Welcome to the first piece of documentation for the Glory of Combat mod.

Within, readers shall find answers to the question suggested by the title, namely: what changes does the mod make?

The contents of this guide are not exhaustive, as many changes, particularly regarding adjustments to certain internal animation notifiers, are not substantial enough either to interest most readers or to merit dedicating more space to an already cluttered listing. However, just about every element of genuine interest will be mentioned to some degree.

The 'General' section is intended to convey changes that are ubiquitous across most or all weapon classes in an effort to save space, but some aspects under that heading will be elaborated upon further in each subsequent section.

Up-to-date as of Glory of Combat 1.25

One-Handed Light Standardization

* The Light attack animations and combos for most one-handed weapons have been standardized (with the exception of One-Handed Spears, and Shortswords alone or with a Shield equipped). The Standard combo is a variant of the One-Handed Sword Light combo, with the animation for Heavy 4 replacing Light 1. The animation speeds have been adjusted depending on the weapon class, with maces the slowest and the shortsword (with Throwing Axe equipped) the fastest.

Shield Bash Combo Standardization

* Heavy attacks with One-Handed Weapons with a Shield equipped will perform a sequence of strikes with the equipped Shield. Additionally, a Heavy sprint attack with a Shield equipped will perform a Shield Bash sprint attack. The intent behind these changes is to provide for heavier stagger effects at the expense of lower damage output over Heavy attacks without a Shield.

Damage Multiplier Rebalance

* Damage multipliers have been adjusted for nearly every attack in the game. An effort has been made to balance the weapon classes within each hand group (one-handed, two-handed) against the average enemy, with the goal to anchor the damage levels close to that of base game One- and Two-Handed Swords, respectively. Specific damage multiplier data will be listed in each weapon class section.

Stamina Cost Multiplier Rebalance

* Stamina costs have been reworked for most of the attacks in the game. This mod previously existed before Age of War's stamina changes, and as such has undergone revisions to first replicate the old values, which were then doubled to account for the considerably faster stamina regeneration. Specific multiplier data will be listed in each weapon class section.

NOTE: Light and Heavy attacks often use differing base stamina costs depending on the weapon, so a lower multiplier does not necessarily mean lower cost overall.

Collision Detection Adjustments

* Hit detection has been adjusted for most attacks, both for players and for humanoid NPCs. As this information cannot be readily be conveyed in an understandable manner, mention will only be made whether an attack has or has not received any adjustments.

* In addition, nearly every hit detection notifier for player attacks has been set to 'Branching Point' instead of 'Queued', for those attacks which were not already. The effect is that hit detection will feel more responsive as damage will be dealt immediately when a hit is registered, not when the collision window ends.

Status Effect Adjustments

* Status effects (Bleeds, Sunders, and Cripples) have been re-distributed across many combos. Most Light and Heavy combo finishers, as well as sprint attacks, feature a status effect application of some kind, in addition to others interspersed through the combos. Information regarding distribution can be found in each weapon class section.

Stagger Effect Adjustments

* Stagger (or knockback) effects have been adjusted across many attacks. The goal is for most attacks to utilize stumbles (which allows a player to break out of the animation by dodging), with substantially fewer attacks using stuns (which cannot be broken), and fewer still with special effects such as knockdowns or pushes.

Weapon Trails

* Weapon trails (the visual effects that accompany swings) have all been set to the standard 'air-cutting' effect. Glows signifying the application of status effects such as Bleed, Sunders, etc. have been disabled for the attack animations.

Combo Notifier + CancelAttack Adjustments

* Combo / Queue Windows: notifiers which recognize inputs for attacks and queue for the next opportunity to strike have been adjusted across most attacks. In an effort to ensure reliable intended follow-up strikes, and to reduce those which are unintended, most Combo or Queue windows have been positioned to recognize inputs during and after the execution phases of attacks.

* CancelDodge Windows: notifiers which allow for an attack to be interrupted with a dodge have been expanded to nearly every attack animation. Coverage is generally located at all points except for the execution phase of the attack, or in special cases such as a character mid-leap.

* CancelMove Windows: notifiers which permit an attack animation to be interrupted by movement inputs have been adjusted across myriad animations. This has been done to reduce the likelihood of unresponsive movement controls in dangerous situations.

* ComboAdvance / CancelAttack Windows: notifiers which control when an attack animation is permitted to advance to the next in the combo have been adjusted across many animations. This allows for the pacing of attacks within a combo to be made quicker or slower, depending on the needs dictated by balancing.

