Reworking combat in Skyrim deadly combat. Skyrim - Improved combat system. Comparison of different fighting styles

If the game poorly implements the basic actions that the player most often has to perform, then no amount of beautiful graphics, advanced intelligence of NPCs or a strong plot will save it. For example, in an RPG like TES V: Skyrim similar actions are: fighting with a sword, archery and casting spells against countless hordes of enemies waiting for your hero in the dungeons. Having considered all the advantages and disadvantages of the combat system in Oblivion, Bethesda Studios started developing a new Skyrim.

"We want more aspects of combat to be player-driven," says Todd Howard. “You know, I sometimes compare the battles from our past games to chopsticks: you wave them in front of you in exactly the same way without any system.”

Bethesda offers the player a new ambidextrous weapon system, meaning you can equip a weapon or cast a spell with any free hand. And this provides the player with a huge selection of fighting styles: two-handed combat, two-handed weaponry, the classic combination of shield and sword, long-range weapons, and even attacking with two different spells. You can now easily select an attack method using the new quick selection menu, which allows you to create unique “bookmarks” for the player’s most preferred spells, cries or weapons.

Sword fight

Repetition is developers' worst enemy. Therefore, players lose interest in battles when they have already chopped up such packs of enemies, and the battles themselves are so familiar and ordinary that all actions take place automatically. IN Skyrim Bethesda decided to radically change the very essence of close combat and started with the tempo of the battle.

In the early stages of development, the guys from Bethesda watched a lot of videos, watching how people fight in close combat, and noted for ourselves that in such battles there are much more pushes and attempts to knock the enemy down than in those that were implemented Bethesda in previous games in the series. Using the animation system Havok Behavior, the developers were able to move away from the monotony of battles by adding the aforementioned knockdowns and camera shake to create realism. Don't expect battles to be played out the old fashioned way with the frantic clicking of one button where the one with the most health wins. Without paying enough attention to protection, you may well lose your balance and fall under a hail of crushing blows that will turn the tide of the battle (and far from in your favor). Knowing when to attack, when to block, and when to just stand back will be key to gaining an advantage in combat.

“The world that surrounds you is very cruel, as is the fact that either your opponent or you will have to die in battle,” Howard notes. “I think you should get used to the fact that your opponents are like dummies: you kill them and move on calmly. And although, in essence, you are ending someone else’s life, however, we don’t want you to feel it and perceive it that way.”

Nothing makes battles more brutal and dynamic than special kill animations. Depending on your weapon, the type of enemy and the conditions of the battle, you can use a special blow to finish off the enemy in spectacular fashion. "You'll have to take someone's life a lot during the game, so we want it to be dynamic and exciting," says Howard.

As in Oblivion, the player will have many options for close combat. You will be able to equip swords, shields, maces, axes and various two-handed weapons. The best option is to become a specialist in some type of weapon in order to be able to improve your attacks with the help of special “perks”. For example, a perk for sword specialists increases the chance of landing a critical hit, for ax specialists it adds the effect of bleeding to the enemy after each blow, and for mace specialists it allows you to ignore the enemy’s defense to deliver more powerful blows.

A good attack must be accompanied by a good defense. To make her less passive, Bethesda added the ability to block time-dependent attacks with a shield. For example, if you hold down the block key and hold it, your character will make a shield strike. If you use a block when someone is trying to hit you, you will push the enemy away, simultaneously opening him up for a power attack. You can block enemy attacks with a two-handed weapon, however, this will be less effective than blocking attacks with a shield. Warriors who prefer a shield-sword combination will be able to use the shield perk, developing their defensive skills, which will allow them to gain elemental protection from spells.

Besides, Bethesda changed the ability to retreat so that the player could not use the easy hit-and-run tactics that he often used in Oblivion. IN Skyrim you can't punch your opponent in the eye and then duck away like some medieval Mohammed Ali. Of course, players will be able to dodge slow enemies like frost trolls, but don't expect to do this with all the enemies in a row. To escape from the battlefield, you will need to turn your back to the enemy and activate the fast run key, thereby exposing yourself to the danger of being hit from behind.

Improved spell casting system

Trying to adhere to the philosophy of improvement, Bethesda, having made close combat more tactical, I decided to work on spells, inspired BioShock from Irrational Games. Howard, wandering around the city of Rapture, was truly impressed by how Ken Levine's team ( Ken Levine) realized the plasmids. He wanted to do something similar in Skyrim.

