Deflect arrows doesn't always work? : V

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 8:10 pm

I hold up my shield and advance in a menacingly sluggish way on the enemy archer. Sometimes his arrow quite literally bounces off my shield and does zero damage, other times it hits me and I take damage from it. The perk doesn't say anything about being a CHANCE to deflect. Is this a bug? Is it a random chance? Or am I supposed to be doing something specific to bounce arrows with my shield.

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 4:32 pm

I think sometimes they manage to hit you at an angle where the arrow gets around your shield, kinda weird when you are walking straight towards the person firing it..

It happens to me more than I would like as well, but I still think deflection is a decent perk.

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 12:13 pm

Happens to me too. Not really sure how the perk works, which is somewhat annoying. Perhaps the arrows have to be fired directly at your shield?

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 11:53 am

Has to hit the shield, meaning they can still shoot your feet, head, opposite shoulder, etc. This isn't Mount & Blade where shield skill and a shield made you immune to arrows.

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 8:27 pm

The perk says arrows that hit the shield

They dont have the big rectangle shields they used to have, they are all small round bucklers that I have found and thus they can easily shoot you in the legs

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 11:39 am

ya there damn near snipers so if they nail your feet,hands,shoulder,head(all the places the shield doesn't cover) you take regular full damage as if never blocked.

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 6:34 pm

Wouldn't sneaking help?

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 10:19 pm

Yeap, Ive noticed sneaking pretty much guarentees the deflection, only a few times where i would get hit but usually it would be in exposed arms and sometimes the feet

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 7:47 pm

Wouldn't sneaking help?

I would think so... decrease surface area while increasing shield cover.

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 2:45 pm

I would think so... decrease surface area while increasing shield cover.

I have found that sneaking and using an imperial shield seems to work the best. The imperial shields are sort of oblong and have a quite a bit more surface area than the bucklers. I will usually just crouch and approach slowly until I get above 20 feet away, then I scream like a banshee and charge at them with my shield :goodjob:

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 6:27 pm

So... block, crouch, pause, uncrouch, unblock, sprint. Repeated until melee distance. Sounds a little awkward in execution. :unsure2:

And no I didn't expect it to actually matter where the arrow hit you since the game doesn't have locational damage an any other context.

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 8:56 pm

Its a wasted perk. I put a point into it thinking I could approach archers with my shield up with no problem. Wrong. I was still getting hit at about a 50% rate. I reloaded a save point before I wasted that point and put it somewhere else instead.

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 7:41 am

I would think that you have a general area that, were the arrow to hit, would "deflect" the arrow. I'm thinking that shield sizes and shapes make no difference and sneaking would not decrease your hit box.

In my experience, an archer would never shoot at my legs (I say this as I have never seen an arrow lodged anywhere other than my torso and head), and having them aim at your exposed areas while blocking would imply a level of AI that I honestly don't think enemies possess.

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 1:10 pm

If you want it to work you need to hold off on holding your shield out until you think they will shoot. If you hold it out constantly then they aim for a limb. You gotta trick them into feeling secure with a body shot.

oh, and I am being serious. They will really aim for a limb if they can or need to. It is best to wait until you really need to block arrows.

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 1:01 pm

So... block, crouch, pause, uncrouch, unblock, sprint. Repeated until melee distance. Sounds a little awkward in execution. :unsure2:

And no I didn't expect it to actually matter where the arrow hit you since the game doesn't have locational damage an any other context.

Wow, didn't think it would be too difficult for someone playing a roleplaying game to.......roleplay. It involves pressing a couple of buttons, not that much work. Press crouch and then hold block as you move toward them. Then release the block button and sprint. Not rocket science. I guess it would be better the game just did everything for us though. Maybe one big QTE???

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 4:18 pm

Wow, didn't think it would be too difficult for someone playing a roleplaying game to.......roleplay. It involves pressing a couple of buttons, not that much work. Press crouch and then hold block as you move toward them. Then release the block button and sprint. Not rocket science. I guess it would be better the game just did everything for us though. Maybe one big QTE???

They could've made it so you can sprint while blocking. What's the physical problem of doing it anyway?

As for me, I don't use shields, so I just sprint at them screaming and then dual power attack

But it does say "if it hits the shield", yes.

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 9:47 am

I think there's a perk that lets you sprint and block, at 100 block skill. Knocks people over too, not seen it in action yet but I imagine it's a bit like ten pin bowling. With bandits.

Also on topic if I just hold it down they tend to shoot around it, but I've found timing blocks just as they fire the arrow works really well. I don't tend to get hit at all that way.

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 11:24 am

I think there's a perk that lets you sprint and block, at 100 block skill. Knocks people over too, not seen it in action yet but I imagine it's a bit like ten pin bowling. With bandits.

Also on topic if I just hold it down they tend to shoot around it, but I've found timing blocks just as they fire the arrow works really well. I don't tend to get hit at all that way.

Agreed about the timing thing. If you wait until they shoot, you seem to have a much higher chance at blocking. Even without though, I think the perk is great, as I usually seem to deflect around 3/4 of the shots. I just got the perk to deflect 50% magic as well, and those are a lifesaver for me. I can't wait to get the shield sprint perk, although that is going to take a while. Bowling people over while sprinting with a shield sounds like a blast!

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 9:45 pm

I hold up my shield and advance in a menacingly sluggish way on the enemy archer. Sometimes his arrow quite literally bounces off my shield and does zero damage, other times it hits me and I take damage from it. The perk doesn't say anything about being a CHANCE to deflect. Is this a bug? Is it a random chance? Or am I supposed to be doing something specific to bounce arrows with my shield.

If the arrow hits the shield it does zero damage, but if it hits anywhere else you get damage.

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 6:53 pm

If you want it to work you need to hold off on holding your shield out until you think they will shoot. If you hold it out constantly then they aim for a limb. You gotta trick them into feeling secure with a body shot.

oh, and I am being serious. They will really aim for a limb if they can or need to. It is best to wait until you really need to block arrows.

This: Timed blocking applies to more than just melee combat.

Also, if you push the block button just before impact, you will automatically interpose the shield between yourself and the arrow.

Deflect Arrows means the arrows that do hit your shield do absolutely NO damage, instead of the 25-50% damage blocked attacks normally do. The perk's ultimately only useful to access the "Chargin' Targe" line up the Block tree.

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 7:41 am

So... block, crouch, pause, uncrouch, unblock, sprint. Repeated until melee distance. Sounds a little awkward in execution. :unsure2:

And no I didn't expect it to actually matter where the arrow hit you since the game doesn't have locational damage an any other context.

No.

If you have block runner, you actually move full speed in stealth/crouching while your shield is held up.