Attacks not registered on slopes

2.7K votes

I'm not sure it's a bug, but it is unbelievably frustrating considering how the terrain is almost exclusively hilly. Anytime I attack while higher up on the slope than the enemy, the attack is never registered. I really think this needs to be addressed because I am dying unnecessarily due to improper hitbox detection. Thank you for listening.

Under consideration Suggested by: JuicedBoxers (09 Feb, '21) • Upvoted: 2 days ago • Comments: 24

Comments: 24

14 Feb, '21
Taldren
This seems to happen more often with certain weapons as well. My spear is comically bad against Necks in the water and around the shoreline.

It's like I'm facing Odd-job from Goldeneye 64.
15 Feb, '21
MyuFoxy
Same, or if I am below an enemy i can get free hits. Unless the have a down attack. I deal with low enemies with the mace special attack since it hits low. Like hitting leaches from the edge of the water.

It was frustrating until I started looking closer at enemy and my attack animations. Now I can deal with it. Even gain advantages, although inconsistent.
17 Feb, '21
u/brainfrizz
The spear thing bothers me greatly, too! Like, it has a ton of reach and you're stabbing it DOWNWARDS yet it can't hit anything below you. It's silly.
18 Feb, '21
Cole
I noticed a similar issue with wolves in mountain biomes. Spears and maces seem to struggle when attacking an enemy with a smaller hit box from a higher position on an incline.
19 Feb, '21
Øystein
Agree. Feels like combat is using trigger colliders instead of raycast. I'm confused as to why they chose this. Doesn't feel very intuitive.
20 Feb, '21
Raven
Happens to me quite often when hunting Necks, but also with Dwarves, probably others. One gets used to always standing below the enemy, but with water in particular it is not always possible.
21 Feb, '21
Mike
YES I notice this a lot within the mountain range when attacking wolves.
21 Feb, '21
Mark Rasmussen
Yes, currently all melee attacks, including using the pick axe when mining, are auto aimed forward with no way to control angle of attack. IE: when I use any weapon to try and attack any type of mob on an incline/decline (hill/mountain side) I miss. While my character may look up/down, their attacks do not follow.
21 Feb, '21
miniL
This is a pretty large issue if you ask me. From removing stumps (too low to the ground or on a slope), to hitting enemies. Even when aiming your mouse down or up, you just hit air or ground.
21 Feb, '21
Eric Payne
Maybe involve some kind of orientation based on mouse movement? Allowing the characters to bend at the waist to look up and down? This might create a larger advantage for players vs the AI so the AI would have to be prepared to handle that.
21 Feb, '21
Wendel B
It's not a bug. It's because attacks were only programmed to connect in a window along the player's Z-axis straight up and down. Attacks currently have no pitch correction and don't consider the direction crosshairs are pointing. Still- its a problem considering how unforgiving a mistimed attack can be.
21 Feb, '21
Bituminous Black
I've noticed I can't attack things that are above or below me. It's like I can only attack straight ahead. Also this is a problem when trying to interact with other objects like removing floor boards from my house. The pickaxe works for floor boards but I don't think it should be the go to solution. It seems that trying to get a target on upward or downward angles just doesn't work.
22 Feb, '21
Bituminous Black
Made the previous post before I realized I could just Repair and Demo with the hammer on the floor boards. However it still illustrates that you can't attack downwards even on relatively level ground.
22 Feb, '21
Oskero
Sometimes it's hard to hit Wood 😔
23 Feb, '21
Honorclaim
The worst! Happens when gather trees too....
23 Feb, '21
Graham
Yeah, this is more of an annoyance than a game breaking bug. but swinging until you run out of stam just to kill a neck is a little frustrating at times. It doesnt help when you're fighting swarms of mobs on hills.
24 Feb, '21
Laurentia
I think the fix here is if the weapons sort of aimed with the camera. (What comes to mind is how Dark Souls handles it)
24 Feb, '21
James
Yeah, the polearms are my favorite weapons but it sucks when I cant stab a goblin because they are too short and on a slope. All we need is a little bit of vertical aiming with melee weapons and It would be fixed, but I dont know how hard it would be to add that.
25 Feb, '21
Beep bop boop
Even happens in plains vs lox. If they are just slightly raised the weapon just passes right through it without any connection or damage.
28 Feb, '21
Kosto
Also shooting down from a wall with your bow isn't straight forward
28 Feb, '21
Kazgrel
Fighting mobs on a slope, especially if they're uphill, is like being Anakin fighting Obi-Wan, heh
04 Mar, '21
Steve M
I agree. In reality, the Spear is at an advantage when striking downwards towards an enemy slightly below the attacker. However, in Valheim it is impossible to hit someone with a spear who is below me. Should be fixed for several reasons, both gameplay and reality breaking.
02 Mar
Vandelgard Merged
Something that bothered me in all the 600 hundred hours I have in the game is that when I am on a higher ground and something like a fuling is shorter than me, my character doesn't attack towards the thing but it only attacks on the straight line as if everything is in front of him.

Please, since the game has so much uneven ground, make the character align his melee attack with the enemy (just how we do it with the bow) or at least let us direct our melee attack on the x,y axis.

PS: The Elder still gets stuck if you lure him a bit further away from his "arena"(make him jump or teleport and him to call more greydwarfs too)
11 Mar
MaCarBre Admin
"Mouse/Thumbstick Controlled Close Combat on x,y axis" (suggested by <Hidden> on 2024-03-02), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.