After spending hours hunting Drowned in the ocean, finally seeing a trident drop is one of the best feelings in Minecraft. Since you cannot craft these rare weapons, you need to make sure yours is powered up with the best trident enchantments available. Whether you want to summon lightning during a thunderstorm or fly through the rain, the right setup turns this rare drop into your most powerful tool.
Every great trident starts with Mending and Unbreaking III to make sure it never breaks during a fight. These essential picks save you from the headache of farming more Drowned just to find a replacement. Once your durability is safe, you can choose between turning your trident into a deadly returning spear or a high-speed transport device.
Key Takeaways
- Prioritize Mending and Unbreaking III on every trident to ensure these rare, non-craftable drops never break and can be repaired indefinitely with experience orbs.
- Choose between two mutually exclusive combat paths: the Loyalty and Channeling combo for returning ranged attacks and lightning strikes, or Riptide for high-speed mobility and flight.
- Utilize the Riptide enchantment during rain or while in water to transform the trident into a powerful transportation tool that can be paired with an Elytra for near-infinite travel.
- Equip the Impaling V enchantment to maximize damage output against aquatic mobs and any enemies standing in rain or water, significantly increasing effectiveness in wet environments.
Essential Durability With Mending And Unbreaking
Since you can only get a trident as a rare drop from a Drowned, you know exactly how frustrating it is to lose one. Unlike swords or bows that you can craft at a workbench, a trident is a prize that requires luck and patience to find. Because they are so rare, your first priority should be making sure yours never breaks during a frantic underwater battle. Adding Mending and Unbreaking III is the only way to ensure your weapon stays in your inventory forever. These two enchantments work together to create an almost indestructible tool that can handle any challenge the ocean throws at you.
Unbreaking III is your first line of defense because it gives your trident a massive boost to its effective durability. Every time you throw your trident or poke a guardian, there is a high chance the weapon will not lose any durability points at all. This is especially helpful if you are using Riptide to zoom through the rain, as that movement can eat through your item health very quickly. By slowing down the wear and tear, you can stay out exploring longer without constantly checking the durability bar. It turns a fragile drop into a reliable piece of gear that you can trust in any fight.
Mending is the final piece of the puzzle that makes your trident truly permanent. This enchantment uses the experience orbs you collect from defeating mobs or mining ores to automatically repair your weapon while you hold it. Instead of spending valuable resources at an anvil, you can simply slay a few zombies or fish for a while to see the green bar fill back up. This is vital for players because you cannot craft tridents to repair them manually without losing your enchantments. With Mending active, your trident becomes a lifetime investment that grows stronger alongside your character.
Mastering The Loyalty And Channeling Combo

To truly master the trident, you need to combine Loyalty and Channeling to create the ultimate ranged weapon. While Riptide is great for moving around, it prevents you from ever throwing your trident as a projectile. By choosing Loyalty, your trident will automatically fly back to your hand after every throw, making it impossible to lose your rare weapon in the ocean or a deep ravine. This setup allows you to stay at a safe distance while dealing massive damage to mobs like Creepers or Skeletons. You will never have to worry about running out of ammo or chasing down your weapon after a missed shot.
Adding Channeling to your Loyalty trident turns you into a master of the elements during thunderstorms. When you strike a mob with a thrown trident during a storm, a bolt of lightning will instantly come down from the sky to hit your target. This does not just look cool, it also provides a huge tactical advantage by dealing extra area damage to nearby enemies. You can use this trick to turn normal Creepers into Charged Creepers, which is the only way to collect rare mob heads like Zombie or Skeleton skulls. It is the perfect way to make your survival world much more exciting while keeping your distance from danger.
To get the most out of this powerful combo, remember that Channeling only works when the sky is dark and lightning is flashing. If it is just raining or a clear day, your trident will still return to you thanks to Loyalty, but the lightning bolt will not trigger. You should always try to carry this specific trident during bad weather to defend your base from raids or difficult bosses. Since tridents are hard to find from Drowned, this combination ensures your prized tool stays safe in your inventory while providing incredible power. It truly changes how you handle combat in your world.
Fast Travel Using The Riptide Enchantment
Riptide is a fantastic tool for players who want to move across the map at incredible speeds. When you enchant your trident with Riptide, you no longer throw the weapon away from you. Instead, your character launches forward with the trident, turning you into a human projectile whenever you are standing in water or out in the rain. This is perfect for escaping dangerous mobs or traveling between ocean bases in just a few seconds. You can even pair this with an Elytra to gain massive height and start gliding without needing fireworks.
It is important to remember that Riptide is a specialized mobility tool that cannot be combined with the Loyalty or Channeling enchantments. Because Riptide physically moves your body along with the weapon, the game does not allow you to also throw it as a ranged projectile. This means you have to choose between having a loyal weapon that returns to your hand or a powerful tool for fast travel. Most veteran players keep two separate tridents in their inventory to handle both long-distance combat and rapid movement.