Sound Effect Adjustments

* Select sound effects have been added, removed, or altered across many attack animations. These concern sound effects consisting of weapon swooshes, wooshes, and slashes, as well as character vocalizations, armor foleys, and certain footsteps.

The Standardized Light combo is used by the majority of the one-handed weapon classes. It is comprised of the following base game animations:

1H Sword Heavy 4, 1H Sword Light 2, 1H Sword Light 3, 1H Sword Light 4

The main difference between each weapon type can be found within the attack speeds of the combos. Expressed in terms of multipliers (higher = faster), they are as follows:

* One-Handed Axe: 1.0x, 1.0x, 1.0x, 1.0x (base speed)

* One-Handed Mace: 0.95x, 0.95x, 0.95x, 0.95x

* One-Handed Sword: 1.1x, 1.0x, 1.1x, 1.0x

* Shortsword (with Throwing Axe only): 1.2x, 1.15x, 1.2x, 1.15x

* Dual Wield: base speed

* Truncheon: base speed



NOTE: The Shield Bash combo will likely be be phased out in an update in the near future.

The Shield Bash combo is used by all one-handed weapon classes. It is comprised of the following base game animations:

1H Sword Heavy Shield 2, 1H Mace Heavy Shield 2, 1H Sword Heavy Shield 4, 1H Mace Heavy Shield 4

The intent behind the combo was to allow shield bash attacks to be able to be performed at any point in a combo, which would employ heavier stagger effects at higher stamina cost, with the understanding that it would be used by weaving such attacks into a Light combo.

1H Spears only use attacks 2, 3, and 4 as Heavy 1 is occupied by the throw attack.

* The Light combo has been replaced with the Standard combo, and the Heavy Shield combo has been replaced with the Shield Bash combo.

* A light input while performing the Heavy Throwing Axe spin sequence will now execute the combo finisher early.


* The sprint attack animations have been replaced. Light sprint attacks utilize the 1H Mace Light Sprint attack, while Heavy attacks use a modified version of the Heavy 1 leap, or in the case of Heavy Shield a variant of Shield Bash 3.

* HyperArmor coverage has been reduced on Heavy 1 (constrained mainly to the duration that the character is mid-air).

* Player and NPC collision detection notifiers have been adjusted for all attacks.


* Bleed effects are now only found on:
- Light 4
- Heavy 3 + 4
- Heavy Shield 4
- Heavy Throwing Axe 4, 6, 8, + 10
- Sprint attacks minus Heavy Shield.

* Cripple effects have been removed from all attacks which featured them.


Light:


Heavy:


Heavy Shield:


Heavy Throwing Axe:


Sprint Attacks:

* The Light combo has been replaced with the Standard combo, and the Heavy Shield combo has been replaced with the Shield Bash combo.


* Heavy Throwing Axe 1 uses an old alternate of the Heavy 1 animation, differing by a leftward second sweep.

* The Heavy and Heavy Throwing Axe sprint attacks use the leaping strike as mentioned in 1H Axe.

* The wind-up for Heavy 1 has been altered, removing ~ 0.175 seconds from the start of the animation.

* The wind-up for Heavy 2 has been accelerated by 20%, reducing the length of the animation by ~ 0.15 seconds.

* The animation speeds for Heavy 3 + 4 have been increased by 10%.

* HyperArmor coverage has been reduced on Heavy 1 and removed from Heavy 2 - 4.

* Player and NPC collision detection notifiers have been adjusted for all attacks.


* Sunder effects are now only found on:
- Light 4
- Heavy 4
- Heavy Shield 4
- All sprint attacks

* Cripple effects have been removed from Heavy Throwing Axe 2 + 3.

* A Bleed effect has been added to Heavy Throwing Axe 4.

* All attacks resist block deflection.


Light:


Heavy:


Heavy Shield:


Heavy Throwing Axe:


Sprint Attacks:

* Support for the Shield Bash combo has been incorporated.

* Support for a Heavy Throwing Axe combo has been incorporated. This combo is a replication of that used by 1H Mace.

To still allow for the Spear to be thrown with Heavy 1, these combos can only be initiated after Light 1 and beyond.


* NPC and player collision detection has been adjusted for all attacks.


* Sunder effects have been added to:
- Light 4
- Heavy Shield 4
- Sprint attacks minus Heavy Shield

* A Bleed effect has been added to Heavy Throwing Axe 4.


