the side. Both considered projectiles, sure. Dealing with poison, despite how it's inflicted, is still the same. Box yourself in so you can get hit by anything else, or drink milk. Skeletons are not Shulkers, the same way Cave Spiders are not Witches. Skeletons distance themselves to shoot, and Shulkers remain stationary until damaged, and can teleport away. Cave Spiders are aggressive and close the gap, and Witches distance themselves if possible to throw their potions for damage. Doesn't seem like you're making much of an argument here.
Sure, shulkers have a slim chance of teleporting away when damaged and their projectiles do follow the player, but these differences simply don't justify the need for a new skeleton with an identical purpose of making players gradually float upwards and eventually fall to their deaths. Shulkers are supposed to be one of the most unique and iconic mobs in the game for the above reason, not just because they are required to craft shulker boxes. They offer a special gravity-defying challenge like no other mob.
Poison is a very generic and basic effect that simply makes you take damage over a certain period of time. Even if it was only unique to one mob (and it isn't), it doesn't make combat more special, merely slightly more difficult. Unless you box yourself in to drink milk in the middle of a fight, of course, but that just takes more away from the experience since it's something you could do with most mobs. And yes, I am aware you could drink slow falling potions when in combat with shulkers, but many players don't just for the experience.
I'm not against multiple mobs inflicting the same status effect just because of the fact they do, mind you. But when adding a new variant of an already-existing mob to a biome or location where said mob has never existed before, it's ideal not to replicate (or only slightly alter) the mechanics of a mob that already exists in that location.
So I'm not saying the new skeleton shouldn't inflict any Levitation at all. It could be a melee mob like the wither skeleton and inflict the effect for a shorter duration than the shulker does with its bullets. That'll both go well with the End dimension and not overshadow the challenges shulkers offer.
My point in that second bit, was more that the drop has to be unique and useful in some way. And that it shouldn't be a drop for a boss summon, when one of the most recent bosses' drops are terrible. Fix the newest boss before thinking about adding a new one in. I don't have a problem with a drop from a new enemy being unique or useful, I actually encourage that. But I am adamantly against a new boss being added while the newest is just terrible in so many ways.
I do agree with this. So it appears there may have been a misunderstanding on my part.
Sure, shulkers have a slim chance of teleporting away when damaged and their projectiles do follow the player, but these differences simply don't justify the need for a new skeleton with an identical purpose of making players gradually float upwards and eventually fall to their deaths. Shulkers are supposed to be one of the most unique and iconic mobs in the game for the above reason, not just because they are required to craft shulker boxes. They offer a special gravity-defying challenge like no other mob.
Poison is a very generic and basic effect that simply makes you take damage over a certain period of time. Even if it was only unique to one mob (and it isn't), it doesn't make combat more special, merely slightly more difficult. Unless you box yourself in to drink milk in the middle of a fight, of course, but that just takes more away from the experience since it's something you could do with most mobs. And yes, I am aware you could drink slow falling potions when in combat with shulkers, but many players don't just for the experience.
I'm not against multiple mobs inflicting the same status effect just because of the fact they do, mind you. But when adding a new variant of an already-existing mob to a biome or location where said mob has never existed before, it's ideal not to replicate (or only slightly alter) the mechanics of a mob that already exists in that location.
So I'm not saying the new skeleton shouldn't inflict any Levitation at all. It could be a melee mob like the wither skeleton and inflict the effect for a shorter duration than the shulker does with its bullets. That'll both go well with the End dimension and not overshadow the challenges shulkers offer.
Or again, hear me out here, the answer to most status effects, is to drink milk. With this one simple thing, you negate every effect in the game. A mob becomes unique when it differs from other mobs. A shulker will always be unique in how it behaves, in retreating and attacking. There will also, likely, never be another block type enemy that drops such a useful item. Giving away its status effect won't detract from it's identity. Variety in how things get applied, makes for an overall better experience. Also, it'd make getting the levitation effect into the overworld for "How did we get here" so much easier if a Skeleton could shoot you with a tipped arrow attack.Getting a shulker where you want is so tedious and requires far too much set up to do.
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Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on you. Fool me three times, hold up, rewind, That's not even possible.
Or again, hear me out here, the answer to most status effects, is to drink milk. With this one simple thing, you negate every effect in the game. A mob becomes unique when it differs from other mobs. A shulker will always be unique in how it behaves, in retreating and attacking. There will also, likely, never be another block type enemy that drops such a useful item. Giving away its status effect won't detract from it's identity. Variety in how things get applied, makes for an overall better experience. Also, it'd make getting the levitation effect into the overworld for "How did we get here" so much easier if a Skeleton could shoot you with a tipped arrow attack.Getting a shulker where you want is so tedious and requires far too much set up to do.
