Deadly Reflex Guide

Horse Combat

Mounting your horse with a weapon

When the game starts, you are asked to select a horse combat key. Don't worry, it's not an extra combat key. Instead you need to press that key once with your selected blade or blunt weapon in your hand, to be able to mount your horse with that weapon in your hand. When you press this key the first time, it takes five to ten seconds to initialize everything - just wait. After that the transition is always instant. Technically, your weapon is cloned to a weigthless, and wortless one - this clone is automatically swithed in your hand. Don't drop it, or unequip it, you can only use this cloned weapon to fight from the horseback - on the other hand, this cloned weapon can not be used normally.

The horse combat can only be fought from the 3rd person. I know how you feel, I ALWAYS play from the 1st person as well. But on a horse, I found it actually more convinient to able to look around etc - and in the end, there is no other option at the moment. So when you press your Horse Combat key, you are switched in third person, and the weapon in your hand is swithed to a special clone of your original weapon. Your original weapon is never touched, so fear not. When you unmount your horse, or cancel the Horse Combat mode by pressing the Horse Combat key again, the cloned weapon is removed from you, you are returned to the view you were before entering the mode, and your character's weapon is returned to his hand, drawn.

It's all automatic, so if your horse dies, for example, and you fall down, you will automatically gain back your normal combat weapon, and you are instantly ready to continue the battle, your weapon drawn.

Attack moves in horse combat

• Press your left mouse button to slash from the right
  
• Hold your left mouse button like when you perform a power attack, and you'll thrust - convenient for charging at full speed.
  
• Press your block key + left mouse button (simultaneously, OR in that order) to slash from the left.
• Press bashkey to shield bash. Works only when the shield is equipped, naturally.
  
• Use your cast key to cast spells - targeting works normally if you enter 1st person mode, in 3rd person you'll be able to control only the vertical direction.

Note: Touch spells will fire two bolts in front of your horse. Also, scripted effect spells won't work, like Enemies Explode from this mod. (Refer to the FlyFightFlea's readme for a full list of features about spell casting)

Damage and knock downs in horse combat

If you look at the cloned weapon in your inventory, you can see it's damage appears to be less than your original weapon's. The value you see is the weapon's base damage, it doesn't include any skill or strength modifiers.

On a horse, you can't full your characters full potential of combat skills. Instead, you can use your horse's speed to deliver more powerfull hits. The horse's speed is explained later. So the faster you ride when you strike, the more damage you deliver. A horse with a speed 50, when rode with full speed, will deliver 1.5x the base damage.

You also have a percentual chance to knock down the target, with a strike or shield bash, equal to your riding speed.

Riding the horse in horse combat

Every change to horse behaviour is compatible with any horse from any mod.

When you are in a Horse Combat mode, your horse's speed is adjusted dynamically by forward and backward keys. To get going, you press forward, as normal, but you don't need to hold the key. Instead, pressing forward accelerates the horse, and it will keep running with a speed you achived. You can deaccelerate by pressing/tapping the backwards key - holding it will eventually bring your horse to halt. This dynamic speed adjusting is an important part of the horse combat, as it enables more fluent sweeping attacks and controls two aspects:

• Your horse will turn fast when you ride at minimum speed, and slowly (normal Oblivion turning speed) when you ride at full speed
• On the other hand, the damage and knockdowns depend on your riding speed

So it's a good strategy to slow down when turning, and accelerate when charging.

The full speed means the horse's default speed in game.

Special Horse Features

Your horse will jump higher and longer when you are in horse combat mode - press forward when jumping to get the full range. Stealing horses for fighting purposes includes an extra modifier: The horse may not like being in the hands of a stranger, and may manage to shake you off it's back when you attempt to ride with your weapon out - you are then unable to focus fully in containing the horse. The chance for this to happen with any stolen horse, every time you mount (as long as the horse is marked as stolen), depends on the average of your Personality and Speechcraft. If it happens, feel free to try mounting again. This feature only applies when you attempt to mount a stolen horse with a (cloned) weapon equipped.

Other Horse combat features

Enemies will dodge your hits, bash you and your horse, staggering it and sometimes dropping you off saddle. On the other hand, you can decapitate enemies as normal - with either slashing from the left or from the right.

You can/will hit multiple enemies at once. Beware of hitting friendlies - they will attack you after first hit. Therefore, it's recommended to assist guards, etc. on foot, instead of charging down the whole group, enemies and friendlies.

