Jeb has put out another combat snapshot for you all to play with and give feedback.
You can find the original announcement here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/dq2v7o/updated_combat_test_snapshot_number_3_and_a/
Changes made:
Returned Sword speed to 3.0 (from 2.5)
Re-introduced hold-to-attack, but attacks now happen at "120%" charge which is slightly slower than optimal spam clicking
Knockback resistance is now a scale instead of a dice roll (less RNG)
Axes now always disable shields for 1.6s, instead of a 25% chance to disable them for 5s (less RNG)
Axes now only take 1 durability damage for attacking
Axes now have a new "Chopping" enchantment that adds +1 damage and +.5s shield stun per level (max 3 levels)
Projectiles no longer trigger the invulnerability timer, which means that a Multishot crossbow can hit (and deal damage) with all three arrows
Shields protective arc has been decreased to ~100 degrees instead of 180 degrees
Added a "Shield Indicator" option that displays when the shield is active (similar to the attack indicator)
Added an option to hide the shield when it's active
Additional notes:
The Chopping enchantment is experimental. You can still apply Sharpness to axes in the anvil, but Sharpness and Chopping are mutually exclusive. An option here is to change Chopping so that it only affects shields, and let axes get Sharpness from enchanting, but currently there are no mobs in the game that use shields so in that case Chopping would be meaningless in PvE.
The delay to auto-attacking will likely be removed when we add the system to Bedrock for controllers and touch. It may be a mouse-and-keyboard only limitation.
Installation instructions:
Download this zip file: https://launcher.mojang.com/experiments/combat/0f209c9c84b81c7d4c88b4632155b9ae550beb89/1_14_combat-3.zip
Unpack the folder into your "versions" folder of your local Minecraft application data folder (see below if you are confused)
Create a new launch configuration in the launcher and select the "1_14_combat-3" version
Start the game and the remaining files will be downloaded
Play in a new world! This version is not compatible with other snapshots! (These are based on the 1.14 branch and doesn't include any bug fixes or features in the mainline snapshot series.)
COMBAT TEST MAP
The team has created a map for testing combat mechanics! Download it here: https://launcher.mojang.com/experiments/combat/5b0f9b66f0ece20b0a0305db7729c6b0a66ee3d3/Combat%20Test%20Map.zip
Here’s what you’ll find in each of the sections of the map:
A weapon test area where you can test out weapon range, new enchants, shield mechanics, etc.
A Vanilla gameplay challenge area with portals into iconic Minecraft encounters
PvP and PvE battle arenas
Feel free to give feedback on the map as well!
FEEDBACK SITE
In addition to replying on reddit, you can head over to the feedback site to discuss specific topics here: https://aka.ms/JavaCombatSnap
Please note any combat designs or features within the combat snapshots and maps may or may not appear in an upcoming final release. As usual, we recommend keeping an eye on our release changelogs for details.