I've gotten whacked several times by enemy one-shots. Some of them made sense; once I was at half HP, but got decapitated (!!) by a vampire, so I figured she had something like the one-handed skill with the chance of decapitation. Twice I got one-shot from 400 HP by a Forsworn Ravager, but I watched my HP bar drop and didn't drink a potion because I didn't think there was any way I was going to die from full HP, so I figured dual-wielding power attacks from those guys just hurt a bunch.

But twice now I've run up on someone, had full HP, gotten stabbed in the stomach and thrown to the ground, dead. One had a dagger, one a broadsword. 99% of my kills are sneak/Shadow Warrior kills, but occasionally I'll get someone down to half HP or so and then get an instant kill animation before one more regular hit would do them in, so I guess I can do it too. But I don't know what it is that's triggering these kills. (The only one-handed perk I have is the first one, maxed out.)

What's doing this? I play on Expert, FWIW.

I don't understand the instant kills if you want them nothing happens and if you don't want them suddenly you have them for very kill.
I think it has to do with you stamina & power attack + the blocking timing of you target. If you block a power attack then you don't have instant kills.

The only instant kill I found funny was when a dragon took me. I just laufht at that animation.

I think whether or not they can perform a kill move on you depends on your health and the strength of their attack, as ours does. If the hit they are about to strike you with is capable of killing you because your health was low enough, they have a chance of having a kill animation occur. So if you have very low base health and they hit hard enough, it's possible that they could one-hit kill you.

So those times when you were insta-killed at full health are due to them having a really lucky or powerful hit, as it's possible that they have a critical hit chance like we do (I'm not as sure on that though).

Enemies get perks, too.

Are you the same SpiffyMcBang that now moderates the USEast trade forum at DiabloII.net? With a Spear and Magic Helmet?

Whatever; that's OT.

Yes, enemies in Skyrim can perk-attack you. It's no fun when the game transitions to 3P mode only to show you dying, instead of the other guy.

Hmm, is that so? If have sometimes the feeling I can do instant kills to characters with full health.
Or they with me, I had full health at a forsone hideout and a brain heart runs of the stairs with a sword & axe and there I went, dead before I could blink...

I can understand getting the animation if the hit is enough to kill you, but for a guy with a steel dagger to take off 400 HP when I have dragonscale armor seems... not right. Even a glass dagger. He'd still need like a 10x crit. The second guy had a dwarven sword, which isn't exactly superpowered either.


I'm not that guy. I actually signed up for their forums a few years back and was told I had to change my name because I had the same name as him, only with caps or a space or something. I just never went back. I've used the name since 1997 or 1998, it's mine.

No I can second your observations, several times I've had kill-cams off mobs who shouldn't logically have killed me.

A notable example was when I was fighting 3 pental-whatsit agents. I took two hits off one of them for 10% damage each hit, then the 3rd hit cut to cut-scene mode where he impaled me and threw me over the bridge.

If the bad guys have the decapitation perk, I'm pretty sure they can insta-kill you no matter what your health/armor is... Briarhearts are pretty bad-ass as well, I wouldn't be surprised if they routinely run around with that perk enabled. Don't let them power attack you!

-Loth