[[url=/index.php?title=Deadly_Reflex&action=edit&section=12]edit[/url]] General points about horse combat

The aim has been to make it as immersive and fun, yet at the same time balancing as possible:

• Your weapon's reach is a bit more than it should according to the animations. But as the animations were not made for horse combat, the reach is tweaked to

be a bit longer, to kep the battles fun - it sucks not to hit anything. The reach should scale according to the weapon's proper reach, but it's optimal and tested with long swords.

• Horse combat requires strategy, you are not a tank. You are also not a machine gun, your strikes need to be planned, you cannot hit very quickly in a row. Use your horse's agility and speed to fool you enemies and master the riding speed to turn quickly, and accelerate to add force to your strike. Beware of the Archers - they will go for your horse. It's better to face them on foot (although you can always knock them over) - you really are not supposed to be that much stronger on horse, it's an alternative.
  
• Animations may lag when the game loads, causing them to play later than the effect. Rising the shield is also a bit slow, but don't mind it - should you get hit, it will strangely enough catch the hit.
• All enemies will bleed blood - it's a custom effect, effecting all NPCs and creatures in horse combat, at least for now.
  
• At the moment, you can hit enemies like ghosts with a normal weapon, when fighting from the horseback.
  
• Crime detection can't be done perfectly. You will get a bounty for hitting innocent citicens - no matter if someone sees it or not. I had to make it this way. Also, while you get the bounty, the guards will attack and kill the citicen if they see him attacking you back. Hopefully, there's a solution to this later.

Important: If you load a save that's in horse combat mode, the cloned weapon resets - your character sheats it. This is known bug at the moment, please just get off from your horse and cancel horse combat mode by horse combat key, and then press it again to get back to it.

List of basic combat features

Existing features from earlier versions are rewriten and optimized for better functionality, and savegame bloating is gone.

Player moves

Enemies Explode

• This new spell is added to you daily (24h after latest removing), and removed after successful usage (faked greater power).
  
• It requires that the average of your Willpower and Destruction is at least 50 - otherwise you'll not have it.
  
• It makes the enemy explode in pieces, if its health is lower than yours - otherwise he will fight off your power.
  
• The exploding effect works on NPCs only, for the creatures the effect is a bit more lame - but kills them none the less.

Notes:

• Some mods seem to overwrite custom added spells. So if you don't get the spell, and you think you should be entitled to it, report me, I'll fix this later.
  
• Don't use this spell on guards that are on their horse. It will trigger a strange physics bug in Oblivion, where the spell is transfered to the horse,

and the guard's physical body falls down, looking dead. But, while the body of the guard lies on the ground, his invisible essence will attack you. Very odd, I know...

Shield bash

>knocks the enemy back but does not knock them over whilst in combat

>works with bows and shields when blocking but not swords


Power hits

• Three fast strikes can make the enemy to collapse
  
• Powerstrike can knock the enemy over
  
• Better chance for both, if enemy is staggered by shield bash or punch
  
• Spells also have a chance to knock the enemy down (shield bashing doesn't affect this)

Counter Punch

• A very quick srike with the hilt of your weapon or open hand
  
• Basicly same effects as shieldbash has
  
• A bit lower fatigue effect on enemy
  
• Half the chance to knock the enemy over
  
• Can't be used outside of combat - it's quick suprise punch, which belongs in combat and has no purpose outside of it

Dodge

• A very quick, NON-acrobatic avoidance leap, semi-backwards / backwards
  
• Requires Agility 50
  
• Possible to dodge South-East, South-West or just South
  
• Can be used to dodge a coming blow when staggered or recoiling
  
• Direction of dodge is mouse movement controlled, and can be emphasized during dodge by continuing turning the mouse.

Forward flip

• Flip forward, over the obstacles, over the enemies
  
• Requires Acrobatics 50
  
• Wearing heavy armor cuirass, it requires Heavy Armor 50

Decapitation

• A chance to cut enemy's head off with any blade or axe (the weapon name has to contain letters axe)
• Uses rotating left or right powerattack, so requires Blade or Blunt 50
  
• The window for a decapitation opens if a chance calculation favors you. It's calculated every time you manage to halve the opponents health, his health reaching a mileposts like 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, etc. health of the original.
  
• Works on NPCs only

Cutting enemies in half

• A chance to cut the whole enemy in half
  
• An alternative to decapitation - same requirements apply. Simply aim waist to do this instead
  
• Doesn't work with very short weapons (for example Vanilla iron dagger)
  
• Uses the rotating left or right powerattack, so requires Blade or blunt 50
  
• Can't be used against NPCs wearing Robes or Arena cuirass or similar, wholebody clothing. Just aim the head instead.
  
