Minecraft Loyalty Enchantment: The Definitive Guide

What are Enchantments?

Enchantments are specific boosts present in the game to increase the base properties of tools, armors, and weapons. These are a way of improving the regular game experience by adding in a mix of special bonuses. We can better explain the whole phenomenon of Minecraft enchantments by taking a look at how Aqua Affinity operates as an example. The latter is an enchant that can only be applied to Helmets to make the player mine underwater faster.

Key Highlights

• Introduced in Minecraft v1.13, Loyalty is a Trident-focused enchantment that lets your trident automatically return to you after throwing it instead of going to retrieve it yourself.
• Tridents are an extremely rare weapon usually found being wielded by the Drowned mob underwater.
• One of the more common ways of enchanting your Trident with Loyalty is by getting its enchantment book from chests or using an enchantment table with some Lapis Lazuli.
• However, you cannot apply this enchantment to a Trident that already has the Riptide enchantment or vice versa.

When submerged in water, players are set back at a drastic rate for mining. They typically get slow and cannot mine at the same speed as they can on land. However, using Aqua Affinity negates the negative impact of water on players and restores the optimal mining speed underwater as well. This is how this enchantment operates.   

Most enchantments except for Mending and some others have power levels. Each power level enhances the effects of the enchant or increases its chances of coming into effect successfully. Aqua Affinity also has a single power level only. This means that you no longer have to upgrade it any further to push it to its highest level. 

To talk about some basics of enchantments and how they’re upgraded, one of the foremost requirements is Experience. You will need this essential resource to upgrade enchants to higher power levels. Experience is harvested in the form of Experience Orbs. Some of the most common ways of obtaining Experience Orbs are by defeating mobs, mining, fishing, trading with villagers, and smelting. These are just the starters, though, as there are multiple other ways of increasing your Experience Level.

Apart from the latter, there are other requirements to look out for when upgrading enchantments. You will need an item to enchant at the very first. Armors, weapons, and other tools can be enchanted by the Enchanting Table. If you have Enchanted Books instead, the Anvil will be able to benefit you more. That’s because you’ll be able to combine different enchants together and make them more powerful using this hefty resource.

That’s potentially how you get the best armor in the game to equip as well. We’ve laid out the whole process in our tailored guide here, so do check that out for more details.

When working with enchantments, it’s important to look out for incompatibilities too. There are many enchants that do not go together. The Infinity enchantment, for instance, lets you shoot unlimited arrows from the crossbow but cannot be used in combination with Mending. Also, check out our Minecraft crossbow enchantments guide.

The same is the case with the Loyalty enchantment with a certain enchant. Now that you’re aware of the basic concept surrounding enchantments let’s steer this guide into a more particular direction and talk about Loyalty now.

Before we dive into the advanced details, it’s worth understanding the primary purpose of Loyalty first. The following section is going to explain just that.   

Similar Read: Best Minecraft Skin Ideas.

What is the Loyalty Enchantment in Minecraft?

The Minecraft Loyalty enchantment is a particular perk that can only be exerted on a Trident within the game. Whenever you throw a Trident, you have to go to the place where it settles to pick it up. However, if you have the Loyalty enchant equipped, the Trident will come to you on its own. This paves the way for a brief yet special animation too, where the character grabs the Trident hurtled their way. 

Returning the weapon to the thrower automatically is basically all that the Loyalty enchantment is made for in the game. It came out in Minecraft 1.13, which also went by the name of The Aquatic Update. This new content made landfall sometime in 2018, and Loyalty has been rocking it ever since. 

This add-on is definitely the one for players who keep losing their Tridents. What you actually need is a loyal Trident that will keep coming back to you no matter what you do it. The good news is that the enchantment in question can help you easily achieve that and that too in an exceptionally stylish manner.  

We’re quite not yet done with this guide as there are still certain parameters to know about when looking to use this enchant on a consistent basis. Before going any further, let’s dive deep and discuss the Trident in Minecraft to understand Loyalty better.

What is a Trident in Minecraft?

A Trident is one of the many types of weapons in Minecraft. The design of this entity seems to be inspired by classical mythology where Poseidon—the God of the Sea—wields the weapon and controls the waters. In Minecraft, though, the Trident allowed melee and ranged attacks to deal with mobs in close quarters combat or pick them out from a distance. 

