The Nether update

With the new Nether update coming out this summer, here is some information about what is coming so you are a little more prepared. We don't want to spoil everything, so we'll let you discover more of the new stuff when the update goes live.

Mobs

Piglins are a hostile mob that become neutral as long as you are wearing a piece of gold armour. If you open a chest in the Nether, the Piglins will notice and will become hostile. You can barter gold with the Piglins too, doing so can get you cool rare items. The player has to simply throw or right-click a Gold Ingot at a Piglin and the Piglin will give an item in return.

Hoglins are pig like beasts which are slightly larger than cows. They are a Hostile mob. Hoglins can be used as a source of food in the Nether as they drop raw pork chops and leather.

Zoglins are zombie Hoglins. They have missing pieces of flesh showing off some of their rib cage and skull.  They are a hostile mob that are highly aggressive towards everything. They will attack most mobs; Piglins, Hoglins and you. They will not attack creepers and are immune to fire and lava.

Striders are a passive mob. Striders spawn in lava lakes and are a great way of travelling quickly across lava in the Nether. You can ride them with a saddle and can lead them with fungus on a fishing rod, in the same way how carrot on a fishing rod works for a pig.

Zombie Piglins are the new upgraded model of the Zombie Pigmen. They have received more features that make them look like Piglins like the floppy ears on the side of the head, but have also kept their original features like their texture design. Piglins fear Zombie Piglins as they're afraid of becoming them. A Zombie Piglin is made when a Piglin is in the Overworld or the end for more than 15 seconds. The same goes for Hoglins transforming into Zoglins.

Mojang would like to add the Illusioner mob to raids and they hope to add them in the 1.16 update, so hopefully we will be seeing them in the game very soon. For those who do not know, Illusioners have been in game for a very long time but have never been a mob that spawns. They do not have an egg in creative mode and can only be summoned through a command.

Netherite!

A stronger than diamond ore is coming to Minecraft. It is called a Netherite ingot, and it will make the best tools and armour within the game. The only way to obtain a Netherite ingot is to make one out of Netherite scraps and gold on a crafting table. The only way to obtain Netherite scraps is by smelting ancient debris, which is a very rare ore, therefore Netherite ingots are difficult to come by. No longer will diamonds be the most durable ore in the game. It will be well worth the tool and armour upgrades when you get your hands on some Netherite. Another amazing thing about Netherite ingots is that they float on lava so you cannot lose them.

Some New Useful Blocks

Crying obsidian is not used to build a Nether portal, instead it is used to craft a re-spawn anchor. A re-spawn anchor can be used to set a spawn point using glow stone as charges, 4 being the maximum amount of charges. They can only be used in the Nether, as in the end or the Overworld it will explode. Crying obsidian can be found on broken portals, which can be found both in the nether and the Overworld.

Ever feared of getting lost? There is now something called a Lodestone compass. Put down a lodestone block and right click with your compass, that compass will now always point to that piece of lodestone, meaning you can put it next to something important and always find your way. You could put a lodestone block next to your Nether portal within the Nether as lodestone compasses work in any dimension. Now you’re free to roam the Nether as much as you like and when you’re ready to go back you can follow your lodestone compass that leads to the lodestone block that you put next to your portal. Lodestone is made of chiselled stone bricks and a Netherite ingot.

Nether Biomes

Soul Sand Valley. Exactly how it sounds, soul sand valleys are filled with soul sand and soul soil. Thanks to the new addition of the enchantment soul speed you will be able to walk faster across soul sand and soul soil however, this enchantment can only be found as Nether treasure or bartering with the Piglins. In other words, it cannot be fished or made on an enchantment table. Soul sand valleys are also home to a lot of skeletons and Ghasts. There are fossils and Basalt pillars around and, the whole area is covered with a blue fog instead of the red fog we are used to seeing in the Nether, also the flames are blue.

Crimson forest. A Dense forest of trees made of Nether wart blocks and weeping vines. It gets its name from the red colour of the Nether wart.

Warped forest. It's basically a colour Variant of the crimson forest with warped fungus and twisting vines and Nether roots found on the ground. Here you can find Hyphae and stems which craft into Nether planks which are a lovely blue colour.

Basalt deltas. This biome looks as though a volcano erupted here. Lava pools and magma blocks are scattered around. Lots of gravel and black stone. It is the most visually interesting of all the new biomes even with it's very grey colour palette. This biome is considered quite dangerous, especially with how difficult it is to navigate through. With the spawning of Ghats alongside its uneven landscape, it could lead to a treacherous fall.

There is also a new structure that appears in the Nether. The Bastion Remnants. It's here where you can find a lot of chests, but when you open one you will trigger the Piglin to attack you, they don’t like you when you steal their treasure.