PC velocity and attack momentum

[enkephalin07]

Does movement affect attack damage? I might be imagining this because it's difficult to quantify without recording and statistically analyzing it, but I notice I have a much better headsplot frequency if I'm moving into the attack, at any pace. I've also noticed I suffer less damage and fewer critical effects when I'm able to move away from incoming attacks that hit me.

Is there a mechanical correlation, or just coincidence?

 

[Ramethzer0]

This is a good question, as I have been wondering that since we have armoured locations that the zombies hit path might intersect with specific parts of the PC's body, or maybe its just a random thing.  The ability to score specific body shots on zombies would imply the inverse is true.  Because of that thought, I sometimes allocate specific mods to protect.  Like the banded armour mods in the legs or the arms with the hope im protected from sprains/broken bone debuffs.

But to directly attach to your experience, I too have an easier time with specific attacks done by specific weapons through their animations.  I frequently do the forward/back move shuffle when it comes to melee combat.  I brought up one example in an earlier thread about how I think the basic pipe baton is underrated as a weapon for just such a reason.  If you power attack with it and move forward, there is enough hang time at the end of the swing that makes it very easy for me to score head shots with little difficulty using it to gain a range and stagger advantage at the same time.

 

[Melange]

I don't know about the intended mechanics, but what I get a sense of is when using a wooden club, or bat (my primary go-to weapons during early game) is that  I get more 'headsplot' (I like that word, not seen it before) when I kite the incoming zombie. I get in its face then back off as I wait for it to take a swing out of range at me .Then I lunge forward to put my weapon well  within range of its face, power bash it in the forehead (aim is critical) while at the same time taking a step backward. Works everytime once you get a feel for how that particular zombie behaves. Seems  like a step backward hits harder than a full-on advance and bash for me. They seem to fly further. Learn to time it right and they won't even land a blow. Jabbing with a spear is easier because you have a longer reach, but since I abandon stone spears early (good for chickens and cornered rabbits though) and they don't deal as much damage per hit as a club. Using a better quality spear may work better, but I choose not to level up on spear combat.

I don't advance to set myself up for them to hit me, and some seem to hit when I don't even see it coming. I prefer to not give them the opportunity to smack me upside the head if I can avoid it. Putting skills into Strength (Pummel Pete and Sexual Tyranosaurus) I find quite worth it. Later you'll find yourself in situations where a strong club and good stamina won't be enough though. 

You claim to suffer less damage when you're moving away from the attack yet you hit harder when advancing. And I feel I hit harder as I'm backing away during my attack. And I try to avoid getting struck. 

Probably some correlation there, but I have no explanation.

 

[theFlu]

I don't think either is a thing - offensive or defensive. There is some book, fists maybe, that incur an extra knockdown chance or some such while sprinting.

For clean damage, you can easily test it:

Enter debug mode: console -> 'dm'

Spawn some zeds from F6 (try shift- and ctrl-clicking the zed name when spawning)

Numpad 0 reveals their stats, including health

Numpad * (multiply) toggles AI on/off, so you can "pause" the situation

God mode for healing (I think the default keybind might be G)

Take all the swings you like, record your findings and report what you find.

For decapitations, you would need to spawn at the very least 20 at 50% odds to reliably see small changes, and I don't know how you would reliably handle misses. If you're good enough not to even glance once in a while, maybe. I'm not ..

 

[Melange]

Take all the swings you like, record your findings and report what you find.

Well, I did what you suggested. Vanillla settings across the board. Creative mode on to get the clubs and club mods. God mode. No perks used, no armor and I chose zombie Yo as my victim, testing with four wooden club iterations. 20 zombiess (one spawn at a time) for each upgrade of the wooden club. Fresh game, started at player level 1 and by the time I finished I was at level 9 with 109 zombie kills since there were a few interlopers during my experiments, lol. Each hit was a power attack. I let the zombie return to its feet before hitting it in the head again to allow for stamina regen.  Yes, some were glancing blows, but not often.  So I recorded the zombie's initial health which ranged from 120 to 171, and the number of swings I used to kill it. Entered my results into a spreadheet. 

Lvl 1 club, 27.6 power attack rating : 75% needed 4 hits, 25% needed 5 hits (beginning at 150 initial health), with one decapitation on the last hit (136 initial health)

Lvl 3 club, 30.5 power attack rating : 25% needed 3 hits, 65% needed 4 hits (beginning at 140 initial health). One needed 5 hits (glancing blows I suspect), and one decapitation on the first hit (155 initial health)

Lvl 5 club, 33.1 power attack rating : 90% needed 3 hits, 10% needed 4 hits (beginning at 146 initial health).

Lvl 6 club* 40.0 power attack rating : 65% needed 2 hits, 35% needed 3 hits (beginning at 146 initial health). One loot bag drop.  *club mods were weighted head, chain, ergonomic grip and the burning shaft. I didn't think to write down how many caught fire, but that wasn't what killed them.

My take away from all this? After spending an afternoon to eliminate 80 test zeds and analyze the results, my gut feeling that hitting them while stepping away was inflicting more damage is not reflected in the data.  Also I never realized that zombies spawn in with an RNG health value range and the stronger ones generally did need another hit on the head.  Since I was in god mode, the few hits I got from the zombies didn't affect my ability to swing back. My test was a bit tedious but easy enough to gather the data. I could have also invested in perks, used a maxed out steel club and continued the assesment, getting more decapitations per number of zombies eliminated and generally be able to one-hit a variety of zombies and send them flying.  I suspect RNG also affects how  much damage is inflicted. But I'd seen enough for now.

That said, this doesn't answer @enkephalin07's other question about getting hurt whilst in motion.  I don't think I'm going to try and design that experiment any time soon.

 

[theFlu]

My take away from all this? After spending an afternoon to eliminate 80 test zeds and analyze the results, my gut feeling that hitting them while stepping away was inflicting more damage is not reflected in the data.

Nice work, going in with an assumption and proving oneself wrong is not always easy - a simple like isn't enough for the respect, so, kudos!

Also I never realized that zombies spawn in with an RNG health value range and the stronger ones generally did need another hit on the head.

Best part of testing, learning something new every time .. From my testing I'm pretty sure there is nothing random in damage output, neither player nor zed. Random health is enough for "varied fighting", and some zed types have armor which changes the numbers of course - but damage against each armor amount is also constant from swing to swing.