A single melee attack of the Trident takes away four and a half hearts from the receiving mob’s Health Points. Throwing it at an enemy with a ranged attack deals damage of 4 full hearts. It’s definitely a solid weapon to have for your survival adventures in Minecraft, especially if you’re fond of attacking from afar. Now onto the hard part. Tridents in the game cannot be crafted. 

They can only be obtained through killing the Drowned. These are zombie-like mutations that originate in water-based areas like rivers and oceans. The developers have made the Drowned the only naturally occurring source of Tridents in Minecraft. Apart from the hassle of finding these mouth-breathers, then comes the difficulty of actually retrieving a Trident from a Drowned.

It turns out that there’s only a 15% chance of the Drowned spawning with a Trident in hand. Oh yes, the prerequisite to obtaining this weapon from a Drowned is that the enemy must have the Trident equipped. But even then, your troubles aren’t laid to rest. Statistically speaking, only 8.5% of the Drowned who spawn with a Trident will actually drop the weapon when killed.

Pretty darn difficult, right? Don’t worry. You’ll get there eventually. A good tip here is to equip the Looting enchantment on the weapon that you’re killing Trident-ready Drowned with. That way, you’ll be increasing your chances of finally getting the enemy to drop this hefty war machine. Each level of the aforementioned enchant gives you a 1% boost for the purpose in question. We surely need all the help we can get here. 

Does Loyalty Have Any Power Levels? 

Yes, the Minecraft Loyalty enchantment has different power levels, like tons of other enchantments. The highest that it can be upgraded to is 3. As you climb the power level of Loyalty, you’ll notice the Trident returning you to at a faster rate. That is to say, the maximum power level of Loyalty makes the Trident come back to you at the fastest speed out of the two previous levels of the enchantment. 

You will need to tend to the Enchanting Table to upgrade Loyalty, but the process may not be as simple as you think. For instance, if you have two different Tridents enchanted with Loyalty II, combining them with the Anvil will give you a single Trident with Loyalty III. Pretty nifty, don’t you think? 

The rest of the details will be covered in the following section with respect to the retrieval of Loyalty and its upgrade mechanism. 

How to Obtain the Loyalty Enchantment

Getting a Trident to come forth with its loyalty for you can be a tempting task. Players who have just started out in the Survival Mode will often be left confused on how actually to obtain the Loyalty enchantment in Minecraft. However, there’s no need to get fretful. There’s a wide variety of methods that can be availed of for the purpose of obtaining Loyalty. We are going to break this section down into multiple subheadings so that you can be flexible with your options. Let’s delve right into the first one without any further ado. 

Using the Enchanting Table 

As the name depicts, the Enchanting Table is one of the best sources for obtaining enchantments in Minecraft. It employs a simple user interface that makes it possible to put together specific items and get random enchantments. About that, the Enchanting Table doesn’t guarantee that you’ll always get the enchant that you’re looking for. The system it uses is built upon a chance factor, so you never know what you’ll be actually getting in the other end of the Enchantment Table interface. 

The core working mechanism of this essential utility is nothing but straightforward, though. All you have to do is pick the item that you want to enchant and place it in combination with Lapis Lazuli. If you’re a newbie, you might be wondering: What in the world is Lapis Lazuli? This is one of the rarer types of materials in Minecraft that serves an integral purpose for different enchanting materials.

How to Use the Enchanting Table for the Loyalty Enchantment in Minecraft

You will need anywhere between one to three Lapis Lazuli to use in the Enchanting Table. You cannot possibly hope to enchant anything in the absence of this resource. The good news is that there are several ways you can use to obtain Lapis Lazuli. One of the foremost methods is to mine a Lapis Lazuli Ore with a Pickaxe. Do note that the level of Pickaxe should be at least Stone or higher. All Pickaxes below that standard won’t be able to do jack to the Lapis Lazuli Ore.

Another way to get Lapis Lazuli to harvest the Loyalty enchantment in Minecraft is crafting. This method does warrant the presence of the Lapis Lazuli Block. Mining one with the Silk Touch enchantment equipped will drop the Lapis Lazuli Block instead of the actual material. You can then place that block in the Crafting Table and easily get nine pieces of Lapis Lazuli. One final method that’s worthy of being discussed is looting the many different chests laid out in the world of Minecraft.

