I have a mod installed on vermintide 2 that shows you how many effective dodges you can perform with your current weapon (Effective dodges = Dodges that have the full dodge range), and also shows the dodge cooldown, to avoid using dodge too early, with time, the dodge cooldown became obsolete, since all weapons have the same dodge cooldown in vermintide 2, but the dodge count was still handy for weapons i don’t use often.
Now in darktide, every weapon has a different effective dodge count AND effective dodge cooldown, this has resulted in me just guessing when the cooldown is finally done, most of the time I either dodge too early, resetting the cooldown, or dodge too late, taking damage or having my block broken.
In VT2, where dodge reset is very short (0.5s), a common method to be certain it has reset is that it takes about the same time as a full jump.
Here in Darktide, things get murky because it ranges from 0.9 to 1.15 seconds, if I understood correctly.
Also, as we don’t have the Armory mod, dodge count and dodge reset time are obscure and need to be tested for every weapon.
I’ll be very glad when a user-created wiki for Darktide mechanics is done, because the devs don’t care much, clearly.
I hope this isn’t too off-topic, but I have found dodge to be almost useless at the moment. Everything that takes a swing at you seems to glide towards you even after they start a swing and you still get hit after a ‘successful’ dodge. This might be your problem as well. Next time you play check out if this is affecting you as well.
In Darktide many enemies are allowed to attack you in melee simultaneously, and they sometimes have very delayed animations . So, even if you successfully dodge one attack, there are like 3 more just waiting for you at the end of your dodge.
Hence the importance of pushes in the -Tide series, because it staggers multiple enemies at the same time. It tends to make minions synchronize their attack patterns, which you can then dodge easier. At least, that’s how it works in VT2. Here, I’m not so sure…
I’m talking about one, two or three little fodder zombies having a go at you and still the dodge isn’t effective at moving me out of the way, blocking and shoving works but dodge just results it getting hit. Dodge pox hounds and charges then dodge is great and I love pulling it off, but against non-elites I find it rather flawed.
The exact dodge timings are set by the devs, and nobody really knows how they tweaked things… In VT2, when they overhauled the dodges, they gave some numbers, and also said that it depends on the difficulty.
It’s not just you, dodge is severely nerfed compared to VT2. Melee in general is. Enemies have more delayed attacks, better tracking, smaller dodge windows, the dodge lockout is increased, your stamina doesn’t regenerate while dodging, etc. It’s not great.