1. Introduction

SOS is a leightweight, practically script free combat mod that is designed to work together with both Ultimate Combat and Wildcat, as well as any other combat mod out there. It is meant to harmonize with the features provided from a dodge mod and the timed blocking from another combat mod. Howeve,r you can definitely also run it on its own. Additionally, it will free up .esp slots depending on your setup. It features a whole range of balance fixes, gives the attributes, especially Stamina, a much-needed overhaul and introduces new, unique features of its own. SOS tries to make combat in skyrim more tactical, skill-based, fast and difficult. It achieves this without making enemies into damage sponges or demigods. Instead, it introduces new features that make combat more exciting. Attacks now slows you down, spamming will only get you exhausted, enemies now stagger, and so can you. There is a complete posture system that works based on Stamina. Whenever you're fighting bosses now, you're trying to wear down their health and their stamina, until you can finish them off with a sweet deathblow. With the game being more difficult, but not unfair, beating your foes will be even more rewarding!

This mod encourages a complete new playstyle: Engage the enemy, stagger them, then execute your combo. As they counterattack, you dodge or deflect, then reposition. After wearing down their posture, you go in for a deathblow. This mod doesn't force you to play any different, instead it provides opportunities for you to come up with unique and creative playstyles on your own, in order to manage increasingly difficult fights. Have fun!

1.1 Installation

Simply download via Nexus Mod Manager / MO or unpack and put all the files into your Skyrim/Data folder. No further installation needed, no prerequisite mods, no FNIS nor Nemesis. If you want to run SOS together with Ultimate Combat and Sekiro Combat, make sure to load SOS last. If you're running it with Wildcat, it depends. If you prefer Soulslike fixed difficulty, load SOS last. If you want configurable MCM difficulty, load Wildcat last.

2. Features

Frees up .esp Slots

Are you running any of the following mods: Mortal Enemies, Simple Stamina Management, Simple Stagger, Attack Speed Fix, or any other mod with that functionality? Then you can tick them off and enjoy the free .esp slots. My mod changes many of the same values that these mods do, making them essentially obsolete. 

Attack Commitment

Whenever you swing your weapon, your character is slowed down significantly. This makes kiting much harder for the player. Additionally it means the player can no longer float around the battlefield without getting hit. You will either have to dodge, block, or take the hit. This means whether you should attack or not is always a conscious decision, a wager. Unlike with regular Skyrim, attacking at the wrong time is dangerous and might get you staggered and blown to pieces.

Tagging

Whenever you hit an enemy, you apply the tag debuff. Having an enemy tagged means you're keeping your eyes on him. His attack are more telegraphed (slightly slowed down) and his stamina regeneration is slowed down. Tagging an enemy while he is at low health makes his movement slow down and brings his regeneration to a halt. Tags last 6 seconds, so you should be looking to get at least one hit in every six.

Attribute Changes

Stamina now regenerates much, much faster than in the base game. You regenerate more Stamina while out of combat, standing still, and not blocking. Blocking essentially gives you the same stamina regeneration you have in the base game, which is very low. All attacks now cost Stamina, depending on how heavy the weapons are. This means that you will not be spamming attacks, and that you will have to move around and dodge after attacking. 

Health determines how much damage your posture takes. If the player is at low health or very low health he will get a strong bonus to their weapon- and spell damage, allowing him to come back from seemingly lost fights. 

Magicka regenerates faster than in the base game.

Posture

Your characters posture is determined by their Stamina. Characters above 2/3 Stamina are energized, they do more physical damage and block more effectively. They also attack and move slightly faster. As your stamina lowers, so do all these modifiers. Down at 0 Stamina you're moving and swinging your weapon at a snails pace. Attacking an enemy will drain their stamina. The amount you drain is dependant on their current health, similiar to how posture works in Sekiro. It is also dependant on your weapon type, with heavier weapon draining more. 

Deathblows

As the enemy posture degrades, you start doing extra damage. The enemy posture is indicated by colour when you hit them: Orange means their posture is open(below 2/3), red means it is damaged (below 40%) and when their posture is nearing zero and they are staggered, you get a deathblow, indicated by a black outline, blood spray and a sound effect. Deathblows don't necessarily kill, they simply do bonus damage. This effect, as well as the Stamina drain, are kept from being too broken by an internal cooldown. You can only apply an effect roughly every 3 seconds, which means you should time your attacks instead of mindlessly spamming them. Enemies can also use these features, as well as the drain, though in a weaker form to keep things balanced.

Stagger

Every hit of yours staggers the enemy now. The amount is dependant on weapon type and weight. However, this effect, like deathblows and friends, can only occur roughly every 3 seconds, to prevent enemies from stunlocking you and vice versa. Blocking characters can not be staggered, neither can dragons or giants. The player can also get staggered, though enemy stagger values are adjusted in order to be fair. You will not get staggerlocked by two Skeevers.

Attacks of Opportunity

If you're attacking an enemy while he is attacking, he will receive extra damage and be staggered for longer than usual. This also goes for Spells. Keep in mind that the player character will also receive higher damage when hit while he is in his attack animation.

Weapon Types

Every weapon type is particularly strong against a certain armor type. Maces do extra damage to heavy armored targets, Arrows to lightly armored targets and Slicing weapons to unarmored targets.

Difficulty Changes

Difficulty is now static like in the Dark Souls series. You can still go into the menu and change the difficulty slider, but it won't do anything. To compensate for this there will be a difficult and an easier version of the mod to download.

Balance Changes

In order to compensate for the attribute buffs, the player now only gets 5 of the corresponding attributes at levelup. Many of the game settings have been adjusted. If you prefer the changes from, say, Wildcat, then just load Wildcat after SOS!

3. Compatibility

This mod is compatible with just about anything that does not use the "Apply Weapon Swing Spell" Perk or "Apply Combat Hit Spell" Perk. If you prefer the Soulslike/Fixed difficulty make sure to load this mod last. 

Different versions are provided for Ultimate Combat and Wildcat.

I would recommend to run this mod with Ultimate Combat, Ultimate Combat Sekiro Edition, CGO+ or TK Dodge, and any number of other combat mods you can find.

4. Credits

Credit where credit is due

To T3ndo and EnaiSiaion. From deconstructing your mods and asking you questions I learned basically everything I know about modding, Which still is not a lot. Thank you a million times.

JoeKa8. Simple Stagger helped me understand how to use GLOB and implement a simple cooldown/DR.

Center05 for Mortal Enemies. I didn't know which values to modify in order to achieve some of the things I had in mind. Your mod showed me which values to tweak in order to achieve my personal perfect combat feel.