How annoying is the damn shout delay in Skyrim...
Shouting should have been a very instinctual part of the whole combat system. It should have been capable of use very seamlessly during melee fights to provide a much more natural and responsive experience...
We've all been there, those moments when you're going toe to toe with a Deathlord and you're watching both health bars quickly dropping and then during the final moments.... they go with that OP double-slash attack and you realise that you aren't going to win this one...
...you quickly hit the shout button to pop 'Become Ethereal' but your weapon is still mid air, so naturally you can't open your stupid mouth...
DEAD.
For me, it's the most annoying thing ever!
Why did we have to stop running and stop fighting and be breathalysed by the cops just to execute a damn shout in Skyrim?
Surely you can swing your weapon and shout at the same time?! In fact, many cultures have encouraged that code of practice for years! You think Kung Fu fighters make all those stupid noises just for fun? NO! Shouting while fighting is used to intimidate and surprise an opponent in order to break their concentration...
Now I know what you're going to say, "Shouting in Skyrim is a mystical art Mason it requires stillness and focus in order to execute properly" ......but really!? We all know it would have felt better this way...
I hate it when I try to activate a shout, nothing happens, and then I can't shout or change shouts for a while until the game decides to let me. That bug's really irritating at times, I've even been killed because the shout didn't activate when I really needed it!
It's also weird why we can't shout while falling or while swinging weapons, channeling magic, or while blocking. Maybe if I have a shield in my face then sure that makes sense, but what about when I'm blocking with weapons? Or wards?
That's why you use one word Fights in Skyrim are not that smooth, you can break combat at any time so this shout delay, especially for one word shouts is not a problem at all.
Personally, I prefer to unleash shouts before engaging in close melee, so I can rip their effects right from the start and have them recharged, if I need them again.
...you quickly hit the shout button to pop 'Become Ethereal' but your weapon is still mid air, so naturally you can't open your stupid mouth...
Did you realize your character shouts while he swings his weapon just like the Kung-Fu fighters do? How can he shout a sword slash and say FEIM at the same time? The character already lost his breath when he shout KHIAH to hit the opponent so where he is going to find air to shout FEIM? Frustrating, yes, but this is where videogame meets the real life.
I can't imagine the shout delay is an intentional design choice. It seems to me more akin to how, say, in Morrowind, you can't switch to a spell or to a different weapon if you're still swinging.
I mean, I don't know much about coding, but my guess would be that shouting while swinging is in the same category or weirdness as not being able to swing a weapon while jumping/falling, not being able to use a weapon or spell while swimming or riding a horse, etc.