Light:


Heavy Throw:


Heavy Shield:


Heavy Throwing Axe:


Sprint Attacks:

* The Light combo has been replaced with the Standardized combo (minor difference structurally).

* An alternate Heavy attack sequence has been added, which is able to be performed after Light 2 and 3 while no Shield or Throwing Axe is equipped. The sequence consists of a vertical slash, a horizontal slash, and a low horizontal slash. A Light attack input during this sequence performs Light 4, ending the combo.


* The animation for Heavy 4 has been replaced with a lunging strike, the same as Heavy 1 for the 1H Axe. This in effect replicates the old Heavy combo for 1H Swords that existed pre- 'Blood and Sand' update.

* The animation for Light sprint attacks has been replaced with a thrust attack, the same as the 1H Spear Light sprint attacks.

* The animation for Heavy sprint attacks has been replaced with a modified version of the 1H Axe Heavy 1 leap.

* The wind-up phase of Heavy 1 has been accelerated by 20%, reducing the length of the animation by ~ 0.37 seconds.

* The distance traversed by performing Heavy 1 has been reduced by ~ 1 yard. The distance traversed by performing Heavy 2 has been reduced by ~ 1.5 yards.

* HyperArmor coverage has been removed from Heavy 1.

* NPC and player collision detection has been adjusted for all attacks.


* Bleed effects have been added to:
- Light 4
- Heavy 4 + Alt 4
- Heavy Shield 4
- Heavy Throwing Axe 4
- Heavy sprint attacks minus Heavy Shield

* Sunder effects have been added to Light sprint attacks.

* Cripple effects are now located only on Heavy 3 and Heavy Alt 5.


Light:


Heavy:


Heavy Shield:


Heavy Throwing Axe:


Sprint Attacks:

* The Standardized combo has been implemented only when a Throwing Axe is equipped in the Offhand slot.

* The Shield Bash combo has been implemented.

* A Heavy Throwing Axe combo has been implemented (replicated from the 1H Sword).


* The attack speed multipliers for the normal Light combo attacks have been reduced from 1.0x to 0.9x.

* The attack speed multipliers for the Heavy combo attacks have been increased from 1.0x to 1.1x.

* NPC and player collision detection has been adjusted for all attacks.


* Bleed effects are now found only on:
- Light 4 (normal and Standard)
- Heavy 4
- Heavy Shield 4
- Heavy Throwing Axe 4
- Flurry 1, 3, and 5

* Sunder effects have been added to all sprint attacks minus Heavy Shield.


Light:


Light Throwing Axe:


Heavy:


Heavy Shield:


Heavy Throwing Axe:


Sprint Attacks:

* The three-part Light and Heavy combos have been replaced with the Standardized combo.

* The Shield Bash combo has been incorporated.

* Sprint attacks have been incorporated for Light and Heavy inputs. These attacks use the 1H Mace Light sprint attack and the leaping Heavy sprint attack, with Heavy Shield using a shield strike.


* NPC and player collision detection has been adjusted for all attacks.


N/A


Light:


Heavy:


Heavy Shield:


Sprint Attacks:

* The Light combo has been replaced with that of the 2H Mace.

* The Heavy combo has been replaced with a partial (3/5) version of the 2H Mace combo.

* A 10-part 'whirlwind' spin combo can be performed by Heavy inputs after Light 3. A Light input during the whirlwind sequence will perform a Light Finisher.


* The animation for the Heavy sprint attack has been replaced with a modified version of the 2H Sword leaping strike.

* The weapon has been rotated during the blocking animation so that the business end of the Axe is facing forward and not off to the side.

* NPC and player collision detection has been adjusted for all attacks.


* Bleed effects are now found on:
- Heavy 1 + 3
- Whirlwind 3, 6, + 9
- Both sprint attacks

* A Sunder effect has been added to Heavy 3.

* All attacks except for Light 3 ignore block deflection.


Light:


Heavy:


Sprint Attacks:

* The Light combo has been replaced with that of the 2H Mace.

* The Heavy combo has been replaced with a partial (3/5) version of the 2H Mace combo.

* A 10-part 'whirlwind' spin combo can be performed by Heavy inputs after Light 3. A Light input during the whirlwind sequence will perform a Light Finisher.


* The animation for the Heavy sprint attack has been replaced with a modified version of the 2H Sword leaping strike.

* Whirlwind attacks can now strike up to 2 times on the same target, but the second hit detection window is only present when the combo can no longer progress (applies to the other 2H Axe type and 2H Maces).

