SpecialAttack

Adds unique special attacks to weapon categories in Valheim, plus a configurable dodge-roll replacement (Quickstep). Every covered weapon type gets a distinct skill with cooldown tracking, configurable damage multipliers, visual/audio feedback, and an optional custom activation key.

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Special Attacks by Weapon

Weapon	Special Attack	Description
1H Sword	Sword Chain	Secondary attack starts a chain — hold to keep chaining up to 3 hits, each with its own damage multiplier. Extra hits unlock at higher Swords skill levels.
2H Sword (Claymore / THSwordKrom / Gold / Slayer variants)	Quad Slash	Secondary attack replaces the vanilla swing with a 4-hit slash combo — each hit has its own animation speed and damage multiplier. Extra hits unlock at higher Swords skill levels.
Bastard Sword (Warfare weapon)	Crescent Wave	The weapon's own secondary attack plays normally; at the hit-trigger moment a piercing crescent slash is additionally fired forward.
Spear	Spear Pin	Throws the spear into an enemy — it stays embedded, slowing the target and dealing bonus damage. Walk up and pull it out to get your spear back; the bonus damage and reticle stay for the pin duration while the slow wears off gradually.
Battleaxe (2H Axe)	Impact Burst	Throws the axe with a spinning visual; it explodes in an AoE burst on impact.
1H Club/Mace	Concussion Blow	The weapon's own swing/damage is untouched; every monster actually hit by the swing gets a forced stagger + brief movement/attack lockout (small/large monster tiers gated by Clubs skill level; bosses are excluded).
Sledgehammer / 2H Mace	Aftershock	The weapon's own ground-slam swing plays normally; immediately after, a series of shockwaves ripples out from the impact point, growing in size and damage over 1–5 waves depending on Clubs skill level.
Battle Hammer (Clubs + Two-Handed, excluding Sledgehammers)	Spinning Sweep	Hold secondary attack to spin continuously, hitting all nearby enemies for the duration.
Polearm / Atgeir	Spiral Thrust	The weapon's own secondary attack plays normally (motion/hit detection/multi-hit untouched); only this swing's attack instance is switched to a horizontal spin thrust, and every monster hit takes extra follow-up hits over time (1–5 depending on Polearms skill level).
Knife / Dagger	Smoke Vanish	Throws a smoke bomb that resets nearby aggro and suppresses re-detection for a short duration — lets you reposition or vanish mid-fight.
All weapons (per-category toggle)	Quickstep	Replaces the vanilla roll with a short, fast dash — lower stamina cost, shorter cooldown, brief i-frames. Ported from sighsorry's SecondaryAttacks with the author's permission — see Credits.

Weapon detection is done by vanilla skill type + item type (and, for Bastard Sword/Crescent Wave, by prefab name) — no specific mod required for most weapons. Bastard Sword itself only exists if you have the Warfare mod installed (see "Optional integrations" below).

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How It Works

• Secondary attack key triggers specials by default — each has its own cooldown
• Optionally bind a custom key (SpecialAttackKey) to separate specials from vanilla secondary attacks
  • Custom key pressed → special attack only (no secondary swing)
  • Custom key pressed while on cooldown → nothing happens
  • Secondary attack key → always vanilla secondary attack
• Cooldown icons appear on your HUD
• All values are fully configurable via the BepInEx config file

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Optional integrations (not required dependencies)

SpecialAttack does not require any other mod to function. If the following mods are installed, a couple of features use them automatically — with no integration installed, the affected feature simply falls back to its vanilla equivalent:

• Warfare (Therzie) — if installed:
  • Crescent Wave can trigger on the Bastard Sword (a Warfare weapon; without Warfare this weapon doesn't exist, so Crescent Wave never fires).
  • Spiral Thrust will play Warfare's Warpike secondary-attack motion (SpiralThrust.MotionName, default WarpikeSecondary_TW) for the spin thrust. Without Warfare (or if the motion can't be found), it plays the Atgeir's own secondary attack motion instead — the hit detection and extra-hit logic work identically either way.

