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.
In short, the default Goo ruleset is built around more aggressive and expressive combat that reduces the tedious kiting-oriented feel of vanilla Valheim. The optional Better Free Aim mode can make unlocked melee movement-facing attacks feel smoother when Valheim's own Attack Towards Look Direction setting is disabled, while the designated roll button gives Souls-like combat players the dedicated dodge input they usually expect immediately. Running and jump attacks are designed as commitment tools that let players engage more proactively instead of only waiting for enemies to attack first. Heavy melee weapons, which are often underwhelming in vanilla Valheim, are given tools such as hyperarmor and stronger stagger pressure to encourage commitment and aggression. Counter damage rewards well-timed attacks. Tower shields have block-break behavior closer to great shields in Dark Souls/Elden Ring, only breaking after an attack empties the stamina bar, which gives them a more distinct defensive playstyle. The mod also balances PvP damage on a per-attack basis to compensate for the extra advantage high-damage attacks can gain from Valheim’s armor-damage formula.
You can use the default Goo ruleset, reset toward vanilla behavior, or manually tune nearly every part of the system. Most settings are available both through the generated config file and through flat in-game gco_* console commands.
Default Combat Identity
The default Goo ruleset generally follows these principles:
- Better Free Aim is optional and disabled by Goo's Ruleset by default
- the designated roll button provides a direct Souls-like dodge input
- 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
- building damage can be controlled separately from creature/player damage
- debug and command tools are available for testing without being overwritten by presets
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.
Combat Quality of Life
Better Free Aim
Better Free Aim is an optional alternative facing mode for unlocked melee combat. When it is enabled and Valheim's Attack Towards Look Direction setting is disabled, starting a melee attack or block with movement input turns the character toward the movement-input direction without rotating the camera or crosshair.
Better Free Aim is meant to be used with Attack Towards Look Direction disabled. When Valheim's setting is enabled, GCO yields to the native behavior and Better Free Aim does nothing. When both Valheim's setting and Better Free Aim are disabled, Valheim's normal disabled-setting behavior remains in control.
Goo's Ruleset and fresh configs keep Better Free Aim disabled by default. Enable it only when you specifically want movement-input-facing attacks instead of Valheim's own look-direction option.
Designated Roll Button
The mod adds a dedicated roll keybind instead of forcing dodge/roll behavior to rely only on vanilla’s combined input flow.
The default designated roll key is X. Pressing it queues Valheim’s native dodge/roll directly. The roll direction follows current movement input, including diagonals, and rolls backward by default when no movement direction is held.
This is a major combat feel improvement for players coming from Souls-like action games, where a dedicated dodge button is expected. It makes defensive movement more deliberate, easier to access, and less dependent on awkward input combinations.
Core Combat Features
Hyperarmor
Hyperarmor lets selected attacks resist interruption during part or all of the attack animation, depending on the configured setting.
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, as players still take a fair yet reduced amount of damage.
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 attack animation.
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 way to open a fight and chase enemies that are disengaging.
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, making it versatile in combat.
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. The preset keeps block-cancel acceleration conservative because aggressive cancel acceleration can affect chained attacks.
Hit-Stop / Hitlag
Hit-stop gives attacks more impact by briefly freezing or slowing animation when a hit connects. This is a feature that vanilla Valheim already has; the mod just makes it configurable.
This feature is meant to make weapon impact feel heavier and more physical, but using the same stop time for every weapon can feel uneven because weapons attack at very different speeds. Goo's Combat Overhaul makes hit-stop configurable so heavier attacks can have stronger impact while lighter attacks 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. The mod’s preset is designed to make attacks feel more Souls-like by increasing deliberate lunge while reducing free attack movement.
Lunge scaling only multiplies positive forward animation root motion. Backward, sideways, and vertical root motion are preserved, so increasing lunge should not amplify retreating recovery movement.
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
- whether players and non-player characters preserve their current facing direction when staggered
- damage dealt to staggered PvE enemies
This allows heavy attacks to feel heavier, shields to feel more defensive, stagger punish windows to be more rewarding, and PvP stagger to be tuned separately from PvE. Facing-preservation controls can also stop a staggered character from snapping to face opposite the incoming force.
Damage to Staggered Enemies
Damage against staggered PvE enemies can be tuned separately from ordinary damage.
