Minecraft Forums

The combat update from 1.9 has been a controversial topic for many. Some loved the changes, while others hated it and refused to move on from 1.8. 

Mojang has been hard at work trying to make it the best experience possible to the needs of PC players while also making sure those that play on phones or tablets have a good experience.

To this end, jeb has posted on Reddit a new custom snapshot which contains several large changes to combat. 

This is a summary of those changes, as explained by jeb:

This "manually installed Java snapshot" is the first experiment of the new direction of combat mechanics. It's based upon the current Java Edition system, but with the following major changes:

• Overall much faster attacks

• Attacks only happen when fully charged, even if you spam click

• You can hold to attack

• Weapons have different reach (attack range)

• When you stop attacking, the attack timer will continue charging to 200%

• At 200% you can perform special attacks (crits, sweeping, knockback) and these attacks have longer reach

• Sweeping only occurs on swords with the Sweeping enchantment

• Critical attacks (jump attacks) bypass shields

• Shields have no warm-up delay

• Shields also activate when crouching/sneaking

• If you hit something, the target's "invulnerability timer" will be shorter if you have a quick weapon

Installation instructions:

• Download this zip file: https://launcher.mojang.com/experiments/combat/610f5c9874ba8926d5ae1bcce647e5f0e6e7c889/1_14_combat-212796.zip

• Unpack the folder into your "versions" folder of your local Minecraft application data folder (see below if you are confused)

• Create a new launch configuration in the launcher and select the "1_14_combat-212796" version

• Start the game and the remaining files will be downloaded

• Play in a new world! This version is not compatible with other snapshots!

Finding the Minecraft application folder:

• Windows: Press Ctrl+R and type %appdata%/.minecraft and press Ok

• Mac OS X: In Finder, in the Go menu, select "Go to Folder" and enter ~/Library/Application Support/minecraft

• Linux: ~/.minecraft or /home/<your username>/.minecraft/

Once you have the launcher set up you can download the server files from there as well.

If you have any comments, issues, or other criticisms, then leave a comment over on Reddit so that jeb will see it. 

https://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/c5mqwv/a_custom_java_edition_snapshot_to_test_new_combat/