Morrowind - how does dodge and block work?

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Just wondering how this was implemented: is dodge and block automatic or do you have to move around to do so?

 

You dodge by moving around using keys. The default ones are a-left, d-right, s-backward, w-forward, e-jump. Reduntant probably.

I believe block is automatic depending on skill level. I noticed that if I hold down the fight key for a power attack that sometimes my character blocks, again I think it is dependent on skill level.

 

Ok thanks.
So the dodge skill depends on your agility it says.
Does this mean that if i fight and move around using the keyboard, then I will more easily dodge with a high agility? Or is it just about timing it with the attack?

 

Good question. I'm sure Felinoid can answer that better than I can. I THINK it is a combo of both.

 

While Oblivion adopts the "if you point your sword in the right direction, it'll hit" philosophy, Morrowind uses some form of die to determine whether or not you hit something, or, conversely, if something hits you. You may have noticed this while trying to hit something with only 5 points in the relevant weapon skill. This is influencing your dodgeing. I'm fairly certain this is determined by your agility, your armor rating and the opponent's weapon skill + modifiers (e.g. strength).

On the other hand, you can manually dodge something by strafing out of the way, as you would do in a first person shooter game.

Block is used automatically, in much the same way as the dodgeing is used automatically. The higher your skill, the more often you block an attack. This works whether you're swinging your weapon or just holding still.

 

Dodging manually is always 100% effective with missile weapons and spells, or even melee if you can get out of reach at just the right time. You do have to get out of range for melee, BTW. The computer auto-adjusts melee attacks to aim at you; I've had paralyzed opponents in the middle of a swing come out of their paralysis and just plain *flip* 180 degrees and hit me. Past that, it's random and determined by agility. Armor Rating only lessens damage when you take it.

Blocking is also random, but I have noticed that it happens more often if your enemy is on your left flank, or as Nakia noticed, to your front if you're charging your attack because it puts the shield in front of you. It also seems to help if you move the screen (mouse) around a tiny bit. The same actually seems to work with lockpicking, as well. Aiming so that the pick or probe will hit where you see the lock seems to get results quicker, as does movement, though combining the two is a bit tricky.

But, given that's just observation, I can't really be sure, and even if it were real it could still be a peculiarity of my computer. Still, it's something to try for yourself.

 

Actually, I think damage taken depends on the type of armor you're wearing. Try wearing nothing at all and wearing simple iron armor. If you have 100 pts in both relevant skills, your AC should be higher unarmored, but you'll notice that you take the full brunt of it when unarmored, while the iron armor does a fair job of absorbing the damage.

I'm not sure if the amount of damage absorbed is only dependent on light/medium/heavy, or if the actual armor you're wearing is determining this (i.e. does iron armor absorb as much damage as daedric armor, or does higher quality armor increase absorbtion?).

 

No, I'm pretty sure about it, given there's a formula for it.

( Damage / ( Damage + AR ) ) * Damage = health lost

The reason you seem to "take the brunt of it" when you're unarmored is because unarmored AR sucks. You may also have been seeing quirks from the random generator; as I said before, observation unfortunately isn't the best for things like this. Maybe if you try it against a weapon that doesn't have much of a range of damage?

 

I think there AR system could have been better.
The way I understand it now, AR makes take less damage, and thats about it.
So the more highly trained you are with an armour type, the less damage you could get when wearing it.
I always felt this system is inadequate. Armours should have both an AR and a Damage Absorbtion rating. Your Armour Skill would still influence your AR (so the better you are trained in an armour type, the higher your AR with that armour), but that should not influence, in my mind, the damage taken but the chances of getting hit. The damage received would depend on the armour itself, not on skill alone. Basically, I am highly trained with an armour, so I am more mobile etc... and therefore it makes it more difficult for my ennemies to land a efficient blow. Once I'm hit however, then the damage absorbtion should depend on the damage absorbtion level of that type of armour and NOT on the AR. The AR would just be an indicator of how difficult to hit I can get using that armor.
In this way, Unarmored and Light armours would have higher ARs (so making you more difficult to hit), but lesser Dammage absorbtion levels than Heavy Armours. Medium would be in the middle, balancing AR and Dammage absortion. So someone expert in unarmored with high agility becomes VERY difficult to hit, but has no damage absorbtion, whereas a highly trained heavy armour wearer would never get as hard to hit as a trained light / unarmored person, but have the best damage absorbtion: he'd get hit a lot more often, but each blow would not affect him as much as unarmored fighters.
Dammage absorbtion would not depend on any skill, but solely on the armor itself. After all, even an untrained person wearing a set of Daedric armor should take less dammage when hit than a highly trained person in Chitin armor, although a highly trained light armored person should be harder to hit than a highly trained person in heavy armor. It makes sense.

Any way, my two cents on the armor question.

 

I would like to point out that the more complicated the game the more resources it takes and the harder it is to write a program. Game developers often simplify some things in order to make the game more playable.

As to AR and hit points it is my understanding that the more experienced you are in wearing a certain type of armor the more comfortable you are with it and thus able to avoid hits to the armor. Agility also, I understand, affects being able to avoid hits. These may not be clearly shown in playing the game but there are hidden benefits. Perhaps not well explained or defined but Morrowind and Oblivion are GAMES to be enjoyed by as many people as possible. A certain amount of fantastical faith needs to be assumed.

Players beware! The Dev Gods may grant your wish and you will find your machine just can't handle what they have given you. One player's blessing may be another player's curse.

(Save the wolves!)

On a side note: IMO Oblivion has the stinkiest armor of any game I have ever played.

 

There are mods out there that when used give you control over blocking. It will allow you to block when you want. When you blocked an attack then you must let go of the block key or non of your own attacks will hit. The Mod is made by Aerelorn, who was also the maker for the fighting system of Oblivion. Heck i think the mod below is what got him a job at Bethesda.

The mod is called Morrowind Enhanced, and the link to this page shows a complete package of Aerelorns MW enhanced mods. This was done with his permission. Also before any one asks..yes it does contain the 1.6 devkit.

http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=5236

 

Amdis, despite the fact that I hate and despise File Planet with whom I am registered but always have trouble logging in to download I have downloaded this mod. The fighting in Morrowind doesn't bother me. Sure it is rather boring but I didn't think Oblivion's was that great either. I got an enhanced fighting mod for Oblivion so decided I try this one plus it is a package so I should get something I like from it. It is well rated.

 

Yeah i know what you mean about Fileplanet, i have problems downloading from there at times aswell.

And like you, i actualy never thought the original fighting style in Morrowind was bad. MWE just ads that extra to spice things up when you are facing many difficult enemies. MWE is indeed very well liked, it allows for things normally not possible.(As does MWSE by the way. )