• Works on NPCs only

Wrist cut

• A chance to slice off the opponents wrists, if he's health is less than half of the original
  
• Happens, if you happen to strike the enemy just when he prepares to counter-punch you (counter-punch from this mod)
  
• Naturally, this works only with blades or axes - that's just the nature of mutilations
  
• Instead of dying instantly, the NPC collapses and rises up in shock, whining, unable to think clearly or act
  
• In this situation, you can always finish him off with decapitation or cut him in half is (if the clothing isn't an issue)
  
• Bleeding heavily, he will die in 60 seconds
• Works on NPCs only

Special effects

• Decapitation, cutting in half and wrist cut include custom blood effects and sounds
  
• The victims actually scream in pain, whine, cry, shower blood, bleed, and get all stained in their own blood

Optional action and realism

Optional 1

• Option to use an esp which drains temporarily your block skill when block key is held down
  
• This means that you should only press block briefly at just the right time to counter the blow with your full skill
• It's a whole new fight, you can't just sit on that block, you have to react
• Block effectiveness drains little by little to 25 % in three seconds, but not lower, you get some protection anyway
  
• You get a small bonus to your effectiveness if you are just in time
  
• The skill is restored to full the moment you release the key, you can instantly block again with full effectiveness

Optional 2

• Higher weapon damage, affects all physical weapons in game, also mod-added ones
  
• Using higher damage puts more weight on your skills as a player, making the combat more deadly
  
• Good blocks, dodges and clean hits count more, you can defeat enemies with skill, rather than outlasting them
• Also makes armor and weapons a bit more durable, simply to compensate the change
  
• You can choose between 1.5 * normal damage (similar to OOO, MMM Damage and durability, Frans...), or 2.5 times normal
  
• I use the 2.5 * damage myself, with FRANOOOMMM, it only changes the damage, so it can be loaded after such big mod

NPC moves and features

Custom added skills

• NPCs all have 3 special skills, all added in real time by this mod
  
• This means compatibility with all NPCs from other mods
  
• The skills determine:
  
  
  • How acrobatic the NPC is; how much he dodges acrobatically, whether he can forward flip, and how much he flips over you. NPC's armor affects this greatly, the lighter the armor, the higher the chance the NPC can use acrobatis well.
    
  • How skillfull dodger the NPC is. So there can be non-acrobatic master dodgers, or non-dodging master acrobats.
    
  • How much the NPC shield bashes you or punches you
• All skills can be zero, but they have an upper limit
• Combined with the NPC moves, there's huge amount of different NPC play styles, so you'll never know your enemy's strengths

Dodging

• NPCs can dodge your attacks
  
• This means especially melee attacs, but they have a smaller chance to dodge spells and arrows as well
  
• Note that NPCs don't know what spell is coming, so they may react when you just heal yourself
  
• As described, the their skills play a big role in this
• They can mix and match acrobatics and normal dodges, or use heavily either one, and dodge much, or dodge less.

Recovery dodging

• NPCs will try to break free from staggers, by dodging, to avoid possible hits
  
• Their dodging skill affects how often they succeed in this

Flipping or jumping over obstacles

• NPCs can flip forward now too, or jump normally if not acrobatic enough
  
• They will use these skills to follow you over walls, beds, barrels, ledges, rocks, as they can identify an obstacle
  
• Acrobatic NPCs may sometimes use the flip to flip over you, getting behind you by supprise

Counter punch and shield bash

• NPCs can shield bash you, or if without a shield, counter punch you
  
• This is totally spontaneous from them
  
• Staggers and has a chance to knock you over
  
• Once again, their specific skill determines how much they use this
  
• Punching NPC gathers his hands close to his chest just before the strike, this is the window for your wristcut

Some basic directions on player moves

Dodge and Flip

• Use by pressing the FlipKey you chose when starting using this mod
  
• Turning left while pressing the Flipkey once makes you dodge South-East
• Turning right while pressing the Flipkey once makes you dodge South-West
  
• Not turning and pressing the Flipkey, or pressing Flip + Backwards makes you dodge South
  
• While the dodge is fast, you can guide it during the dodge by turning the mouse For example, if you dodge South-East, and continue turning left while dodging, you end up moving more East than South
  
• You can't dodge fully against a wall, as my collision detection has to play it safe
  
• Dodging is most effective when
  
  
  • Enemy has short weapon
  • Enemy is already striking at you
    
  • Enemy has a slow weapon
• Pressing Forward + Flip makes you Flip Forward

Decapitation and cutting in half

• After you have reduced the enemy's health to half from what it first was, a chance is calculated, and a window for a critical hit may open
• It's possible that your next 'rotating power attack can decapitate the enemy or cut him in half
• There is no message to you about this, so it`s recommended to just play normally, and let it happen if it happens
  
• Every time the enemy's health reaches milestone like 1/2 health, 1/4 health etc, a new chance is calculated, in case it hasn't come true yet
  
• When you do get lucky, the time slows down in your eyes during the rotation (for 2 seconds or so), and you hear your heart pumping. This is the moment to make a desicion: aim head (really aim high) or aim waist (not chest).
• If your hit connects, your aiming decides whether you cut him in half or decapitate him
  
• If you miss your chance, you wont get another one against that enemy
  
• You can miss your chance by strike not connecting, or by trying to cut Robes user in half, for example, or by false aiming.
  
