This mod adds melee attacks for non-melee weapons,
similar to melee hits and buttstrokes in modern FPS games.
Full support of all non-melee weapons, with multiple unique attack animations per weapon type.
Fully integrated into the skill system, complemented with variety of perks, and extra features.
This mod is part of the Project B42.






Melee bash for every weapon type in the game, from pistols to two-handed launchers
Visual damage implementation. If you hit it - it will bleed.
Two completely different aiming modes to choose from:
- Precise: you hit where you aim. Good for taking out limbs, weapons out of enemy hands.
- Fallout 4 mode: your melee bashes always hit the target, mimicking FO4 behavior

Well-balanced. Bash will cost AP and, on hardcore only, weapon condition. So don't go bashing walls.
Crippling hits, criticals, knockdowns and knockouts - all supported and implemented
Complete support of vanilla and mod-added perks that alter:
AP consumption, damage, crit (% and damage), and enemy DT.

Ability to bash and break open locks.
Bash something to attract hostiles with the sound.
And much, much more unlocked with Bash perks.

Only thing this mod ignores and does not do - it will not increase your damage-based game challenges
Because technically you're not using melee weapons, and you're not exactly shooting at stuff either.



Press Bash Key (X by default) to hurt people violently with your rifle buttstock, pistol grip, you name it.

Press the same key to bash open locks (you need a perk, but more on that later),
but be careful, if you're being seen bashing locked stuff, people will aggro at you if they own it.

If you want to attract attention of hostiles, just bash something solid. It'll make enough sound to draw some attention.

Damage you inflict is based on your melee skill, weapon type (light, medium, heavy), and weapon weight.
AP drain is also based off your perks, so if you want to bash more - grab some of those vanilla "Reduce AP cost" perks.
Your hits will always stagger your target for a brief moment. And there's a small chance to knockdown the target,
that's also based on your melee skills and target endurance. If you have Super Slam - you get +15% bonus to knockdown chance.
For other fancy features, like rapid bashing, sneak attack knockOUTs, et cetera: read perks section. There's plenty of stuff.

And last but not least, the more you invest into perks - the deadlier your melee bash gets.



Melee Bash key
Self-explanatory.

Melee Bash range
Higher values will make you bash people from farther away.
Lower values makes it close and personal.

Animation cutoff time
For various animation replacers. Lower values cut the animation early, to ensure smooth transitions
to idle poses. Does not affect bash delay. For that you'll have to use perks.

Fallout 4 style targeting
Melee Bash targeting replica of the latest FO entry. Absolute best for controller users.
It has significant range and always hits the target that is in player's line of sight.
Be advised that you will not hit what you aim for. Only center of mass of your target.

Debug Mode
Enable this in case you encounter any bugs. Debug window will be shown in game that will be
used later to identify the bug.

Alternative animations fix
Enables alternative animations that are aimed to fix rare bug, when the bash sound is being heard,
but animations won't play and controls are unresponsive until pipboy has been open\closed.



Basher
Requires: Lvl 4, STR 4, Melee 20
A gun doesn't need bullets to be dangerous when it's in your hands, weapon bashes now do 10% more damage,
and you gain a slight chance to cripple one of your targets limbs, ouch.

Basher Harder
Requires: Lvl 8, STR 5, Melee 40, Basher perk
Make em hurt, you deal 10% more bashing damage and gain greater chance to cripple your target.

Basher Rage
Requires: Lvl 12, STR 6, Melee 60, Basher Harder perk
Make em regret, You deal another 10% additional bash damage, gain a boost to chance to cripple your target
and now have a chance to cause your foe to stagger in pain for longer than usual.

Basher Hurtmachine
Requires: Lvl 16, STR 7, Melee 80, Basher Rage perk
Make em dead, you deal yet another 10% bash damage and have an even greater chance to cripple a limb.
On top of that you can now score a Critical Bash based on your Luck, dealing double damage and guaranteed to cripple a limb.

Forced Entry
Requires: Lvl 3, Melee 25
You can now bash locks open. Rank 2 let's you bash hard and very hard ones.
Watch out, with bad luck & low skill there's a chance you'll make the lock harder to pick or bash.
If you fail to bash very hard lock - you might break your weapon! (Hardcore only)

Judicious Whipper
Requires: Lvl 5, INT 5, Repair 50, Melee 30
You know your weapons intimately and are extra careful not to damage anything important.
Weapon condition damage from bashing is reduced.

Knock-Out Bash
Requires: Lvl 9, AGI 6, Sneak 75
They'll wake up with a headache, if they're lucky. Sneak attack weapon bashes from behind knock the target out for a while.

Wild Swings
Requires: Lvl 11, Melee 60, Terrifying Presence perk
The sight of you flailing your weapon around like a mad man is just too much for some folks to take.
Your bash now has a chance to make the target drop their weapon and run away in horror.

Brutal Beatdown
Requires: Lvl 14, AGI 7, Melee 65.
Bash speed increased.
Rank 2: Repeatedly bash your target to deal extra damage per hit.
5th hit deals double damage & ends the streak.
Rank 3: 5th hit knocks the target down.
Releasing bash key prematurely or missing the target ends the streak!
Cooldown 25 seconds.

Piercing Bash
Requires: Lvl 15, PER 6, Melee 85, Living Anatomy perk
You're a living anatomy, you know just where to hit.
Weapon bashes now ignore 50% of your targets Damage Threshold.

Executor
Requires: Lvl 20, AGI 7, Guns 75, Melee 75.
Try not to get blood in your eyes! Scoring a headshot within a few seconds of staggering a target will deal double damage.
Ability comes with a cooldown of 20 seconds.



JIP LN NVSE Plugin version 55.25 or higher
JohnnyGuitar NVSE plugin version 2.55 or higher
The Mod Configuration Menu
Latest NVSE



As of right now, I assume most if not all mods are compatible. Or at least nothing will break.
I've tested this with animation replacers and everything seems to work just fine.
Due to certain scripting limitations, though, bash attacks are NOT treated as PLAYER attacks, so mods that rely on it
won't apply to melee bashes. From where I stand, that's even good, because I can ensure nothing suddenly gonna make
the bash useless, or overpowered, due to other mods not being aware of what's going on and applying scripts as it's firearms hit.
If you found some incompatibility - please let me know.



Install required mods first. They are essential and without them – this mod will not work.
"B42 Melee Bash" mod installs like any other mod, manually or using a mod manager.
I recommend the latter for easy uninstallation.
Un-installation is same as installation, but in reverse.



For them crazy animators who want to add more bashes, system is easily scalable, it picks anims at random from the POV+Weaptype folders:
All you need to do is make roughly 1-second long animation, and put a sound key (check our anims for it)
at the time of hit in the anim. We put hits in anims between 0.3 sec to 0.45 sec. Do not go over or below that without extensive testing!
Then just put the anim inside the corresponding folder (for more info on that - check "_male\idleanims\B42Bash" folder)

For fellow scripters who want to detect melee bash hits and the damage it caused,
use the following script as an example:

JazzIsParis for all the magic
JohnnyGuitar NVSE bois for all the special extra magic
Hitman47101 for sexiest animations, testing, fixing, and for endless moral support.
TrueVoidwalker for fancy balance, formulas, and always ready to help UwU
coriander dude, for smashing a keyboard repeatedly with extremities, and calling it scripting
Obsidian for Fallout New Vegas
NVSE for all the good stuff

Armed Forces of Ukraine, for keeping me alive and safe

Слава Україні!