Cleaving Halberd

Quickstart

1. Gather a Netherite Spear and a Netherite Axe.
2. Craft the Halberd at a crafting table:

1. Hold the Halberd and tap/left-click to swing it like an axe, or hold/right-click to perform a spear thrust.
2. Both attacks share a 1-second cooldown — if you act too early, your action bar will show a recovery message.
3. To unlock area-of-effect cleave, take the Halberd and an Enchanted Book – Cleaving I/II/III to an anvil and combine them.

---

Overview

The Cleaving Halberd adds a heavy medieval polearm to Minecraft. It is a two-in-one weapon: an axe-style melee swing and a spear-style thrust, both with extended reach beyond a standard sword. It hits hard, handles deliberately, and can be upgraded through three tiers of a unique Cleaving enchantment that damages enemies in a wide area and shreds their armor.

---

What It Adds

---

How To Use

Melee Swing (Left-Click / Tap)

A broad axe-style strike. Deals 12 damage to the target in front of you. Extended reach lets you hit enemies slightly farther away than a normal sword. The Halberd also functions as an axe — use it to chop wood and axe-breakable blocks at full speed.

Spear Thrust (Right-Click / Hold Use)

A short windup spear animation plays, accompanied by a trident throw sound and a visible critical-hit particle trail. After a brief delay the strike lands. If the thrust connects, the target takes full damage; if it misses, you receive feedback indicating a miss. Like the melee swing, this has the same 1-second cooldown and extended reach (~4.75 blocks).

Cooldown

Both attacks draw from the same cooldown pool. Attempting to attack while recovering shows §7Halberd recovering... Xs in your action bar. Plan your strikes deliberately — the Halberd rewards timing over button-mashing.

Shield Stagger

Both attacks stagger shield-bearing targets. A successful hit against a shielded enemy damages their shield's durability and briefly applies Weakness II and Slowness I to them, breaking their defense open.

---

Crafting And Obtaining

Craft the base Halberd at a crafting table using a Netherite Spear and a Netherite Axe:

Cleaving enchanted books are found in the Equipment or Items tab of the creative inventory. In survival, obtain them as you would any special item (loot, trading, etc.), then apply them at an anvil as described below.

---

Abilities And Mechanics

Cleaving Enchantment (Area-of-Effect Upgrade)

Combine the Halberd with a Cleaving enchanted book at any anvil to upgrade it. The anvil only accepts the correct book for each tier:

The upgrade preserves the Halberd's current durability, any vanilla enchantments already on it, its custom name, and any lore text.

When a Cleaving Halberd hits an enemy, all nearby enemies in the area take damage — not just the primary target. Additionally, each hit applies durability damage to every piece of the target's equipped armor:

This makes Cleaving especially effective against heavily armored opponents, gradually stripping their protection even if the armor's defense stats are not fully bypassed.

Enchantability

The Halberd accepts standard sword-slot enchantments (Sharpness, Looting, Fire Aspect, etc.) at an enchanting table or anvil, in addition to the unique Cleaving upgrade.

---

Progression And Strategy

• Early use: The base Halberd is powerful from the moment you craft it. Its reach and 12-damage output make it excellent for fighting mobs that close in quickly.
• Shield counter: Both attacks stagger shields. Use the Halberd against shield-using players or vindicators to break their guard and follow up.
• Upgrade path: Progress through Cleaving I → II → III using the anvil. Higher tiers shred armor faster, making the Halberd increasingly dominant in prolonged fights.
• Cooldown management: The 1-second forced cooldown means positioning matters. Use the extended reach to land hits before enemies can swing back, then step away to reset.
• Axe utility: The Halberd doubles as a netherite-speed axe, so you can carry it as your sole tool/weapon without needing a separate axe in your hotbar.
• Vanilla enchants: Apply Sharpness, Looting, Fire Aspect, or other sword enchantments before or after upgrading to Cleaving — both sets of enchantments coexist on the same item.