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Configuration

Edit BepInEx/config/com.specialattack.plugin.cfg after first launch.

[General]

Key	Default	Description
SpecialAttackKey	None	Custom activation key (Unity KeyCode). When set, secondary key = vanilla only. Example: Mouse4, Mouse2, F

[Hud]

Key	Default	Description
HudX	0.5	Cooldown HUD X position (0 = left, 1 = right)
HudY	0.15	Cooldown HUD Y position (0 = bottom, 1 = top)

[SwordChain] — 1H Sword

Key	Default	Description
Enable	true	Toggle on/off
Cooldown	10	Cooldown in seconds
ChainWindow	0.8	Time window to trigger next chain hit (seconds)
AnimSpeed	1.4	Chain hit animation speed multiplier
Damage1	1.2	1st hit (special attack) damage multiplier
Damage2	1.4	2nd hit damage multiplier
Damage3	2.0	3rd hit (finisher) damage multiplier
MinSkillLevel	0	Minimum Swords skill level required (0 = no limit)
HitLevel2	10	Min Swords level for the 2nd hit (1st hit only needs MinSkillLevel)
HitLevel3	20	Min Swords level for the 3rd hit (finisher)
ChainPushMult	0.1	Knockback multiplier for chain hits (0 = none, 1.0 = full weapon knockback)

[QuadSlash] — 2H Sword (Claymore / THSwordKrom / Gold & Slayer variants)

Key	Default	Description
Enable	true	Toggle on/off
Cooldown	12	Cooldown in seconds
AnimSpeed1–3	2.5	Animation speed for hits 1–3
AnimSpeed4	2.0	Animation speed for finisher (hit 4)
Damage1–3	1.0	Damage multiplier for hits 1–3
Damage4	1.5	Damage multiplier for finisher
MinSkillLevel	0	Minimum Swords skill level required
HitLevel2	10	Min Swords level for the 2nd hit
HitLevel3	30	Min Swords level for the 3rd hit
HitLevel4	50	Min Swords level for the finisher

[CrescentWave] — Bastard Sword (Warfare weapon)

Key	Default	Description
Enable	true	Toggle on/off
HitHeight	2	Hit detection height (meters)
DamageMult	1.0	Crescent damage multiplier — weapon damage (quality/skill applied, all types summed then converted to Slash) × this value
Cooldown	12	Cooldown in seconds — while on cooldown, only the vanilla secondary attack plays
MinSkillLevel	0	Minimum Swords skill level required
HitSlashEnable	true	Show a small slash-mark effect at the hit point
CrescentFullness	0.25	Crescent thickness ratio (closer to 1 = thicker)

[SpearPin] — Spear

Key	Default	Description
Enable	true	Toggle on/off
Cooldown	18	Cooldown in seconds
SpeedFactor	0.35	Movement speed multiplier while pinned (0.1–1.0)
PinDuration	8	Duration of the pin effect (seconds) — spear drops as an item on expiry
PullRange	3	Distance to retrieve the pinned spear (meters)
PullRestoreTime	3	Time for movement speed to recover after the spear is pulled (seconds)
MinSkillLevel	0	Minimum Spears skill level required
BonusDamageRatio	0.2	Extra hit dealt while pinned, as a ratio of the pin hit (0 = disabled)
BossMinSkillLevel	50	Minimum Spears level required for the pin (slow) effect to apply to bosses — below this, bosses still get pinned and take bonus damage but aren't slowed
ReticleEnable	true	Show a reticle above pinned targets
ReticleSize	1.5	Reticle size (meters)

[ImpactBurst] — Battleaxe (2H Axe)

