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Goo's Combat Overhaul

Goo's Combat Overhaul is a highly configurable combat overhaul for Valheim. It adds Souls-like combat mechanics, expands weapon identity, improves melee aggression, makes heavy weapons more usable, gives PvP more consistent damage behavior, and exposes detailed config options for damage, stagger, hyperarmor, counter damage, blocking, stamina, movement, hit-stop, ranged weapons, magic, summons, and more.

The default Goo ruleset is built around more aggressive and expressive combat. Heavy weapons gain better commitment tools, fast weapons keep their mobility and precision, shields gain more flexible defensive options, and PvP damage is tuned to be more readable and less random.

You can use the default Goo ruleset, reset toward vanilla behavior, or manually tune nearly every part of the system.

PvP Damage

PvP damage is balanced separately from PvE damage in Goo's Combat Overhaul.

Many attacks that feel fair in PvE become too explosive in PvP because players have much smaller effective health pools than enemies, and because Valheim's armor formula makes high single-hit damage scale very aggressively.

Valheim's armor calculation is not always a simple flat reduction. When armor is high relative to the incoming hit, final damage is roughly:

damage² / (4 × armor)

This means small differences in raw damage can become much larger differences after armor is applied.

For example, against 40 armor:

30 raw damage → 30² / (4 × 40) = 900 / 160 = 5.625 final damage
40 raw damage → 40² / (4 × 40) = 1600 / 160 = 10 final damage

The raw damage only increased by about 33%, from 30 to 40. But the final post-armor damage increased by about 78%, from 5.625 to 10.

This is why random damage rolls are especially problematic in PvP. A weapon can feel inconsistent even when the raw damage difference looks small, because the armor formula can magnify that difference after mitigation.

Because of this, Goo's Combat Overhaul enables Always Do Max Damage in PvP by default. This removes random damage variance from PvP hits and makes player-versus-player damage more predictable, readable, and balanceable.

The same armor formula is also why Goo's Ruleset reduces the PvP damage of high single-shot attacks. High raw damage does not merely stay proportionally stronger after armor; it can become disproportionately stronger.

For example, again against 40 armor:

40 raw damage → 10 final damage
80 raw damage → 80² / (4 × 40) = 6400 / 160 = 40 final damage

The raw damage doubled from 40 to 80, but the final post-armor damage became four times higher, from 10 to 40.

That makes high single-shot attacks, such as heavy burst attacks, jump attacks, powerful secondary attacks, bows, crossbows, and certain magic or projectile attacks, much more dangerous in PvP than their raw numbers may suggest. Without PvP-specific reductions, these attacks can bypass too much of the intended armor protection and create sudden burst damage that is hard to react to.

Goo's Ruleset reduces PvP damage on many high single-shot attacks so they remain threatening without becoming instant-win burst tools. The goal is not to make PvP damage low across the board. The goal is to make heavy attacks, ranged attacks, jump attacks, and other burst options strong but still readable, survivable, and fair under Valheim's armor-damage system.

Core Combat Features

Hyperarmor

Hyperarmor lets selected attacks resist interruption during part or all of the attack animation.

This is one of the most important systems in the mod. Heavy weapons such as two-handed swords and two-handed axes are often underpowered in vanilla Valheim because they are extremely cumbersome and struggle to find a good window of commitment. Hyperarmor helps compensate for those slower attacks by giving selected heavy swings damage, stagger, and knockback resistance during the animation.

This does not make every heavy attack safe. The goal is to make commitment more reasonable. Occasional trades of blows should not be as punishing as they are in vanilla, but poor timing can still be punished.

Hyperarmor can reduce:

damage taken
stagger taken
knockback taken

Some attacks can have strong hyperarmor, some can have light hyperarmor, and some can have none. Hyperarmor can be configured per weapon and per attack. PvP hyperarmor values can also be tuned separately, so a weapon can be durable in PvE without becoming unfair in PvP.

Counter Damage

Counter damage rewards hitting an opponent during their own attack commitment.

This gives timing-based weapons a clearer identity. Pierce weapons, along with attacks that visually behave like thrusting or piercing attacks, can become more about timing and spacing instead of only raw damage.

