Best Trident Enchantments

Every trident enchantment, ranked

Enchantment	Max	Verdict	Why
Riptide	III	Alternative	Launches you; replaces Loyalty and Channeling. Excludes Loyalty, so you pick one.
Channeling	I	Max build	Summons lightning in storms.
Impaling	V	Max build	More damage to aquatic mobs.
Loyalty	III	Max build	Comes back after a throw.
Unbreaking	III	Max build	Part of every max trident.
Mending	I	Max build	Part of every max trident.
Curse of Vanishing	I	Avoid	A curse: it only makes the item worse.

What matters on a trident

The trident works in two very different ways. With Loyalty it is a thrown weapon that flies back to you. With Riptide it can't be thrown at all; instead it launches you through water and rain. You must pick one, because Riptide excludes both Loyalty and Channeling.

Impaling is the trident's damage enchantment. In Java it only adds damage to aquatic mobs, such as guardians, squid and fish. Drowned count as undead, so Impaling does nothing extra to them.

You can't craft a trident. Drowned that spawn holding one can drop it, so a drowned farm is the usual source.

Builds for different playstyles

Thrown weapon

Loyalty III, Impaling V, Channeling, Unbreaking III and Mending. Loyalty brings it back, and Channeling calls lightning on your target during thunderstorms.

Travel trident

Riptide III, Unbreaking III and Mending, with Impaling optional. Throw it in water or rain to launch yourself. In rain with an elytra, it is one of the fastest ways to travel.

Ocean monuments

Impaling V adds 12.5 damage against guardians and elder guardians, so a Loyalty trident clears a monument quickly from range.

Channeling tricks

During a thunderstorm, a Channeling hit turns creepers into charged creepers, villagers into witches and pigs into zombified piglins. Charged creeper blasts make mobs drop their heads, so a Channeling trident is how you farm mob heads.

Conflicts and which one to pick

Java 26.3 has 2 conflicts on the trident: Riptide with Loyalty and Riptide with Channeling. An anvil refuses a book that clashes with an enchantment already on the item, so decide before you start.

Loyalty or Riptide

Loyalty if you throw the trident as a weapon, Riptide if you use it to travel. Many players keep one of each. See Loyalty vs Riptide.

Channeling or Riptide

Riptide also excludes Channeling, so a travel trident can't call lightning. Keep Channeling on the Loyalty trident.

Each enchantment on the trident

Channeling

Channeling summons lightning on the mob your trident hits during a thunderstorm, as long as the mob is under open sky. The book costs 4 levels on a fresh trident. More about Channeling.

Impaling V

Impaling adds trident damage against aquatic mobs: guardians, squid, fish, dolphins, turtles, axolotls and nautiluses. The book costs 10 levels on a fresh trident. More about Impaling.

Loyalty III

Loyalty makes a thrown trident fly back to you. At level III that means the trident flies back at speed 3. Comes back after a throw. The book costs 3 levels on a fresh trident. More about Loyalty.

Unbreaking III

Unbreaking gives items a chance to not lose durability when used. At level III that means tools skip 75% of durability loss, armor 30%. The book costs 3 levels on a fresh trident. More about Unbreaking.

Mending

Mending repairs an item with experience orbs. At level I that means each experience point you pick up repairs 2 durability. The book costs 2 levels on a fresh trident. More about Mending.

The numbers behind the build

A trident has 250 durability. Unbreaking III skips three out of four durability losses on average, so it lasts about 1000 uses instead of 250. Mending repairs 2 durability per experience point, so a full repair from almost broken takes about 125 points. That is roughly the XP needed to go from level 0 to level 8. With both books, each point of experience pays for about 8 uses.

Impaling V adds 12.5 damage per hit against aquatic mobs such as guardians, squid and fish, thrown or in melee. Drowned are undead rather than aquatic in Java, so Impaling does nothing extra to them.

Throwing and travel tips

Loyalty works anywhere, not just at sea: throw the trident at targets on land and it still flies back. Higher Loyalty levels bring it back faster, so the full Loyalty III book is worth it. Riptide is the opposite, because it only works while you are in water or standing in rain.

A thrown trident hits hard on its own, so a Loyalty trident makes a fine ranged weapon even far from the ocean. Impaling then adds its bonus on top whenever the target qualifies.

Where to get the books

You need 5 books for this build. Mending is a treasure enchantment, so the enchanting table won't give it. Plan to trade or loot for it first. Here is where each one comes from:

• Channeling: the enchanting table, librarian villagers, trial chamber vaults, random chest loot and fishing.
• Impaling V: the enchanting table, librarian villagers, trial chamber vaults, random chest loot and fishing.
• Loyalty III: the enchanting table, librarian villagers, trial chamber vaults, random chest loot and fishing.
• Unbreaking III: the enchanting table, librarian villagers, random chest loot and fishing.
• Mending: librarian villagers, trial chamber vaults, random chest loot and fishing.

Librarians are the most reliable source for exact books, because you can reroll them until they offer the one you want. The trading hall guide shows how, and the villager trade tool lists the prices. Combine the books in the cheapest anvil order so no step becomes too expensive.

Put a trident in the enchanting table and it can roll Riptide, Channeling, Impaling, Loyalty and Unbreaking. Mending never shows up there on a trident, so that one comes from books only. The enchanting table calculator shows the odds for each slot.

Which books to get first

Impaling, Loyalty, Riptide, Channeling and Unbreaking can all come from the enchanting table or from librarians. But tridents have the lowest enchantability of any weapon, so table rolls tend to be weak. Books from librarians are more reliable.

Mending comes last for most players, from trading, fishing or vaults. Get Loyalty first if you throw the trident, because without it every miss in deep water means a dive.

Mistakes to avoid

• Putting Riptide on your only trident. You can't throw it as a weapon any more, and it does nothing on dry land in clear weather.
• Expecting Impaling to hurt drowned in Java. They are undead, so it adds nothing; use a Smite sword or mace instead.
• Using Channeling under a roof. The target must stand under open sky during a thunderstorm.
• Forgetting Unbreaking. Every throw and hit costs durability, and a trident is hard to replace.
• Fighting in the rain with a Riptide trident. It launches you instead of hitting the target.
• Throwing a trident without Loyalty into deep water. You have to swim down for it every time.

Trident enchantment questions

Every enchantment a trident can take in Java 26.3: Riptide, Channeling, Impaling, Loyalty, Unbreaking, Mending.

Quick answers: can you put Mending on a trident?, can you put Sharpness on a trident?, can you put Looting on a trident?, can you put Loyalty and Riptide on a trident?

See also the full list of incompatible enchantments and the god gear command generator.

Cheapest order

Combining these books in the wrong order can cost twice as many levels or hit Too Expensive! The cheapest order for the max trident costs 33 levels in 5 steps, with no step above 10. So you never need more than 10 levels at once.

Spend the levels step by step as you earn them: that costs about 475 experience points in total. If you saved up to level 33 first, you would need 1758 points, because each level costs more XP the higher you climb. Afterwards the trident has been on the anvil 3 times, so later repairs start at a penalty of 7.

See every step

Other gear

• Full armor set
• Helmet
• Chestplate
• Leggings
• Boots
• Elytra
• Sword
• Axe
• Spear
• Mace
• Bow
• Crossbow
• Pickaxe
• Shovel
• Hoe
• Fishing Rod
• Shears
• Brush
• Flint and Steel
• Shield
• Carrot on a Stick
• Warped Fungus on a Stick