Skyrim Tips and Tricks » Discussions


How to 'Run' an Offense / Defense

Tags: #Relycs 
  • Member
    April 26, 2016
    Greetings, just discovered a small, interesting trick while playing around with wards.
    Every been in that situation where there was some icy necromancer shooting you? Really stops you in your tracks. But no longer!

    I present to you: Running and slashing while using Wards.
    What it does: Makes you running at a fast speed (while continuously slashing), protected by your favorit ward spell.

    What you need: -The Critical Charge Perk in the One-Handed Tree or one word of Whirlwind Sprint (works like the charge)
    -Preferably a fast weapon, like daggers, but works also well (and is even stronger) with Elemental Fury augmented stuff.
    -A Ward Spell
    -Patience & learning, you wont be able to get it right in an instant

    How to pull it off: Kinda hard actually, but worth the try. Three Steps:
    1. Start a Critical Charge (sprint + powerattack right hand) or use Whirlwind Sprint
    2. Now press the attack button (again) and you will enter a fast, slashing animation that only ends when you stop to attack.
    Right when the weapon hand goes down, press and hold the left hand (ward). If done right, you will slash like always but with a protective energy field around your screen. Immediatly hit again and keep attacking. If you fail it, try it again after the next hit.
    3. Continue pressing the attack button until you want to cancel the animation.


    Facts:

    The energy field of the ward actually looks like you're teleporting forwards through space (.. a bit). Aesthetic wise, this is a cool thing to have for duelist characters because it looks like you're blocking projectiles with your weapon while attacking. Everyone knows stuff like this from anime fights.

    The slashing animation is ridiculous fast, augmented through the Elemental Fury shout it becomes crazy. That's some serious DPS here. To get the most out of it, enchant your weapon with something like frost. It hits about 2 times per second, thats nearly 75 dmg per second, with a standard dagger and 25 dmg enchantment, all while beeing protected.
    The ward absorb perk works also with this trick. It can negate incomming spells to refuel your magicka and to make the ward last longer.
    Works well with the Bound Dagger.


    After 30 min practicing, I was able to pull it off 4/5 times on the first hit.

    It also works properly with the following spells:
    Healing Hands, Necromancer Healing
    Freeze, Sparks, Flames
    Frost/Lightning/Fire Wall
    Telekinesis

    It doesn't end when you run out of stamina, it actually can be started without. To do this, use one word of Whirlwind Sprint and immediatly start attacking. It basically replaces the critical charge perk.
  • Member
    April 26, 2016
    Updated the trick, it also works properly with the following spells:
    Healing Hands, Necromancer Healing
    Freeze, Sparks, Flames
    Frost/Lightning/Fire Wall
    Telekinesis

    It's pretty cool, you should try it yourself :D. The wards are still the best thing in conjunction with the slashing.
    Detect spells and Equilibrium do not work due to their animations.
  • Member
    April 26, 2016

    Interesting find, sprung some ideas for me and even though I won't be able to test it for a couple of weeks I look forward to test it (even though I'm absolutely terrible at getting this kind of trick right). Just one doubt: you mentioned the trick (in which your attack speed increases dramatically) lasts as long as you have stamina or wants to "stop the animation". So, do the enhanced slashes consume stamina as if they were power attacks or is it drained per second? Also, what happens when you get out of magicka and what exactly do you do to halt the animation as you mentioned?

  • Member
    April 27, 2016
    The powerattack in the beginning consumes a portion of stamina, depending on the weapon type (i.e. daggers will consume less than swords). The slashing animation will drain a medium amount of stamina per second, like when you're blocking with the Dawnguard Rune Shield (drains stamina to create a sun cloak).
    The moment your stamina runs out the animation will end, making you 'stand' there, still casting the spell and doing those slow attacks that only appear when you're channeling a spell in the left hand.
    The moment your magicka runs out, the animation will continue but the spell will stop to work.
    To end the animation, simply stop clicking the attack button.
  • Member
    April 27, 2016

    Sweet, thanks for the clarification =) One last thing: have you tested that trick with the Healing spell? Might be a powerful combo with respite.

  • Member
    April 27, 2016
    I did but wasn't able to get it work. I guess it's because the animation takes too long.
    Small correction: The animation doesn't end when stamina runs out, only if you stop attacking.
    Additionally, you can use whirlwind sprint (one word) to begin the animation (replaces the critical charge attack). This way, you dont need any stamina nor the critical charge perk. Just begin attacking after the whirlwind sprint animation ends.
  • Member
    April 28, 2016
    Thanks for the Tags (Albino, I guess)!
  • Member
    May 8, 2016

    Hmmm, will have to give this a shot.  Got a ward character I've been planning for a while!

  • Member
    May 8, 2016
    Nice, let me know how it works for you.
    Btw you can combine it with the unlimited concentration casting (at lvl one) trick. Check the "Relycs" tag or my profile.
  • Member
    May 8, 2016

    Yeah, that was me. You're welcome.

    Sorry I didn't see this earlier.