A well-timed counter hit can be stronger than a normal hit, rewarding players who attack into the opponent's opening instead of only waiting defensively. Counter damage gives certain weapons a more distinct playstyle: instead of simply swinging first or swinging harder, the player is rewarded for reading the enemy's commitment and striking at the right time.

Counter damage can be configured per weapon and per attack. PvP counter damage can also be tuned separately.

Running Attacks

Running attacks give melee weapons a better chase tool.

In vanilla, it can be hard to punish enemies or players who keep disengaging. Many melee attacks slow the attacker down or require the enemy to come back into range. Running attacks help melee weapons keep pressure on retreating targets and make combat less passive.

Running attacks also speed up the pace of combat. Instead of waiting for the enemy to approach, players can actively chase, pressure, and force engagement.

Running attacks can be configured per weapon type, including:

whether the weapon has a running attack
which attack slot the running attack uses
required movement speed to trigger the attack
damage multiplier
stagger multiplier
stamina cost multiplier
movement speed
lunge distance
animation speed
recovery speed
hit-stop
PvP damage
PvP stagger
block cancel behavior

Running attacks are tuned differently by weapon. Some are strong chase tools, while others are disabled or kept conservative.

Jump Attacks

Jump attacks are high-commitment attacks that reward aggressive engagement.

They give players a powerful way to commit to a fight instead of always waiting for the enemy to attack first. A jump attack can start a fight, punish an opening, or force pressure with a strong forward commitment.

Jump attacks fit the overall goal of the mod: rewarding aggression and active decision-making. The player is encouraged to create opportunities instead of only reacting passively.

Jump attacks can be configured separately from normal attacks, including:

damage
stagger
stamina cost
movement behavior
lunge behavior
animation speed
recovery speed
hit-stop
PvP damage
PvP stagger
block cancel behavior

Dual axes have special jump attack tuning so the attack remains powerful without becoming too explosive.

Block Canceling

Block canceling lets an attack transition toward blocking after a configured timing window.

The purpose is to give attacks a controlled defensive recovery option without removing commitment entirely. By default, Goo's Ruleset uses after-hitbox block canceling, meaning the attack must reach its active portion before it can transition toward block.

Supported block cancel modes:

disabled
before hitbox
after hitbox
full animation

Block canceling can be configured per weapon, per attack, and for running or jump attacks. It also has a configurable animation speed multiplier that controls how quickly the remaining attack animation is accelerated during the cancel.

Block canceling does not abort the attack animation. This helps avoid animation-state and hit-stop problems.

Hit-Stop / Hitlag

Hit-stop gives attacks more impact by briefly freezing or slowing animation when a hit connects.

This makes weapon impact feel heavier and more physical. Heavy attacks can have stronger hit-stop, while lighter attacks can stay quicker and less disruptive.

Hit-stop can be configured globally, per weapon, per attack, and separately for PvP.

Attack Movement

Attack movement controls how much movement is allowed during an attack.

This is important for weapon feel. Some attacks should be committed and stationary, while others should allow better movement or forward pressure. Goo's Combat Overhaul allows attack movement to be tuned per weapon and per attack.

Attack movement can affect:

normal attacks
secondary attacks
running attacks
jump attacks

This helps each weapon type feel different instead of forcing all attacks into the same movement style.

Lunge Distance

Lunge controls how much an attack carries the character forward.

This is separate from normal attack movement. A weapon can have limited player movement but still lunge forward during the swing, or it can remain more freely movable without having a strong lunge.

Lunge tuning is especially important for:

running attacks
jump attacks
heavy attacks
short-range weapons
chase tools

Attack Animation Speed

Attack animation speed controls how quickly attacks play.

This can make very slow attacks more usable or slow down attacks that would otherwise become too strong. Animation speed is configurable per weapon and per attack.

Running attacks and jump attacks have separate animation speed support, so they do not have to inherit normal attack-slot tuning.

Recovery Animation Speed

Recovery animation speed controls how quickly an attack finishes after its active portion.

This allows commitment to be tuned more precisely. An attack can have a strong hitbox but a long recovery, or a heavy swing can be made less punishing after the active part has already happened.