"In the past, using magic didn't feel like you were doing magic at all," says Howard. “You had a separate button for spells that came from your fist, in which you could easily clutch a shield mount or the hilt of a two-handed weapon.”

IN Oblivion spells could be cast with a single key button, which allowed you to use them during sword fighting, for example. By forcing the player to have a hand free from weapons and other objects to use spells, we lead him to a more serious study of the magical arts. However, the ability to use one spell on the left hand and another on the right raises the question: will we be able to combine multiple spells? To which Howard just smiles: “We wouldn’t want to talk about it yet, because we’re not sure. But we would really like to implement this. That would be just great."

However, even if we do not have the opportunity to combine spells, adepts of sorcery and magic will not experience a lack of opportunities, because in Skyrim at their service: more than 85 spells in 5 schools - destruction, restoration, illusion, change and witchcraft. Longtime Fans TES-series may notice that one school of magic (mysticism) has disappeared. This was done intentionally. “I always had the feeling that the mysticism school was kind of superfluous,” says Howard. Spells from the disappeared magic school were disbanded into other schools.

One of the most attractive aspects of using magic is Skyrim It will be possible to use spells in various ways. For example, you can send a fireball at an enemy from afar by holding down the fire emission spell key, you can place a rune on the ground that turns into a trap when the enemy approaches, or you can set a spell for both hands and deal huge damage to the enemy, although this will very quickly deplete your supply magicians. Everything described above also applies to cold and electricity spells.

With technology Havok Behavior spells will look more spectacular than in previous games in the series. For example, if you cast a cold spell, you will see its effect directly on the enemy's skin. If you use a fire spell, throwing a fireball at an enemy, the area around you will be engulfed in flames, causing burns to anything it touches.

Moreover, thanks to the new magic system, the player will be able to benefit from the constant use of one attack type spell: fire will deal more damage, electric will drain magic from the enemy, and frost will reduce the enemy's vitality and slow him down. This will give the player the ability to select specific types of spells against different types of enemies. For example, why use fire against a magician if you can drain his magic and at the same time reduce his health with an electric spell? “It's great that we've gotten to something we didn't have the opportunity to do before,” says Howard.

In a battle with another magician, the best option would be to choose an attack spell for one hand and a defensive spell for the other. This makes magic battles incredibly interesting: you have to choose the right time to use an attack spell, use reflective spells as a shield during enemy magic attacks, and monitor the level of your magic, increasing it in a timely manner with the help of potions.

Archers and Assassins

However, not only magicians and warriors received various advantages in battle. If you prefer to shoot enemies with a bow or stab them in the back by appearing unnoticed behind them, Bethesda I have prepared something interesting for you too.

Long-range weapons were effective in Oblivion, however, in order to hit the enemy you had to shoot more than one arrow into him. After reviewing the mod for Oblivion, allowing archers to kill opponents with one blow, Bethesda I decided to adopt this interesting innovation. Shots now take longer to fire, but the arrows are more powerful than before.

As in Oblivion, you will be able to zoom in on the target, and the longer you hold the bowstring taut, the more powerful the shot will be. In addition, arrows will now pierce the enemy's body with a more appropriate sound. However, so that the player does not run around the game world, carelessly shooting all living things from afar, Bethesda made arrows a rarer resource, albeit a very valuable one. Now you won't be able to easily fire 50 Daedric Arrows per battle without causing damage to yourself. And although the archer player has a very low level of defense, if the enemy gets too close, you will always have a chance to shoot at point-blank range, forcing the enemy to lose balance in order to run away at this time, increasing the distance to a more acceptable shooting distance.

Stealth mechanics remain the same as in Oblivion, but now enemies will react differently when they detect you. Upon hearing or noticing something suspicious, the NPC will enter an alarm state. The higher the character's stealth skill, the more likely he is to hide around a corner or find cover in the shadows. This system allows you to eliminate strange surprise attacks on the player that took place in Oblivion.

Now, if you sneak up behind an unsuspecting victim, you can deal a fatal blow with a dagger (of course, if the victim does not detect your presence), which was a virtually useless weapon in previous games TES-series. “Now when you sneak up behind someone, you can deal 10x damage with the knife,” Howard explains. “I’m not sure we’ll keep this particular multiplier, but it’s a fact that you can deliver a fatal blow by sneaking up behind you with a knife in your hand.”

