How does staggering shout work

The Block skill tree has a total of 9 perks, requiring a total of 13 perk points to fill. In-game Description: The art of blocking an enemy's blows with a shield or weapon. Blocking reduces the damage and staggering from physical attacks. When the player, a creature, or an NPC is hit by certain attacks, there is a chance that the attack's target will be staggered. Staggering interrupts whatever action was being taken by the target and temporarily stuns them, preventing any further attacks until they have recovered.

When a creature or NPC is staggered, it also stops them from moving; however, you will still be able to move if you are staggered. The Impact , Power Shot , and Power Bash perks will add staggering effects to some normal attacks, and the Force Without Effort ability will improve your overall stagger percentages.

Certain dragon shouts are also guaranteed to stagger their targets. With the third word of the Unrelenting Force shout or the Cyclone shout DB , or with the Staff of Hasedoki CC , it is possible to knock a target off its feet and put them into what's commonly referred to as a "ragdoll" state.

Like staggering, once the target is ragdolled, whatever action it was taking will be interrupted and the target will be stunned. However, the target is also knocked helplessly to the ground and will have to wait a few seconds after landing before standing up and being able to fight again. If you are ragdolled by Unrelenting Force, the camera will automatically switch to third person and remain there until you have recovered.

In these situations, it may appear as though you have been killed, but as long as you can still open the menu and didn't fall too far, you will be able to recover and resume combat.

Most NPCs and ground-based creatures can be ragdolled with the exception of Dwarven centurions, spheres, and ballistae , dragons , horses , and mammoths. Power attacks can be used to deal extra damage or break through an opponent's block.

They are performed by holding down, instead of tapping, the attack button. A power attack has a chance of staggering its target and consumes Stamina according to the following formula:. The amount of Stamina available when you execute a power attack and the amount of Stamina consumed by the attack do not influence how much damage is dealt. However, if you do not have at least one point of Stamina when you attempt to perform a power attack, the Stamina bar will flash green and you will perform a regular attack instead.

This means that consuming a food item that restores Stamina over time , even as little as one point per second, will allow you to perform endless power attacks until the Restore Stamina effect wears off. There are no potions, spells, or enchantments that do this - instead, those only provide one-off instant restoration effects or Regenerate Stamina , which does not work for this.

All of the foods that provide this effect are listed here. You can perform several kinds of power attacks depending on which movement control you press as you attack and what weapon you are using. You cannot perform these variations on a power attack while crouching. If you push the forward input while performing a power attack, you will execute a dash strike, useful for closing the distance to your enemy quickly.

Moving backwards will cause you to step back and then strike, useful for avoiding and countering enemy attacks. Left and right inputs can be used to sidestep enemy attacks, and with the Sweep perk, a left or right power attack can strike all enemies in a forward arc when using a two-handed weapon.

If you are dual wielding, holding down both the left and right attack buttons at the same time results in a fast, three-hit power attack that strikes with both weapons. If you are using only your fists, you will perform a similar three punch strike when the same input is used. Both of these attack combinations count as three separate power attacks and will consume Stamina accordingly. When using the Dual-Wield Power attack, two slashes are performed by the left hand and one by the right hand.

This is probably the reason why the weapon in the left hand determines the velocity for this attack. If you are within about blows of killing an opponent, a "finishing move" animation may play, depicting one or more fatal strikes from either a first-person view or third-person "KillCam". If the Savage Strike One-handed or Devastating Blow Two-handed perks are unlocked, there's a chance that this will be a decapitation.

Note that under the right circumstances, NPCs and dragons will also be able to perform finishing moves, both against each other and against you. Details pertaining to "finishing moves" were extensively discussed on this article's talk page.

While the information above describes most combat in Skyrim, there are several optional abilities and situations that allow you to fight against enemies in unique ways. A brawl is a fistfight where neither party can be killed. You and your opponent fight without weapons until one of you loses enough health to surrender. Rewards for winning a brawl include gold from a bet with your opponent, a reward from a questgiver, obtaining information, or increasing an NPC's disposition toward you.

For more information see brawls. Through the events of certain quests, you can gain the ability to transform into either a werewolf or, with the Dawnguard add-on , a Vampire Lord. Both of these forms change combat in a number of ways, including a forced third-person view, faster movement, improved unarmed damage, and unique attacks and abilities.

These forms also become stronger in different ways than the normal character and have certain limitations. For more information on these forms, see their respective pages. Version 1. Unarmed attacks, magic, Powers , and Shouts cannot be used. While using melee weapons, you will only be able to use whatever is equipped in your right hand including two-handed weapons which you will be able to wield with only one hand. When the left or right attack control is used, you will respectively make a low swing on the left or right flank of the horse.

If the attack button is held, you will hold your weapon in preparation for an attack and swing when the button is released. This strike will consume Stamina upon release but doesn't seem to do any additional damage.

When using a bow, you will draw and fire as normal and will be able to zoom in with the Eagle Eye perk. However, if you ride over especially rough terrain or are hit by a power attack, you will be forced to un-nock your arrow.

It is unique in the fact that only one Dragon Soul is required to get the full power of the Shout. The first word is automatically unlocked once the Dragonborn absorbs Mirmulnir 's soul.

The Greybeards will provide the Dragonborn with their knowledge of the next two words, removing the need to obtain additional dragon souls to unlock them. The first and second words of Unrelenting Force will stagger enemies caught in its wake for a short amount of time. When the third word is used, the target is thrown backward and temporarily ragdolled, inflicting additional environmental damage upon impact. If thrown over a cliff or other significant dropoff, the victim will also take falling damage, which can cause much more damage or instant death.

Large creatures, such as dragons and mammoths , will not be thrown but will be staggered. If a dragon is using a breath attack at the Dragonborn and this Shout is used, the attack will be interrupted and the dragon will become staggered. Ethereal creatures, children , and Dragon Priests are not affected at all by Unrelenting Force.

It is also possible to stop Unrelenting Force with a ward ; Necromancers and Conjurers often employ this tactic. While the damage caused by this Shout is minimal in most cases, it is useful for creating openings to attack an enemy or thinning out a crowd. It can also give the user breathing room and allow them to run from high leveled enemies, such as giants.

It can be used, when fully upgraded, to blast foes off the top of long drops and let gravity dispose of them. Sailors are an exception to this, being the only characters in Skyrim which can be killed with all three words by default. As of The Elder Scrolls V: Hearthfire expansion, Unrelenting Force has a more pronounced effect on certain objects in the game: insects such as torchbugs , moths , and dragonflies can be "knocked down," and all varieties of fish except Slaughterfish can be killed when hit with the effect of this Shout, for example.

Salmon killed in this manner yield both salmon meat and salmon roe , just as if they were killed by a bow. However, with the Dragonborn Force effect in the Dragonborn DLC, the shout boasts extremely devastating consequences, instantly killing weaker enemies and dealing significant damage to others, maintaining usefulness even against boss level enemies except for large creatures and dragon priests , especially when combined with the other Dragonborn shout, Dragon Aspect.

This makes the shout much more versatile, and an overall more viable shout over the likes of fire or frost breath , especially in places with tight corners and draugr -infested dungeons. This section contains bugs related to Unrelenting Force Skyrim.