LE Skyrim really needs a good combat mod

[loox]

Have indulged myself with a full month of fun in Skyrim, and all the fantastic mods here made it even more fun. While the world of Skyrim is absolutely amazing, I find, after a while, the combat quite repetitive and too simple (even with master level difficulty). I have tried a few mods here that aim at re-leveling the difficulty, but they don't help much. Then I realize that what makes the combat lose its fun quickly is not that the enemy's damage is not high enough, but the lack of variety in their attack. Basically, in melee, for example, they do quick attack and power attack (sometimes bashing if they have a shield), and that's it, I do not even need to think about a different strategy to deal with them, which makes the combat boring after a while. I understand that every game has its limitation, but there surely are things that can be done. So, I just throw a few thoughts here.

 

(1) In addition to blocking, it would be great if the player can perform evasion, and certain types of attack can only be avoided by evading. For example, press L(<-) + Jump will make the player to perform an evasion to the left (while the jump function is preserved for forward jumping only);

 

(2) It would be more fun to have more enemies that have a type of attack that can knock the player on the ground (at the moment, only a few enemies who have unrelenting shout do this). For example, bears can charge and knock the player down, giants can trample, trolls can throw a rock, Dragons can swing its tail (that would be awesome), etc. And this type of attack can only be avoided by evading.

 

(3) A greater difference between enemies' normal attack and power attack. Normal attack a bit faster and power attack a bit slower so that the player with good judgment can foretell which type of attack is going to happen without constantly holding down the blocking button. While blocking is effective against normal attack, power attack can always break through the defense, stagger the player and enable the enemy to follow it up with one or two normal attacks. This would force the player to bash or evade before the power attack lands, rather than simply to hack or to block all the time.

 

(4) A greater difference between enemies with different types of weapons. For example, enemies with a shield focus more on defense and occasionally do bashing, and bashing can always stagger an opponent who is not defending. This would force the player to use power attack on them with good timing. Enemies with dual weapons (or a one-handed dagger) do fast normal attacks and power attack when the player constantly defends. This would force the player to take a defensive strategy and find the opportunity to bash them. Enemies with a two-handed weapon are the strongest, they balance power attack with effective bashing -- aren't those greatest warriors in the game all battle axe wielders anyway?

 

(5) Adding a few more cinematic moves that can be controlled by the player. For example, when the enemy is on the ground and near death, a power attack will always trigger a killing move. When an enemy is performing the power attack, if the player is able to do a sideway power attack without being hit by the enemy, this will trigger a cinematic move (not necessarily killing the enemy). During my play, when the enemy was in slow motion, I sometimes was able to move to the side a bit and flank them. Anyway, there would be a lot more fun if this is possible.

 

(6) I would also love to see a few enemies who can do some kind of grabbing or backstabbing.

 

So, I really just talk about melee combat. And this is because I haven't played as a mage or an archer much yet. I do find those mages running around like crazy when you approach them very very annoying -- this is humiliating to a degree. Mages are supposed to be people who rely on their wits -- they are those super cool smart lads. Not like scared rats running everywhere for life. Why not give them some more decent abilities, such as casting a small fire wall in front of them that does extremely high damage, such as casting an invisible trap on the ground in front of them that can paralyze those who ruthlessly run into it (revised storm rune perhpas), such as casting a icy ball that can slow the target's movement for a while if it successfully hits? So, you have to use your wit to fight against them, not chasing them around like crazy. And when you play as a mage, you are supposed to use your wit and plan your battle ahead carefully -- but the current magics simply are not effective enough to worth the effort.

 

Anyway, just a few thoughts. I really hope there can be some mod that does a few things said here, that would be really really cool. Skyrim deserves a great combat mod.

 

Any other thoughts, my fellow Dovahkiins?

[TrollinThePope]

interesting... the ck ain't released yet tho.

[loox]

Yes, cannot wait to see what changes it will bring.

 

I just realized that Skyrim has some kind of automatic aiming mechanism for enemies' melee attack: they can turn around to land their attack on you even if you have moved to the side, but not always though. So, evasion is not feasible if there is no way to get rid of that function, which I hope is not the case.

 

Just to add one more thing. I find the slow motion perk for blocking is way too powerful and a little glitched too. The whole attacking move is in slow motion until it is finished, and this completely eliminates the need for timely bashing. It is also glitched from time to time - I could sometimes run away and come back with a sprinting attack and the enemy was still in slow motion. It might be better that every power attack will start with a one or two second slow motion and then go back to normal, leaving a short period for the player to make timely bashing or evasion. And this can also mark a power attack from a normal attack for the player in a much clearer way.