And although knives and daggers are still considered ordinary one-handed weapons, the perks associated with them belong to the stealth category.

Benefits of the Dragonborn

As the Dragonborn, the player will be able to produce dangerous dragon cries during battle. These cries may have magical features such as slowing down time or summoning a dragon to help, but in general they are something other than magic to ensure that players feel comfortable using the cries regardless of their level of magical skill.

In general, if we put together everything that we learned about today, we can see that Bethesda made a huge step forward in the development of the combat system TES.

The original article can be found

All skills in the game are divided into three categories: combat, magic and thieves. This article will focus on combat skills.

The Blacksmithing skill is responsible for creating new items here. Offensive skills are Shooting, One-handed weapon And Two-handed weapon, and defensive ones - Heavy armor and Blocking. Activating the Warrior Stone increases the growth rate of combat skills by 20 percent.

Hand to hand combat

In the game, in addition to various weapons and magic, you can also use your own fists. Damage in hand-to-hand combat is always caused to the enemy's health, but not to his magicka or stamina. Hand-to-hand combat is not as effective as other fighting styles, but it can still kill. If you play as a Khajiit and find yourself a pair of heavy gloves, then somewhere up to level 10, the damage done with your hands can exceed the damage from weapons. It is important to note that you can deal critical damage from stealth with your bare hands, but you cannot apply poison to your hands. The distance of fighting with hands is approximately equal to the distance of fighting with daggers, the speed is average. You can combine hand-to-hand combat with the use of magic or a shield, striking with only one hand. Unfortunately, since hand-to-hand combat is not a skill, your early game development may be a bit stagnant if you use this fighting style heavily.

Damage with bare hands at the beginning of the game is fixed for each race. All races, with the exception of Argonians and Khajiit, deal damage equal to 4 . Argonians and Khajiit have the same base damage 10 , and the latter also have a passive ability that increases the total damage with their hands to 22 . These values do not change as the level increases and are associated with only one perk - Fists of Steel, which can be found in the branch Heavy armor.

People and elves

Base damage without weapons: 4

Total damage: 4

Argonians

Base damage without weapons: 10

No additional bonuses

Total damage: 10

Khajiit

Base damage without weapons: 10

Additional Damage: 12

Total damage: 22

Increased melee damage

The Fists of Steel perk adds damage in hand-to-hand combat, numerically equal to the base armor rating of the gloves worn by the protagonist. The maximum base rating is daedric gloves, and, accordingly, the damage added by them is equal to 18 . Increasing skills or improving gloves at the forge does not affect this number.

There is only one item in the game that improves your unarmed combat skills. It's called Fighter's Gloves. You can find him in the Rat Hole, the infamous sewer of Riften, with a comrade named Gian the First. This item can be broken at the altar of enchantment and then enchanted with a ring or other gloves to increase damage from punches. There is also a ceiling here and it is equal 14 .

So the maximum damage you can achieve in the game without using alchemy is 10 (base) +12 (Khajiit Claws) + 18 ( daedric gloves) + 28 (enchantment for ring and gloves) = 68

Fight with weapons

In order to use a weapon, you must assign it to your left or right hand. Two-handed weapons and bows require the use of both hands. When equipped, shields automatically appear in the left hand, and they cannot be reassigned to the right hand.

If your attack deals enough damage to kill an enemy, the game may show a kill animation. If you have activated perks Merciless Strike And Crushing blow in skills One-handed weapon And Two-handed weapon Accordingly, you will sometimes be able to observe the decapitation of the enemy. Finishing moves occur only in relation to the last enemy in the immediate vicinity at a certain distance.

Two weapons

This fighting style is characterized by speed and pressure. If you assign a weapon to each trigger, you will not be able to block enemy attacks, but you will be able to interrupt his attacks with a continuous barrage of blows. A double attack takes about one and a half times longer than a one-handed attack, but the damage done is much greater.

Double attack speed is determined based on the weight of the weapon in your left hand, and the stamina cost depends on the weight of the weapon in your right hand. Thus, it makes sense to hold a dagger in your left hand so that the double attack is faster. But most likely, using one type of weapon will be more effective due to the perks used.