Key	Default	Description
Enable	true	Toggle on/off
Cooldown	12	Cooldown in seconds
DamageFactor	0.75	AoE damage multiplier
PushFactor	4.0	AoE knockback multiplier
Radius	4.0	AoE radius (meters)
ThrowSpeed	30	Throw velocity (m/s)
SpinSpeed	2.5	Thrown axe spin rate (rotations/second); 0 = no spin
VisualPitch / VisualYaw / VisualRoll	0	Visual orientation correction (degrees) — only needed if a modded axe's throw pose looks off
MinSkillLevel	0	Minimum Axes skill level required

[ConcussionBlow] — 1H Club/Mace

The weapon's own motion/damage/multi-hit is completely untouched — this only adds a forced stagger + brief lockout on top, gated by target size and Clubs skill level. Bosses are always excluded.

Key	Default	Description
Enable	true	Toggle on/off
Cooldown	10	Cooldown in seconds — only consumed if at least one monster was actually staggered this swing
MinSkillLevel	0	Minimum Clubs skill level for the skill itself (separate from the per-size gates below)
SmallLevel	0	Minimum Clubs level to force-stagger small monsters
LargeLevel	30	Minimum Clubs level to force-stagger large monsters (see LargeMonsters)
ExtraBosses	(empty)	Comma-separated prefab names to additionally treat as bosses (excluded from this skill)
LargeMonsters	Troll,Abomination,StoneGolem,Gjall,SeekerBrute,GoblinBrute	Comma-separated prefab names treated as "large"
ExportCreatureList	false	If true, dumps every Character-bearing prefab to BepInEx/config/SpecialAttack_CreatureList.txt once per game start — turn on only when you need this reference list, leave off otherwise so it doesn't write a file every launch
StunDuration	2.5	How long (seconds) a staggered target is locked out of movement/attacks. Re-triggering refreshes (doesn't stack) this duration

[Aftershock] — Sledgehammer / 2H Mace

The weapon's own ground-slam swing is untouched; the shockwaves are a purely additive follow-up from the same impact point.

Key	Default	Description
Enable	true	Toggle on/off
Cooldown	15	Cooldown in seconds
MinSkillLevel	0	Minimum Clubs skill level — meeting this always grants at least 1 shockwave
Radius	4	Base shockwave radius (meters) — actual radius is this × the per-wave size multiplier below
ImpactOffset	2	Forward distance to the fixed impact point (meters)
ShockInterval	0.4	Seconds between shockwaves — the first fires immediately on impact
ShockLevel2–5	20/40/60/80	Minimum Clubs level for 2/3/4/5 total shockwaves
ScaleFirst / ScaleLast	1.2 / 3.0	Size multiplier for wave 1 / wave 5 (linearly interpolated in between; the table stays fixed even if fewer waves occur)
DamageFirst / DamageLast	0.5 / 1.0	Damage multiplier for wave 1 / wave 5

[SpinningSweep] — Battle Hammer (Clubs + Two-Handed, excluding Sledgehammers)

Key	Default	Description
EnableBattleHammer	true	Toggle on/off
Cooldown	8	Cooldown in seconds
LoopStart / LoopEnd	0.4 / 0.6	Normalized animation time window that loops while held
AnimationSpeed	1.0	Animation playback speed
BattleHammerMoveSpeedFactor	0.3	Movement speed multiplier while spinning
SkillRaiseFactor	0.25	Skill XP multiplier per loop
MinSkillLevel	0	Minimum skill level required
StaminaMult	0.5	Stamina cost per loop, relative to the weapon's own secondary attack stamina cost (1.0 = full)
PushMult	0	Knockback multiplier (0 = none, 1.0 = full weapon knockback)
StaggerMult	0.5	Stagger multiplier (1.0 = full weapon stagger)
DamageMult	0.7	Damage multiplier (1.0 = full weapon damage)

[SpiralThrust] — Polearm / Atgeir

Does not intercept the secondary attack — the weapon's own motion, hit detection, and multi-hit are untouched. Only this swing's attack instance has its AttackType switched to a horizontal spin, and every monster actually hit receives extra follow-up hits over time.