Like I stated in my previous comment, I am not against the addition of a new skeleton variant (or any new mob, for that matter) that inflicts Levitation. What matters is how the effect is applied, like you said. The key iconic feature of the shulker is its attack ability (the ability to teleport and the inability to walk are unique features, but not iconic or game-changing). It doesn't just simply levitate players. What makes it iconic is its rare ability to levitate players to such a height where fall damage is fatal, much like how a creeper's iconic feature is its ability to silently sneak up on players and explode on them, or the breeze's ability to knock back players by large distances. Niche and iconic abilities like these are best kept exclusive to the mob. Since skeletons are ranged mobs by default, they will essentially have the same iconic ability as the shulker.
A single status effect can serve multiple niche purposes. A skeleton can both move and inflict Levitation on the player without having the same ability as the shulker, such as if they are melee mobs like I suggested. In fact, having them as melee mobs will both encourage variety and make the advancement "How did we get here" even easier to achieve.
Like I stated in my previous comment, I am not against the addition of a new skeleton variant (or any new mob, for that matter) that inflicts Levitation. What matters is how the effect is applied, like you said. The key iconic feature of the shulker is its attack ability (the ability to teleport and the inability to walk are unique features, but not iconic or game-changing). It doesn't just simply levitate players. What makes it iconic is its rare ability to levitate players to such a height where fall damage is fatal, much like how a creeper's iconic feature is its ability to silently sneak up on players and explode on them, or the breeze's ability to knock back players by large distances. Niche and iconic abilities like these are best kept exclusive to the mob. Since skeletons are ranged mobs by default, they will essentially have the same iconic ability as the shulker.
A single status effect can serve multiple niche purposes. A skeleton can both move and inflict Levitation on the player without having the same ability as the shulker, such as if they are melee mobs like I suggested. In fact, having them as melee mobs will both encourage variety and make the advancement "How did we get here" even easier to achieve.
Tipped arrows effects don't last long, so the uniqueness of the shulker's effect lasting as long as it is, remains intact. Also, to say a shulker isn't unique outside of that is just false. It is the only stationary mob that teleports when attacked. It is also the only mob with a homing attack. It seems like you think giving a skeleton the shulker bullet is what's going to happen. As I mentioned before, a skeleton shoots an arrow, and a shulker shoots a homing bullet. Two different delivery methods of damage, under the projectile category.
A skeleton variant will never be melee as that takes away from what a skeleton typically is. Wither Skeletons get the pass since they're a requirement to getting a boss to spawn, and should remain unique like that. If a new Skeleton gets introduced for melee, it should likely drop an item for a new boss summon, but I'm against that for now as mentioned before.
It's also been shown with the Bogged and Strays, that the Skeleton variant is going to gain access to a variety of tipped arrow effects, and of those effects, are found elsewhere but stronger. A Tipped Poison arrow doesn't last nearly as long as a Witch throwing a poison potion, or a cave spiders melee attack.
Fighting to keep status effects unique to mobs, is akin to fighting to get rid of Crossbows since regular bows already existed. Or not allowing Tridents in the game since Projectiles existed already from...you guessed it, regular Bows. Status effects should not be exclusive to a mob, as it forces certain aspects to play out the same way, every time. Introducing new mobs that give Mining Fatigue, or Darkness, or Slow should be encouraged at various strength levels. A skeleton variant can do this effectively.
And at this point, it doesn't even have to be a skeleton. It could be an entirely new unique mob that spawns in the End, that also uses projectiles to inflict levitation.
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Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on you. Fool me three times, hold up, rewind, That's not even possible.
Tipped arrows effects don't last long, so the uniqueness of the shulker's effect lasting as long as it is, remains intact. Also, to say a shulker isn't unique outside of that is just false. It is the only stationary mob that teleports when attacked. It is also the only mob with a homing attack. It seems like you think giving a skeleton the shulker bullet is what's going to happen. As I mentioned before, a skeleton shoots an arrow, and a shulker shoots a homing bullet. Two different delivery methods of damage, under the projectile category.
A skeleton variant will never be melee as that takes away from what a skeleton typically is. Wither Skeletons get the pass since they're a requirement to getting a boss to spawn, and should remain unique like that. If a new Skeleton gets introduced for melee, it should likely drop an item for a new boss summon, but I'm against that for now as mentioned before.
It's also been shown with the Bogged and Strays, that the Skeleton variant is going to gain access to a variety of tipped arrow effects, and of those effects, are found elsewhere but stronger. A Tipped Poison arrow doesn't last nearly as long as a Witch throwing a poison potion, or a cave spiders melee attack.
Fighting to keep status effects unique to mobs, is akin to fighting to get rid of Crossbows since regular bows already existed. Or not allowing Tridents in the game since Projectiles existed already from...you guessed it, regular Bows. Status effects should not be exclusive to a mob, as it forces certain aspects to play out the same way, every time. Introducing new mobs that give Mining Fatigue, or Darkness, or Slow should be encouraged at various strength levels. A skeleton variant can do this effectively.
And at this point, it doesn't even have to be a skeleton. It could be an entirely new unique mob that spawns in the End, that also uses projectiles to inflict levitation.
I believe I stated very explicitly in my previous reply that shulkers have unique features beyond their ability to levitate players to great heights (ability to teleport, inability to walk, etc.), so I don't know why you're claiming the other way around?