The Double Whirlwind perk increases the speed of the weapon not only when striking with both hands, but also with one, if you have a weapon in both hands.

If you assign a spell to your main hand, you will lose the dual-weapon combat bonuses, but if you assign spells or a shield to the other hand, the bonuses remain.

Power attacks

A power attack is carried out by holding the corresponding key. It deals twice the damage of a normal attack and also has a chance to stun the enemy. Your stamina decreases according to the following formula:

Stamina cost for a power attack = (20 + weapon weight) * attack cost multiplier * (1 - perk effect)

The attack cost multiplier is 2 for a power attack with one hand and 3 to attack with two hands (the protagonist deals 3 blows in a row).

Depending on the direction you move, you can perform different power attacks. So, when performing a forward power attack, you will lunge, which will quickly reduce the distance between the enemy and you. By using a force attack while moving backwards, you can effectively counteract enemy attacks. Using the Fan Attack perk allows you to deal damage to all enemies in front of you with power attacks with a two-handed weapon while moving sideways.

The stamina spent on an attack does not determine the damage dealt to enemies, so if you spend less stamina on an attack, this does not mean that the damage has decreased.

WITH comparison of different fighting styles

Possible variations of different fighting styles are described below. Hand-to-hand combat is not included in the consideration, since it was discussed above, and combat with a weapon in one hand, because it is obviously weaker than combat with a two-handed weapon.

One-handed weapon and shield

One of the most popular fighting styles, balancing between attack and defense. One of the benefits of this fighting style is the passive bonus to overall armor rating that the shield provides. Leveling up the Blocking skill reduces physical damage received to a minimum. Perk Elemental protection in Blocking, halves magical damage from elemental spells.

Unfortunately, to get the full benefit from this fighting style, you need to spend a large number of perks - 25 . Even a more “budget” option with leveling up only the left side in the Blocking skill tree and investing in the Strong Arm and Fighting Stance perks One-handed weapons will require about 15 perks For the same amount of perks, you can use two-handed weapons more effectively.

Two-handed weapon

Using this fighting style, you will be less protected than using a weapon and shield, however, the benefits are also great: more damage per second, as well as truly devastating power attacks. However, you will still be able to use the block, albeit not as effectively. To get the full benefit from this fighting style, you only need to spend 15 perks

Two weapons

This fighting style has the least defense among all the others. The game hint says that a two-handed strike immediately deals twice as much damage, but this is not entirely true, because it takes 50% more time. And the total damage per second increases to 133% of the base. The Double Whirlwind perk speeds up attacks with one or two hands, as well as power attacks (if the weapon is in both hands). With two-handed power attacks, you land as many as three hits in a row. The main perks for this fighting style are Strong Arm, Fighting Stance, Double Whirlwind and Double meat grinder. To pump them up it will take about 9 perks The price for such cheapness is an almost complete lack of protection and increased consumption of stamina, so you must take care of potions for restoring health and stamina in advance, and act decisively and quickly in battle. Redguards with the Battle Fury ability can do without stamina restoration potions.

Warrior of the word

Warriors of the word skillfully combine a weapon in the main hand (because the weapon in this hand is 15% faster) and a spell in the other. Word warriors can be divided into two categories: some supplement the damage from melee weapons with magic, others use support spells. The first concentrate on the school of destruction and weaken the enemy at a long distance and, after depleting their magical reserves, use their weapons. Others call on creatures from Oblivion to help, heal themselves, etc. Since one of your hands can have a spell of absolutely any type, from a jet of flame to illusion spells, it is quite difficult to say how many perks are needed to see the most effective work of the chosen one style. The most “budget” warrior of the word is obtained after taking the perks Strong Arm, Fighting Stance and several from the Restoration school (a full-fledged school of magic). This fighting style is very easy to combine with the above-described fighting style Two weapons. Master

The difficulty level also affects the cost and duration of the spell Balance from the school of Change.

Fall Damage

If you fall from a great height, you will receive a certain amount of damage, which is calculated using the following formula:

Fall damage = ((height - 600) * 0.1)^1.45 * modifiers

The Soft Pad perk in the Heavy Armor skill reduces fall damage by half.