Running attacks and jump attacks have separate recovery speed support.

Attack Rotation

Attack rotation controls how strongly a player can rotate during an attack.

This affects tracking. High rotation makes an attack easier to redirect after it starts, while low rotation makes the attack more committed and directional.

The mod can tune:

player base rotation
attack rotation
airborne attack rotation
enemy rotation
rotation lock after the hitbox

Stagger and Poise

The mod expands control over stagger behavior.

Stagger can be tuned for both outgoing and incoming interactions. This helps make combat feel more readable and gives different weapons clearer roles.

Configurable stagger-related systems include:

attack stagger multiplier
incoming stagger taken multiplier
PvP stagger multiplier
stagger decay speed
stagger cooldown
clearing stagger meter on stagger
poise-like resistance behavior

This allows heavy attacks to feel heavier, shields to feel more defensive, and PvP stagger to be tuned separately from PvE.

Damage Tuning

Damage can be configured globally, per weapon, and per attack.

The mod supports tuning for:

normal weapon damage
per-attack damage
airborne attack damage
running attack damage
jump attack damage
backstab damage
chop damage
pickaxe damage
projectile damage
staff damage
PvP damage

This lets weapons keep their PvE identity while being separately balanced for PvP.

Knockback Tuning

Knockback can be adjusted independently from damage and stagger.

This lets weapons feel heavier or lighter without only changing raw damage. Knockback can also be tuned for blocking, hyperarmor, and PvP interactions.

Adrenaline Tuning

The mod supports adrenaline-related tuning for attacks and parries.

Adrenaline can reward aggressive play, successful parries, or specific attack types. Attack adrenaline rates can be tuned per weapon and per attack.

Blocking and Defense

Blocking

Blocking can be tuned in far more detail than vanilla.

The mod can adjust:

block armor
block force
block stamina usage
block break behavior
damage taken while blocking
knockback taken while blocking
movement speed while blocking
running while blocking
PvP block behavior

Weapons, bucklers, medium shields, tower shields, and staff shields can all have separate defensive identities.

Parry

Parry behavior can be adjusted separately from normal blocking.

The mod can tune:

parry bonus
parry stamina behavior
parry adrenaline
PvP parry values

This lets bucklers and parry-focused setups remain distinct from tower shields and other defensive tools.

Tower Shields

Tower shields are treated as heavy defensive tools.

Goo's Ruleset makes tower shields strong at defense, but more restricted in mobility. They are excluded from default running while blocking, preserving their identity as committed defensive equipment rather than aggressive chase tools.

Tower shields can also have unique values for:

damage taken while blocking
block force
block stamina usage
movement penalty
PvP block behavior

Running While Blocking

Running while blocking allows selected weapons and shields to run while actively blocking.

This makes normal weapon blocks, bucklers, medium shields, and staff blocks less passive. It improves mobility while still consuming normal running stamina.

By default, Goo's Ruleset enables running while blocking for most weapons and shields, but not tower shields.

Running while blocking can be configured by weapon or shield type.

Stamina, Resources, and Player Tuning

Negative Stamina

Negative stamina allows stamina to go below zero.

This makes stamina feel more like a commitment system instead of a strict on/off gate. A player can overcommit, but doing so leaves them vulnerable until stamina recovers.

Stamina Recovery

Stamina recovery can be tuned globally.

The mod can adjust:

stamina recovery speed
stamina recovery curve
stamina delay behavior
stamina regeneration while blocking
stamina costs for attacks
stamina costs for jumping
stamina costs for rolling
stamina costs for crouching
stamina costs for running

This gives players more control over combat pacing and resource pressure.

Health, Eitr, and Healing

The mod can adjust player resource values and recovery behavior.

Configurable areas include:

base health
base stamina
base eitr
eitr regeneration
healing rate
carry weight

This allows the combat overhaul to affect the broader survival and progression feel.

Player Movement

Player movement can be tuned through config.

The mod can adjust:

walk speed
run speed
crouch speed
swim speed
jump force
roll behavior
equipment movement penalties
blocking movement speed
running while blocking speed

The default Goo ruleset is designed to make combat feel more responsive while still preserving commitment where it matters.

