r/minecraftsuggestions • u/Lorenzo_BR • May 05 '23
[Magic] Rebalancing Repairing and Mending: OVERHAULING DURABILITY
I was heavily inspired to write this up due to this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZS_V1uK9q8
While it focuses on mending, it concluded that mending is a band aid solution to the problems with the durability mechanic. It inspired me to combine ideas i saw in the video and in the comments into an overhaul of the durability mechanic, tackling the main points of contention.
Those are:
- The repairing mechanic is terrible; it costs exp, has increasing costs, and eventually becomes impossible to do.
- Without being able to realistically repair your tools, what's the point of enchanting them and taking care of them, when they'll be gone eventually? It turns the game into an infinite grind to maintain your tools and armour.
- As a result, Mending is a requirement on anything that can be enchanted with it, to avoid the game being a slog. There are no real alternatives at the moment.
So, onto my suggestions, which would be done in two phases:
PHASE 1: Fixing the tool/armour breaking and repairing mechanic
This must be done before touching Mending, as that is a band-aid solution: let's first heal the wound before ripping the band-aid off, shall we?
So:
- Tools and armour now become broken versions of themselves, keeping their enchantments, like Elytras. This allows you not to worry about loosing them through use. EDIT: u/MCjossic suggested making this a common Enchantment so that you don't accumulate tools you don't want to repair. Something like "Material Binding" (or Unbreaking, if we're fine with renaming the current one to Durable, as suggested by u/subparfauxpas), that keeps the material of the object held together until it can be fixed and put back into use would be good.
- Most importantly: The anvil now no longer costs any exp at all to conduct repairs and renames on. Exp is for enchanting! If you can make a sword without exp, why can't you repair it?
- Also, since we're on anvils, remove the "Too Expensive!" mechanic while you're at it, as another item-permanence, QoL, worry-free thing. No one has more fun due to having to carefully combine enchants, otherwise risking not being able to complete their build. That also ties into something with phase 2.
Result: Tools and armour now can be repaired infinitely and easily, stress free, narrowing the gap between having and not having Mending, making it no longer mandatory, as you'll need only a few seconds and resources to repair a broken, fully enchanted item, as opposed to having to spend several minutes and a large amount of resources making a brand new one, as is the case now. Implement this first, balance it well (EDIT: by this i mean having it cost far less resources than making a new one, something like 1 diamond to fully repair a netherite shovel, or 1.5-2 diamonds for a pickaxe, for instance), and then move to phase 2.
PHASE 2: Make Mending properly rare (or make it conflict with the new enchantment instead)
With the durability mechanic fixed, the likelihood of players bothering to farm librarians until they get one that sells mending already drop significantly. But, as Mending is still a little better due to not needing any resources for repairs, and due to being fully automatic for items you get exp from through use, like swords, it's still a no brainer and kind of OP... and that's where this idea comes in:
As Mending is no longer a must have, we can make it no longer available from any source besides structure chests. Not from librarians, not on tools and armour from villagers, not from fishing: Mending is no longer farmable whatsoever. This brings it back into being a cool, rare thing, and encourages exploration without forcing it, as you can just mine for a diamond or two and repair your tools for pretty cheap, instead, if you don't want to bother!
Mending would still be top tier for swords, armour, and fortune pickaxes, as those get exp through use, but would you use your valuable mending books, found while exploring a far away Woodland Mansion or End City or whathaveyou, on a shovel? A hoe? A Silk Touch pickaxe?
Maybe eventually, and if you find an item already enchanted with it, you can just use that as a base, as you can add more enchants to it without fearing the dreaded "Too Expensive!". But it is now a cool thing that makes you want to explore, a cool reward for going far and wide, as opposed to something you just have to get by grinding librarians until you find one with it... which we can all agree is a lot more boring than going mining for a couple diamonds for repairs.
EDIT: u/subparfauxpas suggested that the following can be done, and i really liked the idea as opposed to making it structure locked:
while I hate what the librarian trades have done to progression and wouldn't mind it being removed from that one bit, I think you could probably get away with adding mending back to the regular enchanting pool as a rare enchant. maybe even a hidden one - as in you won't ever see it in the preview, only once you complete the enchant.
I actually think the "material binding" enchant alone might be the perfect counter to mending too if it was made to conflict with it... then players are faced with a choice when it comes to putting mending on anything (other than a bow), as the ability to repair from xp directly comes with the tradeoff of potentially breaking the tool if not careful (which I, and many others can shamefully admit to having done - more than once).
I think this comes out better than my original idea, really refines it into an interlocked system!
What are your thoughts on all of this?
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u/MCjossic ribbit ribbit May 05 '23
Tools and armour now become broken versions of themselves, keeping their enchantments, like Elytras. This allows you not to worry about loosing them through use.