The damage that other characters receive is calculated using a more “severe” formula:

Fall damage = ((height - 450) * 0.1)^1.65 * modifiers

Addition

Two-handed combat improves mastery of one-handed weapons rather than two-handed ones.
Unlike the previous two games in the series, Morrowind and Oblivion, weapons in Skyrim do not require repair, cannot break, and do not deteriorate with use.
Fighting is one of the points of persuasion. After winning, the character will give you all the information you need.
Swords, axes and maces are combined into one skill, and the required specialization is determined by perks.
Using your fists as a weapon will not increase your level, since hand-to-hand combat is not tied to any skill.

All skills in the game are divided into three categories: combat, magic and thieves. This article will focus on combat skills.

The Blacksmithing skill is responsible for creating new items here. The offensive skills are Shooting, One-Handed and Two-Handed, and the defensive skills are Heavy Armor and Block. Activating the Warrior Stone increases the growth rate of combat skills by 20 percent.

Hand to hand combat

Damage with bare hands at the beginning of the game is fixed for each race. All races, with the exception of Argonians and Khajiit, deal damage equal to 4 . Argonians and Khajiit have the same base damage 10 , and the latter also have a passive ability that increases the total damage with their hands to 22 . These values do not change as you level up and are associated with only one perk - Fists of Steel, which can be found in the Heavy Armor tree.

Increased melee damage

The Fists of Steel perk adds damage in hand-to-hand combat, numerically equal to the base armor rating of the gloves worn by the protagonist. Daedric gloves have the maximum base rating, and, accordingly, the damage added by them is equal to 18 . Increasing skills or improving gloves at the forge does not affect this number.

So the maximum damage you can achieve in the game without using alchemy is 10 (base) +12 (Khajiit Claws) + 18 (Daedric Gloves) + 28 (ring and gloves enchantment) = 68

Fight with weapons

If your attack deals enough damage to kill an enemy, the game may show a kill animation. If you have activated the Ruthless Strike and Crushing Strike perks in the One-Handed Weapon and Two-Handed Weapon skills, respectively, you will sometimes be able to observe the decapitation of an enemy. Finishing moves occur only in relation to the last enemy in the immediate vicinity at a certain distance.

Two weapons

Double attack speed is determined by the weight of the weapon in your left hand, and the stamina cost is based on the weight of the weapon in your right hand. Thus, it makes sense to hold a dagger in your left hand so that the double attack is faster. But most likely, using one type of weapon will be more effective due to the perks used.

The Double Whirlwind perk increases the speed of the weapon not only when striking with both hands, but also with one, if you have a weapon in both hands.

If you assign a spell to your main hand, you will lose the dual-weapon combat bonuses, but if you assign spells or a shield to the other hand, the bonuses remain.

Power attacks

Stamina cost for a power attack = (20 + weapon weight) * attack cost multiplier * (1 - perk effect)

The attack cost multiplier is 2 for a power attack with one hand and 3 to attack with two hands (the protagonist deals 3 blows in a row).

The stamina spent on an attack does not determine the damage dealt to enemies, so if you spend less stamina on an attack, this does not mean that the damage has decreased.

Comparison of different fighting styles

One-handed weapon and shield

One of the most popular fighting styles, balancing between attack and defense. One of the benefits of this fighting style is the passive bonus to overall armor rating that the shield provides. Leveling up the Blocking skill reduces physical damage received to a minimum. The Elemental Protection perk in Blocking reduces magical damage from elemental spells by half.

Unfortunately, to get the full benefit from this fighting style, you need to spend a large number of perks - 25 . Even a more “budget” option with leveling up only the left side in the Blocking skill tree and investing in the Strong Arm and Combat Stance perks in One-Handed Weapons will require about 15 perks For the same amount of perks, you can use two-handed weapons more effectively.

Two-handed weapon

Two weapons

This fighting style has the least defense among all the others. The game hint says that a two-handed strike immediately deals twice as much damage, but this is not entirely true, because it takes 50% more time. And the total damage per second increases to 133% of the base. The Double Whirlwind perk speeds up attacks with one or two hands, as well as power attacks (if the weapon is in both hands). With two-handed power attacks, you land as many as three hits in a row. The main perks for this fighting style are Strong Arm, Fighting Stance, Double Whirlwind and Double Meat Grinder. To pump them up it will take about 9 perks The price for such cheapness is an almost complete lack of protection and increased consumption of stamina, so you must take care of potions for restoring health and stamina in advance, and act decisively and quickly in battle. Redguards with the Battle Fury ability can do without stamina restoration potions.

