A new Minecraft version for PC has been released and it comes with many new features, combat options and monsters. With other words, if you ever wanted to simultaneously wield a sword and a shield in Minecraft, you can do it now.
The Minecraft 1.9 patch brings a new inventory slot that’s named “off-hand” and can be used in a few ways. As we’ve told you above, the “off-hand” slot can be used for holding a shield, but you will also be able to hold a torch or arrows. The shield can be used to protect yourself from arrows, which is quite good, while the arrows can be used when you shoot with your bow.
The new patch also upgrades the combat system as it adds cooldown for attacks. With other words, from now on, Axes will deal big damage, but instead, you will attack very slowly with them. With other words, each weapon has now a cooldown and depending on the damage it deals, the lower its cooldown will be. So, if you will use an axe and you will attack with it by spamming your mouse’s left button, you will notice that it will not hit as fast as it used to. In addition, Mojang has added different timing of each type of weapon depending on the material it’s created from. With other words, attacking with a wooden axe won’t feel the same as when attacking with a diamond sword.
Minecraft’s two main weapons (axes and swords) will now have some unique attack abilities. The sword will have “sweeping” attack that will damage multiple enemies, while the axe will come with a “crushing blow” attack that has the same effect. Unfortunately, the developer hasn’t detailed how these new weapon skills will work, so you will have to test them yourself.
However, even if the Minecraft 1.9 patch is called “Combat Update”, it’s not only about the combat. The new patch also expands the End biome, which now hosts a new type of dungeon that’s named “End Cities”. There is also a new mob called “Shulker”, a new flying cape named “Elytra”, new blocks and more.
Minecraft 1.9 Update – Combat Update Dual-Wielding and New Improvements