I haven't seen anything on this yet however I'm sure it has been discussed. Is directional damage in the game? If not should it be included?

I don't like enemies running at me with an arrow sticking out of their knee and when I smack someones unarmoured head with a battle axe I want more damage than if I smacked their left hand.

I think it would also add slightly to the way you play the game such as looking for exploiting unarmoured areas on persons or monsters having 'weak spots' in which they become damaged more such as the undercarriage of the spider or the eyes of the troll. Well you get the general gist. I don't want it solely for the sake of 'realism' but because I think it would add a new dynamic to the game. Imagine crippling a leg of an enemy in order to flee if you are in a tight situation and of course seeing your prey desperately limp away is priceless.

Seeing as combat has been improved really really much. Locational damage is a very small thing and I think it's already in.

yeah hopfuly

If it's not in after Fallout 3... I think Bethesda missed a serious opportunity.

Hope so. It needn't be at all complex (torso, limbs, head?), and would add another layer of fun to combat - especially for assassins and archers.

For sure there should at least be a drastic difference between a headshot and a bodyshot with a bow. The body shot should bleed very slowly, while a headshot is an instant damage.

I would also like to see a difference between a head-shot and a torso shot, but the bleeding effect should be based on what kind of arrow your using, maybe we'll have barbed arrows that cause the target to bleed overtime and s

Yeah, that'd make more sense

Maybe have poison effects only work if you hit unarmoured areas of the body.

I very much like the idea of bleeding effects on different types of arrows.

In reality, a lot of arrowhead designs would cause horrible bleeding in pretty much any part of the body; I've got some broadheads here which seem designed for that purpose, including some "fish hook" ones that are quite unpleasant, knowing that they were a real weapon of war at some point.

It seems that this kind of thing might be the domain of perks, rather than locational damage, though (I think a "bleeding" perk for axes was confirmed in one of the magazines).

Taking armour (or lack of) into account would be a great detail, too.

i would love it. ATLEAST i hope the heads are extra vulnerable. headshot with arrow = dead.

Didn't Todd say they were planning it implement it as far back as morrowind? I think it really essential for combat, if an arrow goes through your unarmored head you should die, no matter what level you are...

I'd like it only if the effects aren't too much. Some extra damage is fine but I don't want to die instantly every time someone gets a lucky hit.

when I shoot someone in the leg with an arrrow I want to see them limp or fall. I want that limb to become crippled and useless. Same with arms, if I were to damage my opponents arms he/she should drop any items in his/her hands. Same if it happend to my char too.

This should apply to all enemies of course.
Maybe you could maime wildlife then go up for the kill such as deer, however this is probably asking too much. I don't like it that when you shoot them they die instantly, that said maybe the finishing moves will help with this. Maybe spasms from enemies rather than an instant death no matter the method you kill them.

Yes, this kind of system has to be implemented now. It would be woefully painful to have arrows and other weapons do the same amount of damage to the head as they do to the legs. They already implemented it in Fallout 3 so I don't see why they wouldn't improve upon it for Skyrim... minus the VATS and statistical probabilities.

I think there will be such location damage in Skyrim , coz the team had done that in Fallout 3.

Indeed.

Nothing's more ridiculous than fighting a generic bandit with four arrows coming out of his eyes and 10 more in his chest because you have a low archery skill (just make me more inaccurate, or only make the cross-hair appear after I pass novice level, etc)

Well, if we consider the gameplay trailer for a moment, during the fight with the dragon the player strikes the head of the beast several times, and these strikes generate a believeable response from the dragon in that its head is knocked back/to the side. What can we conclude from this? Well, apparently they now have a system in place to recognise were the blow hits (which wasn't present in oblivion in any way iirc?), and I wouldn't say it's too much of a stretch to say that this means they also have localized damage. I mean, if they already have the mechanics done to recognize where the blow hits and produce corresponding reactions to it then adding that hitting different parts would do different amounts of damage should be a small task, and seeing as they have said this is something they have wanted to add in the past, it's a no-brainer really :celebration:

What do you think?

Well Locational damage was implemented in Oblivion, but work with armor instead of body parts, for example with OBSE we can check what part of armor was damaged
In Morrowind location damage not eve used and what part of equipment was damaged decided by random and skill checks.

this is a very good idea, i like it a lot

lowest rank of archery doesnt have a crosshair (or no auto-aim for consoles) and swerves like a [censored], second rank gets you the crosshair but the swerve remains, then later on you get no swerve at all . . .

then on master level you get the zoom in ability and you can aim for body parts not covered by armor: under the helmet, area where pauldrons meet the cuirass etc

Locational damage and crippling would add a lot of dimension to the combat system, as would considering armour coverage. Perhaps this is the way to end the use of chainmaille bikinis. I would donate money for this feature.

I like this idea. Finishing moves could also be specific to the body part you deal the killing blow to.