And "unique" does not equate to "iconic". For instance, drowned zombies have a small chance of dropping copper ingots when killed. Unique? Yes. Iconic? No. Endermen take damage when they touch water. Unique? Yes. Iconic? No.
The same thing goes for shulkers. Yes, their homing attack is unique, and their ability to teleport and inability to walk are unique, but what actually defines them and makes them truly iconic is their ability to levitate players to great heights and kill the player with fall damage. That's also where my creeper example from my previous reply comes in. It's not inflicting the Levitation effect itself, or an explosion, that makes the shulker or creeper, respectively, iconic. It's the player's POV or experience. Creepers are the only mob that have (and should have) the iconic ability to sneak up on players and explode. Why not let shulkers keep their iconic ability to lift players to great heights and kill them using fall damage to themselves?
You also continuously claim that I am trying to keep status effects themselves exclusive to one mob. I am not. Let a mob inflict the player with whatever status effect is appropriate to them and their setting, as long as it does not overshadow another mob's special and iconic role. The trident is the most powerful aquatic weapon, while bows hardly even work underwater. Crossbows are simply another way to deal damage from a distance, which isn't uniquely special or iconic compared to the shulker. Yes, skeletons shoot arrows and shulkers shoot homing bullets, but that doesn't make a substantial difference to the player's experience. For both mobs, you're perfectly safe if you aren't hit. If you are hit, you'll obviously focus more on trying to eliminate the mob rather than the projectiles they shoot. Even if not, it's essentially impossible to dodge either projectile while you're levitating, and you can block both shulker homing bullets and skeleton arrows with a shield anyway. Basically, the other unique features of a shulker are too niche to justify a new skeleton with the behavior you described.
For your first point about tipped arrows, you'd have to specify what you mean by "long". Different tipped arrows inflict status effects for different durations. One arrow from a stray inflicts Slowness for 30 seconds, while one arrow from a bogged inflicts poison for 4 seconds. If you want to introduce a skeleton that drops Levitation arrows while having the uniqueness of the shulker's long-lasting Levitation effect remaining intact, then it'll have to act like the bogged rather than the stray, with a very long attack cooldown and a short effect duration, something like 2 or 3 seconds that will merely cause inconvenience for the player and not have fall damage be a concern at all.
So, it has been confirmed at this point that 1.22 is the Bundles Of Bravery Update, and 1.22.50 is the Pale Garden drop in winter, but why have we not got an update to the End yet? People have been asking for an End Update for years now, but it hasn't come yet. I believe that Update 1.23 WILL be the End Update, so here are the hints we have so far. Before 1.22 was revealed at Minecraft Live 2024, Mojang made posts about the End multiple times, seemingly trying to hype us for the End Update, then disappointing us with still a good Update but not as we expected. During the intro to 2024 Minecraft Live, they showed an Enderman repeatedly getting irritated by different things, including being spat on by a Llama, possibly telling us that the End Update is in the works, but keeps getting pushed back or delayed, possibly to the next Update 1.23. What do you think about the End Update? Do you think it will be soon or not? Comment your opinion and thank you for your time!
The End's barrenness is its defining selling point, what I would expect to see more is end mobs in other dimensions. Endermen now entered the nether and endermites can spawn anywhere as is.
The End is way too boring to be finished. If it is the final level, and it stays that way, that would be very disappointing, and I remember when the Nether had literally two biomes and just one structure, prior to the Nether Update, so hopefully Mojang decides to update the End and give it special treatment too, because it it so barren and depressing.
Ps what is your avatar from, Final Fantasy?
I know I asked you this question before about 4 months ago, but the Newly Spawned label, despite your activity for 12 years on the site, is ridiculous!
There was only the one biome, lava and the caves/underground weren't even separately defined. Now the nether gives you more reasons to explore those areas separately by the inclusion of more silts and ores as well as strider riding.
The End does have 5 technical biomes (centre island, barrens, shore/cliff, islands/void, and forested highlands), but these have very little variety and would benefit from small additions like some type of rock, ore, small mob, etc. Endermites partially serve that role. The re-inclusion of phantoms would be interesting but it implies some major AI change and perhaps a wider more contiguous biome while the main gimmick of the End is bridging huge gaps with blocks/scaffolds/ender pearls etc in order to get the ideal method (elytra).
I believe I stated very explicitly in my previous reply that shulkers have unique features beyond their ability to levitate players to great heights (ability to teleport, inability to walk, etc.), so I don't know why you're claiming the other way around?
And "unique" does not equate to "iconic". For instance, drowned zombies have a small chance of dropping copper ingots when killed. Unique? Yes. Iconic? No. Endermen take damage when they touch water. Unique? Yes. Iconic? No.