* NPC and player collision detection has been adjusted for all attacks.


* Bleed effects are now found on:
- Heavy 1 + 3
- Whirlwind 3, 6, + 9
- Both sprint attacks

* A Sunder effect has been added to Heavy 3.

* All attacks except for Light 3 ignore block deflection.


Light:


Heavy:


Offhand:


Sprint Attacks:

* The 'whirlwind' combo from the 2H Axes has been incorporated and is able to be performed via Heavy inputs after Light 3. A Light input during the whirlwind sequence will perform a Light finisher.


[Much of this information also applies to 2H Axes.]

* The animation for the Heavy sprint attack has been replaced with a modified version of the 2H Sword leaping strike.

* Attack speed multipliers for the Light combo have been adjusted from 0.8x, 0.8x, 0.8x, 1.0x to 0.9x across the board.

* HyperArmor coverage has been reduced for all Light attacks and for Heavy 1 - 3.

* The slow-motion recovery phase for Heavy 3 has been set to normal speed, reducing the length of that phase by over 1 second.


* Sunder effects can now only be found on:
- Heavy 1, 3, + 4
- Whirlwind 4 + 8
- Both sprint attacks

* All attacks except for Light 3 ignore block deflection.


Light:


Heavy:


Offhand:


Sprint Attacks:

[The following information currently applies only to standard 2H Spears, but a future update will bring the 'Sweeping' spears into conformity.]


* The Light combo has been replaced with its older version, consisting of various swipes and sweeps.

* The base game Light combo has been moved to the Offhand input slot, replacing the kick. These attacks can now be performed while moving.


* The animation for the Light sprint attack has been replaced with a modified version of the Light 1 sweep.

* The animation for Heavy 1 uses an older, subtly different animation from the current base game.

* The animation for the Heavy sprint attack has been replaced with a modified version of the Heavy 1 jab.

* The CancelAttack window on Heavy 1 has been positioned to allow slightly faster follow-up strikes, shaving off around 0.2 seconds.

* HyperArmor coverage has been removed from Heavy 4.

* The weapon has been rotated during Heavy 4 to prevent rotation when returning to the idle stance.

* NPC and player collision detection has been adjusted for all attacks.


* Bleed effects are now only found on Heavy 4.

* Sunder effects have been added to Heavy 4 and the Heavy sprint attack.

* Cripple effects are now only found on Light 4 and the Light sprint attack.

* The Offhand mobile jabs only cause the target to flinch, which is only superficial and does not interrupt movement or attacks.


Light:


Heavy:


Offhand:


Sprint Attacks:

* The base game's Light 2 and 3 and Heavy 2 and 3 have swapped their respective positions.

* The overhead strike previously in the Offhand position has returned to its original position in Heavy 1. The initial Offhand slot has been filled by the returning kick.

* The original Light and Heavy 4 animation have returned to their respective slots. While jumbled, the net effect of these changes is the ability to perform the old 2H Sword combos once again (L, H, H, L and H, L, L, H).

* Alternate strikes have been added to the Offhand input slot, and are able to be performed after Light / Heavy 1 and beyond. These attacks cannot be chained sequentially, but multiples can be performed in a single combo.


* The animation for the Heavy sprint attack has been replaced with a modified version of the 2H Sword leaping strike.

* The BlendIn timer for Light 1 has been set to 0, which should help visually clean up the first 1/4 second of the animation.

* NPC and player collision detection has been adjusted for all attacks.


* Bleed effects are now only found on:
- Light 4
- Heavy 4
- Offhand 4
- Both sprint attacks

* Cripple effects are now only found on Offhand 3 + 4.


Light:


Heavy:


Offhand:


Sprint Attacks:

N/A


* The windups for all Heavy attacks have been accelerated by 25%.

* The Offhand 4 sweep now multi-strikes up to 10 times (depending on the target), as it did in the past.

* HyperArmor coverage has been removed from Light 1, Heavy 1 + 4, the Offhand sweep, and the sprint attack.

* The ComboAdvance window for Light 4 has been pushed back ~ 0.2 secs for slightly slower combo progression.

* NPC and player collision detection has been adjusted for all attacks.


* Bleed effects are now only found on:
- Light 4
- Heavy 4
- Both sprint attacks


Light:


Heavy:


Offhand:


Sprint Attacks:

* Offhand inputs now perform a backward hop. These hops allow a combo in-progress to continue if an input is performed in a timely manner. These hops can be chained together without losing combo progress provided there is no lapse.

