Minecraft Dungeons DLC may include new spells, new pets, and much more

Minecraft Dungeons is a pretty cool game. I sank dozens of hours into it, grinding out piles of Uniques, slapping every monster on the hardest difficulty, and, well, now I have to wait for the DLC. The first DLC is coming in July, dubbed “Jungle Awakens,” with a second coming in September, titled “Creeping Winter.”

The full content of these updates remains a bit of a mystery, although data-miners have already been leaking some stuff here and there. For example, we have maps for the new islands, and the reveal of the DLC came from files in the beta client, far before the official reveal.

I thought I’d join in with the data-mining party and have a look to see what I could find.

Now remember, just because they’re in the files doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll make it into the live game, so take this as a tease, if anything.

The game files contain a list of items available in the game, including both artifacts and consumables. All the stuff we know and love are there, such as the Harvester, and the Corrupted Beacon, and so on, but there are a few new ones that piqued my interest.

Additionally, a lot of the “potions” that we can obtain in-game as temporary consumables on the map also have inventory icons, possibly hinting that one day we may be able to swap out the default health potion we have now for a power-up instead. Or maybe it was part of a leftover idea that got scrapped … who knows? Potion brewing is definitely a thing in Minecraft, though, so maybe one day, we’ll be able to make some of our own.

The first item I found was this curious “Oakwood Brew,” which is a brown liquid wrapped in what appears to be, well, oakwood. If I had to guess, I’d suggest it’s some sort of defensive potion, similar to the Iron Hide Amulet. There’s also a Sweet Brew, which as of writing has no icon. There is also melon and a cooked salmon food consumable in the game files, which I’m fairly sure isn’t currently in the game. Maybe the Fishing Rod artifact will finally have an actual use?

Diamond Dust Mason to upgrade Uniques

The files that represent the “Diamond Dust” currency are in the game files, too, represented as a shiny bag of diamond-y goodness. What is Diamond Dust used for exactly? Well, we know from the official Minecraft Dungeons Guide that there was originally supposed to be a Mason vendor in the Camp, next to the Blacksmith, who would serve a very important and much-needed purpose.

Right now, if you find a Unique with particularly amazing enchantments, you’ll have to give it up if Minecraft Dungeons ever adds a new difficulty tier (and they almost definitely will). However, if the Mason vendor comes to the game as suggested by the game’s files and the Guide book, he will let you exchange Emeralds for Diamond Dust, which lets you increase the power level of a specific item.

There’s no telling how costly it could be to actually perform the upgrades, if indeed Mojang does go ahead with including the Mason. If so, I suspect we’ll see them appear as part of the Jungle Awakens DLC.

New pets!

We also have icons for two new pets in the files, currently unavailable in-game. One is a lovely parrot, which I suspect we’ll find in the Jungle Awakens DLC, and the other is a cutesy snow fox, which makes perfect sense for Creeping Winter.

New artifacts and weapons

There are icons for a range of new items in the files, too, including a “Totem of Soul Protection,” which I believe is supposed to give you a window of invincibility in an area of effect.

This comes alongside an Icewand, which is no doubt a frosty magic spell, and a bag of Corrupted Seeds, which may spawn a poisonous gas cloud or a cluster of angry carnivorous plants. There are also references to an amulet called Caller’s Bane, although no icon as of writing.

There is a range of models for Unique weapons and armor that I’m pretty sure aren’t already in-game, including a Whip weapon type that’s almost certainly part of Jungle Awakens, given that the Unique model has a plant-y design. There’s also Ocelot armor, which comes in both grey and leopard-style prints, and a new Snow Armor style, probably destined for the Creeping Winter DLC.

Trials and daily quests?

This one may be a bit of a reach, but there are UI files that refer to a pack of icons titled “Daily” and “Weekly,” using the same iconography of the different difficulty levels throughout the game. If I was a gambling man, I may wager that this could indicate some form of quest system to make the endgame feel a little more goal-oriented.

Right now all you can really do is farm Uniques up to around level 108, or grind EXP for extra enchantment points. Giving players something to achieve could help make the wait for the DLC a little bit easier. Hopefully, that’s what these icons turn out to be for!

Jungle Awakens levels: Overgrown Temple, Dingy Jungle

Although these leaked previously, the loading screen file names also give us some possible names for these levels. Microsoft confirmed that Jungle Awakens at the least will contain three levels in total (and perhaps more if they’re keeping some secret as they did with the base game), but these offer a glimpse at two of those levels across each DLC.

First, we have the Overgrown Temple, which looks like an abandoned jungle monastery, filled with undead. If you look closely, though, you can see an ocelot chilling there.

We also have the Dingy Jungle, which has plant-encrusted skeletons, and a rather vicious-looking plant monster. Oh, and some more cute ocelots.

Creeping Winter levels: Frozen Fjord, Lone Fortress

Although we’re not expecting to see Creeping Winter until September at the earliest, we do have a glimpse at some of the map types. First is Frozen Fjord, which has suitably frozen zombies, a polar bear, and some creepy structures in the distance.

We also have the Lone Fortress, complete with Enchanter statues (hate those guys) and an eerie lack of creatures. What could possibly dwell within?

That’s a wrap … for now

There were a ton of other interesting details in the files, referring to new monsters like the “Wicked Wraith,” which seems like a regular Wraith on steroids, alongside various vicious vegetables destined for the Jungle Awakens DLC, and some frozen variants of existing mobs probably destined for Creeping Winter. I can’t wait to see what an “Icy Creeper” looks like.

In any case, this insomnia-driven dive into Minecraft Dungeons’ files offers a tantalizing glimpse at some of the future plans for the game, even if some of the details here don’t actually make it into the finished product. Let us know what you think Minecraft Dungeons needs in the comments.