The same thing goes for shulkers. Yes, their homing attack is unique, and their ability to teleport and inability to walk are unique, but what actually defines them and makes them truly iconic is their ability to levitate players to great heights and kill the player with fall damage. That's also where my creeper example from my previous reply comes in. It's not inflicting the Levitation effect itself, or an explosion, that makes the shulker or creeper, respectively, iconic. It's the player's POV or experience. Creepers are the only mob that have (and should have) the iconic ability to sneak up on players and explode. Why not let shulkers keep their iconic ability to lift players to great heights and kill them using fall damage to themselves?
You also continuously claim that I am trying to keep status effects themselves exclusive to one mob. I am not. Let a mob inflict the player with whatever status effect is appropriate to them and their setting, as long as it does not overshadow another mob's special and iconic role. The trident is the most powerful aquatic weapon, while bows hardly even work underwater. Crossbows are simply another way to deal damage from a distance, which isn't uniquely special or iconic compared to the shulker. Yes, skeletons shoot arrows and shulkers shoot homing bullets, but that doesn't make a substantial difference to the player's experience. For both mobs, you're perfectly safe if you aren't hit. If you are hit, you'll obviously focus more on trying to eliminate the mob rather than the projectiles they shoot. Even if not, it's essentially impossible to dodge either projectile while you're levitating, and you can block both shulker homing bullets and skeleton arrows with a shield anyway. Basically, the other unique features of a shulker are too niche to justify a new skeleton with the behavior you described.
For your first point about tipped arrows, you'd have to specify what you mean by "long". Different tipped arrows inflict status effects for different durations. One arrow from a stray inflicts Slowness for 30 seconds, while one arrow from a bogged inflicts poison for 4 seconds. If you want to introduce a skeleton that drops Levitation arrows while having the uniqueness of the shulker's long-lasting Levitation effect remaining intact, then it'll have to act like the bogged rather than the stray, with a very long attack cooldown and a short effect duration, something like 2 or 3 seconds that will merely cause inconvenience for the player and not have fall damage be a concern at all.
Being Iconic means being known for something. Part of that includes what's unique about them. Drowned drop Copper Ingots. They also drop Tridents and Nautilus Shells. They're the only mob that can drop those items. It's why you can make a Copper farm from Drowned.
What makes a shulker Iconic, is the fact you can take its shell and make portable storage. It's ability to levitate players and entities shouldn't be kept to it alone, the same way Poison is applied by different mobs.
You're constantly talking about keeping how the Shulker Attacks, and that will always be unique to it. Homing Bullets will likely remain the Shulkers key aspect. Everything else about the Shulker is pretty iconic to it. You think of a Shulker, and you think of it's attack, it's drop, its inability to move unless attacked, and it's spawn location being tied to the End.
Like I said before, a tipped arrow is pretty unique to Skeletons and won't take away from what a Shulker is. One homes in on targets, and one has to aim and can only shoot in a single direction towards their target. You also can't really compare different effects to each other on time. A Witch's poison can last up to 45 seconds or thereabouts. A Poison tipped arrow, lasts for 4-5 seconds? As far as I know, there's nothing else that can apply Slowness through enemy damage (Mining Fatigue is not slowness)
The End's barrenness is its defining selling point, what I would expect to see more is end mobs in other dimensions. Endermen now entered the nether and endermites can spawn anywhere as is.
As far as I can remember, Endermen could always spawn in the Nether, even before the update. It just wasn't as common as it is now. I distinctly remember going to the Nether to find Endermen because they only spawned at night for the most part in the overworld, and they spawned at all times in the Nether. And considering if you don't want to use Villagers, Endermen need to spawn outside of the End to be able to get to the End. But a couple more mobs new to the End would be good. But I could also see not adding any new mobs to keep in line with a more barren dimension devoid of life.
Endermites are also tied to spawning from an Item use, and not a specific biome or dimension.
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Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on you. Fool me three times, hold up, rewind, That's not even possible.
Being Iconic means being known for something. Part of that includes what's unique about them. Drowned drop Copper Ingots. They also drop Tridents and Nautilus Shells. They're the only mob that can drop those items. It's why you can make a Copper farm from Drowned.
What makes a shulker Iconic, is the fact you can take its shell and make portable storage. It's ability to levitate players and entities shouldn't be kept to it alone, the same way Poison is applied by different mobs.
You're constantly talking about keeping how the Shulker Attacks, and that will always be unique to it. Homing Bullets will likely remain the Shulkers key aspect. Everything else about the Shulker is pretty iconic to it. You think of a Shulker, and you think of it's attack, it's drop, its inability to move unless attacked, and it's spawn location being tied to the End.
Like I said before, a tipped arrow is pretty unique to Skeletons and won't take away from what a Shulker is. One homes in on targets, and one has to aim and can only shoot in a single direction towards their target. You also can't really compare different effects to each other on time. A Witch's poison can last up to 45 seconds or thereabouts. A Poison tipped arrow, lasts for 4-5 seconds? As far as I know, there's nothing else that can apply Slowness through enemy damage (Mining Fatigue is not slowness)
Being iconic does not merely mean to be known for something. Like I said before, one key aspect of being iconic is the unique and interesting experience it provides players. The drowned's ability to wield a trident is its main iconic feature, while its nautilus shell and copper drops are unique, but not iconic. Their inability to move is unique but doesn't make a significant impact on the experience.
