As we all know, after you find and conquer your first Minecraft dungeon, the excitement fades away with each occurrence until sometimes it's not even worth the bother to check the chests for loot.

Seeing as this is something most players look forward to when they first download the game, I think dungeons should be more enjoyable and challenging then their current state.

Now, in a recent post by /u/lucariomaster2 it was brought to light that we haven't had any groundbreaking (pun) underground updates… ever?

I know that this is not the major underground update some people are hoping for, but I think it would be a great addition to make caving more enjoyable, and dungeons more exciting.

I propose a tier system for dungeons that offer better loot, but provide more challenge as well.

For each time the game decides to spawn a dungeon, there is a..

60% chance for tier 1 30% chance for tier 2 10% chance for tier 3

Here are the 3 suggested tiers. (I'll talk about loot later)

Tier 1

I have always found dungeons to be easy to overcome, even as a new player. My thought was that adding vines, cob-webs (yes I know this doesn't make sense for all mobs), and fire would make the dungeons more challenging for the player. It demands the player be more cautious, provides limited movement and requires more awareness.

Not only is the look more aesthetically pleasing than what we currently have, but it also ups the sense of danger.

Tier 2

Now this is where it gets crazy, just hang on.. Tier 2 dungeons have… 2 spawners. "What!? No way! Too hard! Farms will be too OP!" I for one, think that multiple spawners to farm is a great reward for players who are able to overcome these dungeons.

As /u/lucariomaster2 suggested, dungeons that take inspiration from Vech's hardcore maps would be a great fit. I had previously thought of this when I first started on this small project (several weeks ago). I remember binge watching play throughs of his maps for hours on end wishing that I could experience something like that on my crappy laptop.

Having multiple spawners in a single dungeon increases the difficulty by a bunch, and offers a better reward in the long term for players that wish to farm them for exp and drops.

I find this part of the idea extremely exciting. Think about different mob spawners in the same dungeon. Flaming zombies running at you, while you try to dodge cobwebs and flames, with skeletons sniping you from across the room. Or spiders jumping down from the ceiling as you're stuck in their web, getting feasted on.

Woah sorry, didn't mean to get so dark, maybe I need help.

Tier 3

Noting too new here. Just a bigger room with more spawners. Making it more difficult for players to get out alive (more fun). I think the fact that the dungeons get increasingly difficult, and not just larger makes this idea work well. A bigger room with the same amount of mobs just makes it easier.

Something that I didn't put much thought into that could make dungeons even more interesting is regional difficulty. This was added into the game a while ago and could possibly be adapted to make the difficulty in dungeons harder or easier, depending on the balancing that would need to be done with the amount of spawners.

Now let's talk about loot.

First off, as you may have seen in some of the images, there were mob heads on the ground. My suggestion is to have a 5% chance of a head to spawn per spawner type in the dungeon. This keeps the item very rare (should take 20 tier 1 dungeons to find) but more attainable than previously.

Secondly, better tools and armor as loot. We are extremely spoiled in end cities, diamond gear with protection 4, unbreaking 3, and mending galore. Let's show some love to the overworld dungeons as well shall we?

For every spawner in a dungeon, there is a 100% chance a piece of armor and weapon/tool will spawn in a chest. Unless it is a spider dungeon, in which case neither will spawn, because spiders cannot wield tools/weapons or equip armor. If you have a suggestion for what to do here, that would be greatly appreciated. As well as tools and armor, the current loot table will be implemented alongside this.

Furthermore, due to the fact that dungeons are old and broken down, some of the magic that was previously bound to these items has worn off. This results in the enchantments to have weaker levels.

The rates will look something like this-

% chance of armor and tool per spawner = 100%

If zombie spawner-

% chance for sword = 65% % chance for shovel = 35%

% chance to be diamond = 10% % chance to be iron = 55% % chance to be gold = 35%

If sword-

% chance for sharpness = 20% % chance for smite = 30% % chance for bane of arthropods = 30%

% chance for level 1 = 50% % chance for level 2 = 35% % chance for level 3 = 15%

% chance for unbreaking 1 = 30% % chance for unbreaking 2 = 15%

If shovel-

% chance for efficiency = 60%

% chance for level 1 = 50% % chance for level 2 = 35% % chance for level 3 = 15%

% chance for unbreaking 1 = 30% % chance for unbreaking 2 = 15%

Armor-

% chance to be diamond = 10% % chance to be iron = 40% % chance to be gold = 25% % chance to be chain = 25%

% chance for protection = 25% % chance for fire protection = 15% % chance for blast protection = 15% % chance for projectile protection = 25%

% chance for level 1 = 50% % chance for level 2 = 35% % chance for level 3 = 15%

% chance for unbreaking 1 = 30% % chance for unbreaking 2 = 15%

If Skeleton spawner-

% chance to be bow = 100%

% chance for level 1 = 50% % chance for level 2 = 35% % chance for level 3 = 15%

% chance for unbreaking 1 = 30% % chance for unbreaking 2 = 15%

Armor- (Same rates for zombie apply here also)

% chance to be diamond = 10% % chance to be iron = 40% % chance to be gold = 25% % chance to be chain = 25%

% chance for protection = 30% % chance for fire protection = 20% % chance for blast protection = 20% % chance for projectile protection = 30%

% chance for level 1 = 50% % chance for level 2 = 35% % chance for level 3 = 15%

% chance for unbreaking 1 = 30% % chance for unbreaking 2 = 15%

NOTE: These rates are not unchangeable. Please do not down-vote if you don't agree, instead comment your suggestion and let's talk about it. I chose these percentages because I believed they provide enough incentive for the player to want to explore for dungeons and be rewarded for defeating them. But at the same time, I did not want it to be game breaking.

Let me know your thoughts and suggestions about this topic!

Mentioned post by /u/lucariomaster2

Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3