Mounted Combat melee... how?

[BaronObvious]

So I was excited to find out that my game had updated to 1.6 without really telling me, because I really wanted to try out the new mounted combat.

 

Only thing is, this mounted combat makes no sense to me, yet. With the animations it shows, I thought I could swipe at enemies on the left and right sides of my horse, but my attacks do nothing, even when I see my greatsword clearly move through them. Turns out they have to be directly in FRONT of my horse to do any damage, left and right attacks meaning basically nothing. I have to point my horse directly at the enemy to attack them with a melee weapon, which is really clunky and annoying because they keep walking up to the side of the horse to attack you, and Skyrim's horse controls do not help this at all. I try to turn and face him? The horse runs around the guy instead of turning. I try to back up? The horse runs a circle to turn around instead of just backing up.

 

So was mounted combat just poorly designed, or am I missing something? If there are any mods that would help this out, like maybe changing where the hit area for melee weapons on horseback is, or making horse controls more convenient, that would be great.

[Stenkil]

I have no problem with it, but that's probably because I've played Mount & Blade. A lot.

 

You can't just swing. You also have to aim at your opponent. So, when I ride past a target, I actively aim at them as I pass and release the swing. It takes some getting used to, but you can also walk or attack from a stationary position with conventional non-power attack swings. Like the archery, it takes some getting used to, but I now routinely use mounted combat against opponents outside of caves, dungeons and other interior complexes.

 

I hate to say "learn 2 play", because it isn't like that at all - but like anything most people won't enjoy the mounted combat unless they practice and don't just give up right away because you aren't hitting your target. I now storm areas with arrow volleys and then move to mounted swings. Using this approach, I can generally clear an area far more effectively than if I am on foot.

 

EDIT - A+W is your friend. Controlling the horse and your weapon separately is what I think a lot of people get hung up on, because you have to approach mounted combat from an almost 3/4 perspective. Remember, there is no shame in slowing down and taking your time before you start trying to strike enemies with power at a full gallop.

Edited June 22, 2012 by Stenkil

[BaronObvious]

I never played Mount and Blade. Whenever I'm trying to attack from horseback, I'm always aiming at my target, pointing directly at them, but if they're to the side, my attacks do nothing, seems I can only hit them when they're directly in front of my horse. I'll keep trying, though.

 

I do still wish horse control was a little easier. Would be nice to be able to back up, especially if I get my horse stuck somewhere that the only way out is backward but my horse keeps trying to turn.

[Glhadiator]

I am able to take out opponets on either side of my horse. I can do a quick swing at them or hold my sword out while leaning out and swipe/swing them as I ride by. Shorter reach when I swing across body of course. The only type of Mods I have read about that screw up mounted combat are the animation mods. I do not have nor have I had any of those activated in my game. I do have kill move mods installed but it doesn't seem to have any Ill effects on mounted combat.

 

I also only use Better Horses, Horses for followers and Slofs Horses. I hope this info helps and you can figure it out as I suspect that your mounted combat isn't working correctly.

[BaronObvious]

I don't have any horse related mods, or really even anything that should affect mounted combat. I can swing at enemies, hold and wait until they're close, but it seems i can only hit them if my horse is actually facing them. If they stand to the side of the horse (like say, near my feet), every swing i make misses even if I see the weapon clip on them.

[CarlCorey]

You must be playing a custom race. The mounted combat added some things to the race records and modders who have created custom races will have to update their mods to accomodate. If these changes aren't made, you will end up only being able to attack a very small area in front of you. I can't find the link to the thread on this right now because Nexus's database seems to be acting up, but I saved the instructions so I could correct it for my PC's race:

 

 

If you have a mod that edits Race records and it was created before the 1.6 patch, you need to update the Attack Data section in your Race records. If you don't you'll find that hitting anything with a melee weapon from horseback is extremely difficult, as rather than an attack hitting things on your flank, it will only hit things only at a very small angle in front of you.