Warrior of the word

Difficulty levels

The difficulty level you choose affects the damage you deal to others and take yourself. At the Novice level, you take half the damage from enemies and deal double damage; at the Master level, on the contrary, you take double damage and deal only half. On Legendary difficulty, you take quadruple damage and deal a quarter of your original damage.

The difficulty level also affects the cost and duration of the spell Balance from the school of Alteration.

Fall Damage

If you fall from a great height, you will receive a certain amount of damage, which is calculated using the following formula:

Fall damage = ((height - 600) * 0.1)^1.45 * modifiers

The Soft Pad perk in the Heavy Armor skill reduces fall damage by half.

The damage that other characters receive is calculated using a more “severe” formula:

Fall Damage = ((height - 450) * 0.1)^1.65 * modifiers

Addition

Two-handed combat improves mastery of one-handed weapons rather than two-handed ones.
Unlike the previous two games in the series, Morrowind and Oblivion, weapons in Skyrim do not require repair, cannot break, and do not deteriorate with use.
Fighting is one of the points of persuasion. After winning, the character will give you all the information you need.
Swords, axes and maces are combined into one skill, and the required specialization is determined by perks.
Using your fists as a weapon will not increase your level, since hand-to-hand combat is not tied to any skill.

Description:

This material is a compilation of two mods by one very cool author -

In this collection you will find plugins that comprehensively improve Skyrim's combat system.

Installation:

The installation of each plugin is described in detail below.

Thanks:

Bethesda Game Studios: For making the awesome game Skyrim

Kahmul78: For allowing me to look at and use his Locational Damage scripts

Dave Humphrey: For making SkyEdit, which allowed me to make all versions

before version 2.00 of the mod.

All contributors to the unofficial elder scrolls pages (uesp.net),

for all the information they wrote on armor and damage formulas.

All contributors to the Creation Kit wiki, without which learning

the new Papyrus scripting language would have been hell.

All people who have posted bug reports, suggestions and constructive

criticism on the bethsoft forums and the skyrimnexus comments section.

Spiderexpert for making the NMM installer.

Topeira for making a video of my mod.

Used:

The Creation Kit

SkyEdit v0.041 alpha (for versions of the mod before 2.00)

And now more details about each mod:

1) Deadly Combat \ Deadly battle

Version - 3.84

Detailed description:

This mod changes the entire Skyrim combat system, making it faster, more flexible and more realistic, and more suitable for experienced players. Now there is no button massing in an RPG game, only tactics, thoughtfulness and competent selection of attacks. The mod changes some game settings, more about all the options below:

CORRECTION OF GAME SETTINGS WITH MODOM:

1) Reduced effectiveness of all armor!

The game itself has an ill-conceived feature: all the armor swings to unrealistic heights! Having 100 skill for heavy armor, you reduce the attack by about 80%, which is simply unrealistically cheating! And also a fully upgraded blacksmith skill will help you upgrade your armor so much that you will hardly notice the damage. The mod changes the vanilla goodies, reducing all the advantages from armor to a realistic minimum. The reduction has been made for all armor, improved and not. The shield is not included in this system; with it you can still achieve damage reduction.

2) Strengthening the efficiency of the block

With the mod, the block will be your main hope for survival! You will change it more often if you want to survive. After lowering the properties of the armor, it is quite reasonable to focus on the block, which, even with heavy armor equipped, in reality was a very necessary technique.

3) Increased damage.

Overall attack damage increased! Increased not only for the hero, but also for NPCs. Now the enemies will be stronger.

4) Reducing the attack radius.

Where have you seen in reality a bastard sword lash 2 meters? That's right, nowhere. Now, in order to win the battle, to reach the enemy, you will need to stand close to the enemy and attack him.

5) Increased stamina costs

Now the stamina consumption will be greater. Blocking and attacks are now more expensive, but we haven’t forgotten about reality. Standing will help you quickly regain your stamina. That is, when attacking an enemy, you can make several powerful attacks and finish off with weak ones, and after the fight you will quickly restore all your stamina. Quite realistic.

NEW GAMEPLAY FEATURES:

1) The reaction to your attack is stun.

