Melee Enhancements

What's the problem?

While melee vs zombies isn't always a good idea, it is sometimes necessary. Some masochistic players (myself included) play with extra hardcore mods that reduce ammo and increase ammo weight among other detriments. Therefore, being able to pick up a baseball bat to bludgeon zombies make survival easier with ammo at a premium.

The big issue with melee in Fallout 4 as it relates to Zombie Walkers is that it is difficult to target the head. If you are using VATS then it is impossible as you can only target the enemy generally and the hits location is seemingly random. Outside of VATS, where I usually play, it is still difficult to target the head as the swing trajectory often clips something else instead like one of the arms or upper torso.

Attempting to make melee feasible

The first thing I wanted to do was increase damage and stagger zombies take. Zombies stagger others when they strike with melee, so it only seemed fair it should work both ways.

Looking at the game files it became apparent that these are achievable via perks. I already have a hidden quest with aliases to "nearby zombies", so I updated the script attached to said zombies to add a hidden perk called ZombiePerk to them. Once added, I could then configure the perk as needed to apply various effects.

Hidden ZombiePerk added to "nearby zombies" via hidden quest alias

Perks can be selectable and usable by the player or given to any other Actor in the game. The sections at the top of the screen above area largely for player perks. The Perk Entries section is where the effects of the perk are defined.

Perk Entry for ZombiePerk to modify incoming limb damage (melee only)

Perk Entries are built in and selectable via the drop downs on the right. Each allows to change the values of things like damage in different ways (multiple/add/etc.). The Conditions section on the left appears to be slightly different for different entry points. For example, Mod Incoming Limb Damage allows you to specify Attacker Weapon conditions but this section is absent for Mod Incoming Stagger.

Adding Knockdown

Ok, so I've increased melee damage and stagger but is that enough? If I hit a zombie with a power attack shouldn't the clumsy shamblers fall down once in awhile from the force? I thought so too.

I tried looking for entry points in perks to apply knockdown, but was unable to find one that allowed me to specify Attacker Weapon. I didn't want to suddenly add knockdown chances to guns, so I opted to script it instead using the script attached to the hidden quest alias (same one that adds the ZombiePerk).

The magical function for knockdown in the Creation Kit is called PushActorAway. If you are playing on PC, then this is also available via the console and can result in lots of fun and frivolity. Try "pushactoraway  -id- 100" for example. I think this function is how the world series baseball bat works.

In my case, I used values much lower at apply the knockdown. A normal attack produces a knockdown with force equal to 1 which basically means the zombie falls where they are standing. If the attack is a power or sneak attack, then I increase the force by adding 1 to add a bit of kick.

The knockdown applies the ragdoll effect similar to an explosion going off. Once the zombie hits the ground, it resets slightly and then starts the get up animation. The entire time you can continue to beat them senseless while they are on the ground.