After downloading and playing the Conan Enhances update released on May 5th, I wanted to give some constructive feedback regarding the current state of combat gameplay.
First, I want to say that visually, the update looks fantastic. Character visuals, environmental detail, and overall presentation are a major improvement and deserve recognition. However, after spending time in combat, several gameplay issues became immediately noticeable, particularly involving enemy behavior and combat responsiveness.
Main Issue: Lack of Enemy Stagger & Combat Openings
The biggest issue right now is enemy stagger, especially against human NPCs. While this occasionally happens with animals or other enemies, it is most noticeable and consistent with human enemies.
Currently, when attacking enemies, there is little to no reaction from them after being hit. In many cases, they continue attacking uninterrupted as if the hit never happened. This creates situations where enemies endlessly chain attacks back-to-back with almost no breathing room for the player unless the NPC naturally finishes its animation cycle.
For example, when entering a Darfari camp and pulling multiple enemies (which happens often due to aggro range), players can quickly become overwhelmed by 3–5 enemies simultaneously swinging maces nonstop. Individual hits can remove roughly 35–50% of a player’s health, while sorcerers can kill players in only 1–2 hits even when wearing decent armor.
Hit Detection Problems
Another issue is that enemy attacks sometimes appear to miss visually but still register as hits anyway. This creates a disconnect between what the player sees and what the game calculates, making combat feel unreliable and frustrating.
Dodge Rolling & Stamina Feel Ineffective
Dodge rolling currently feels extremely weak due to limited stamina availability and enemy tracking. Players often cannot create meaningful distance from enemies, making evasive gameplay feel nearly pointless.
Because enemies attack so aggressively and continuously, stamina drains quickly without giving players a reliable defensive reward for good timing or positioning.
Shield & Blocking Concerns
Blocking also feels inconsistent.
When players block enemy attacks especially with a shield, enemies instantly continue attacking again with little to no rebound, recovery, or stagger penalty. However, if the player attacks an NPC’s shield, the player themselves gets staggered and punished immediately.
This creates a one-sided feeling where NPCs are allowed to ignore combat rules that players must fully obey, compensate and adapt to.
Weapon Balance Concerns – Maces
Most NPCs encountered appear to heavily favor maces, leading to repetitive combat encounters. At the same time, using a mace as a player feels heavily disadvantaged due to the weapon’s slower speed combined with the lack of enemy stagger.
Without meaningful stagger or interruption mechanics, slower weapons become extremely risky because players are often hit from multiple directions during attack animations with little opportunity to recover.
Instead of feeling powerful, combat can start to feel like the player is simply becoming a damage sponge waiting to be overwhelmed.
Final Thoughts
The visual improvements in Conan Enhances are genuinely impressive, but the current combat flow feels overly punishing in ways that reduce enjoyment rather than increase challenge.
Combat should feel dangerous, but it should also feel responsive, readable, and fair. Right now, many encounters feel like enemies have near-constant attack priority, limited punish windows, and inconsistent hit registration.
I believe improving enemy stagger reactions, hit detection accuracy, stamina balance, and combat recovery windows would dramatically improve the gameplay experience and make combat feel more skill-based and rewarding overall. Several of my friends and I have gotten pretty discouraged playing mainly due to these issues.
Thank you for taking the time to read this feedback.