Fall Damage

Fall damage can be adjusted.

Configurable values include:

fall damage start height
damage gained per meter
maximum fall damage

This allows movement-heavy combat to be less punishing if desired.

Food Tuning

Food behavior can be adjusted.

The mod can tune:

health from food
stamina from food
eitr from food
food duration
food healing
food uniqueness behavior

This makes it possible to change how strongly food controls combat pacing.

Weapon-Specific Features

Per-Weapon Tuning

Each weapon category can have its own combat identity.

Supported categories include:

two-handed swords
two-handed axes
sledges
pickaxes
dual axes
atgeirs
one-handed swords
one-handed axes
clubs and maces
knives
dual knives
spears
bows
crossbows
magic weapons
unarmed
other weapons

Each category can have different values for damage, stagger, stamina, movement, lunge, animation speed, recovery speed, hit-stop, hyperarmor, counter damage, PvP damage, knockback, blocking, parry, hit rays, and special attacks.

Per-Attack Tuning

The mod can tune individual attack slots.

Supported attack slots include:

Primary 1
Primary 2
Primary 3
Primary 4 where supported
Secondary
Running attack
Jump attack

This allows different parts of a combo to behave differently. For example, the first attack can be faster and safer, while a later attack can hit harder, lunge farther, or have more hyperarmor.

Two-Handed Swords

Two-handed swords are tuned as heavy commitment weapons with stronger trading potential.

They benefit from hyperarmor, adjusted movement, running attack support, and PvP tuning. The goal is to make them feel powerful without making every swing safe.

Two-Handed Axes

Two-handed axes are tuned as extremely heavy weapons with strong stagger, high commitment, and special movement handling.

They receive strong heavy-weapon support because vanilla two-handed axes can feel especially difficult to use safely. Their attacks are tuned carefully so they can commit and trade without becoming too mobile or too safe.

Sledges

Sledges are tuned as heavy area-control weapons.

They can be adjusted for damage, stagger, stamina cost, animation speed, knockback, and PvP damage. The goal is to keep their crowd-control identity while preventing them from becoming too oppressive.

Pickaxes

Pickaxes can receive combat tuning while still preserving their utility role.

The mod can adjust pickaxe damage, animation behavior, and combat feel.

Dual Axes

Dual axes receive special support for their unique attack structure.

They can use special attack-slot tuning, jump attack tuning, PvP scaling, hit-stop, damage, stagger, and lunge changes. Dual axe jump attack damage is tuned separately to keep it strong but controlled.

Atgeirs

Atgeirs can be tuned as reach weapons with strong spacing and crowd-control identity.

They benefit from attack-specific damage, stagger, counter damage, running attack behavior, and PvP tuning.

One-Handed Swords

One-handed swords are tuned as versatile melee weapons.

They can use running attacks, counter damage, block canceling, and attack-specific tuning while keeping their generalist identity.

One-Handed Axes

One-handed axes can be tuned for stronger melee identity beyond their utility use.

They can receive running attack support, damage tuning, stagger tuning, and movement/lunge adjustments.

Clubs and Maces

Clubs and maces can be tuned for blunt-force identity.

They can have adjusted running attacks, lunge values, stagger, damage, PvP scaling, and blocking behavior.

Knives and Dual Knives

Knives and dual knives are tuned as fast, mobile weapons.

They can retain higher movement during attacks compared to heavier weapons. Their damage, stamina, animation speed, movement, and PvP values can be configured separately.

Spears

Spears are tuned to support thrusting, spacing, counter damage, and projectile behavior.

They can receive special tuning for spear throws, running attacks, lunge distance, counter damage, and movement. Their playstyle can be made more distinct from swords and axes.

Unarmed

Unarmed combat can be tuned as its own weapon style.

The mod supports unarmed damage, stagger, movement, running attacks, lunge, block behavior, and PvP tuning.

Ranged and Magic Features

Bows

Bows can be tuned separately from melee weapons.

The mod can adjust:

draw speed
stamina behavior
projectile speed
spread
damage
PvP damage

This allows bows to remain useful without making ranged PvP too bursty.

Crossbows

Crossbows can be tuned separately from bows.