A unique drop alone shouldn't be what makes a mob iconic. The player's experience matters.
Homing bullets and arrows act differently, but assuming they both inflict Levitation for similar durations (unless you specify otherwise, since if it's something like 2-3 seconds that doesn't make fall damage a concern at all, then you can just forget everything I've just said), the player's experiences won't differ much. You can't dodge either projectile if you are levitating. You can only block them with a shield. Since you are levitating, the mob can shoot more of that projectile, and unless you block it you get levitated more. Eventually, you levitate out of range and then take fatal fall damage.
That was supposed to be the iconic experience of raiding an end city. Not because some random mob inflicts Levitation, but because of the mob's strategy of continuously shooting Levitation projectiles which each inflict the effect for a sufficient time to make fall damage a concern.
Poison just makes you gradually lose hearts. By itself, it doesn't really make any mob iconic or provide an interesting experience.
For your last point, I was asking you to specify how long a single tipped arrow would inflict Levitation for. Strays shoot Slowness arrows and inflict the effect for 30 seconds. Bogged shoot Poison arrows and inflict the effect for 4 seconds. How long would an End's skeleton's arrow inflict the Levitation effect for? If it's somewhere near 2-4 seconds and there is a long attack cooldown, which I support, then it won't overshadow the shulker's iconic role of gradually lifting players up and then utilizing fall damage as its key combat strategy.
Should trees be added to the End, their style should be kept separate from both Overworld trees and Nether fungi in terms of shape, size and color to provide its own identity. We have logs in the Overworld and stems in the Nether, so End trees could use a different type of wood block. Perhaps they could reference the chorus plant (and be incompatible with bone meal since the End is not inhabited by skeletons or contain fossils) to maintain the dimension's unique theme of "a peculiar and desolate alien world." As for the color of the wood, it would be interesting to have a dark violet/purple wood block streaked with pale yellow.
What if one of the possible new mobs that might get added, is some kind of skeleton variant that does drop bones? Otherwise, waiting for whatever seed/sapling/etc to grow, would make farming it a bit of a pain to do.
If the trunk you cut down is like that of the Stems from the nether, and are just purple with streaks of yellow, then sure. But the resulting planks that come from them, need to be a solid purple color, to match how every other plank is.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on you. Fool me three times, hold up, rewind, That's not even possible.
Using the ignore feature here is kinda weird.
Adding a new skeleton variant could work but you'd have to consider what its true purpose is besides providing the player with bones / bone meal. For example, the main purpose of the Nether variant of skeletons, wither skeletons, is to provide the player with wither skulls required to summon a boss in the game.
Chorus plants grow in a way somewhat similar to that of bamboo, so farming them shouldn't be slow or tedious, although if a new End skeleton was to be added I won't mind it being compatible with bone meal.
And yeah, the planks should be a solid purple color, dark enough to differentiate them crimson planks.
You'd also have to consider the other Skeleton variants too, Bogged and Strays, that drop tipped arrows. Maybe these new ones could drop tipped arrows of levitation or something.
But if these new "trees" grow and act like all the other existing ones, they would be planted and grow into fully formed trees with harvestable "leaves" that can be composted. Could do that to get around a new Skeleton variant.
The problem with comparing this potential new tree to Chorus and Bamboo, is that Chorus/Bamboo, require multiple items to make their respective blocks. 4 Popped Chorus Fruit and 9 Bamboo. I personally wouldn't want to see another type that functions like that. I'd rather this new tree be farmable like every other tree, where it goes from a planted object into a tree. Maybe instead of a sapling or fungi, it could be a flower that grows into a 2-3 block tall tree with few leaves. Maybe something similar to those 1 tall Jungle bushes.
There are so many possibilities for how things could happen, and I wouldn't be bothered if they worked and the problems were small or non-existent.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on you. Fool me three times, hold up, rewind, That's not even possible.
Using the ignore feature here is kinda weird.
We haven't even got 1.22 yet.
The bogged and stray were added to provide an extra combat challenge in certain Overworld biomes (skeletons already existed in those biomes, so there hadn't been a reason not to spice them up, even if they didn't provide much of a use). Keeping the same philosophy for hypothetical End skeletons might work, but since skeletons have not existed in that dimension before and probably won't fit in well unless you add a new structure / more End biomes, it's best to give this new variant a good purpose or use, perhaps a rare drop like the wither skeleton, the representative variant of the Nether.
Taking that into consideration, tipped arrows could still be one of the secondary drops, although ideally not levitation ones as that'll make their attacks too similar to those of a shulker, a mob whose behavior is best kept unique.
I do like your idea with the End trees. In terms of shape, there's infinite models that could be implemented in the game, and it doesn't really matter which as long as the End's identity is maintained and few (if any) technical issues arise.
That's true, but isn't a reason not to discuss how a certain aspect of the game could be improved or "upgraded" in a potential future update.
