I’ve noticed a significant inconsistency regarding Maulers and Crushers’ overhead attacks. Sometimes, despite having my block raised, their overhead strikes completely bypass my defense. This discrepancy is particularly troubling because there are instances where my block effectively shields me from harm.
Comparing this to Vermintide 2, where blocking an overhead attack reliably mitigates damage, reinforces my belief that this issue is a bug rather than intentional design. In Vermintide 2, while a successful block might not prevent all damage, it consistently provides a level of protection. However, in Darktide, Maulers and Crushers seem to disregard the block mechanic altogether at times.
What’s perplexing is that in Darktide, unlike in Vermintide 2, these enemies don’t follow the expected pattern of breaking the block and subsequently striking when the player character is staggered. Instead, they outright ignore the block, raising questions about the utility of the blocking mechanic itself. If the ability to block overhead attacks is so haphazard and unpredictable, it undermines the fundamental purpose of utilizing the block mechanic in the first place.
This isn’t a bug or an oversight. Block does not play into it at all, those attacks just straight up ignore blocks. It’s by design, overheads are not blockable. There is a toughness spillover mechanic that applies to most overhead attacks and notably sniper shots. I’ll explain it the way I remember it so correct me if I’m wrong:
Basically: If one such attack sucessfully breaks toughness, it will inflict its full damage to health, as if the player did not have any toughness to begin with.
What this means concretely: if you’re getting chunked/oneshot from a sniper shot or a crusher overhead, it’s because your toughness + DR are low enough for the attack to break your toughness completely, and then completely ignore it and do full damage to your HP.
If you however have enough toughness + DR for the attack to not break your toughness, it’s then removed anyway (Sniper shots and crusher overheads do this, atleast) and will deal vastly reduced damage to your HP.
It’s not really inconsistent, just esoteric. Basically if you have a good amount of effective toughness a crusher overhead or sniper shot will hurt much, much less due to this. I dont know what the current crusher overhead damage is on damnation right now for the record but a source i just consulted says 260. I’ll just assume this is true still, if not just substitute the number yourself.
So basically TL;DR: if your effective toughness (toughness number with DR% applied) is less than 260 you will eat 260 damage to your HP from a crusher overhead (unless you have health/general DR). If it’s more than that it gets reduced by an esoteric damage reduction calculation that I can’t explain, but is more effective the higher your toughness was. Solution? Dodge or get more effective toughness.
Dodging overheads is trickier now since dodge doesn’t break tracking like it did in beta/earlier at launch (at least from my memory).
That could just be an issue that the windup animation is NOT “tracking”, or it’s not technically an “attack” (so their forward rushing overhead is basically a feint), but their ability to turn on a time after this and ignore their momentum and direction of attack is… counterintuitive to say the least.
In a game where mastering combat mechanics is key to survival, having an attack that seemingly bypasses a fundamental defensive action like blocking can feel arbitrary and unfair.
Moreover, introducing a mechanic where overhead attacks ignore blocks breaks the established rules of engagement within the game.
In many action-oriented games, including Darktide’s predecessor Vermintide 2, blocking is a core defensive strategy that players rely on to mitigate damage from various enemy attacks, including overhead strikes. By deviating from this convention without clear in-game explanations or cues, it risks disrupting the player’s sense of immersion.
the point where their attacks don’t track dodges is fairly late in the animations, so it’s fairly easy to mistime that. especailly with crushers, who are so big that most of the time you can’t actually SEE the point where they lock in. (and also becauses you’re usually ignoring the trash mobs for the crusher and then they block off your dodger route)
You can definitely never block the overhead. Unless ogryn shield is an exception? I dont know this in particular.
I dont think it’s unfair that a well telegraphed, easily sidesteppable attack ignores blocking. It mixes the combat up. No rules are being broken. The rule is ltierally: overheads ignore block. You could just aswell be arguing that bullets should be blockable, after all poxwalkers are.
I’m not really a fan of them bypassing block entirely, but I don’t think it’s inconsistent. Or at least I’ve never encountered a situation where blocking has worked. It seems more likely in those situations you had enough yellow toughness/DR to tank it with toughness and misinterpreted.
Personally I think Psyker’s kinetic deflector skill stacked with enough BCR should be able to block them. BCR feels like a pretty pointless stat currently so it would be nice to at least give it a use case. Mind you I’ve never played shield on Ogryn or deflector force sword so maybe it’s already good there for dealing with higher gunner/shooter pressure, but in general overheads are the only attacks I feel like I’d want BCR for and they’re the one place where it has zero effect.
The argument that allowing overhead attacks to be blockable would be akin to suggesting bullets should be blockable overlooks a key distinction: the nature of melee combat versus ranged combat. In the context of Darktide’s predominantly melee-focused encounters, where players engage in close-quarters combat with foes like Maulers and Crushers, blocking serves as a fundamental defensive mechanism akin to parrying or deflecting blows. By denying players the ability to block overhead attacks, the game deviates from established melee combat mechanics.