It turns out that there is an approximately 61.5% chance of finding Lapis Lazuli in a Shipwreck Treasure chest. You can get anywhere from 1 to 9 pieces of material that way. There’s also a 25.4% chance of obtaining Lapis in a Temple chest within the several villages spread out in Minecraft. Getting your hands on the resource in question will surely get you the Minecraft Loyalty enchantment in the long run.

Having the Trident and enough Lapis Lazuli in your inventory means half the work is done. You now need to take care of one more thing before you can actually start the enchanting process. Surrounding the Enchanting Table with Bookshelves is the de facto method of getting higher-level enchantments. A total of 15 Bookshelves can be placed one block away from the Enchanting Table to enhance the latter’s functioning. 

Deploying Bookshelves any more than 15 won’t increase your chances of obtaining top-tier enchantments. Therefore, we suggest sticking to that limit. Good going so far! You’ve now covered all the necessary requirements for enchanting except one—Experience Levels. You need XP in the game to receive the enchantments. Having an inadequate amount of Experience won’t get you any enchantment.

Experience can be gained by killing enemy mobs, mining ores that give you resources, smelting, trading, and even fishing. It’s usually obtained in the form of orbs that will float to you whenever they surface. Gather up as many XP as you can before setting out to enchant materials for the best results. Fire up the Enchanting Table next, place the Trident, employ 3 Lapis Lazuli, and go forth with the process.

The Loyalty enchantment in Minecraft is a fairly rare perk, so it’ll probably be a while before you get it through enchanting. Don’t give up just yet, and keep at it. If you’ve tried your luck, though, and haven’t had any success, there are other ways to get Loyalty. Keep on reading to explore more of your options.  

Fishing for Loyalty

Another way that you can get your hands on the Loyalty enchantment in Minecraft is by fishing. Do note that the Loyalty enchantment from here on out will come in the form of an Enchanted Book. The gist of this approach is to go to any nearby naturally occurring water source and try catching fish. You will need to have a Fishing Rod to do this, though, so make sure you have one already.

Fishing rods are a simple affair in the game that can be crafted with a couple of different materials. You’ll need three Sticks and two Strings to create a Fishing Rod. Sticks can be easily obtained by putting together two Wood Planks on the Crafting Table. As for the Strings, you’ll have to find and kill some Spiders. There’s a strong likelihood of these mobs dropping Strings upon death.

Once you’ve got the required materials, the next step is to dive right into crafting the Fishing Rod. You’ll have to place 3 Sticks diagonally and position the two Strings right below the top-right corner of the crafting grid. You’ll get yourself a Fishing Rod easily that way.

Other than boasting the benefit of obtaining the Loyalty enchantment in Minecraft through this fun activity, fishing is also desirable for plenty of other reasons. It allows you to catch raw fish for one and makes it possible to eat it without food poisoning. Furthermore, fishing is just relaxing and definitely one of the most recommended things to do in Minecraft.

Don’t forget that it also lets you catch treasures like the Minecraft Loyalty enchantment. However, if there’s one downside to acquiring the perk in question this way, it’s definitely the low-chance factor here. Loyalty is already a rare enchantment to hoard in Minecraft, so you’ll definitely have to spend a considerable amount of time fishing to get it. However, the affair is quite luck-based in general. Who knows? Maybe you’ll grab the enchant in your first catch. 

Trading With a Librarian Villager

There’s yet another method of getting Loyalty in Minecraft, and that is through trading. There are tons of villages spread out across the different biomes of the game. You’ll find multiple types of inhabitants there, but most of them will typically be part of the villager mob type. One of the several different villagers are Librarians, and these are available right from the start of the game.

That is to say; you do not have to hoard any Villager Experience to start trading with the Librarian. This type of villager will comprise the best chances of having the Loyalty enchantment in their inventory. You will have to check a bunch of Librarians for the enchant if you don’t find it right away. Furthermore, make sure that you’re all stocked up on Emerald.

You will need this resource to make any trades. All the different types of traders in Minecraft will only demand Emeralds from your side, whether they are a villager trader or a wandering trader. This special mineral can be obtained from a wide variety of sources in the game, with the first one being trading itself. Traders will ask for particular items in exchange for Emeralds. 