Keeping effects to a single mob doesn't make sense though. Bees, Witches, and Cave Spiders all poison you. Zombies give you hunger. Wither and Wither Skeletons give you the Wither effect. Having a few enemies give a similar effect, through somewhat different applications seems fine. Shulkers reamin unique in the fact that they drop a very useful item, and they're the only enemy that can drop it.
Adding in another "boss" type enemy seems bad when the Warden exists the way it does. Withers give Nether Star, End Dragon gives an Egg (First time kill only), Elder Guardians give Sponges (Which are kind of rare as not every Ocean monument generates with sponge rooms)... And the warden drops something that can be found very easily in almost every Deep Dark biome. My second statement gave an out to not including any kind of skeleton. I was also trying to make Tipped Arrows a known thing, so the more enemies that can drop them, the more likely people will come across them. Trial chambers did this very well.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on you. Fool me three times, hold up, rewind, That's not even possible.
Using the ignore feature here is kinda weird.
That mostly depends on the effect you're talking about. Some status effects almost define the identity of the mob by providing it a unique way of attacking and thereby creating an interesting combat experience for the player. Poison is a very common effect that you can easily get through other means besides being attacked by mobs. Bees, cave spiders and witches all inflicting you with poison logically makes sense anyway, and the ways they attack are clearly unique to each to each other (e.g. cave spiders use melee attacks and witches throw splash potions). A player would therefore need to adopt a different combat strategy for each mob, something that makes the game enjoyable at it is.
The same goes for withers and wither skeletons, since they are both "wither-related" mobs, hence the names. You wouldn't take on a wither the same way you would a wither skeleton.
If the shulker and the hypothetical skeleton both shot levitation projectiles at you, then the combat experience is essentially identical: you float upwards, desperately trying to block the bullets / arrows, oh no, you got hit again, you drink a slow falling potion in panic, you pearl down to the ground and kill the mob before it could shoot another projectile at you. It doesn't make sense if you fight a skeleton variant the same way you would a shulker.
In response to your second point, a rare drop doesn't have to be an item required to summon a boss; the wither skeleton was only an example. Tridents, heavy cores and sponges are all good examples of rare drops. Some can be useful for combat; some can simply act as decorative souvenirs.
Like I said in my previous comment, I don't have a problem with skeletons dropping tipped arrows or tipped arrows themselves becoming more known by players.
Well as you said, how they inflict things are different. A shulker shoots a homing bullet, whereas a skeleton shoots a straight arrow that is easily dodgeable by simply moving to the side. Both considered projectiles, sure. Dealing with poison, despite how it's inflicted, is still the same. Box yourself in so you can get hit by anything else, or drink milk. Skeletons are not Shulkers, the same way Cave Spiders are not Witches. Skeletons distance themselves to shoot, and Shulkers remain stationary until damaged, and can teleport away. Cave Spiders are aggressive and close the gap, and Witches distance themselves if possible to throw their potions for damage. Doesn't seem like you're making much of an argument here.
My point in that second bit, was more that the drop has to be unique and useful in some way. And that it shouldn't be a drop for a boss summon, when one of the most recent bosses' drops are terrible. Fix the newest boss before thinking about adding a new one in. I don't have a problem with a drop from a new enemy being unique or useful, I actually encourage that. But I am adamantly against a new boss being added while the newest is just terrible in so many ways.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on you. Fool me three times, hold up, rewind, That's not even possible.
Using the ignore feature here is kinda weird.
Sure, shulkers have a slim chance of teleporting away when damaged and their projectiles do follow the player, but these differences simply don't justify the need for a new skeleton with an identical purpose of making players gradually float upwards and eventually fall to their deaths. Shulkers are supposed to be one of the most unique and iconic mobs in the game for the above reason, not just because they are required to craft shulker boxes. They offer a special gravity-defying challenge like no other mob.
Poison is a very generic and basic effect that simply makes you take damage over a certain period of time. Even if it was only unique to one mob (and it isn't), it doesn't make combat more special, merely slightly more difficult. Unless you box yourself in to drink milk in the middle of a fight, of course, but that just takes more away from the experience since it's something you could do with most mobs. And yes, I am aware you could drink slow falling potions when in combat with shulkers, but many players don't just for the experience.
I'm not against multiple mobs inflicting the same status effect just because of the fact they do, mind you. But when adding a new variant of an already-existing mob to a biome or location where said mob has never existed before, it's ideal not to replicate (or only slightly alter) the mechanics of a mob that already exists in that location.
So I'm not saying the new skeleton shouldn't inflict any Levitation at all. It could be a melee mob like the wither skeleton and inflict the effect for a shorter duration than the shulker does with its bullets. That'll both go well with the End dimension and not overshadow the challenges shulkers offer.
I do agree with this. So it appears there may have been a misunderstanding on my part.