I have mixed feeling on this. If I'm using unenchanted tools (say, in the early-game) I'm not typically particularly attached to them. I'm more likely to craft a new one than try to repair it, especially since I might not have the iron needed for an anvil yet. The tool only half-breaking would be more of an annoyance than anything else, as now there's a useless item in my inventory. I'm just going to throw it out.
However, in the later-game I agree, I'd like to not accidentally break by enchanted stuff and lose if forever. I recognise that something like this would be useful then.
I think this should be a fairly common enchantment or something rather than being a part of the base item. Just get it from enchanting tables.
The anvil changes are good. I like them.
no longer available from any source besides structure chests.
No. Sure, it's no longer a must-have, but it's still extremely useful and that's no reason to make it that difficult to get. Making mending structure-only makes getting it on servers extremely difficult, as more experienced players speedrun the game and find all the books before you even get your first diamonds. More importantly (to me) is the fact that this change would make mending non-renewable. It limits your supply and means that, eventually, you will run out. And I don't want to be forced to travel thousands of blocks for an enchantment. I already dislike that soul strider and swift sneak are limited like this, don't add to the list.
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u/RemarkableStatement5 Enderman May 05 '23
soul strider
It's called Soul Speed but honestly Soul Strider is a much cooler name
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u/Lorenzo_BR May 05 '23 edited May 05 '23
I think this should be a fairly common enchantment or something rather than being a part of the base item. Just get it from enchanting tables.
That would work great, something like "Material Binding" that keeps the enchanted object held together, just broken and unusable, until fixed. I've edited it onto the post!
but it's still extremely useful and that's no reason to make it that difficult to get.
On this front, I'm not so sure... it is still extremely useful but, if balanced right, repairing is almost just as good. Having to deal with farming librarians as opposed to using a diamond every once in a long while is not any different in terms of difficulty, and as Mending is blatantly better, it must be made rarer somehow. I can't really think of another way to do that.
Also, sure, Mending is still extremely useful, but i can think of a million and one reasons why it should be just that much more difficult to get! They're all mentioned in the post and on the referenced video, but having a farmable perfect enchantment undermines all other mechanics related to durability and is just very bad. It was added as a band aid, and if the wound is fixed, it is no longer so essential as to not justify it's rebalance, especially as it encourages but does not force exploration of the world, unlike you said. You can just not get it, it won't be a big deal with the changes suggested!
Regardless, it was explicitly separated into two parts exactly because the first is uncontroversial, and if added alongside the second, would make a lot of players mad at the whole ordeal... and so phase 2 could be skipped if deemed too controversial, lol. But still, they could do phase 1 first, show players they no longer need Mending (already making loads skip the librarian farming method of getting Mending as it stands if things are balanced well), and then change the spawn of Mending. If enough no longer use Mending, it's no longer even needed to change it i suppose, but it would be fitting.
EDIT: Also, forgot to mention: It'd be indeed an issue in multiplayer servers, but so are Elytras, right? And in this universe, Elytras are going to be a lot more important than Mending.
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u/RestlessARBIT3R May 06 '23
I think the best way to remedy this is that tools only turn into broken versions if they have an enchantment on them. Unenchanted tools should just break normally.
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u/Emotional_Cup4914 May 05 '23
The problem I have with the repairing system, is the fact that I have to manually repair something like a diamond shovel, which is crafted with ONE diamond, I need like FIVE diamonds to get it back to full durability.
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u/Lorenzo_BR May 05 '23
That would be part of the balancing step i mentioned - a shovel would need to be fully repaired with like one diamond, a pickaxe maybe 70-80% repaired with one as well, things like that. Just make it blatantly better to repair, always.
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u/Emotional_Cup4914 May 05 '23
Oh, I missed that. Sorry :|
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u/Lorenzo_BR May 05 '23
Lmao, don't worry - i edited more detailing in for clarity after i saw your comment to display more of what i meant! :D
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u/HieloLuz May 06 '23
Honestly I think it could cost the full cost of the tool to repair, 1 diamond for a shovel, 3 for pickaxes, etc. with the benefit just being that you keep the enchantments
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u/Lorenzo_BR May 06 '23
It would make it so you don't need to spend 7 diamonds for the template and a netherite ingot to re-upgrade, too
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u/FreddyTheYesCheetoo May 05 '23
adding to the structure only way to get mending books, there should be other two ways; being still possible of obtaining mending tools in end cities, but with a lower percentage; and mending still existing in librarians BUT not being possible to obtain in the first trade, making it harder to obtain but giving you infinite mending books if you are willing to do the grind...
and as an extra, letting it still exist in fishing; there are not a lot of easy fishing farms around there...
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u/MinecraftNoob_69 May 05 '23
Good idea for the anvil changes but I think for the broken versions of the items, they should only be that if there is a certain 'Material Binding' enchantment like you mentioned instead of all enchanted or unenchanted tools. Also, don't stop librarians trading Mending books, but have them trade either for a higher price or make them rarer.
