Mounted combat has been one of the most requested additions to The Elder Scrolls series since the addition of horses and, after holding firm for an entire game and then for the release of another game, Bethesda finally acquiesced. So, finally, I decided to save up a grand and buy a horse so that I could try out the poster child of 1.6.

Personally, it is exactly what I expected. Bethesda held off on mounted combat for a reason: it would be too difficult to get it to work fluidly and, lo and behold, it's awkward as hell. Yeah, it's nice to not have to get off your horse every time a skeever comes after you, but 1.6 only fixes that in theory. Your only chance of hitting anything is with the initial charge. Failing that, your options are to either gallop off so you can line up another charge, or swirl around desperately trying to land a hit on your attacker. Against weak enemies this is all well and good. It's annoying as hell, but doable. Now, try and fight a tougher enemy on horseback, and it's a whole nother story. Either you're going to have to do a bunch of hit-and-running, or you're going to get your ass chewed off (literally, they get behind you and you're screwed. Unless I'm mistaken, you only have a 180 degree range of attack, and turning around without letting the enemy get behind you again is a [censored]). All told, this makes mounted combat little more than a gimmick IMO.

Now this might just be because I've never beed a horse kind of guy. Being able to go a bit faster isn't worth having to babysit a thousand septim investment, so I've always preferred to walk. It might also be that I hate third person combat. Say what you will about Skyrim's third person, I just don't like it in any game. Just feels awkward to me. So maybe it's just me, but it just doesn't seem like mounted combat really needed to happen. Since it might be just me though, I'm wondering how the actual demographic (i.e.: everyone who wanted mounted combat) is enjoying it.

Only awkward experience for me is the final blow, which sends them or you rocketting into space.

The only thing that's awkward to me is archery on horseback. The only reason why its less is because of the perk that let's me slow time while zooming in.

The good thing about this is it now allows moders to take the base herky jerky horse combat we have now and tweak it till it sings, while the rest of us have it if we want it. It is kinda fun for a while, and it's nice not having to get off to kill some small-fry. And those who want to can rp as soldiers who fought from horseback in the great war too.

I'm glad it exists, but it was rushed into an update, rather than in a small part of an add-on or something, where it would have been much more refined and wonderful.

I'm not a fan of mounted combat. Weird to use, followers always 40 miles behind, enemies almost always fly across the field and you got to get off your horse to loot the body.

I find mounted archery very fun. Once you get the idea of how it works, you can hit rabbits without trouble. Mounted melee is a bit awkward, but I rarely use swords on horses anyways.

I know of another good poster child: Eric Cartman
Sorry, i could not resist:)

I see it as a WIP. It is like it's in an Alpha stage. They are taking a step in the right direction. It just needs to be finished. You could harvest plants in oblivion, from horseback. That would be nice to have, and then there needs to be the addition of..

• 1st Person
  
• Magic use
  
• Crosshair
  
• The ability to rotate the camera while NOT turning the horse.
  
• Fast Dismount
  
• Better Horse AI (ie.. not attack anything that moves)

Honestly, I'm not sure how much more refined it could have been. As I said in the OP, it's not like they haven't been thinking about it for a while.


And yes, that bugs me a bit too (looting). However, I did get used to not being able to loot when I was a werewolf, so it just comes down to whether or not you think it's worth it.


Fair enough. I can't mod, but fair enough.

@Everyone talking about archery: Haven't tried it yet, but wouldn't you just snipe enemies? Trying to shoot an attacking enemy just sounds impossible!

Agreed. However they seemed to take a couple steps back for that step forward. As you said, in Oblivion you still interact with the world while mounted, plus you had first person perspective. WIP? Maybe. They got a looooong way to go though.

I don't use horses so i don't really care for it.

You are right. It makes no sense NOT to be able to talk to someone. Let alone harvest plants. That and no 1stP is a step back from Oblivion. You would think that they would "expand" on what was there.

Then again, magic was chopped up so....