Or again, hear me out here, the answer to most status effects, is to drink milk. With this one simple thing, you negate every effect in the game. A mob becomes unique when it differs from other mobs. A shulker will always be unique in how it behaves, in retreating and attacking. There will also, likely, never be another block type enemy that drops such a useful item. Giving away its status effect won't detract from it's identity. Variety in how things get applied, makes for an overall better experience. Also, it'd make getting the levitation effect into the overworld for "How did we get here" so much easier if a Skeleton could shoot you with a tipped arrow attack.Getting a shulker where you want is so tedious and requires far too much set up to do.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on you. Fool me three times, hold up, rewind, That's not even possible.
Using the ignore feature here is kinda weird.
Like I stated in my previous comment, I am not against the addition of a new skeleton variant (or any new mob, for that matter) that inflicts Levitation. What matters is how the effect is applied, like you said. The key iconic feature of the shulker is its attack ability (the ability to teleport and the inability to walk are unique features, but not iconic or game-changing). It doesn't just simply levitate players. What makes it iconic is its rare ability to levitate players to such a height where fall damage is fatal, much like how a creeper's iconic feature is its ability to silently sneak up on players and explode on them, or the breeze's ability to knock back players by large distances. Niche and iconic abilities like these are best kept exclusive to the mob. Since skeletons are ranged mobs by default, they will essentially have the same iconic ability as the shulker.
A single status effect can serve multiple niche purposes. A skeleton can both move and inflict Levitation on the player without having the same ability as the shulker, such as if they are melee mobs like I suggested. In fact, having them as melee mobs will both encourage variety and make the advancement "How did we get here" even easier to achieve.
Tipped arrows effects don't last long, so the uniqueness of the shulker's effect lasting as long as it is, remains intact. Also, to say a shulker isn't unique outside of that is just false. It is the only stationary mob that teleports when attacked. It is also the only mob with a homing attack. It seems like you think giving a skeleton the shulker bullet is what's going to happen. As I mentioned before, a skeleton shoots an arrow, and a shulker shoots a homing bullet. Two different delivery methods of damage, under the projectile category.
A skeleton variant will never be melee as that takes away from what a skeleton typically is. Wither Skeletons get the pass since they're a requirement to getting a boss to spawn, and should remain unique like that. If a new Skeleton gets introduced for melee, it should likely drop an item for a new boss summon, but I'm against that for now as mentioned before.
It's also been shown with the Bogged and Strays, that the Skeleton variant is going to gain access to a variety of tipped arrow effects, and of those effects, are found elsewhere but stronger. A Tipped Poison arrow doesn't last nearly as long as a Witch throwing a poison potion, or a cave spiders melee attack.
Fighting to keep status effects unique to mobs, is akin to fighting to get rid of Crossbows since regular bows already existed. Or not allowing Tridents in the game since Projectiles existed already from...you guessed it, regular Bows. Status effects should not be exclusive to a mob, as it forces certain aspects to play out the same way, every time. Introducing new mobs that give Mining Fatigue, or Darkness, or Slow should be encouraged at various strength levels. A skeleton variant can do this effectively.
And at this point, it doesn't even have to be a skeleton. It could be an entirely new unique mob that spawns in the End, that also uses projectiles to inflict levitation.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on you. Fool me three times, hold up, rewind, That's not even possible.
Using the ignore feature here is kinda weird.
I believe I stated very explicitly in my previous reply that shulkers have unique features beyond their ability to levitate players to great heights (ability to teleport, inability to walk, etc.), so I don't know why you're claiming the other way around?
And "unique" does not equate to "iconic". For instance, drowned zombies have a small chance of dropping copper ingots when killed. Unique? Yes. Iconic? No. Endermen take damage when they touch water. Unique? Yes. Iconic? No.
The same thing goes for shulkers. Yes, their homing attack is unique, and their ability to teleport and inability to walk are unique, but what actually defines them and makes them truly iconic is their ability to levitate players to great heights and kill the player with fall damage. That's also where my creeper example from my previous reply comes in. It's not inflicting the Levitation effect itself, or an explosion, that makes the shulker or creeper, respectively, iconic. It's the player's POV or experience. Creepers are the only mob that have (and should have) the iconic ability to sneak up on players and explode. Why not let shulkers keep their iconic ability to lift players to great heights and kill them using fall damage to themselves?
You also continuously claim that I am trying to keep status effects themselves exclusive to one mob. I am not. Let a mob inflict the player with whatever status effect is appropriate to them and their setting, as long as it does not overshadow another mob's special and iconic role. The trident is the most powerful aquatic weapon, while bows hardly even work underwater. Crossbows are simply another way to deal damage from a distance, which isn't uniquely special or iconic compared to the shulker. Yes, skeletons shoot arrows and shulkers shoot homing bullets, but that doesn't make a substantial difference to the player's experience. For both mobs, you're perfectly safe if you aren't hit. If you are hit, you'll obviously focus more on trying to eliminate the mob rather than the projectiles they shoot. Even if not, it's essentially impossible to dodge either projectile while you're levitating, and you can block both shulker homing bullets and skeleton arrows with a shield anyway. Basically, the other unique features of a shulker are too niche to justify a new skeleton with the behavior you described.
