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Minecraft Trident: The Ultimate Guide to Aquatic Combat & Travel

Last Updated: October 30, 2025

A Minecraft player wielding a Trident underwater.

Mojang revolutionized combat and exploration in Minecraft's blocky world with the Update Aquatic, which introduced one of the most powerful and unique items in the game's history: the Trident. This versatile weapon forever changed how players approach fighting and travel, but it came with a terrifying new foe lurking in the depths to guard it: the Drowned.

While the community had long speculated about new weapon types like spears, Mojang delivered something far more dynamic. The Trident serves as a powerful melee weapon, a deadly throwable projectile, and an incredible mobility tool, filling a tactical niche that fundamentally altered the Minecraft experience.

A New Era of Combat: The Trident Arrives

The release of the Update Aquatic (Java Edition 1.13) brought the Trident, a weapon that immediately captured the community's imagination. It offers a completely new style of combat that blends the strengths of a sword and a bow with unique magical properties.

Unlike other weapons, the Trident cannot be crafted. The only way to obtain this coveted item is by defeating a Drowned—an underwater zombie variant—that is holding one. This is a rare drop, making the Trident a hard-earned trophy with capabilities to match.

The Trident excels with its dual functionality. As a melee weapon, it deals more damage than a diamond sword, albeit with a slightly slower attack speed. Its true power, however, is unleashed when thrown. Holding down the use button allows the player to aim and launch it like a spear, inflicting significant ranged damage. Without a specific enchantment, a thrown Trident must be retrieved manually from where it lands.

However, its exclusive and game-changing enchantments are what elevate the Trident from a good weapon to a legendary one:

  • Loyalty: A Trident with this enchantment will automatically fly back to the player a few seconds after being thrown. This transforms it into a reliable, reusable, and powerful ranged weapon that doesn't consume ammunition.
  • Riptide: This mobility-focused enchantment propels the player forward when the Trident is thrown while they are in water or standing in the rain. It cannot be combined with Loyalty or Channeling, but it provides one of the fastest methods of travel in the game, allowing players to soar through oceans and rainy skies.
  • Channeling: During a thunderstorm, a Trident enchanted with Channeling will summon a lightning bolt to strike any mob it hits. This is not only visually spectacular but has practical uses, such as creating Charged Creepers to farm mob heads.
  • Impaling: This enchantment increases the damage the Trident deals to aquatic mobs. In Bedrock Edition, this bonus damage applies to any mob or player that is in water or rain, making it a universally powerful combat enchantment in wet conditions.

Beware the Depths: The Drowned

Just as players gained this powerful new weapon, they had to contend with the fearsome new threat that wields it. The Drowned are an aquatic zombie variant found in oceans and rivers. Any standard zombie that remains underwater for 30 seconds will also convert into a Drowned, making any body of water a potential hazard.

While most Drowned are simple melee attackers, a small percentage spawn holding a Trident, and these are among the most dangerous overworld mobs. They will hurl their Tridents at the player with surprising speed and accuracy, forcing a completely new approach to underwater and coastal survival. Their ranged attacks can easily catch an unsuspecting player in a boat or while swimming, making shields and ranged retaliation more critical than ever before. Fighting them in their own element is a challenge, as water slows the player's movement and limits visibility, giving the Drowned a distinct home-field advantage.

Strategic Implications for the Minecraft World

The dual introduction of the Trident and the Drowned had a profound impact on Minecraft's gameplay loop. Oceans, once vast and relatively empty barriers, became dangerous but rewarding zones for exploration.

For players, the Trident became the ultimate tool for aquatic domination. A Riptide Trident makes traversing oceans faster than any boat, while a Loyalty Trident allows for safe and effective combat against underwater threats like Guardians and other Drowned. The shield's importance grew tenfold, becoming essential equipment for blocking incoming Trident projectiles.

Countering the Drowned requires new tactics. Fighting from a boat with a bow or a Loyalty Trident of your own is a common strategy. For underwater expeditions, gear like a Conduit, potions of Water Breathing, and armor with the Respiration and Aqua Affinity enchantments are now staples for any serious explorer looking to conquer an Ocean Monument or hunt for their very own Trident. The Update Aquatic, through its signature weapon and mob, didn't just add new content; it added depth, strategy, and a new sense of high-stakes adventure to the waters of Minecraft.