- Trident is a unique Minecraft weapon you can only get rarely by killing trident-wielding drowned mobs.
- Once you get it, you can repair the trident with the mending enchantment or by combining two tridents in an anvil.
- You can use it as a melee and ranged weapon and there are several enchantments you can put on it.
Among all the weapons in this blocky game, the trident is one of the most special ones. Not only is the way you obtain it unique, but the weapon has some extraordinary properties and even exclusive enchantments to help you make it more powerful. So, if you don’t know how to get one of these epic forks, you’ve come to the right place. We will teach you how to get and repair a trident in Minecraft. With that said, let’s begin!
Where to Get a Trident
You can only get a trident in one way, and no, it’s not through crafting. You’ll need to go drowned hunting.
Drowned are hostile Minecraft mobs that spawn in light level 0 inside all ocean biomes, rivers, and dripstone caves. They also spawn as part of ocean ruins and don’t despawn unless killed or difficulty is set to peaceful. However, they won’t respawn here either, as this spawning process is done only during world generation.
These aquatic hostile mobs will rarely spawn with a trident. To be exact, the chances of their spawn are 6.25% (1 in 16 drowned) in the Java edition, and 15% (3 in 20 drowned) in the Bedrock edition. After you carefully manage to kill this trident-wielding drowned, they will have a chance to drop the trident beside their usual drops.
This is where the two Minecraft editions differ drastically. In Java edition, you’ve got only an 8.5% chance to get a trident from a drowned. On the flip side, the Bedrock edition gives you much better chances – 25% – to get a trident. Looting enchantment does help with these odds, giving you 11.5% on Java and a 37% chance on Bedrock with Looting III.
Yes, this does seem kind of crazy. However, that’s not all. It’s possible to “trade” with a drowned holding a trident in Bedrock. If they aren’t attacking at the moment, you can give them a nautilus shell, and they will let go of the trident to pick up the other item, giving you a trident with full durability.
So if you’re playing on Bedrock edition, you will have far less trouble getting a trident than players on Java edition. However, the super overpowered Bedrock edition Wither makes up for this feature difference.
Also, to clear any confusion, zombies converted into drowned never spawn with a trident, so you cannot farm it that easily. You cannot pick up the tridents drowned throw either.
How to Repair a Trident
When you finally get your trident, it will most likely be pretty damaged. So, to use it fully, you will first need to repair it. How do you do that?
Well, you’re either going to need to get the mending enchanted book. There is no item you can combine with a trident in an anvil to repair it, like diamonds or iron.
So, the only option left is to enchant the trident with mending. You can’t get mending through the enchanting table, but you’ll need to trade with librarian villagers, do some fishing or loot structures. Our linked guide will help you obtain this unique enchantment easily. When you do so, you’ll need to apply it to the trident inside the anvil. Then, you can repair the trident in Minecraft.
Hold the trident in the off-hand and simply use bottles of enchanting or your sword to kill any mobs and get XP. You can also trade with villagers and obtain XP that way. If you want to make best farms to gain XP, then our linked guide will get you started.
If you have two tridents with low durabilities, you can combine them in the anvil or the crafting grid to get one trident with higher durability. Though we don’t recommend this, as it is much easier just to have mending on both tridents and keep them instead of sacrificing one.
How to Use a Trident
You can use a trident as a melee and ranged weapon. Similarly to a sword or axe, get near a mob and right-click or use the secondary action button to hurt them up close.
If you want to throw your trident at something, hold the right-click, aim, and let go. This will launch the weapon in the direction you were looking at. But keep in mind you’ll need to pick up the trident if you haven’t enchanted it with loyalty yet. So, don’t throw it somewhere you can’t reach it, especially the void, as you won’t be able to retrieve it anymore.
What Enchantments Should You Put on a Trident
There are several trident enchantments in the game. They include:
- Mending
- Unbreaking
- Riptide
- Channeling
- Loyalty
- Impaling
- Curse of Vanishing
They allow you to use this item as a super strong weapon, lightning summoner, and even a tool that can propel you through the air. We’ve got a dedicated guide on trident enchantments, where we go through each of them in detail. So to choose which enchantments to put on your trident, definitely follow the link above.
And just like that, you now know how to get a trident, as well as repair it in your Minecraft world. This is for sure one of the coolest features that this game has. Though Minecraft 1.21’s wind charge is not to be forgotten either.
So, how long did it take for you to get your first trident? Were you lucky and the first drowned dropped it or did you grind for hours before obtaining it? Share your experience with us in the comment section below!
No, you cannot craft a trident but only get it rarely by killing trident-wielding drowned.
To get the trident fast, you can explore oceans in search of ocean ruins where you’ll definitely find drowned. Then, explore dripstone caves, as they have a higher rate of drowned spawning. In addition to that, rivers also have a higher rate of drowned spawning, so exploring dark parts of rivers or underwater caves will make you more likely to find a drowned with a trident.
Considering how difficult it is to get a trident and how a bow can be super powerful with good enchantments, I’d say no, a trident is not better than a bow.