Additionally, while the unblockable nature of overhead attacks may add a layer of challenge and unpredictability to combat encounters, it’s essential to balance this with considerations of player enjoyment and fairness. Frustrating players with attacks that seemingly defy established combat mechanics without clear in-game justification can lead to disengagement and dissatisfaction with the overall gameplay experience.
In summary, while Darktide’s decision to make overhead attacks unblockable may introduce variety and challenge to combat encounters, it’s crucial to ensure that this design choice aligns with player expectations.
It’s not easily sidesteppable. If your latency is over 120, which mine is constantly when playing on the East Coast, if the overhead is begun from point blank range, the attack is literally unavoidable. If you attempt to dodge, the overhead will have full tracking up to 180 degrees and guaranteed hit. The only exception to not being hit is with the combat blade, which grants enough dodge distance range to escape the range.
This problem is further compounded by the fact the sound system is worthless and allows dozens of Crushers and Maulers to spontaneously appear behind you in less than 4 seconds from the last time you looked behind you and have already finished their windup.
It doesn’t make sense that just because it’s a melee attack, it has to be blockable. It’s not an established rule that all melee attacks are blockable. Overheads aren’t blockable, a solid rule. Blocking is ONE of the fundamentals, pushing and dodging the others. When 20 poxwalkers swing on you, you can’t just block either, because it’ll drain your stamina. That’s usually where you push. Does that mean poxwalkers break some sort of “rule”? No, the game makes these systems abundantly clear. Big wound up overhead isnt blockable, regardless of enemy.
It does not add any unpredictability whatsoever. Overheads are EXTREMELY well telegraphed. If they’re unpredictable to you, you have the reflexes of a geriatric.
In all honesty your post reads like it’s AI generated.
Yes, they are easily sidesteppable even through latency. I dont know what else to say. You must use dodge, not just strafe. They don’t have tracking if you dodge in a VERY generous time window before impact. I can flawlessly dodge overheads when playing on asia servers with my friends with 300+ ms. Props to fatshark for actually designing the combat in such a way it actually works with that sort of latency still.
You are simply spouting absolutely hogwash, any weapon bar none can dodge overheads easily. You dont even need to PHYSICALLY dodge overheads, they have a sort of grace period where you seemingly get actual iframes and the hammer/axe can clip directly through you and you don’t take damage, so long as you’re actually in a dodge state.
As for the sound, overheads are actually one of the few things in the game that will consistently play a very scary warning sound. If you listen out for it, you’ll never get hit by one again. Doable completely blind.
Considering you both have taken to spouting falsehoods I’m going to just stop responding if your answer to this is “but in my game…”. This is a bug report forum. Record and report it.
The concept of blocking or parrying strikes in melee combat is a fundamental aspect of engagement, providing both defensive and strategic options for players. In this context, it seems illogical for overhead attacks to be universally unblockable, as they are not inherently insurmountable threats. When an opponent initiates a heavy overhead strike, it requires a significant amount of energy and momentum, making it susceptible to interception through timely blocking or parrying.
In Vermintide 2, both blocking and parrying overheads are viable defensive maneuvers, each with its own cost in terms of stamina management. Blocking an overhead strike entails absorbing the full force of the blow, potentially exhausting the defender’s stamina and leaving them vulnerable to subsequent attacks. Parrying, on the other hand, offers a more skillful and resource-efficient means of deflecting the attack without expending stamina. However, Darktide’s decision to disregard both blocking and parrying against overheads undermines the player’s ability to defend themselves effectively in melee combat which makes no sense whatsoever. I know Darktide leans more heavily to range combat, but to remove a tool to defend ourselves in melee is just absurd.
Now you argued that blocking an overhead is as absurd as blocking bullets, yet the Psyker actually can block bullets but he can’t block an overhead? I don’t know what rules you live by but they make no sense in the 40k setting.
It’s just server lag. There’s a lot of it lately. Enough that I’ve decided to take a break.
I’ve not been hit by overheads for over a week anyways before the break. Never seen one that hasn’t been my fault other than a silent stealth one once every blue moon.
It is completely fair, it brings rock-paper-scissors kinda. The problem is just there is no motivation to block, cause dodge is so strong and not restricted much in DT compare to V2 dodge, and it’s just better to push/push attack than blocking. Not even saying that blocking huge ass ogryn overhead with knife is kinda dumb.
You sound like a person who just started playing DT after V2 tbh.
You are completely delusional. The irony is you claiming the system works perfectly under all scenarios, yet have no evidence to cite that. I literally have over 3000 hours played in this game at the highest levels and play with people with the same experience.
If avoiding damage was trivial, then no one would ever be hit then, would they? Yet they do, game after game, daily, in Auric Maelstrom. I see it all the time. I’m beginning to believe you don’t even play the game above Damnation difficulty.
In terms of raw power, there isn’t much of a difference between the strength of an ogyrn and the strength of chaos warriors drunk on the gifts of their dark gods. Yet the Uberseik 5 can block chaos warriors overhead strikes with only a dagger. There isn’t much difference between the combat knife and Sienna’s dagger. Not to mention you have no qualms with us blocking attacks from plague ogyrns and chaos spawn. Your reasoning is flawed at best.