Key	Default	Description
Enable	true	Toggle on/off
Cooldown	12	Cooldown in seconds
MinSkillLevel	0	Minimum Polearms skill level required — meeting this always grants at least 1 extra hit
HitLevel2–5	20/40/60/80	Minimum Polearms level for 2/3/4/5 total extra hits
TickInterval	0.3	Seconds between extra hits
TickDamageMult	0.3	Damage multiplier per extra hit (applied to weapon damage)
MotionName	WarpikeSecondary_TW	Motion name invoked via ZSyncAnimation.SetTrigger when Warfare is installed (see "Optional integrations"). Not an Animator parameter — it's the name Warfare's own animation-replacement system listens for. Falls back to the Atgeir's own secondary attack motion if Warfare isn't installed or the motion can't be played

[SmokeVanish] — Knife / Dagger

Key	Default	Description
Enable	true	Toggle on/off
Cooldown	15	Cooldown in seconds
MinSkillLevel	0	Minimum Knives skill level required
Duration	6	Seconds nearby monsters can't newly detect/re-target you after activation. Not invincibility — attacking or getting hit ends it immediately
AggroResetRadius	10	Radius (meters) for the immediate aggro reset and the ongoing re-detection suppression
PreCastHitGrace	0.5	Grace period (seconds) after activation during which an incoming hit doesn't count as "ending" the effect — covers monster attacks already in motion before you activated

[Quickstep] — dodge roll replacement (all weapons, per-category toggle below)

Ported from sighsorry's SecondaryAttacks with the author's permission — see Credits. Default values match the original mod's fixed constants.

Key	Default	Description
Enable	true	Use a short fast dash instead of the vanilla roll when conditions are met; falls back to the vanilla roll otherwise
DashAcceleration	200	Dash acceleration
DashDuration	0.25	Dash duration (seconds)
StaminaFactor	0.6	Stamina cost = this fraction of the vanilla roll's cost
Cooldown	0.5	Cooldown (seconds)
ShieldInvincibleDuration	0.15	I-frame duration (seconds) while a shield is equipped — without a shield, the whole dash is invincible
AnimSpeedStart	3.0	Animation speed multiplier at dash start
AnimSpeedEnd	1.5	Animation speed multiplier during the rest of the dash

[Quickstep - Weapons] — per weapon-category toggle

Key	Default	Description
Knives_1H / Knives_2H	true / true	Knives (1H / 2H)
Unarmed_1H / Unarmed_2H	true / true	Unarmed / fist weapons (1H / 2H)
Swords_1H / Swords_2H	false / false	Swords (1H / 2H)
Axes_1H / Axes_2H	false / false	Axes (1H / 2H)
Clubs_1H / Clubs_2H	false / false	Clubs (1H / 2H)
Polearms_1H / Polearms_2H	false / false	Polearms (1H / 2H — vanilla has no 1H polearm; covers modded weapons)
Spears_1H / Spears_2H	false / false	Spears (1H / 2H — vanilla has no 2H spear; covers modded weapons)
Pickaxes_1H / Pickaxes_2H	false / false	Pickaxes (1H — modded only / 2H — all vanilla pickaxes)
OtherSkills_1H / OtherSkills_2H	false / false	Any skill type not listed above (e.g. from other mods)
Bows / Crossbows	false / false	Bows / Crossbows
ElementalMagic / BloodMagic	false / false	Elemental / Blood magic staves
BareHands	false	Completely unequipped (no unarmed weapon item)
ExtraPrefabs	(empty)	Comma-separated weapon drop-prefab names always allowed regardless of the checkboxes above

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Requirements

• BepInExPack Valheim

No other mod is required. See "Optional integrations" above for what changes if Warfare is also installed.