To talk about one of the best ways of grinding this mineral in Minecraft, you’re better off finding Emerald Ores and mining them. Just make sure that you’re using a good-quality pickaxe and not anything below Iron level. You won’t be able to affect Emerald ores that way. Once you’ve gotten ahold of this tool with a reasonable stature, the next step is to set out and find sources of Emerald ores in Minecraft. 

One of the most well-grounded biomes where Emerald ores naturally generate is extreme hills. A good tip here is to equip your pickaxe with the Fortune enchantment. This convenient boost serves to increase the drop rate and, in other cases, enhance the chances of a drop occurring. The highest level that Fortune can be upgraded to is three, and once you have the enchant fully upgraded, there is a chance of obtaining 4 Emeralds per each mined Emerald block.

One final way that we recommend going with for retrieving Emerald is through loot chests. There’s a whopping  59.9% chance of finding Emeralds in chests in the Buried treasure. You can find up to 8 of those in this type of chest. Other areas try to include the Desert temple, Jungle temple, Shipwreck, Igloo, and, of course, Villages.

After you’ve collected enough Emeralds, you can trade for the Minecraft Loyalty enchantment without further interruptions. Do venture out into different biomes and find Librarians for the best results in finding this enchantment. 

Obtaining Through Loot Chests 

The world of Minecraft is buzzing with a wide variety of what it calls Loot Chests. These are large boxes that contain loot, basically. The resources that can be gathered from Loot Chests in Minecraft are extremely various. The Survival Mode of the game comprises tons and tons of different biomes, which are specific geographical regions, each with its own specific characteristics and features. 

For instance, some of the best Minecraft houses are built somewhere in the Taiga biome, should you choose to take a look. Coming back on the topic at hand, however, you’ve got a whole world to explore in Minecraft, and you should never back down from that. Many players have been able to retrieve the Loyalty enchantment by simply strolling around, diving into underground caves, and exploring a swath of dungeons. 

At its very core, a chest is a block, simply like most other entities in the game. You’ll find this type of block generating naturally in areas like Temples, Shipwrecks, Nether Fortresses, and End Cities. Many Loot Chests comprise precious items, tools, weapons, and even enchants. Some of them will even reward you with food, so there’s that. Therefore, the gist of this whole section is about exploration and finding chests in the game. 

More often than not, especially if you have your lucky pants on, you’ll find the Minecraft Loyalty enchantment within your first few attempts. Being unable to snatch the enchant right away and giving up hope side-by-side are two things that do not go well. Keep on exploring, and don’t give in to the struggle just yet. We’ve heard that chests in the Desert temple area in Minecraft ought to give you the best chances of finding Loyalty in the form of an Enchanted Book.  

What to Know About Loyalty

You might be adamant by now that you’ve known everything there is to the Loyalty enchantment in Minecraft. While the statement holds true for the most part, there are still a couple of things we’ve yet to cover. For starters, this particular perk differs when you’re playing the Bedrock version of the game as compared to Minecraft Java Edition. To clear the air, the latter is a PC-only version of the game that comes with its own perks and benefits. 

One of the foremost differences between the Java and the Bedrock edition of the game relates to the format of the world build. Minecraft Bedrock employs a specific format that’s commonly known as LevelDB. As for Minecraft Java Edition, you’ll find that it forms the foundation of all the inclusive worlds with the help of the Anvil format. Apart from this difference, Minecraft Bedrock is available on multiple platforms. 

It isn’t just locked to Microsoft Windows, Linux, or macOS. Instead, the console version of the game famously available on the PlayStation and Xbox are all Minecraft Bedrock. In Minecraft Java Edition’s defense, you have the limitless world of mods available at your disposal, not to mention tons of different skins to don and flex. In the other corner of the ring stands Minecraft Bedrock.

It boasts the benefit of being able to accommodate a controller, so you can move more swiftly and play the game at your convenience. We still haven’t covered all the major differences between these two different yet vastly similar editions of the game, so we’ll reserve it for another day. Now that you have a brief overview of Minecraft Bedrock and Minecraft Java Edition let’s hop back into the topic of the Loyalty enchantment. 