Having received a blow from you and not defending yourself, the enemy will stagger, as if his vision has dimmed. You can make the enemy react to your blow by staggering if: he is not a ghost, he did not block the blow, and if he did not have a spell charged.

2) The reaction to an NPC attack is stunned.

NPCs will now also be able to inflict blows on their enemies and the player that can stagger them or him from surprise. The conditions for reacting to an impact are the same as in the previous option. A new spell is also added to the player - Overcome Pain, this is a short-acting spell that will allow you to overcome the effect of a shaking camera from your staggering and have time to respond to an unexpected blow. Also, a similar, but more effective and long-lasting spell can be purchased from the magicians of Skyrim. It's called Adrenaline Burst

3) Block timing

It is logical to assume that it is impossible to stand in the block forever; sooner or later you will get tired. But the creators of the game did not take this into account; you can block attacks forever and the cost of the block will be the same. The author of the mod has corrected this, now a lightning block (if you immediately repelled the attack and counterattacked) will not cost anything at all, but a long block will be subject to penalties that affect your stamina. The same will happen to all NPCs, so try to attack correctly and place blocks on time. This option also gives you an additional chance to break through the block of a tired enemy, but you will also get it in the same conditions, so watch the battle more carefully.

4) Fixed stamina consumption for regular attacks.

Fixed the stamina consumption from inflicting and receiving regular attacks (not power attacks). Now the cost of stamina is lower, and you can hit your opponent well, just like he can hit you.

5) Improved NPC reaction to attacks!

In real combat, all opponents react differently to different attacks. Someone rushes at you screaming, someone runs away, etc. and so on. There are no identical fights, all are unique. But no, in Skyrim every battle is a clone of hundreds of previous ones. This mod will fix this misunderstanding; now NPCs will react differently to different attacks. This value is randomized and now the chance that you will meet two fighters who react equally to damage is reduced to a minimum.

6) Improving the ingenuity of NPCs!

Now NPC attacks will be more logical and thought out; they may start hitting you on the shield in the hope of breaking through the block, or they will even change weapons to confuse you. If you are on horseback, the enemies will stop attacking you, they will start shooting/beating your horse, as this is the only way to stop you.

7) Improvements to security spells!

Now you will not only avoid damage, but you will also have a small chance to reflect the attacks of your enemies. However, NPCs will also be able to perform this trick.

8) The real difference between light and heavy armor!!!

Now you will really notice the difference between light and heavy armor! The difference will appear in the speed of your movements! So choose your armor wisely.

9) Reduced speed when attacking.

The attack itself involves spending some time swinging and striking. Two-handed weapons will be even slower, but more powerful. In combination with the previous function, you will achieve true realism. Lightly armed warriors will move quickly (but not +80 speed as in vanilla), heavy tanks will hit powerfully, but will be slower.

10) Localized damage!

Now, if you attack an enemy in a certain place, you will receive certain bonuses to damage. The system is very realistic, attacks from close and long range + attacks to the head or torso will be taken into account. Detailed description:

Head - increased damage + stronger stagger effect + blur effect

Right hand - 25 percent chance of complete disarmament.

Left hand - The opponent or player will lose the chance to block.

Chest - Additional stamina damage + stagger effect (different for different NPCs).

Back - Extra stamina damage + stagger effect and 50% chance to knock down.

Groin - Additional stamina damage + stagger effect (different for different NPCs).

Legs - if the enemy was running towards you, then you will knock him down, if he was standing, then the damage is doubled.

Installation:

For a standard installation you will need one esp - DeadlyCombat.esp.

It includes all the options listed above. Unzip the archive and simply copy the Data folder to the game folder.

Optional:

The optional folder contains esp for configuring the mod (disabling/enabling certain features). And also plugins for some hardcore options.

DeadlyCombat_NoArmorChanges.esp- removes changes made by the mod to the armor rating.

DeadlyCombat_NoAttackDistance.esp- removes the increased attack distance.

DeadlyCombat_NoDamageChanges.esp- removes changes made by the mod to damage.

DeadlyCombat_NoStaminaChanges.esp- removes the changes made by the mod to stamina.

DeadlyCombat_HardcoreDamage.esp- increases damage several times compared to the main plugin. Load after DeadlyCombat.esp.

DeadlyCombat_GiantsAIFix.esp - fixes a bug that appeared for some players. The behavior of the giants did not change.