The Trails and Tales update to Minecraft is set to add many new adventurous features to the game. Most notably, this update will feature archeology, a feature which has been anticipated for a while. With it, players will be able to look for pottery shards and craft decorated pots using a tool which is completely new to the game.
With 20 variants of the pottery shard across multiple structures, and amazingly customizable decorated pots this update definitely lives up to the promise of adventure. Each shard is made to tell a story and when put together, the possibilities are endless. In a game like Minecraft, where there is so much to explore, the archeology aspect of this update is sure to make adventures even more interesting.
Pottery Shards
Suspicious Blocks
Pottery shards can be found within blocks of suspicious sand and suspicious gravel. These blocks have slightly different textures to regular blocks but are overall quite similar, so players will need to pay attention to their surroundings in order to find them.
Once found, these blocks can be brushed to get the items out of them. The brush is a brand-new tool coming to the Trails and Tales update, specifically used for archeology. Furthermore, these blocks do not only hold pottery shards and can contain other items such as sticks. If broken these blocks will not give the item, or drop a block. Once brushed the blocks become normal sand and gravel blocks.
Where To Find Them
The archeology shards can be found in five different areas. The locations are listed below:
There are six different types of pottery shards in the desert. In the temples and the wells, the shards will be hidden in suspicious sand blocks. This will definitely help to bring life to the desert biome and make those odd wells that much more interesting.
Desert Temples:
- Archer Pottery Shard
- Miner Pottery Shard
- Prize Pottery Shard
- Skull Pottery Shard
Desert Wells:
- Arms Up Pottery Shard
- Brewer Pottery Shard
The ocean is also getting featured in this update, with both the cold ocean and warm ocean having pottery shards of their own to be discovered. In the cold ocean ruins, shards will be hidden in suspicious gravel blocks. Whereas in the warm ocean ruins, players will have to search for suspicious sand.
Warm Ocean Ruins:
- Angler Pottery Shard
- Shelter Pottery Shard
- Snort Pottery Shard
Cold Ocean Ruins:
- Blade Pottery Shard
- Explorer Pottery Shard
- Mourner Pottery Shard
- Plenty Pottery Shard
Finally, The trail ruins are a brand-new structure coming to Minecraft with the Trails and Tales update. This structure spawns underground or underwater in the ocean biomes, any taiga biome, birch forests, and the jungle. They have many pottery shards hidden within them, making them worth the while to discover and excavate.
Trail Ruins:
- Burn Pottery Shard
- Danger Pottery Shard
- Friend Pottery Shard
- Heart Pottery Shard
- Heartbreak Pottery Shard
- Howl Pottery Shard
- Sheaf Pottery Shard
The shards are stackable by type, and each one has a unique image portrayed on it. For example, the Prize Pottery Shard displays a diamond and the Archer Pottery Shard displays a bow.
Decorated Pots
Crafting
Any four pottery shards can be used to craft a decorated pot. Each side of the decorated pot will display the pottery shards used to craft it and this corresponds to their placement in the crafting menu. With 20 pottery shards, the amount of combinations that the players can make is astounding, and the opportunity to get creative is strong.
The shards can also be substituted by bricks, but this will leave the corresponding side of the pot blank. A "decorated pot" can also be made up of four bricks, but it will be completely blank. To get bricks players can collect clay and smelt it, each piece of clay gives one brick.
If mined, the decorated pots will drop the shards/ bricks that were used to craft them. This adds an extra customizable feature to the pots as if a player is not happy with the placement of the shards they can simply mine the pot and try again. Of course, if a tool with a silk touch enchantment is used then the decorated pot can be mined without being broken.
Design
These items are mostly used for decorative purposes, as their name suggests. Other blocks, including other decorated pots, can be placed on top. There is also an opportunity to use these decorated pots for tiny decorative trees, which look very cute and can definitely be used for incredible designs. In fact, the decorative pots may just change the level of interior design in Minecraft.
The players will have many options once the update is out, and the Minecraft community is certainly creative. The possibilities here are plenty. The shards can be displayed in a collection, the decorated pots can be a fun interior option. With the combinations, biomes and everything else coming out in the Trails and Tales update, players are certainly in for the promised adventure.
Minecraft is available now for Mobile, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One