What is the Minecraft Dried Ghast? We’ve all stepped through a Nether Portal for the first time just to hear that terrifying shriek and be blasted by a fireball. Ghasts are deadly and truly horrifying. Dare we say worse than the Ender Dragon? But just like the Ender Dragon – you went to her turf to steal her egg!! – perhaps there’s a justifiable reason for this mob to be a bit grouchy.
The Nether can’t be the nicest place to live in Minecraft, after all. It’s hot and it’s dry, and it turns out these lethal white blobs just want a drink of water. Soon, you’ll be able to find new Dried Ghasts in the sandbox game, and find out what a Ghast would be like if only it were hydrated and happy. Prepare yourself, this might be the greatest Minecraft mob of all time.
Dried Ghasts
We now know that Ghasts start life as tiny little blocks akin to Minecraft mob heads. They’re so tiny, you might even miss them as you pass by huge fossils in the Nether’s Soul Sand Valley. Keep your eyes open around here, though, and you might spot one of these poor, dehydrated souls with a heartbreakingly sad look on its face.
If you, like us, can’t resist trying to save a poor creature in need, pick up a Dried Ghast by – weirdly – breaking it like a block. Maybe that bit will change before it’s released to vanilla Minecraft, or perhaps the feature is supposed to reiterate how dried up this little fella is. Either way, the Dried Ghast drops, and you can freely carry it around in an item slot like a normal block.
Take it back through your Nether Portal and place it in some nice, refreshing water. Now, just wait. And wait. Eventually, a smile will start to form on its face, and you’ll soon wind up with your very own…
Ghastling
Once happy and rehydrated, a Dried Ghast becomes a Ghastling, a still-small-but-slightly-larger white cube. This happy little guy will imprint on you or other nearby mobs and gleefully follow you around the overworld.
As we learnt from the Dried Ghast, the angry, fireball-spitting creatures we’ve come to know are clearly just sad from being stuck in such a hot, fiery locale. Turns out, their favorite food is actually, um, snowballs. Sorry, Ghasts. While those in the Nether might be past the point of no return, feed Ghastlings this cool treat, and they’ll grow into…
Happy Ghasts
This is the future they were always destined for. Now it feels pretty sad to see those tough guys in the Nether, knowing they could have had their happy-ever-after.
Not only are they incredibly sweet, but Happy Ghasts are one of the most exciting and game-changing mobs to be added to Minecraft in some time. Like normal Ghasts, they float, but you can now take advantage of this feature by saddling up your new friend and climbing aboard. Fly your new buddy around the overworld, giving yourself a new way to see the world around you before you’ve managed to get an Elytra from The End.
We cannot wait to meet Minecraft Ghastlings and Happy Ghasts, and we’ll be able to set off on our new friends in Minecraft snapshots very soon. We’ll update you as soon as we know more, but be sure to check out the Minecraft Spring into Life update first.