Simple Spears Mod for Minecraft: A Fresh Take on Throwing Weapons
Vanilla Minecraft gives players the trident as the ultimate underwater throwing weapon, but what if you want that same ranged versatility on land without hunting drowned mobs for hours? The Simple Spears mod answers that call by introducing a full set of craftable spears that mirror the trident’s mechanics while carving out their own niche. Whether you are a survival builder tired of skeleton snipers or a PvP enthusiast looking for new loadout options, this mod adds a balanced, enchanting-friendly weapon class that feels right at home in the blocky world.
What Does Simple Spears Add?
At its core, Simple Spears gives you a brand-new weapon type: the spear. These are throwable, retrievable tools that occupy the same mechanical space as tridents but with distinct trade-offs. The mod currently includes six variants matching vanilla material tiers—wood, stone, iron, gold, diamond, and netherite—so you can progress from flimsy early-game poking sticks to devastating late-game javelins. Each spear can be crafted at a crafting table, making them accessible without relying on rare mob drops.
Spear Variants and Materials
Every spear follows the durability and enchantability rules of its material. A wooden spear is a cheap disposable option for early exploration, while a netherite spear offers incredible durability and knockback resistance. Visually, each tier has a distinct shaft and head design, so you can tell at a glance whether that flying stick of doom is a harmless stone prod or a diamond-tipped death sentence.
Crafting Recipes
Crafting a spear feels intuitive. You arrange two sticks diagonally in the crafting grid, then place the head material (flint for stone, ingots for iron/gold/diamond/netherite, or planks for wood) in the top slot—similar to a shovel but with a longer handle. The result is a weapon that can be thrown with a right-click and, when enchanted with Loyalty, returns to your hand after hitting a target or block. If you enjoy tinkering with custom modpacks, installing Simple Spears via the foxygame.net launcher makes the process effortless, as you can browse and activate the mod directly from the launcher’s built-in menu without digging through folders.
Combat Mechanics: Spears vs. Tridents
Simple Spears doesn’t just clone the trident; it rebalances the formula. While tridents excel in aquatic combat with unique enchantments like Impaling and Riptide, spears are designed as a land-based hybrid weapon. The key difference lies in how damage is split between melee and thrown attacks.
Thrown Damage and Melee Balance
A spear’s thrown damage is exactly double its melee damage. For example, a diamond spear deals 6 melee damage (the same as a diamond sword’s base) but delivers a whopping 12 thrown damage—higher than a fully charged bow shot without Power. This makes spears deadly at range but weaker up close compared to tridents, which have higher base melee damage and attack speed. The trade-off forces you to think tactically: do you engage in close quarters with a sword, or soften targets from a distance before switching to a shield?
Enchantments for Spears
One of the mod’s standout features is its thoughtful enchantment compatibility. Spears accept a curated set of enchantments that reinforce their role as a thrown weapon without stepping on the trident’s toes. You can apply Sharpness (as well as Bane of Arthropods and Smite), Fire Aspect, Looting, and Loyalty. Notably, spears cannot receive Channeling, Impaling, or Riptide, preserving the trident’s unique identity.
Spiraling Enchantment
Simple Spears also introduces a brand-new enchantment called Spiraling. This enchantment acts like Power for bows, but exclusively for the thrown damage of spears and tridents. Each level of Spiraling (up to level V) adds one heart (2 damage) to the thrown damage value, meaning a fully Spiraling V diamond spear can reach a devastating 22 thrown damage. It does not affect melee strikes, so you still need to choose between enhancing your ranged punch or your close-quarters edge. Finding a Spiraling book in a stronghold chest or trading with a librarian suddenly becomes a top priority for spear-focused builds.
Pros and Cons of Simple Spears
To help you decide if this mod fits your playstyle, here is a quick breakdown of the advantages and limitations compared to tridents and other weapons.
- + Double thrown damage: Spears hit twice as hard when thrown as they do in melee, rewarding accurate aim.
- + Craftable from common materials: No need to grind drowned spawns; just mine and craft.
- + Enchantment flexibility: Sharpness, Fire Aspect, Looting, and Loyalty all work, letting you tailor the weapon to your needs.
- + New enchantment: Spiraling provides a dedicated ranged damage boost, making spears viable even against armored opponents.
- - Lower melee damage and attack speed: Tridents outperform spears in close combat, so you will want a backup blade.
- - No water-themed enchantments: Channeling, Impaling, and Riptide are off the table, limiting aquatic utility.
- - Durability cost: Throwing a spear consumes durability like a trident, so carry a spare or an anvil for repairs.
Getting Started with Simple Spears
Adding the mod to your game is straightforward. You can manually place the .jar file into your mods folder after installing Minecraft Forge or Fabric, depending on the version. However, many players prefer a more streamlined approach. The foxygame.net launcher offers a modern, flexible way to manage your Minecraft experience, allowing you to download and enable Simple Spears right from its integrated mod library without ever leaving the launcher. Once installed, craft a wooden spear with two sticks and a plank, then experiment with throwing it at a target dummy or a stray creeper to get a feel for the arc and velocity. As you gather better materials, upgrade your spear and enchant it with Loyalty and Spiraling to become a true spear-throwing champion.
Conclusion
Simple Spears fills a gap in Minecraft’s arsenal by offering a craftable, balanced throwing weapon that complements existing combat options without overshadowing the trident. Its double thrown damage, new Spiraling enchantment, and familiar material tiers make it easy to integrate into any survival world or modpack. Whether you are roleplaying as a hunter in a vast taiga biome or defending your base from pillager raids, the spear adds a satisfying layer of tactical depth. Give it a try, and you might find yourself leaving that old bow at home.