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Credits

• Some special attacks in this mod were inspired by, or adapted from, sighsorry's SecondaryAttacks, used and modified with the author's permission. Many thanks to sighsorry.
• Quickstep is ported from SecondaryAttacks (QuickstepSystem.cs, originally licensed under GPL-3.0). Core dash physics/stamina/animation-transition/invincibility logic follows the original; see the attribution comment at the top of Quickstep.cs for the changes made when porting it into this project.

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Changelog

1.2.2

• Polearm / Atgeir: Triple Thrust → Spiral Thrust. The old version blocked the vanilla secondary attack and replayed the primary attack 3 times. The new version leaves the weapon's own secondary attack, motion, and multi-hit completely alone — it only switches this swing's attack instance to a horizontal spin, and adds scaling follow-up hits (1–5, by Polearms skill level) to whatever it hits
• 1H Club/Mace: Launch Slam → Concussion Blow. Airborne launch removed; replaced with a forced stagger + brief lockout on hit, gated by monster size and Clubs skill level (bosses excluded)
• Knife/Dagger: Sneak Ambush → Smoke Vanish. Charge-and-backstab removed; replaced with a smoke bomb that resets and suppresses aggro for a short duration
• Bastard Sword: Charge Slash → Crescent Wave. Hold-to-charge slash removed; replaced with a piercing crescent projectile fired alongside the weapon's normal (unmodified) secondary attack
• Aftershock redesigned: now a fixed-point, growing shockwave series immediately following the sledgehammer's own ground slam (previously a forward-advancing, shrinking wave pattern); wave count now scales with Clubs skill level (1–5)
• Added Quickstep: dodge-roll replacement ported from sighsorry's SecondaryAttacks (used with the author's permission), with per-weapon-category toggles
• SwordChain / QuadSlash: extra combo hits now gated by skill level (HitLevel2/3/4) instead of always available
• ImpactBurst: thrown axe now has a configurable spin animation and orientation correction for modded axes
• SpinningSweep / SpearPin: various tuning and stability fixes
• Removed the Unarmed (Knockback Chain) and Warfare Fist/Claw (Spinkick) special attacks — not present in this build
• Added stamina/eitr pre-checks so specials that don't have a normal secondary-attack animation don't fire (or consume cooldown) without enough resources
• Various weapon-detection fixes for modded weapon variants (Gold, Slayer, and other Deep North weapon lines)

1.2.1

• Fixed: mod not working after the Valheim 1.0 update (Unity 6)
  • The game changed the signature of MessageHud.ShowMessage, which caused a MissingMethodException every frame and stopped the special attacks from running
  • The mod was rebuilt against the current game assemblies
• Fixed the plugin version being logged as 1.0.0 in the BepInEx log — it now matches the package version
• No gameplay or config changes

1.2.0

• Counter Upper removed → replaced with Spinkick for Warfare Fist/Claw weapons (later removed in 1.2.2)
• Aftershock: VFX replaced with vfx_sledge_iron_hit (sledgehammer swing shockwave ring)
• Aftershock: Added [Aftershock VFX] config section — individual toggles for each particle (Waves, Cloud, Splosh, TrollRock)

1.1.0

• Added Counter Upper for Warfare mod Fist weapons (later removed)
• Added Quad Slash for Claymore / THSwordKrom (4-hit combo, per-hit damage and speed config)
• Added Triple Thrust for Polearm / Atgeir (later replaced by Spiral Thrust in 1.2.2)
• Added Spear Pin for all Spear weapons (replaces Spear Rain) — pins enemy, slows movement
• Spinning Sweep now supports Polearms via EnablePolearms config option (later removed)

1.0.1

• Fixed Charge Slash Mouse4 hold charge bug

1.0.0

• Initial release
• 10 weapon categories with unique special attacks
• Configurable custom activation key — separate specials from vanilla secondary attack
• Per-weapon minimum skill level requirement
• Cooldown HUD with radial icons
• Charge bar HUD for Sneak Ambush and Charge Slash
• Fully configurable via BepInEx config