First off, in both variants of the game, there exists a dark, lonely abyss full of nothingness called the Void. This particular biome is exceptional in the regard that it’s all empty. Apart from reaching The End and finding the Void in its natural habitat, other ways of entering this place revolve around commands within the Creative Mode. However, the point that we’re trying to make concerns the Loyalty enchantment in a unique way. 

Throwing a Loyalty-equipped Trident into the Void when you’re playing Minecraft Bedrock will get you your weapon back. However, if you’re playing the Java Edition of the game, say goodbye to your Trident even with the Loyalty enchantment applied to it upon throwing the weapon into the Void. You’ll usually find that the Trident comes back to players after soaring through 15 blocks more or less in Minecraft Bedrock.

In the game’s Java release, though, no similar prospect manages to see the light of day. Therefore, be extra cautious when meddling about the Void in Minecraft Java Edition. You do not want to lose a decked-out weapon that you worked hard to obtain in the game. The difference in the behavior of Loyalty within the two different versions of Minecraft is only half of what the fuss is about.  

Riptide – A Loyalty-Incompatible Enchantment

The other comprises Loyalty and its fairly formidable rival—Riptide. Apart from the cool-sounding name, Riptide has quite the game to itself. It allows players to propel themselves in the air whenever they throw the Trident. Do note here that except for the basic sweep attack of the Trident, holding the “Use” button in Minecraft charges the Trident for take-off. Upon releasing the relevant button after a brief moment, the Trident is then thrown. 

That way, the weapon is able to travel in mid-air where the player intended for it to go. However, as soon as you have the Riptide enchant equipped, your Trident won’t fly solo and will take you along for a spin as well. The only prerequisite to this perk is water, though. You will need to be standing on a water source or having rain falling down from the sky in order to use Riptide. 

Come to think of it now, since you’re not going to be throwing a Trident to make it settle at one place, and you basically don’t have to get it to come back to you. This is simply because the weapon is never leaving your side in the first place. We believe now you’ll understand why Riptide and Loyalty in Minecraft cannot flow together. They’re made incompatible with each other, and it’s easy to see why. 

Therefore, aspiring players cannot have the best of both worlds when sporting a Trident in their adventures. It’s time to pick sides—either Loyalty or Riptide. Let’s ponder the decision in the following section. 

Loyalty or Riptide – Which One to Choose? 

Loyalty and Riptide both boast their own special function in Minecraft. Each of these enchantments is capable of taking a regular Trident to the next level without breaking a sweat. However, when it’s necessary to make a firm decision and go with one out of the two options, which one should you choose? Let’s get to thinking and answer that to the best of our ability. 

The Loyalty enchantment in Minecraft makes the weapon come to you and fast, depending on the level of the enchantment. On the other hand, the Riptide enchant makes it possible to travel great distances and even deal damage along the way with your Trident. However, the only downside to this otherwise brilliant enchantment is the requirement of a water source. 

Stuck in a tense combat situation, and it’s difficult to get out? Quick! Use your Riptide-enchanted Trident and flee the scene. Uh-oh, no water nearby? Time to die. This is the Riptide perk summed up, although it can come in quite useful in certain scenarios. As for Loyalty, it’s always going to stick by your side, making the weapon return to you whenever you throw at it. 

Our verdict is that if you’re a Trident person in Minecraft, put in the effort and get two different pieces of this weapon. Imbue one piece with the Loyalty enchants while the other with Riptide. Assess the situation you’re in when in-game and whip out the Trident with the right enchantment accordingly. That is sure to bring you the utmost best results. We’ve now reached the article’s conclusion. 

Conclusion

Minecraft is exceptional when it comes to specific player buffs. This allows them to revamp their core gameplay and simply do more within the depths of the game. Different enchantments help you achieve a unique experience and serve a particular purpose in your play-throughs. We’ve picked up the Loyalty Minecraft enchantment in this guide and have penned down all things Loyalty subsequently. 

This is a fairly convenient enchant that can help you streamline your combat bouts and allow you to play more flexibly. If you’re someone who loves using the Trident, do not miss out on sporting the Loyalty perk whenever you whip out your three-pronged spear.  

More From eXputer: Best Minecraft Farms