Should I make a bronze spear?

[ToothedMammal]

I figure I should have a decent weapon for exploring the overworld (looking for a good spot to build a windmill) and upgrading to a metal spear seems good, but the smithing tooltip for a bronze spear head says it "breaks easily". Is this just flavor text copy pasted from stone spears, or do all spears just have inherently low durability regardless of material?

I like the reach a spear has but I don't want to waste good metal on something that will break after a few uses.

[LadyWYT]

It'll last a while, but it's not as durable as a falx. A falx is more durable and does more damage in melee, but doesn't have as much reach as a spear has. The main advantage of spears is the reach, and that you can throw them. For pure defense, I would go with the falx, however, if you'd prefer more reach or want a weapon that's decent for defense and hunting, a bronze spear or two is probably the better choice.

[Zane Mordien]

I think it depends on how much bronze you have. If you are filthy bronze rich then make bronze spears. If you have tons of copper and precious little bronze then copper spears. If you have very little of either, then flint spears. Beauty of flint spears is they are disposable if you find something you want to carry more than them.

[Tom Cantine]

I do a lot of panning for resources, especially at night or in the winter when it's best to stay inside (I have a single water source block to stand in, for just this purpose), and this tends to produce a fair number of copper spear points. And flint ones, for that matter.

[Thorfinn]

On 3/8/2025 at 6:50 PM, Zane Mordien said:

Beauty of flint spears is they are disposable if you find something you want to carry more than them.

And if you take the time to make a marker a few blocks tall to lean the spears against, it makes it easy to restock in the field. Until you get really good at brown bears, littering your area with 4-high pillars with ladders on the third block up gives you a place to take refuge. Now in 1.20, that's not cheese, because if he can't path to you, (like if you are on that pillar) he flees the area.

 

On 3/8/2025 at 5:44 PM, LadyWYT said:

The main advantage of spears is the reach, and that you can throw them.

You can throw falxes, too. I do it all the time before I remember to bind "throw" to "T". Who thought fatfinger "Q" was a good idea? Or "E" for inventory, at which point you can no longer sprint?

[Maelstrom]

On 3/11/2025 at 11:58 AM, Thorfinn said:

And if you take the time to make a marker a few blocks tall to lean the spears against,

Why not slap some tool racks on those blocks and at least double the number of spears stored in that block location?  Six sticks isn't a huge resource sink after all.

[Thorfinn]

You get to cache up to 8 spears for free. Which is probably sufficient for restocking. But, sure, if you are absolutely rolling in sticks, why not?

[TamTroll]

you can get copper spearheads pretty easily by panning sand. that's how i get most of my spears.

[Bumber]

On 3/13/2025 at 5:36 AM, Maelstrom said:

Why not slap some tool racks on those blocks and at least double the number of spears stored in that block location?  Six sticks isn't a huge resource sink after all.

But then you've got a bunch of tool racks you don't need.

Edited March 16, 2025 by Bumber