To get the most out of your Riptide trident, you should always keep an eye on the weather and your surroundings. You can use the enchantment to launch yourself out of a single bucket of water placed on the ground, allowing for quick vertical jumps. During a thunderstorm, the mobility becomes almost infinite as you can chain launches together high in the sky. Just be careful when landing, because hitting the ground at these speeds will cause significant fall damage if you miss your water target. Always carry a bucket of water or wear Feather Falling boots to stay safe during your high-speed travels.
Maximizing Damage With The Impaling Enchantment

The Impaling enchantment is a powerful choice because it works effectively against many targets. While some versions of the game limit this damage to aquatic mobs like fish and guardians, other versions provide a massive power boost against any mob touching water. This means if it is raining or if your enemy is standing in a shallow puddle, your trident will hit significantly harder. You can take down Drowned, Guardians, and even other players much faster during a thunderstorm. It turns your trident into a specialized powerhouse that excels in wet environments where traditional swords might struggle.
To get the most out of this enchantment, you should aim for Impaling V to maximize your damage output. At this level, you deal an extra 12.5 damage per hit, which makes clearing out Ocean Monuments a breeze. You will notice a huge difference when fighting Elder Guardians, as your trident can pierce through their high health bars with just a few well-placed throws. Since tridents are rare drops from Drowned, adding this enchantment ensures your hard-earned weapon is as deadly as possible. It is the perfect choice for a combat-focused build when you want to dominate the seas or defend your base during a heavy downpour.
Choosing Impaling over other options gives you a distinct advantage in underwater combat and rainy day defense. While Riptide is great for moving around, a trident with Impaling and Loyalty allows you to stay at a safe distance while dealing massive damage. You can throw your weapon at a target, watch it shred through their health, and have it fly right back to your hand. This setup is especially useful for hunting squids or protecting your underwater conduits from hostile mobs. By focusing on this enchantment, you turn a simple tool into the ultimate aquatic weapon for your world.
Pick Your Perfect Trident Enchantment Path
Choosing the right trident enchantments ultimately comes down to how you want to interact with your world. If you love the idea of summoning lightning bolts to strike down mobs or turn creepers into charged creepers, the Channeling and Loyalty path is your best bet for a powerful ranged weapon. This setup allows you to throw your trident and have it fly right back into your hand, making it a reliable tool for consistent combat. It is perfect for players who want to stay at a safe distance while dealing massive damage during thunderstorms. You will find that this combination turns the trident into a unique weapon that feels completely different from a standard sword or bow.
On the other hand, focusing on the Riptide enchantment completely changes your mobility and how you explore the map. Instead of throwing the weapon at enemies, you launch yourself through the air or water whenever you are wet or standing in rain. This is an incredible way to travel long distances quickly, especially when you pair it with an Elytra for infinite flight during a storm. Just remember that Riptide is mutually exclusive with Loyalty and Channeling, so you cannot have one trident that does everything. Most experienced players eventually carry two separate tridents to ensure they have the best PvP enchantments for both fast travel and heavy combat.
Regardless of which path you choose, never forget to add Mending and Unbreaking III to your gear to keep it from breaking. Since tridents only drop from Drowned and are quite rare to find, you do not want to lose your hard-earned weapon after a few tough battles. These utility enchantments ensure that your trident stays at full durability as you collect experience from defeated enemies or farm resources. With the right setup, you can dominate the ocean depths and the rainy skies with ease. Simply pick the style that fits your current goals and start making the most of this powerful tool.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Can you have Loyalty and Riptide on the same trident?
You have to choose one or the other because these two enchantments are incompatible. Loyalty makes the trident return to your hand after a throw, while Riptide launches your actual body into the air with the weapon.
2. Why are Mending and Unbreaking III considered essential?
Since you can only get tridents as rare drops from Drowned, you do not want them to break and disappear forever. Unbreaking III keeps the durability bar from dropping quickly, and Mending uses XP orbs to repair the weapon while you play.
3. Which enchantment helps you find more tridents from Drowned?
You should use a sword with Looting III to increase your chances of a trident dropping when you kill a Drowned. This is the most efficient way to farm multiple tridents so you can have one for Riptide and another for Loyalty.
4. How do you use the Channeling enchantment?
Channeling only works during a thunderstorm when you throw your trident at a mob under the open sky. It strikes the target with a bolt of lightning, which is perfect for turning pigs into piglins or creepers into charged creepers.
5. Does the Impaling enchantment work on all mobs?
In certain versions of the game, Impaling deals extra damage to any mob that is currently touching water or rain. This makes it incredibly powerful against players in the rain or any monster standing in a shallow river.
6. How do you fly using a trident?
You need to enchant your trident with Riptide and then use it while you are standing in water or out in the rain. Charging up the throw will launch you into the sky, and you can pair this with an Elytra to save your items and experience points every time you die.

