Blocking is Broken?

Conan Exiles General Discussion
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1

So with the new combat system a lot of overhauls were made. Most of which I am completely happy with.

But blocking feels broken.

Before it felt broken on the op side of things. Now it feels broken on the useless side of things. Can we strike something in the middle? There are so many attacks now that break my block its silly, and staggering is way overpowered. The combat does not feel fluent at all like this.

Simple attacks like one handed swords can not only interrupt, sometimes break my block, but they also stagger to the point of silliness and I have to dodge to reset the stagger and hope for any blocking at all. Not to mention that when I hit with 1 handed swords the enemy staggers zero and just keeps hitting me (1handed sword vs 1handed sword), meanwhile I cant do a single bloody attack every time I get hit with a sword.

What gives?

Blocking should not be as op as it used to be. It was ridiculous, I could block anything and everything and sit there all day blocking. But it should not be as useless as it is now either. If I can dodge out of stagger, which is presumably MUCH harder to do realistically than simply raising your shield up, then I should be able to also block and break combo chains on me with weapons that should not be able to break block. These are not maces or hammers. Seriously. Simple one handed swords.

Talking about PvE ofc.

If the system feels too one sided (which it wont, it will be something between both ends of the spectrum) then we can take reduced damage for breaking a combo. This way we can stop their momentum with blocking (and possibly stagger them back like old, long enough to get a single bloody hit in for crying out loud) at the cost of some health, while have the option of dodging. Which means we get no damage on us, but do not break their combo either.

Something has to give. This new blocking system does not feel fluent at all in certain situations. Trying out 1 handed sword with Shield again and its bloody useless. They stagger me period, I stagger no-one, most attacks break my block, can’t block out of stagger like I can with dodge, useless. Just feels like I am a sack being hit around. At that point I just go back to a two handed sword since I’m going to take damage anyway and just swing away like crazy for maximum damage.

Same goes for any one handed weapon with shield really, just the sword feels even more useless. Cripple as well is probably better for PvP? But for PvE the javelin is really where the cripple should be at since its a weapon for keeping your distance. The one handed sword is for going close. Making crippling also useless. And is the most interruptible weapon in the game.

2

Im starting to think this is not an intended mechanic. In 1 on 1 vs 1handed Sword, I kind of block again after stagger. When there are more enemies around, it starts to just go into stagger mode even if they are not hitting me at all (got my pet to tank a few while I take care of 1, and I stagger too much).

Is this perhaps a latency issue when there is more data to account for? I have not tried to test it in single player with zero ping.

3

Are you talking for PVP or going against thralls

4

Yeah, PvE.
PvP I assume if it has kinks everyone experiences them so Im not concerned.
PvE though, many encounters me with Sword + Shield vs Sword + Shield and my guy is a stagger-fest drunk. Other times it works just fine. Notice that especially in larger enemy groups it plays real wonky, even if only 1 is attacking me. And don’t get me started on trying to block more than one NPC. Which should be totally possible if I can time the direction of each attack between attacks. Something which I could do with the old system.

What this new system I thought was meant to do now was make maces properly work and break our block (which they do most of the time), kicks to also throw us off block (which also mostly works), but one handed swords breaking my block and making me stagger like I’m drunk??? Since when? I sure do not remember my one handed sword ever staggering enemies :frowning:

5

Yes, the stagger can be extreme by moment, like you said, when more ennemis around, even if some are farer, and only one is attacking you.

Also since the 2-3 last patches, there is something strange with combat going on. Lot of desyncs also with thralls. First thought was server, and some lag. Tested on singleplayer with nearly the same results.

There moment, when i have a thralls with me, and i shoot at some ennemis with bow, i see my thrall run to them, but when i shoot the second arrow, my thrall is again behind me, and start running in the ennemis direction.

6

Oh yeah, noticed some funky business of the sort as well. Like an exile npc coming to attack me then they warp forward like they are teleporting on me, or warping right behind me. Like entire chunks of their AI is just skipped.

7

Done some more extensive testing on several different opponents. Aside from the times when things go jenky and enemy npc’s attack and warp behind you and all that other funky stuff, the mechanic works ok for the most part.

Its against certain enemies that it feels broken.

Attacks do stagger enemies. Even when you block them their attacks they get staggered.

Its the skeletons that do nothing. Like they have no physical attributes at all or something. I doubt this is intentional. As in they receive zero stagger, push back, or anything really for the purpose of making them harder. When a block interrupts even a larger enemy attack (like a Dragon head bash) they stagger even if for a bit. If the shield charge doesn’t knock down enemies, it at least pushes them, etc. In which case I doubt this is intentional on Skeletons as I see no reason why they are godlike (pretty much like turning godmode on in admin mode where nothing effects you but they just get damage).

Even kicking them for which the whole purpose of a kick is to stagger an enemy is useless and feels like I am tickling them with my toes.

There is almost zero physics to the Skeleton period. I may have seen once in 12 attacks a skeleton get staggered a little from me blocking their dash attack, which further implies that they are broken and not working as intended.

Hope this gets fixed. And if it is intentional, hope it gets changed. They are skeletons. Nothing about them should scream “boss fight” when there are just two of them and I am on late game gear (53lvl+). Their health is hefty enough as is their attack damage for them to be pretty strong late game encounters. Thats all. Being ignorant of the physics of the combat itself is just broken. When a master crafted Hardened Steel Greatsword smashes into you with a heavy attack, I don’t care how undead you are, your balance will stagger :smile:

I also notice that sometimes they add either cold or corruption to you, is this true? The skeletons in the Unnamed City sometimes do, sometimes they don’t. The Silent Legion Undead almost always added corruption to me, as did those undead glowy wraiths in the Mounds of the Dead.

If so, good call, I don’t recall this when last I played late game content against them, it had been a while. This is a great idea to add difficulty to their encounters.

TL:DR
Corruption, cold, or some other “magic” effects applied by Undead = Good.
Zero physics with no stagger pushback and just constant “I will attack you whatever you do” AI for Undead = Not Good.

Cheers :wink:

8

Yes, the skeletons are the worst for that.
Also with them, especially in groups that the warpings are the most visible.

I have no troubles mostly if i fight them alone, but some groups, where a thralls may be helpfull, it turn really strange, and you never know exactly where are and your thrall, and your ennemis by moments.

9

true, really inconsistent.