Configurable areas include:

reload behavior
projectile speed
spread
damage
PvP damage

Crossbows often have high single-shot damage, so their PvP damage is especially important to tune under Valheim's armor system.

Spears and Thrown Projectiles

Spear throws can receive projectile speed and damage tuning.

This helps thrown spear gameplay feel more responsive and gives spears a clearer hybrid melee/ranged identity.

Magic Weapons and Staffs

Magic weapons and staffs have separate tuning support.

The mod can adjust:

staff damage
staff stagger
eitr cost
animation behavior
projectile behavior
PvP damage
staff shield behavior
summons

This lets Mistlands and Ashlands magic fit into the same combat pacing as melee and ranged weapons.

Staff Shields

Staff shields can be configured separately from normal shields.

The mod can tune:

staff shield health
staff shield damage behavior
staff shield mitigation
blocking behavior
running while blocking behavior

This lets magical defensive tools have their own role instead of simply copying physical shield balance.

Summons

The mod includes summon-related tuning.

Supported summon systems include:

Dead Raiser skeleton controls
Staff of the Wild vine controls
summon limit behavior
summon-related balance options

These settings allow magic summon gameplay to be tuned without relying only on vanilla restrictions.

Hit Detection and Feedback

Hit Ray and Hitbox Tuning

The mod exposes hit ray and hitbox-related settings.

These settings can adjust how weapon attacks trace hits, including:

range
width
height
forward offset
angle
horizontal or vertical hitbox style

This is useful for attacks that visually appear to connect but miss, or for attacks that feel too generous.

Multi-Target Damage

Multi-target behavior can be tuned.

This allows wide swings and cleaving attacks to keep their identity while preventing them from becoming too strong against groups.

AI Noise

Attack noise can be adjusted.

The mod can tune how much noise attacks make when they start or hit. This affects how enemies react to combat actions.

Enemy Tuning

Enemy combat behavior can be adjusted.

The mod can tune:

enemy damage
enemy stagger
enemy knockback
enemy size
enemy movement
enemy attack animation speed
enemy movement animation speed
difficulty-related values

This allows the combat overhaul to affect the full combat environment, not just the player.

PvP Testing

PvP Test Dummy

The mod includes a PvP-style test dummy feature for balance testing.

The dummy can be used to test PvP-like damage and stagger behavior without needing another player to stand still for repeated testing. This is useful when tuning PvP damage, stagger, counter damage, armor interaction, and hit-stop.

Presets and Config Tools

Goo Ruleset

The Goo ruleset applies the intended default combat overhaul.

It is designed around:

stronger heavy-weapon commitment tools
hyperarmor for selected slower attacks
counter damage for timing-focused attacks
running attacks for chase pressure
jump attacks for aggressive commitment
more consistent PvP damage
more flexible blocking
separate PvP and PvE tuning
weapon-specific identities

Reset to Vanilla

Reset to Vanilla restores values toward vanilla or no-op behavior where possible.

This is useful if you want to use only selected parts of the mod or compare Goo's ruleset against vanilla-style behavior.

Default Combat Identity

The default Goo ruleset generally follows these principles:

heavy weapons get better commitment tools
slower attacks can trade more safely through hyperarmor
fast weapons stay precise and mobile
running attacks improve chase potential
jump attacks reward aggressive commitment
PvP damage is more consistent and less random
high single-shot PvP attacks are controlled
blocking is more flexible but still resource-based
tower shields remain heavy defensive tools
magic and summons are configurable without ignoring melee balance

The goal is not to make every weapon equally fast or equally safe. The goal is to make each weapon feel more deliberate, expressive, and worth using.

Installation

Install with a Valheim mod manager such as r2modman or Thunderstore Mod Manager, or manually place the compiled plugin into your BepInEx plugins folder.

Required dependency:

BepInExPack Valheim

Configuration

The mod is highly configurable through its generated config file.

For most players, the recommended setup is to start with the default Goo ruleset and then adjust individual values based on preference.

The config migration system is designed to preserve user edits when updating. Same-version configs are not rewritten on startup. When new content is added in a newer version, only the new entries should receive Goo defaults. Older legacy configs may be isolated and regenerated when compatibility requires it.