Hey everybody,

I was just wondering whenever an NPC appears to quickly sidestep an arrow or a spell, is this just:

1) normal movement but done with computer or AI reflexes/precision?

2) a perk of some sort? if it is a perk is it an NPC only perk or is it something a player can pick up as well?

At first i thought it was quick reflexes perk but AFAIK you can only take advantage of that perk if you have the ability to block (which archers or dual casters cannot do obviously). I'm thinking it's just normal movement but its hard for me to tell when comparing it to my movement speed.

You will get varied and conflicted reviews on this matter. Personally, I write it off as an intended AI feature that is implemented badly.

I was thinking about starting an archer, and i thought that this quick-side step was something i could do as well through perks or something. Every thing i've read though states that the quick reflexes perk only works if you can block. I guess the best thing for me to do is to pick up the perk that allows me to move faster with my bow drawn so that i can dodge projectiles better by just strafing.

It is basically a glitch, as best I can tell. Much of the time when it happens to me, I am in sneak and the all-knowing eye is closed, meaning that I am entirely undetected. There is no way the NPC should be able to know I'm firing an arrow.

As I recall, Quick Reflex only triggers when the attacker is employing a power attack. There is no such thing as a power attack with archery so I'm guessing the NPCs are behaving as intended though it may look odd. I mean, think about it, we can sidestep projectiles pretty easily. Why shouldn't they be able to do the same thing at higher levels?

Pretty much this. I've had this happen repeatedly to me when there's no way in Oblivion my enemy could've dodged my arrow...even if it was seen coming. Could it have been an intended feature? possibly, but if it was, it doesn't work and should've be removed until they could get it to work as intended.

I can't accept this. We may be able to sidestep projectiles, but we cannot slidestep them at Superman speeds without our legs ever moving, NPC's can, and do this all the damn time. I'm all for dodging ability, but this feature does not work as envisioned...if it was ever even intended.

Enemy with his back turned to me dodges an arrow i fire while undetected from a long distance? Bug.

An over-used, effective AI tactic gone wrong.

I've never seen NPCs dodge without moving their legs or dodging projectiles that are shot from behind so can't comment on those situations. The behavior I've seen came across as fairly natural (though accelerated).

Trust me, you'll know it when you see it. It's a feature that just doesn't belong. It's like a slide step dodge at superman speeds. It appears to me that the NPC's that do this sort of slide step, don't even move their legs like they are even trying to dodge an arrow. This is why I believe now, it was never an intended feature.

It sounds weird - what difficulty level? I wonder if I've run across this and just didn't recognize it. You guys have been playing a lot longer than I have - though maybe on PC this is more prevalent? I'm on Xbox 360.

Cheesy, badly-implemented AI. I can see an NPC maybe dodging an arrow if they saw me shooting the bow. However, dodging a shot made from stealth they couldn't possibly have known was coming? Utter rubbish.

My thoughts exactly.

I know what your talking about, they are running forward (say) and just before your arrow hits they " slide " to either the left or right while they are still running forward. But as Jesuis Cache-Cache said it's a badly implemented AI feature, perhaps an unfinished idea

I've seen them pull that slide right before an arrow fired from stealth hits their back.

This design flaw, bug, whatever it is has been brought up before and I mentioned it in a thread recently as being my most frustrating experience in the game as I predominantly play archer type characters . I thought I was the only one who noticed it but clearly not huh.

So have I, it pisses me off to no end with my sneaky assassin types

Nope your not the only one, the other gripe I have when it comes to archers is the paralyzing shot perk that bugs out. IF they fix these 2 archer issues I would be a happy assassin

Exactly. I mean, I see it as a feature that just doesn't work as intended. Either way... it is what it is and there's not really a whole lot we can do about it. I just accept it as being a missed attempt and chalk one up for the bad guy.

People scream about balance and stealth being overpowered. Take it for leveling the playing field and keep going.

If this is the case, it never should've made it past Beth's bug testers...oh, wait, we...ARE...the bug testers.

so true.....so true....

Still though

No? What bugs have they fixed?

That's actually pretty good.

Im not sure this even a bug though really. I...i'm not sure what it is, it's just really strange.

It is more frustrating when it happens, which is frequent, to my Crossbow wielding vampire slayer. My other archers get mad...but they can get another shot off pretty quickly.

http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1469608-relz-unofficial-skyrim-patch-thread-35/...and they are now up to thread #35. They've not been sitting on their asses doing nothing for the last 2 years (almost).