Blocking with one handed weapons : V - Skyrim

» Thu Sep 15, 2011 7:27 pm

And yet you can't do this if you have two weapons equipped... You'd think having twice as many weapons would double your blocking potential but...

Way to kill sense...

I'm with him on this it just sounds stupid and weird

I mean block with a sword or 2 swords whats the frigging difference.

» Thu Sep 15, 2011 8:50 pm

yeah, i think the same as u. it's like the mighty dovahkiin can't put off the fire on the his hand to hold the sword and block...
but he can if u switch to empty hand....

wierd...

anyways, i guess that u and i should attack with spells from long range and once we get close we need to change to empty hand or shield, do some melee and if we get farther away than switch to magic one more. cumbersome but it might work.
also remember than u can Bash. use magic and sword to attack and once the enemy is attacking u - bash it to stagger.

if staggering doesnt work 100% of the time than this tactic is boiled down to luck, and i hate luck with my games. if i react on time - reward me with the outcome i was going for.

i dunno. we'll see how this play out.

You have defensive magic,magic that slows them down and allsorts of things.....it's not a problem at all. It's tradeoff. You can instantly switch the spell to an empty hand and block,click your d-pad again and equip the spell.......it's all a fuss about nothing in my book.

You have to have a weakness somewhere,just like you'll have your strength's.

» Thu Sep 15, 2011 9:27 pm

yeah, i think the same as u. it's like the mighty dovahkiin can't put off the fire on the his hand to hold the sword and block...
but he can if u switch to empty hand....

wierd...

the thing with the no blocking thing to me is not that it isnt balanced or that with blocking there will be some balance issues. that's not it at all!!
the real issue is that blocking is a mechanic that gives combat some depth. juggling attacking and blocking to survive. choosing when to block and when to attack takes more skill than not having to choose. blocking gives a reason to REACT to the enemies. it elevates the combat from a mindless "click click click click someone dies" thing like diablo, which is mindless and has no depth or skill to it, into a more "attack attack, block, attack, block, attack, etc". it gives the player something to do when he is attacked that isnt just attacking again. any unskilled mindless zombie can mash two attack buttons. it requires slightly more skill to block too.
once the blocking mechanic is taken away from a melee combination (DW or MW) it makes the combat a lot less interesting and a lot less fun , IMO.
my issue with this whole no blocking thing is that 2 styles i might have tried have gone boring. shallow. mindless. it's not that i want to be overpowered. i just want the combat to feel more reactive and deep than "attack attack attack". now DW and MW have become a lot less interesting and appealing. THATS MY ISSUE.

anyways, i guess that u and i should attack with spells from long range and once we get close we need to change to empty hand or shield, do some melee and if we get farther away than switch to magic one more. cumbersome but it might work.
also remember than u can Bash. use magic and sword to attack and once the enemy is attacking u - bash it to stagger.

if staggering doesnt work 100% of the time than this tactic is boiled down to luck, and i hate luck with my games. if i react on time - reward me with the outcome i was going for.

i dunno. we'll see how this play out.

» Thu Sep 15, 2011 11:01 pm

yeah, i think the same as u. it's like the mighty dovahkiin can't put off the fire on the his hand to hold the sword and block...
but he can if u switch to empty hand....

wierd...

anyways, i guess that u and i should attack with spells from long range and once we get close we need to change to empty hand or shield, do some melee and if we get farther away than switch to magic one more. cumbersome but it might work.
also remember than u can Bash. use magic and sword to attack and once the enemy is attacking u - bash it to stagger.

if staggering doesnt work 100% of the time than this tactic is boiled down to luck, and i hate luck with my games. if i react on time - reward me with the outcome i was going for.

i dunno. we'll see how this play out.

Exactly. I will have to see how it works out. I hope the hilt bash staggers otherwise I guess we are both stuck with switching to block and using magic at range. I want to be able to block and I don't really want to go sword and shield because to me thats boring.

You have defensive magic,magic that slows them down and allsorts of things.....it's not a problem at all. It's tradeoff. You can instantly switch the spell to an empty hand and block,click your d-pad again and equip the spell.......it's all a fuss about nothing in my book.

You have to have a weakness somewhere,just like you'll have your strength's.

Its cumbersome. And because you can instantly switch it all hope of balancing the spellsword by not letting it block is thrown out the window. A better way in my opinion is to make blocking with a weapon inferior to blocking with a shield. Perhaps a delay before you can attack that is longer, or you still take a portion of the damage. I think those a much better for balancing blocking without a shield than to just take away blocking altogether.

» Thu Sep 15, 2011 6:30 pm

Just because you can't block,using dual wield and sword and spell,doesn't mean it's lacking or boring......that in my opinion it's "you" that's the problem.

You can run
You can dodge
You can use defensive magic
You can slow/weaken with offensive magic
You can switch thing's quickly
You can think about your enemy
You could use things around you.
Youcan sometimes stop their attacks with your own attacks......many ways.

The IQ level is plummeting in my opinion,people don't think enough....plain and simple

» Fri Sep 16, 2011 4:14 am

It creates a problem because now playing a spellsword (magic in 1h sword in the other) lacks one of the most basic defensive abilities. Why I can block with a single 1h weapon but not a 1h weapon and a spell just seems silly to me. Yes I can switch on the fly, but why cant I just block with the 1h weapon without unequiping the spell. They essential have the same effect, just now I am required to constantly switch my off-hand spell just so I can block.
How this remotely makes that type of character god-mode is beyond me.
The dragon shouts are much closer to god-mode than simply blocking an attack.

Cast a defensive spell.

» Fri Sep 16, 2011 6:30 am

Well that svcks. I wanted to play a spellsword type character now that it actually seemed like it would work well. But if I cant block that might create a problem..I will probably try it anyways.