* An alternate Light 2 has been added, accessible after Heavy 1.


* The animations for Light 1 and 2 have been swapped. This was done to improve reliability of landing hits due to target stagger issues.

* The distance traversed by Light 1 and 2 have been reduced by 0.6 yards each. The distance traversed by Light 3 has been reduced by 0.55 yards.

* HyperArmor coverage has been reduced on Heavy 3.

* NPC and player collision detection has been adjusted for all attacks.


* Bleed effects are now located on:
- Light 4
- All Heavy combo attacks
- Heavy sprint attack


Light:


* - the second strike occurs only sporadically due to issues arising from the overlap of the two hit detection notifiers.

Heavy:


Offhand:


Sprint Attacks:


* - the second strike occurs only sporadically due to issues arising from the overlap of the two hit detection notifiers.

[NOTE: Only affects the base game weapons of Whirlwind Blades and Havoc & Malice. Will not affect mod-added dual weapons unless they specifically belong to the same internal weapon class.]


* The Light combo has been replaced with the Standard combo.

* An alternate Light 3 can be performed after Heavy 2.

* An alternate Heavy sequence (resembling the alt sequence added to 1H Swords) can be performed after Light 2 + 3 and the alternate Light 3.

* The number of Heavy spins has been reduced from 6 to 2.

* A Light input after Heavy 4 or during the spin sequence will perform a Light finisher.


* The animations for Heavy 2 and 3 have been replaced.

* The attack speed multipliers for Heavy 4 and Heavy Spin Finisher have been increased from 1.0x to 1.1x.

* HyperArmor coverage has been removed from Heavy Spin and reduced on Heavy 1.

* NPC and player collision detection has been adjusted for all attacks.


* Bleed effects are now found on:
- Light 4, Light Spin Finisher
- Heavy 4, Heavy Alt 4, Heavy Alt 4 II, Heavy Spin, Heavy Spin Finisher
- Both sprint attacks

* Cripple effects have been removed from all attacks which previously featured them.


Light:


Heavy:


Offhand:


Sprint Attacks:

N/A


* NPC and player collision detection has been adjusted for all attacks.


* Bleed effects are now only found on Heavy 2 + 4.

* Cripple effects have been added to the sprint attacks.


Light:


Heavy:


* - the second strike occurs only sporadically due to issues arising from the overlap of the two hit detection notifiers.

Offhand:


Sprint Attacks:

* Offhand inputs now perform a backward hop.

* Heavy shots can now queue the same combo (intended to facilitate the faster follow-up shots mentioned below).


* The animation for the Light shot has been replaced with an alternate (now held slightly-canted off vertical as opposed to horizontal).

* The PowerCharge window has been shortened on the Heavy shot by ~ 0.3 seconds (faster full charge).

* A CancelAttack window has been added to the end of the Heavy shot to hasten the speed of follow-up shots.

* The CancelDodgeWindow has been expanded to full coverage on the Light shot and fully removed from the Heavy shot.

* The ComboWindow for Light 1 has been pushed back ~ 0.4 secs to help prevent unintended follow-up shots.


* The flinch effect for Heavy shots has been replaced by a stumble.

* Adjusted some CancelAttack windows to allow more reliable execution of the 1H Heavy 2 attacks.


N/A


* All status effects have been removed from all attacks which previously featured them.


One-Handed Axes, Maces, and Swords for Horses and Camels:


Two-Handed Spears for Horses, Camels, and Rhinos:


Bows for Horses, Camels, and Rhinos:


Lances for Horses and Camels:

* Certain tool classes now perform an alternate animation with the Heavy input (also includes animations while swimming):
- Picks use Hatchet animations
- Hatchets use Pick animations
- Cleavers use Pick animations


* The non-combo throw animation for Throwing Axes has been changed to a modified version of the Early Access Offhand strike which can be performed while moving.

* An older version of the Orb throwing animation is used for both Light and Heavy throw inputs. The animation speed has been increased by 25%.

* NPC and player collision detection has been adjusted for torch strikes.



Throwing Axe Throws:

* Added a special spin kick that can only be performed after Light / Heavy 2.


* The Light and Heavy combos utilize older animations.

* The Offhand kick has been replaced with an older version. This is used by all 1H weapons as well.

* NPC and player collision detection has been adjusted for all attacks.


N/A


[The values are the same between the base game and the mod, but the tables will be provided regardless.]

Light:


Heavy:


Offhand

Thank you for reading!