Do You Like Skyrim's Combat

[sedax]

Melee fights are so bad. IMO archery is somewhat decent. Vanilla magic is not appealing to me but there are some amazing mods and i think magic fights are finally great. Overall combat is still bad for me because i usually like to play as a melee character. I think a comprehensive mod for melee fight is desperatly needed. I tried some jumping mods to use as dodge but it didn't work so well. I get hit even i jump out of the way. I wonder if shortening the weapon reach and some rolling animations would work.

[RedRavyn]

@ sedax: You've pinpointed one of the main problems I see with the vanilla combat system. The reach of weapons is completely over-the-top. Just yesterday I was playing hide-and-shoot with an opponent who was wielding a greatsword. I was behind a thick pillar. By my best estimate I was standing another ten feet from him, in addition to the pillar, which was about three or four feet across. I ducked out to get an arrow off and he swung his sword and killed me with that one hit! This is ludicrous to the extreme.

 

After reloading and finally killing him I actually paced out the distances involved. There's no way in hell he could have even stretched out on a lunge and hit me where I was standing (which was a good twelve to fourteen feet away), but he did, and you can't even lunge with a sword in Skyrim. All you can do is swing from the shoulder. I've seen this with just about every weapon, and with the natural weapons on a lot of animals. The same day a sabrecat got me, and I was standing well out of his reach, tucked back behind some rocks. He never came over the rocks to get me. He just lunged, and, somehow, managed to kill me without his teeth or claws ever getting to within five feet of where I was standing.

 

The reach on weapons in this game is utter nonsense and is in need of a total revision. I don't remember it being this bad in Oblivion, although it was still over-extended there, too. I guess by the next game we'll be able to hit opponents in the next county with a dagger and in the next country with a greatsword.

 

Maybe it's a combination of weapon reach and the collision boxes on actors. If that's the case then the collision boxes need to be revised, as well. I've noticed a lot of clear misses with arrows that still wind up, somehow, hitting the target. Is this just Bethesda trying to make the game easier for us (and our opponents)? If so, then they need to rethink their game development philosophy, because it seriously detracts from any illusion of "realism" in combat in Skyrim -- which isn't to say that any such realism isn't an illusory fantasy, because it is.

[davybri44]

All in all i would say that the combat sequences in skyrim are somewhat awesome in the beginning but as it progresses and you get stronger weapons (even with increased difficulty settings) it becomes monotonous and it becomes just a plain old hack and slash game...the kill sequences are awesome imo but they also become boring as the game progresses....it needs a wider array of sequences and moves like a parry/counter move maybe similar to assassins creed

[BeastlyBeast]

There's a simple solution if you don't like it: Grab three mods (PISE, Deadly Combat and and Deadly Dragons) and set the difficulty higher, unless you're on Master. Combat is AMAZING with those two mods! :) Edited May 13, 2012 by BeastlyBeast

[sedax]

There's a simple solution if you don't like it: Grab two mods (PISE, and Deadly Dragons) and set the difficulty higher, unless you're on Master. Combat is AMAZING with those two mods! :)

 

for me problem is not difficulty. I have war zones, deadly dragons, duel combat realism, faster combat etc. There are not enough mods for melee combat overhaul. We have magic mods which are awesome and they add unique skills. But in melee combat both sides swing left-right and block. That's it. DoN't get me wrong. I like the basic combat mechanism in Skyrim. I want control over my battles and skyrim provides that at a basic level. But in higher levels advanced moves are missing. A mage can perform a different and powerfull magic at a higher level but a melee character does the same moves with just greater power or a bit more speed.

 

I think duel mod fixes AI and balances the melee fight, locational damage adds to immersion. Now it's not easy to destroy an imperial camp without putting some effort.However still more animations( some kind of combo system like Path of battlemaster for both player and AI), dodging ( also for player and for AI) is needed. I think editing the power attack animations may be the first step. Power attacks are so slow and they look more like chopping a wood than a swordmasters attack.They decrease the pace of the fights and make it predictable. Splitting them into two or more moves may contribute to combat pace or difficulty. I don't know much about scripts so i can't do anything about extra button configurations for combo moves or dodges.I can only base my ideas on vanilla or modded idle animations. But there are amazing modders out there. I think they can do wonders.

 

Overall i don't say combat is bad or easy it's actually decent but melee combat is not on the same level as magic combat, stealth or archery.

[BeastlyBeast]

Well, what's sad is there's no perfect mod. If there was a perfect way to set up combat, either Bethesda would've implemented it into the game, or a mod would've finally done it. But, I think I got close to the perfect mod. I set the difficulty from Adept to Master, and got Deadly Dragons, PISE and Deadly Combat, amongst other difficulty mods. So far, I really like my gameplay MUCH more than I did with vanilla fighting on Adept.

[Veltoss]

It's alright, but I think it's a bit dull after a while. Not enough interesting spells, melee is hack and slash, archery feels lacking. It needs to be more complex, more interesting spells, more realistic fun archery, more special attacks with melee, etc. The mobs are mostly just harder to kill as they get stronger, not more interesting, or smart. A good example of increasing AI difficulty is Halo Reach, they don't just get stronger or more numerous, they get smarter and more interesting to fight.

[PsxMeUP]

If there was a perfect way to set up combat, either Bethesda would've implemented it into the game, or a mod would've finally done it.

There's plenty of examples of how to improve combat. Even something reminiscent of Assassin's Creed would be an improvement, and that combat system was flawed and repetitive.

[JesterKing]

I was thinking Skyrim's melee system needs lunge, dodge, counter, and perhaps weapon skills. Weapon skills would be like "speed break" to lower enemy speed, or an ability like "concussion" where you would disorient the enemy, perhaps 3-hit combos...

 

Anyway I rerolled as a conjuring paladin. and mixing up magic and melee is far superior to dual wielding and better than spellswords too. See, normally what I would do is if I needed an equipment swap I would enter the menu. Now I hotkey what I need. (can you tell I normally play on console games...?) Keeping combat flowing helps

[MightyZ0G]

as I said before, check out the Mount and Blade demo on steam to see a different take on how melee and mounted combat can be implemented. everything from bare fists through swords, axes, maces, spears, lances, bows, crossbows, javelins and even throwing stones.

most weapons can be used on horseback except for 2 handed weapons and crossbows.

 

Bethesda really need to license that combat engine for the next Elder Scrolls game.