For your first point about tipped arrows, you'd have to specify what you mean by "long". Different tipped arrows inflict status effects for different durations. One arrow from a stray inflicts Slowness for 30 seconds, while one arrow from a bogged inflicts poison for 4 seconds. If you want to introduce a skeleton that drops Levitation arrows while having the uniqueness of the shulker's long-lasting Levitation effect remaining intact, then it'll have to act like the bogged rather than the stray, with a very long attack cooldown and a short effect duration, something like 2 or 3 seconds that will merely cause inconvenience for the player and not have fall damage be a concern at all.
The End's barrenness is its defining selling point, what I would expect to see more is end mobs in other dimensions. Endermen now entered the nether and endermites can spawn anywhere as is.
There was only the one biome, lava and the caves/underground weren't even separately defined. Now the nether gives you more reasons to explore those areas separately by the inclusion of more silts and ores as well as strider riding.
The End does have 5 technical biomes (centre island, barrens, shore/cliff, islands/void, and forested highlands), but these have very little variety and would benefit from small additions like some type of rock, ore, small mob, etc. Endermites partially serve that role. The re-inclusion of phantoms would be interesting but it implies some major AI change and perhaps a wider more contiguous biome while the main gimmick of the End is bridging huge gaps with blocks/scaffolds/ender pearls etc in order to get the ideal method (elytra).
Being Iconic means being known for something. Part of that includes what's unique about them. Drowned drop Copper Ingots. They also drop Tridents and Nautilus Shells. They're the only mob that can drop those items. It's why you can make a Copper farm from Drowned.
What makes a shulker Iconic, is the fact you can take its shell and make portable storage. It's ability to levitate players and entities shouldn't be kept to it alone, the same way Poison is applied by different mobs.
You're constantly talking about keeping how the Shulker Attacks, and that will always be unique to it. Homing Bullets will likely remain the Shulkers key aspect. Everything else about the Shulker is pretty iconic to it. You think of a Shulker, and you think of it's attack, it's drop, its inability to move unless attacked, and it's spawn location being tied to the End.
Like I said before, a tipped arrow is pretty unique to Skeletons and won't take away from what a Shulker is. One homes in on targets, and one has to aim and can only shoot in a single direction towards their target. You also can't really compare different effects to each other on time. A Witch's poison can last up to 45 seconds or thereabouts. A Poison tipped arrow, lasts for 4-5 seconds? As far as I know, there's nothing else that can apply Slowness through enemy damage (Mining Fatigue is not slowness)
As far as I can remember, Endermen could always spawn in the Nether, even before the update. It just wasn't as common as it is now. I distinctly remember going to the Nether to find Endermen because they only spawned at night for the most part in the overworld, and they spawned at all times in the Nether. And considering if you don't want to use Villagers, Endermen need to spawn outside of the End to be able to get to the End. But a couple more mobs new to the End would be good. But I could also see not adding any new mobs to keep in line with a more barren dimension devoid of life.
Endermites are also tied to spawning from an Item use, and not a specific biome or dimension.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on you. Fool me three times, hold up, rewind, That's not even possible.
Using the ignore feature here is kinda weird.
Also, just gonna leave this here...
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on you. Fool me three times, hold up, rewind, That's not even possible.
Using the ignore feature here is kinda weird.
we are not getting seasons update ever.
"I stand on my ground"
Being iconic does not merely mean to be known for something. Like I said before, one key aspect of being iconic is the unique and interesting experience it provides players. The drowned's ability to wield a trident is its main iconic feature, while its nautilus shell and copper drops are unique, but not iconic. Their inability to move is unique but doesn't make a significant impact on the experience.
A unique drop alone shouldn't be what makes a mob iconic. The player's experience matters.
Homing bullets and arrows act differently, but assuming they both inflict Levitation for similar durations (unless you specify otherwise, since if it's something like 2-3 seconds that doesn't make fall damage a concern at all, then you can just forget everything I've just said), the player's experiences won't differ much. You can't dodge either projectile if you are levitating. You can only block them with a shield. Since you are levitating, the mob can shoot more of that projectile, and unless you block it you get levitated more. Eventually, you levitate out of range and then take fatal fall damage.
That was supposed to be the iconic experience of raiding an end city. Not because some random mob inflicts Levitation, but because of the mob's strategy of continuously shooting Levitation projectiles which each inflict the effect for a sufficient time to make fall damage a concern.
Poison just makes you gradually lose hearts. By itself, it doesn't really make any mob iconic or provide an interesting experience.
For your last point, I was asking you to specify how long a single tipped arrow would inflict Levitation for. Strays shoot Slowness arrows and inflict the effect for 30 seconds. Bogged shoot Poison arrows and inflict the effect for 4 seconds. How long would an End's skeleton's arrow inflict the Levitation effect for? If it's somewhere near 2-4 seconds and there is a long attack cooldown, which I support, then it won't overshadow the shulker's iconic role of gradually lifting players up and then utilizing fall damage as its key combat strategy.