Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Q&A
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Jashin: When you say totally overhaul, what does it mean? What's been changed?
kathode: The basic change between Oblivion and Morrowind's combat is the removal of the "to-hit" roll. So basically your attack is based on collision. There's no more having your sword pass through enemies mysteriously without hitting them. In watching people play Morrowind, that ended up being a huge source of frustration for a lot of people. It's like, "Why aren't I hitting him? My sword is going right through them."
Jashin: Yes!
Emil: In Morrowind, every weapon had a "best attack," but really if you just whaled on an opponent you'd eventually bring him down. Melee combat, for example, is now much more tactical. You face off against an opponent...you circle each other. He strikes, you raise your shield to block...then you counterattack. Maybe you stun him, and the move in with a "power attack."
Jashin: Everyone hates playing an RPG and missing pointblank!
kathode: So we started playing around with a system where it's more collision based, so if you see the hit happen, it hits. Once we got to playing around with that, we got to thinking about all the other cool things you could add into the system to make for a more dynamic combat system. Stuff like making block a button press, and making characters recoil when they get blocked.
Emil: Yeah, and it looks and feels solid. Oh my God, when you see someone get hit with a two-handed warhammer. Ouch.
kathode: It adds a layer of strategy to the combat that wasn't present in Morrowind - all you had to do was turn on "best attack" and wail away. Stats still have a large effect on determining damage. There are also skill perks that add in things like a chance to disarm your enemy, or extra knockback. So it's not just all twitch. Go up against a guy with perfect weapon skill, and you better start saying your prayers.