 

What you need to do:

 

1. Open each edited Race record and go to Attack Data.

 

2. Click Update Events.

 

3. You will now see a number of new events appear in the list (with the letters MC in them), you need to edit these to these numbers:

 

attackPowerStart_MC_1HMLeft

Dmg Mult: 2.20

Attack Chance: 1.00

Stagger: 1.00

Recovery Time: 0.00

Stamina Mult: 1.00

Attack Spell: None

Attack Type: None

Attack Angle: -90.00

Strike Angle: 85.00

Knockdown: 0.00

Power Attack Box ticked

 

attackPowerStart_MC_1HMRight

Dmg Mult: 2.20

Attack Chance: 1.00

Stagger: 1.00

Recovery Time: 0.00

Stamina Mult: 1.00

Attack Spell: None

Attack Type: None

Attack Angle: 90.00

Strike Angle: 85.00

Knockdown: 0.00

Power Attack Box ticked

 

attackStart_MC

Dmg Mult: 1.00

Attack Chance: 1.00

Stagger: 0.00

Recovery Time: 0.00

Stamina Mult: 1.00

Attack Spell: None

Attack Type: None

Attack Angle: 0.00

Strike Angle: 35.00

Knockdown: 0.00

No ticked boxes

 

attackStart_MC_1HMLeft

Dmg Mult: 1.20

Attack Chance: 1.00

Stagger: 0.00

Recovery Time: 0.00

Stamina Mult: 1.00

Attack Spell: None

Attack Type: None

Attack Angle: -90.00

Strike Angle: 85.00

Knockdown: 0.00

No ticked boxes

 

attackStart_MC_1HMRight

Dmg Mult: 1.20

Attack Chance: 1.00

Stagger: 0.00

Recovery Time: 0.00

Stamina Mult: 1.00

Attack Spell: None

Attack Type: None

Attack Angle: 90.00

Strike Angle: 85.00

Knockdown: 0.00

No ticked boxes

 

 

Edit: And here's the link to the official thread in the forum.

Edited June 23, 2012 by CarlCorey

[scottmack]

Same for me too, I can hit them at my side. It also helped I've played a lot of Mount and Blade too.

[BaronObvious]

I'm playing as a Nord. I've had a couple custom races before, but I uninstalled them because I didn't like them. Though I do have mods that add extra stuff for customizing characters at the start of a new game (extra skin/hair colors, etc.) but I don't see how that would change attack data.

 

I'll see what I can do with that but I have NO experience with working in the CK before. Even watching some tutorial videos I'm completely clueless.

 

EDIT: Alright I found my problem! I had one mod installed that was affecting that data. It was a mod for improving compatibility for custom races, or something like that. Since I currently don't play any custom races (there aren't any I like yet) I uninstalled it, then checked in-game, and my mounted combat is working like it's supposed to now.

 

Though I still wish my horse could back up.

Edited June 24, 2012 by Stupid Question Man

[memlapse]

I cursed and flailed quite a bit a first, but once I got the timing down, I find myself using mounted combat a lot. I have a few spawn mods that can makes tough for me on foot, but I find that I am enjoying these long, drawn out, hit and run attacks. I'll run down the road a ways, turn and drawn my bow. I'll get two shots off before pulling a two hander, which I try to use on one of the enemies that took at arrow, and finish him off. Then I'll draw my one hander and get a couple of quick swings in while turning to ride back out again. I'll repeat this process until I'm down to the last one or two. I have a horse mod that allows fast dismount and weapon draw in one motion, so then I'll ride into while springing from the back of the horse with my two hander. I'll get me kill cams and ride away bloody and satisfied. Good stuff. I wish there were mounted combat kill cams. Maybe a future update.

[CarlCorey]

I have a horse mod that allows fast dismount and weapon draw in one motion,

Is that on the Nexus? The only fast dismount mod I've seen simply removes the dismount animation which speeds things up but also causes you to fall through the ground every now and then.