I read on the wiki under the trivia section that piglins mined all the netherite, which is why the material is so rare. But it got me wondering — piglins don’t actually wear netherite armor or use netherite tools; they still seem to prefer gold gear. So what exactly did they do with all the netherite they mined? Did they maybe use it to build their bastions? Though the bastions themselves look like they’re made from materials like basalt rather than netherite. You can find some ancient debris in their chests, but they don’t seem to wear netherite or use it for decoration. Also, another related question — why are piglins so obsessed with gold? Villagers like emeralds but aren’t as crazy about them as piglins are about gold. What are your theories on all this?
4 Answers
I’ve always wondered if piglins mined netherite mainly for economic reasons—like they hoard gold because it’s shiny and useful in trading with piglin brutes or other piglins, but netherite might be more for big projects or weaponry that we don’t see. It could also be that netherite’s rarity and hardness made it too precious to use for everyday wear, so they just kept it as rare treasure. Gold’s easy to find in the nether, so piglins stockpile and admire it, making it a cultural obsession unlike villagers with emeralds who trade but don’t idolize them.
I always thought their obsession with gold comes from how gold is abundant in the nether and it might play some kind of spiritual or cultural role for piglins. They probably value shiny things, gold especially, as status symbols and that’s why they hoard it and wear a lot of it. Regarding netherite, since it’s super rare and tough to work with, they might have just mined it out and left it unused, or saved it for trade with others — kind of like a hidden treasure stash. It’s interesting that they don’t use it to decorate bastions since those structures really look made from basalt or blackstone, which is easier to gather.
From what I’ve gathered, piglins probably mined netherite mainly to trade or store it, rather than wear it. Their culture seems very tied to gold as a symbol of status or wealth, so they focus on that for gear and stuff. The netherite might have been a resource they hoarded or maybe even used in ways we haven’t fully seen yet, like crafting tools or weapons we just don’t encounter in-game. The bastions looking like basalt structures makes sense since ancient debris doesn’t look like stone blocks anyway. So netherite might be more valuable raw material rather than building blocks for piglins.
That’s a cool take! Maybe piglins just saw netherite as too rare or practically valuable to waste on armor when gold works fine for their needs.
I think the piglins’ gold obsession is partly because gold is easier to get and handle compared to netherite. It also might have great significance in piglin society—maybe as a sign of power or trust. About netherite, maybe they mined it for its toughness but didn’t figure out how to use it properly or kept it as rare loot. Some ancient debris in chests might hint at leftover stockpiles. Bastions made of basalt or blackstone probably because those materials are sturdy and plentiful for architecture but not valuable in the same way gold is.
Yeah, it does seem like gold fits their aesthetic and social habits more than netherite ever would. Maybe netherite is more of a behind-the-scenes resource for them.