Skyrim Special Edition

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FableForge

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FableForge

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About this mod

Simply adds knockback + ragdoll to power attacks. Compatible with most everything, and every aspect is customizable in the MCM -you can limit it to just kills, or just 2-handed weapons, etc.

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Permissions and credits
Changelogs
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Description

Power attacks will: 
  • Knock enemies down and send them flying a short distance
  • Trigger a 1 second slow-mo moment for coolness reasons

Works with any weapon, or unarmed. You can customize in MCM whether you want this for all power attacks or just kills, just 2-handed weapons, whether you want the slow-mo effect or how often, etc. NPCs can knock you back too, or they can knock back each other. The lighter the enemy (by his 'weight' attribute) the farther away he will knock-back. You can knockback corpses too, as Nazeem will surely find out. 

See the 20-sec video:



Compatibility

  • You can pick the new knockbackViaRace.zip version, the main file, which is compatible with everything except mod races (although there are patches for the Half-DragonDagi-Raht, and Ohmes-Raht races already). 
  • Or you can pick the old knockback.zip version in the miscellaneous files, which works with any mod race but may conflict with some perk overhaul mods and lacks all the new features.

I prefer knockbackViaRace.zip because it makes NPCs knock you back too, which evens the playing field a lot. Sort this to the bottom of your load order since it modifies the attack data of vanilla races, which means that if you're still using Racial Body Morphs you should probably upgrade to FK's Diverse Racial Skeletons instead, which uses a more modern skeleton, and then use the patch for this mod in the optional files section. 

It does use scripts, but the scripts are tiny and only fire during the knockback moment. Only a few variables -I don't see how this could bloat your savegame or cause any kind of CTD. See the scripts in the source folder; I think they're pretty tidy in how they get in, do their thing, and get out, but I always welcome feedback if you think they could be tidier.

Why am I not like the other girls

There are other knockback mods out there, but I learned that they don't work if your attack happens to kill the NPC. I think the reason why those mods fail at that moment is that PushActorAway(Target, PushForce) only works on the living, and by the time the script kicks-in the NPC is already dead. I got around this limitation satisfactorily, I think. Also, I prevent the bug that makes NPCs invincible if a killmove happens to trigger during knockback.

Also, the way other mods work is by either enchanting a certain weapon -which is too limiting, or by attaching combat spells to individual attacks in the PC record -I think that's too dangerous, don't mess with the Prisoner refid 14 kids. Instead, I either use perks (which works on any race, vanilla or modded) or race (which works with any perk overhaul mod). 

And lastly, as of version 1.3, this is apparently the only mod with vector-based knockback. So this is a little wonky to explain but the easiest (and laziest) thing to do with ApplyHavokImpulse is to just send the NPC straight up in the Z-axis and don't bother calculating the other two axes. No more. Now I'm using the angle the player is facing to figure out the correct X and Y components of the vector also, so the NPCs fly away from you, instead of just up.

Anyway, if this is all too complex, just see this video:
 


Installation
Unzip to Data folder and tick the checkbox for knockback.esp.
Or seriously, do yourself a favor and just install Mod Organizer 2 already; it's not 2012 anymore.

IMPORTANT: if you also use Knockback and Surrender (and you should! :) ) then sort that file below this one in your load order. Make sure you use the latest version of both.

As soon as the game launches you'll get a little notification saying "Power Attacks will now knockback your enemies." -if you see that, it means the mod is on and should work. You also have a new minor power to toggle the knockback effect on and off.

(Note: if upgrading from version 1.0, either start on a clean save, or use the console to manually give yourself the new power that toggles the effect on and off. If upgrading from version 1.01 then either start on a clean save, or force SKY UI to rescan for mods by entering setstage SKI_ConfigManagerInstance 1 into the console. If upgrading from the previous ESP version simply overwrite the old mod and carry on, no worries.).

Uninstallation

Remove the esp and the scripts -or turn off in MO2. Nothing much should be left behind in your savegame, but you can clean it up with Fallrim tools -which is another must-have if you're into modding.

F.A.Q.

  • Is this compatible with X?
It likely is. Use knockbackViaRace.zip if you're concerned about conflicts with perk overhaul mods.
  • Can you get knocked back too?
Yes you can -just use the knockbackViaRace.zip version. NPCs can knock back one another, too. Fun times.
  • Wait! I want to knockback NPCs but I don't want to get knocked back myself!
You can now configure this in the MCM menu. No judging.
  • Can you remove the slow-mo effect?
What? You've never played Max Payne? Gah! Fine, just reduce the chances to 0% in the MCM menu.
  • Can you limit it to just two-handed attacks? Or just kills? Or make it trigger at random once in a while instead of all the time?
Yes to all! MCM menu!
  • Aaah, the blur effect! It's hurting my eyes!
MCM menu! Disable it there!
  • ESL when?
I don't know how, bro. I only know how to do that in SSEDIT, and SSEDIT is telling me I need to renumber forms in Creation Kit. No idea how to do that.
  • Does this work in Oldrim? Does this work in VR?
No idea! I have neither of those, please try it out and let me know!
  • This makes combat too easy -I just kill them while they're knocked down on their butt trying to get back on their feet!
You could set it up in the MCM menu so this only fires when you actually kill the NPC, and not before. Remember NPCs can knock you back too, so that makes it fair.
  • I want knockback on spells too! And ranged combat!
Yes to crossbows and fireballs! I don't think I could add anything else myself though.

Credits

  • Thank you sdfwersdf for the inspiration to make the knockback strength configurable, and for the amazing gifs!
  • SCSI True Hit Force inspired me to use perks instead of enchanting weapons. If it only could kill NPCs consistently during knockdown then maybe I would have never made this one.
  • CIPSCIS Tutorials. Great resource.
  • The amazing community keeping this 9-year-old game as if it had released yesterday.
  • Thank you Sirandar888 for contributing three patches for other mods!

Ad Time!

Would you like to thank my voice actors for the tremendous work they do? Please join my Patreon.

Join us in discord at https://discord.gg/52qUTXu

Check out my other mods:

  • There is No Umbra - Chapter II - Continue the legend of Umbra -now as a living, floating sword that will follow you in your travels and fight for you using custom animations. Includes three quests with 13 possible endings, professionally voice-acted, and well-integrated with the lore. See the trailer!
  • Knockout and Surrender - So you don't have to murder-hobo your way through Tamriel anymore; now you can choose to spare or knock-out (but not kill) enemies that surrender.