• Also note the 10 points damage requirement - an enemy may block the hit so well that your critical hit fails, or simply resist the damage
  
• This is a special effect, and so it's meant to be fairly rare,
  
• The chance you chose pretty much decides the rate of which you get chances for critical hits, but it's not the only factor - even with 100 % you'll most likely get a chance for a critical hit on 80% of the non-creature enemies
  
• It's not a good idea to slice summoned creatures in pieces - it may cause strange effects. I have currently no way to detect if the target is summoned, so it's up to you avoid it - don't worry it too much though.

Wrist Cut

• This will probably happen more by accident, it doesn't require anything special, other than a cutting weapon
  
• It's simply an unfortunate (for the NPC) incident of battle, as he tries to counter-punch, but loses his wrist
  
• It happens if you hit him just when he has his hands together, to his body, just before punching.
  
• requires that the NPC's health is less than half of the original when he attempts to punch
  
• 100 % chance to decapite/cut in half is added when this happens, provided you got the skill

General tips

Think before you act, don't try to do 5 things at the same time. Rhytmic, purposeful moves are much more efficient. ;) Also note that unlike shieldbash, punch can't be initiated if you are blocking.

Compatibility, known possible problems and possible fixes

Compatibility

• This mod should be compatible with basicly almost anything - but you really really need to load it last.
  
• Horsecombat works with any horse, but some saddlebag mods may conflict, if they change the horse's behaviour somehow, for example speed. The best way to find out is to save your game, and test it out.
  
• Other combat moves mods are a question mark, only way to know is to test. As long as they don't add new moves for the NPCs, it's probably fine. But: Don't use for example a shieldbash from another mod, instead of mine, othervise you will lose much features and balance.
  
• It might be a good idea to uninstall Script Effect icon replacer mods, you will not see those in your game anyway with this

mod. If you love the icon you have now, you can manually replace mine.

• Do not use "Horses Turn Faster" type of mods - this mod has it's own system for that.
• This mod overrides bullet time mod at certain circumstances - it may cut you out of bullet time when the critical hit occurs.
  
• Spell knockdown and NPC spell dodging should work with FlyFightFlea's Hotkey casting mod
  
• Usage of other Horse Combat mods is not recommended. Balance in Horse Combat is a huge question, and I used hours after hours to get this mod fun but challenging. Use only the SpellCasting plugin that comes with this mod.
  
• Some custom meshes (that come with custom NPCs) may produce odd/funny results, but this really means like 0.001 % of the custom meshes, so don't worry. Examples:
  
  
  • Werewolves from Martigen's Monster Mod can be decapitated properly, but the one's from Curse of the Hircine produce odd results, like two bodies.
    
  • If you are violent enough to mutilate a palace guard from OOO, the head may have an extra cape.
    
  • Very odd body meshes, like, say Werewolves, have so fat necks, that a plug used for the neck wound surface may be too small.

These are the only ones that I know of - so nothing big or game-breaking. I use this mod myself with FCOM (OOO, Frans, MMM, Warcry, Bob's Armory), and ~80 others.

One more time: Load this mod last. It doesn't hurt other mods, but other mods have sometimes hurt this one.

Fixes and possible problems

• Mutilations may trigger Nvidia blackscreen bug. A possible general fix is uploaded here, and is recommended for anyone using Nvidia card.
• Wrist-cut NPCs can whine a couple of seconds after you finish them off, as I can't stop a sound from playing before it ends
  
• When aiming decapitation, aim as high as possible to decapitate, and at enemy belt when trying to cut him in half
  
• Obstacle detection for NPCs simply can't tell other NPC from a rock, so they sometimes flip or jump for nothing - and they also see your horse as

an obstacle. Luckily this only adds to the balance of the horse combat.

• Collision detection had to be selfmade, and it works pretty well. Sometimes, when the ceiling or wall is uneven, it may fail, but this should happen pretty rarely.

• Should you get stuck in slow motion, pressing ESC clears it (this should never ever happen)
• Should your shield bash of flip stop working or something like that, use the Keyconfig spell