ReArm (Remunition and Armament) is a Fabric mod that overhauls combat in Minecraft unintrusively by adding new combat mechanics and rebalancing some weapons and enchantments. Special attention was put into making the mod feel like it belongs in the game, and not outlandish.
The mod is fully configurable, from disabling entire features down to editing every single damage number, cooldown and timeframe. Obviously, the mod comes configured out of the box with values that I consider to be ideal, but everyone has their preferences.
Weapon Abilities
Bows, Crossbows, Swords and Axes can now have Abilities, which come in the form of enchantments whose effects are only applied when they're activated with a keybind. Most Abilities replace their respective vanilla enchantment (except for the Axe which got a new enchantment), while making them stronger and imposing a cooldown. Ability cooldowns are different based on how strong the Ability is.
Using Abilities
Abilities are prepared by holding any weapon containing an enchantment that adds an Ability to it and pressing the Prepare Ability key (default: G). The weapon will start blinking in the hotbar, indicating that the Ability is ready. When the Ability is ready, the next attack from that weapon will apply the effects of the Ability. After use, the Ability will go on cooldown, and no Abilities can be used until the cooldown expires. The cooldown is shown on items in the hotbar which have an Ability on them, similar to how the cooldown is shown for the Ender Pearl for example.
Bow Ability - Multishot
After preparing the Ability, the next shot will fire multiple spread out arrows. Cooldown: 6 seconds.
Replaces the vanilla Multishot effect, meaning that Bows enchanted with Multishot won't fire additional arrows unless the Ability is used, however, the amount of arrows fired by the Ability is much higher.
Crossbow Ability - Piercing Shot
After preparing the Ability, the next arrow shot will pierce through enemies and ignore their armor. Cooldown: 8 seconds.
Replaces the vanilla Piercing effect, meaning that Crossbows enchanted with Piercing Shot won't pierce through enemies unless the Ability is used, however, the arrow fired by the Ability not only pierces through enemies, but also completely ignores their armor, dealing "true" damage, unless the armor is enchanted with Projectile Protection, which is going to reduce this damage.
Sword Ability - Sweeping Edge
After preparing the Ability, the next attack will strike all enemies in a moderate radius around you increasing with enchantment level and deal increased damage to all enemies based on the amount of enemies hit. Cooldown: 8 seconds.
Replaces the vanilla Sweeping Edge effect, but not completely - Swords enchanted with Sweeping Edge will still hit all the mobs in the Sweeping Edge radius, but not deal increased damage unless the Ability is used, however, the additional damage will be increased further based on how many mobs were hit, up to a cap.
Axe Ability - Crippling Blow
After preparing the Ability, the next attack will briefly slow down the enemy and apply Bleeding for several seconds. Slow intensity and Bleeding damage increases with enchantment level. Skeletal enemies are immune to Bleeding. Cooldown: 10 seconds.
Unlike other Abilities, this one is a new enchantment and does not replace any existing vanilla enchantment.
Weapon Rebalancing
ReArm rebalances some weapons and introduces some new mechanics, in order to give them an unique identity and distinct use case. The goal is to make weapon choices actually matter in some situations, while not punishing the player too much for not doing so.
Bow
Mechanic - Perfect Shot
Releasing the Bow in a short window after fully charging it performs a Perfect Shot, which makes the fired arrow deal additional critical damage. To indicate that the shot was a Perfect Shot, the arrow will leave trails behind it, and the firing sound will have a higher pitch.
This replaces the vanilla critical arrow mechanic (which just adds random additional damage after the bow has been fully charged), making Bow damage fully consistent and easier to adapt to. On default settings, this makes Bows deal significantly less damage compared to vanilla if you're not making use of Perfect Shots.
New Enchantment - Backstep
Pressing the Perform Backstep key (default: Left Alt) in a short window after hitting an enemy with an arrow performs a Backstep which makes the player dash backwards a short distance based on the level of the enchantment.
Backstep can be obtained by enchanting Bows in the enchanting table with a rarity similar to the Flame enchantment or in looted enchanted books.
Drawing Sounds
Drawing the Bow now plays a sound, similar to the sound played when loading a Crossbow. This applies to both players and mobs, so you can now hear Skeletons and other players drawing their Bow, indicating that you're about to get shot at.
Netherite Bow
Bows can now be upgraded to a Netherite Bow in the same way you upgrade tools and armor to Netherite, which gives it fire resistance, significantly increased durability, and a new look.
Crossbow
Consistent arrow damage
Arrows shot from Crossbows will now deal a consistent amount of damage, instead of picking a random number from a range like in vanilla. On default settings, this is an overall buff to damage dealt, and makes it easier to adapt to the damage.
Significantly increased Firework damage
Firework explosion damage has been increased significantly to make them viable for use in combat with Crossbows. On default settings, a firework with one firework star will already deal slightly more damage than an arrow fired from the Crossbow, and a maxed out firework with seven firework stars will deal more damage than even an arrow fired from the Crossbow enhanced with Power 5.
Increased Crossbow charge time
On default settings, loading the Crossbow takes noticeably longer. The Quick Charge enchantment will still decrease the loading time.
Supported Enchantment changes
On default settings, Crossbows can now be enchanted with Power and Infinity, but can no longer be enchanted with Multishot.
Netherite Crossbow
Crossbows can now be upgraded to a Netherite Crossbow in the same way you upgrade tools and armor to Netherite, which gives it fire resistance, significantly increased durability, and a new look.
Sword
Mechanic - Critical Counter
Sword attacks made shortly after blocking an attack with a Shield will critically strike for increased damage. Disables vanilla sword critical strikes.
Supported Enchantment changes
On default settings, Swords can no longer be enchanted with Knockback.
Axe
Supported Enchantment changes
On default settings, Axes can now be enchanted with Knockback and Looting.
Protection Rebalancing
ReArm rebalances most Protection enchantments and introduces a new Protection enchantment in order to make the choice of Protection enchantments actually matter compared to just going the usual route of Protection 4 on all armor pieces.
Armor can now have up to two different Protection enchantments
On default settings, every armor piece can now be enchanted with up to two different Protection enchantments at the same time. Every Protection change is balanced around this fact.
Protection -> Melee Protection
The regular protection enchantment has been replaced with Melee Protection, which provides moderate damage resistance to most close up physical damage sources, meaning it no longer protects against any other damage type.
Fire Protection -> Elemental Protection
The Fire Protection enchantment has been replaced with Elemental Protection, which provides high resistance to fire, lightning and freeze damage and reduced burn time if you're set ablaze.
New - Magic Protection
Magic Protection is a new Protection enchantment which provides high resistance to magic attacks.
Additional Tweaks
Infinity Fix
Makes bows and crossbows enchanted with Infinity not require having an arrow in the inventory. Enabled by default.
Craft tipped arrows with regular potions
Changes the tipped arrow recipe to use regular potions instead of lingering ones. Enabled by default.
Compatible Infinity and Mending
Allows Infinity and Mending to be used on the same bow or crossbow. Disabled by default.
Recommended Mods
- Guarding: An excellent upgrade to the Shield and its mechanics. If my mod covered Shields, this mod is exactly what it would add.
- Better Tridents: Turns the Trident into an actually useful situational weapon.
- Potion Cauldron: Provides a very neat way of crafting tipped arrows by submerging them in a Cauldron filled with potion contents, which is an upgrade from the crafting tweak I'm providing.
- MmmMmmMmmMmm: The target dummy mod used in the feature showcase videos on this page.