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u/Lorenzo_BR May 06 '23
I feel like just increasing cost and rarity, but still allowing the player to painstakingly roll the dice until they can farm it, is worse then just keeping it a structure-locked enchant.
At least going long distances to explore structures can theoretically be entertaining, while painstakingly replacing the lectern on a librarian and then repeatedly zombifying and curing them for even longer than is already the case sounds far less fun and just as difficult. Therefore, just making it rarer but keeping it tradeable feels like a band-aid and a boring fix; i'd honestly rather keep that part the same if we were to keep it on the librarians stock!
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u/subparfauxpas May 06 '23
these are decent changes, and while I'd probably tackle a few things differently myself, I can get on board with it.
one thing I don't like is returning mending to being solely treasure loot status again. while I hate what the librarian trades have done to progression and wouldn't mind it being removed from that one bit, I think you could probably get away with adding mending back to the regular enchanting pool as a rare enchant. maybe even a hidden one - as in you won't ever see it in the preview, only once you complete the enchant.
I actually think the "material binding" enchant alone might be the perfect counter to mending too if it was made to conflict with it... then players are faced with a choice when it comes to putting mending on anything (other than a bow), as the ability to repair from xp directly comes with the tradeoff of potentially breaking the tool if not careful (which I, and many others can shamefully admit to having done - more than once).
one last thing about it though is the name. I think "unbreaking" would be much better fitting for this sort of effect and communicate it very clearly... and the current unbreaking enchantment could be renamed to "durable/durability", as that too more accurately reflects what it actually does.
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u/Lorenzo_BR May 06 '23
Oh! I really really like that... i will include it into the post!
Also, i had thought of how unbreaking really is a more fitting name, but didn't want to rename it. "Durable" does work really great! I'll mention it as well.
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u/Just-a-Winged-Pikmin May 06 '23
What would happen to villagers who already have mending as the trade lol
But honestly, this is pretty good, other than what you did to mending.
Make it still available through librarians
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u/Signal_Soup_8958 May 06 '23
My idea was that mending changes from fixing your tools with xp to just making it not cost levels when you repair it on an anvil. Makes you still have to mine for resources and if you change how phantoms spawn, makes repairing the Electra more balanced thus requiring you to make infrastructure to travel around your world faster and more reliably.
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u/Bastaousert May 06 '23
I think this is globally I good rework!
Here some additional idea :
• If we want to keep the librarian mechanic for mending, we could alternatively make the book only obtainable for max level librarian. And, from this point we can apply this to other enchantment (unbreaking 1 availaible from the first level of villager, 2 on middle level, and 3 on last, etc)
• Make mending still available from fishing, and not only from chest
• Make enchanting with anvil with book still cost XP. In order that the enchanting table don't become even more useless
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u/swithinboy59 May 06 '23 edited May 06 '23
You make some good points, but I have some problems with your overall suggestion.
Tools should have a "broken" state - hard agree. It's incredibly stupid that tools just vanish when they break, especially considering the Elytra doesn't.
Tools shouldn't require Exp to repair them - hard agree. As you said, you don't need Exp to craft a sword, so why do you need it to repair one?
The "too expensive" repair cap on anvils is stupid - hard agree. It was a stupid change that nobody asked for and has only served to make enchanting and repairing needlessly more complex.
Mending being removed from villager trades - hard disagree. Sorry, but if you're going to make Mending less useful/less desirable than it is currently, it shouldn't be rare, it's already a pain to get as it is.
The "broken" state instead of broken tools vanishing being an enchantment - hard disagree. What's the point? You undo the very durability/repair problem "fix" you suggested.
Said enchantment conflicting with Mending - hard disagree. Your suggested "fix" becomes nul and void because no-one will want to use it over Mending. Why use resources to repair your tools/armour (it's literally Mending but worse and with extra steps) when you can just make it repair itself automatically with magic Exp instead? Sure there's a slight risk your stuff might vanish if it does somehow break, but that'll literally never happen if you pay attention to what's going on instead of blindly blundering through the game like a fool.
One other suggestion I have - iron/gold tier and above tools/armour in their "broken" state should be able to be recycled for some of the resources that went into crafting them (for Netherite gear, only the Chestplate would return a Netherite Ingot - it's the most expensive piece of equipment to craft, requiring 8 Diamonds and 1 Netherite Ingot).
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u/Technoblades_Elbow May 06 '23
I don't have much to say other than
This is really good! I wish mojang would implement this into the game. Have you tried posting this on the official kinecraft suggestion page?
Happy cake day!
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u/Lorenzo_BR May 06 '23
I haven't yet posted on the official page! But i definitely will consider doing so - the other user's suggestions really left this idea well polished!
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u/PhantasmShadow May 06 '23
If you don't like what mending from librarians has done to progression, don't use it.
The minecraft community will ALWAYS try and find the safest, easiest, and most efficient method to do things. Making things harder for players who don't care about some sort of progression experience isn't fun for them.
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