I think it'll work fine.

Smack 'em around when they aren't blocking, and blast them with magic if they try to defend.

» Fri Sep 16, 2011 9:09 am

Just because you can't block,using dual wield and sword and spell,doesn't mean it's lacking or boring......that in my opinion it's "you" that's the problem.

lets think your suggestions thorugh:

You can run
You can dodge

--- that's not very effective. also doing it looks rediculous, if u ask me. it just isnt realistic and doesnt look anything like melee fighting. it makes combat look like how COD makes firefights look - cartoony and game-y. just my opinion on the matter. but besides bashing with the hilt it's one of the only 2 good points here.

You can use defensive magic

---- that's like using a shield. if the magic is used to block than i will just use a shield or empty hand. i want a magic that does something OTHER than block.

You can slow/weaken with offensive magic

----- that is, AGAIN, attacking attacking attacking. clicking both triggers over and over again in a strictly one minded strategy.

You can switch thing's quickly

---- cumbersome, as stated before. more cumbersome than it needs to be. more cumbersome than in any other game where u can use magic and weapon. BUT, as i said before - it's likely to be what i will be doing. gain distance, use magic, switch to blocking option.

You can think about your enemy

----- i think that he is attacking and im just gonna stand there....

bust seriously, if it's an enemy that i shouldnt attack from close range than i will attack from long range and this discussion is not about the shortcomings of long range combat. this is a discussion about how lacking close melee combat will look without blocking. so this point is irrelevant if that's what u meant.

You could use things around you.

---- like run behind a chair? than how can i attack from there? get back from behind the chair? that sounds effective to you?
besides, using the environment is being at the mercy of the landscape. it makes the warrior dependent on his environment and can't be used anywhere. also this is not some kind of action game that allows u to REALLY utelize objects around you. it's very ineffective, especially in 1st person view. it's not a reliable way of defending oneself. and taking cover behind pillars or walls is great for long range. we're talking about melee here.

Youcan sometimes stop their attacks with your own attacks......many ways.

---- again - button mashing. mindless button mashing. besides, there is no way this can work. if any attack by the player stopped the enemies from attacking by cancelling their animation than combat was too easy as u can just attack with no risk of being attacked back cuz the enemy would stagger until dead.
we've already seen that this doesnt always work.

sadly bethesda made it so attacked enemies just attack through the player's attacks. it's a stupid way of doing it. what they SHOULD HAVE DONE is once the enemy is being attacked the AI blocks, causing the player to stagger backwards and THEN the enemy attacks back.
i might be wrong about how it's done in Skyrim but that's how it kinda looks like it in the videos and have little faith in combat in skyrim.

The IQ level is plummeting in my opinion,people don't think enough....plain and simple

------ you are right.... ppl just answer without thinking. im losing faith myself :hubbahubba:

» Thu Sep 15, 2011 8:13 pm

lets think your suggestions thorugh:

You can run
You can dodge

--- that's not very effective. also doing it looks rediculous, if u ask me. it just isnt realistic and doesnt look anything like melee fighting. it makes combat look like how COD makes firefights look - cartoony and game-y. just my opinion on the matter. but besides bashing with the hilt it's one of the only 2 good points here.

You can use defensive magic

---- that's like using a shield. if the magic is used to block than i will just use a shield or empty hand. i want a magic that does something OTHER than block.

You can slow/weaken with offensive magic

----- that is, AGAIN, attacking attacking attacking. clicking both triggers over and over again in a strictly one minded strategy.

You can switch thing's quickly

---- cumbersome, as stated before. more cumbersome than it needs to be. more cumbersome than in any other game where u can use magic and weapon. BUT, as i said before - it's likely to be what i will be doing. gain distance, use magic, switch to blocking option.

You can think about your enemy

----- i think that he is attacking and im just gonna stand there....

bust seriously, if it's an enemy that i shouldnt attack from close range than i will attack from long range and this discussion is not about the shortcomings of long range combat. this is a discussion about how lacking close melee combat will look without blocking. so this point is irrelevant if that's what u meant.

You could use things around you.

---- like run behind a chair? than how can i attack from there? get back from behind the chair? that sounds effective to you?
besides, using the environment is being at the mercy of the landscape. it makes the warrior dependent on his environment and can't be used anywhere. also this is not some kind of action game that allows u to REALLY utelize objects around you. it's very ineffective, especially in 1st person view. it's not a reliable way of defending oneself. and taking cover behind pillars or walls is great for long range. we're talking about melee here.

Youcan sometimes stop their attacks with your own attacks......many ways.

---- again - button mashing. mindless button mashing. besides, there is no way this can work. if any attack by the player stopped the enemies from attacking by cancelling their animation than combat was too easy as u can just attack with no risk of being attacked back cuz the enemy would stagger until dead.
we've already seen that this doesnt always work.

sadly bethesda made it so attacked enemies just attack through the player's attacks. it's a stupid way of doing it. what they SHOULD HAVE DONE is once the enemy is being attacked the AI blocks, causing the player to stagger backwards and THEN the enemy attacks back.
i might be wrong about how it's done in Skyrim but that's how it kinda looks like it in the videos and have little faith in combat in skyrim.

The IQ level is plummeting in my opinion,people don't think enough....plain and simple

------ you are right.... ppl just answer without thinking. im losing faith myself :hubbahubba:

I'm sorry,but your response is lacking and i ain't picking it apart either,there's no point. Again,i still say it's a lack of thought.
Your basically saying any other tactic/thought besides blocking is useless. I will assure you even if you could block with dual wield,sword and spell etc,you would still use what i suggested and more.