LE Blocking and Parrying

[llDeimos]

One of the main turn offs from the game is the hack and slash mouse spam style of combat and while it's much improved from Oblivion, it's still there. To explain the potential mod, I'll pose some scenarios and describe how the new system would work.

 

First of all, blocking [bL] would be mapped to a separate button rather than being mapped to the left or right hand, which I'll call [LH] and [RH]. For clarity, [RH] is the weapon hand and [LH] is the shield/spell hand.

One-handed weapon: [bL] is to block/parry with the weapon, [RH] will swing the weapon and [LH] will punch. Also applies to magic.

Two-handed weapon: [bL] is to block/parry with the weapon, [RH] is to swing the weapon and [LH] will bash with the hilt to stagger the opponent.

 

Dual wielding: [bL] is to block/parry with the right hand weapon(default). Pressing [LH] or [RH] while blocking changes which hand to block with, and pressing both blocks with both at the same time(maybe).

Weapon and shield: [bL] blocks with the shield(default), press [LH] or [RH] while blocking to switch from blocking with shield to weapon. [RH] swings weapon, [LH] does a shield bash.

Weapon and spell:[bL] is to block using the weapon, [RH] swings the weapon and [LH] uses the spell.

Dual spells: [bL] is to block with your arm, [RH] and [LH] uses the spells.

Bow: [bL] is to block using your arm, [RH] fires an arrow [LH] performs a bash(or maybe slashes with an arrow).

 

Timing your block when using a weapon will perform a parry, which quickly deflects an attack giving you time to retaliate. Timing your block with a shield will deflect and stagger the opponent as usual. In addition to that, every attack will stagger the opponent or yourself, so blocking and parrying will be a vital part of combat.

 

Tell me what you think and if it sounds like a good idea, hopefully someone with modding skills can develop this mod.

Edited November 6, 2011 by DesiUnit

[Deleted2710878User]

I guess it's pretty good, though Dual Spells blocking doesn't make much sense at all.. what would you black with, your bare hands or your healing spells?! XD

The rest is okay through, it seems like you thought through the Dual Wielding part pretty good but changing with what hand you block is kind of(I'm sorry, I don't want to sound blunt but ehhh :\ ) stupid, IMO you should just be blocking by crossing both swords.(or something similar)

The parry is a nice idea, I've had that idea for a while now.. while I admit I love a good combat system it wouldn't be really useful in Skyrim, I know you want to know why now so I'll just get it out there: most enemies will probably be either animals or monsters + dragons, parrying only works if the enemy has weapon of some kind, can't really deflect the bite of a wolf or the headbutt of a dragon.. what about the freaking giants for that matter, parrying those giant clubs of them would be very unrealistic.. that's all really.(having said that I would like to add a suggestion of a split second 'dodge' move, assigned to its own button, a move that dodges any attack if you can time it right.. really must be perfect, the reason I want the timing to be perfect is because this 'dodge' would be able to, like I said before, dodge ANY attack.. P.S.: Maybe add an after effect to the dodging so that it makes you look fast, you know? like adding a silhouette that follows your character in the dodge animation)

And lastly but not least.. I would like to add the suggestion(didn't see it in your description) of being able to parry an arrow in mid-flight(sounds cool right? lol), only reason I bring that up is because it would be epic hehe.. although you could ofcourse just dodge it with what I suggested before but ya know, nothing beats cutting down an arrow mid-flight ;)

[llDeimos]

The reason I added switching which hand to block with is simply for immersion, that's all. And with dual spells, yes you would block with your hands, like hand to hand, not very effective but at least it's something. For the parrying, you're right, it wouldn't work that well with opponents who don't use weapons, but the blocking still would. It's more of an extra feature rather than a core component of the mod. I think that dodging might already be in the game but if it's not, a simple side step by double tapping the movement keys would work well. Edited November 6, 2011 by DesiUnit

[clintenhorne]

I agree completely with Desi, Skyrim needs a fun, exciting and realistic combat system. Did you guys every play with the Deadly Reflex mod on Oblivion? It got really close to a "perfect" combat system, excepting the fact that it was very buggy. Timed Block, Dodge and Bash need to be included at the least.

[llDeimos]

Deadly reflex was a great idea, but I never got it to work properly. I think maybe it had a little too much content in it, which made it complex and buggy.