The Staggering config section includes a global damage-to-staggered-enemies multiplier, and weapon/tool stagger sections include local attack-slot multipliers. The final damage bonus is resolved as:
global multiplier × local weapon/attack multiplier
This is a direct final-result setting for staggered PvE enemy damage rather than an extra multiplier stacked on top of Valheim's normal staggered-target result. Goo's Ruleset defaults the global value to 2.0x, keeps most local weapon values at 1.0x, gives most secondary attacks a 1.5x local stagger punish value, and gives two-handed axe Primary 1 a 1.5x local value instead of boosting its secondary attack. Running and jump attacks have their own separate staggered-enemy damage multipliers.
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
- Sneak and Flank damage
- chop damage
- pickaxe damage
- projectile damage
- staff damage
- PvP damage
- damage to staggered PvE enemies
- player and enemy damage to buildings
- per-weapon and per-tool damage to buildings
This lets weapons keep their PvE identity while being separately balanced for PvP.
Alternate Damage Curves
GCO includes separate optional damage curves for incoming PvE damage to players and outgoing PvP damage dealt to players or GCO PvP test dummies.
The curve multiplier is calculated from the configured anchor, exponent, minimum, and maximum values:
curve multiplier = clamp((anchor raw damage / current raw damage)^exponent, minimum, maximum)
The incoming PvE curve applies to non-player damage before Valheim's armor and resistance processing. The outgoing PvP curve is evaluated after applicable attack, PvP, Sneak, Flank, Counter Damage, and other conditional GCO multipliers have been included, but before Valheim applies armor and resistances.
Goo's default exponent of 0.5 compresses extreme damage differences without reversing them: a larger raw hit still remains more damaging than a smaller raw hit. The PvE default maximum of 1.0x prevents low incoming hits from being boosted, while the PvP curve has its own independently configurable limits. Reset to Vanilla disables both curves.
Damage to Buildings / Destruction
Building and placed-piece damage can be tuned separately from normal character damage.
The mod can adjust:
- global player damage to buildings
- global enemy damage to buildings
- per-weapon and per-tool damage to buildings
- per-attack building damage for primary, secondary, running, and jump attacks where those attacks are exposed
These settings apply to Valheim WearNTear buildings and placed pieces. They are useful when combat damage should stay high against creatures but lower against bases, walls, defenses, and other structures. Goo's Ruleset reduces enemy damage to buildings by default so raids and enemy attacks are less destructive to structures, while player building damage remains vanilla-like unless changed.
Weapon and tool destruction settings live in their own per-category sections, such as two-handed sword destruction, pickaxe destruction, and similar weapon/tool categories.
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. Goo's heavy-weapon defaults keep all two-handed sword and two-handed axe attack variants at 2.0x attack adrenaline rate, including their configured running and jump attacks.
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, crossbows, and heavy-weapon 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. Bow damage is also reduced in the preset because bows have a strong range advantage.
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.
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:
- whether each weapon, tool, staff blocker, shield type, or unarmed block can parry
- parry bonus
- parry stamina behavior
- parry adrenaline
- parry window time multiplier
- whether ranged/projectile or AOE parries stagger attackers in PvE and PvP
- PvP parry values
This lets bucklers and parry-focused setups remain distinct from tower shields and other defensive tools. Can Parry disables only the timed-parry result and preserves normal blocking. It can also enable timed parries on tower shields when explicitly turned on.
The parry window time multiplier controls how forgiving timed blocks/parries are without changing parry bonus strength. It is configurable globally and per weapon, tool, shield, and staff block category. Values stack: 1.0x keeps the normal Valheim timed-block window, 2.0x doubles it, 0.5x halves it, and 0x disables timed parries for that layer.
Guard Boost tooltip values are displayed as the nearest whole percentage instead of showing unnecessary decimal places.
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. NegativeStaminaActionGate controls whether an action must fit inside the configured floor before it can start. Goo's ruleset uses RequireCostWithinFloor, so a player cannot start a full-cost attack with only 1 stamina if that attack would exceed NegativeStaminaFloor.
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
- jump force
- roll animation speed and roll distance
- 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.
The General config section also includes the designated roll keybind described in Combat Quality of Life. It uses Valheim's native dodge/roll behavior while giving the player a direct, configurable roll input. Roll-distance tuning scales horizontal displacement without changing stamina cost, invulnerability timing, recovery, or the roll animation unless those are configured separately.
Armor and Equipment Movement
Player base armor can be adjusted independently from equipped armor. Light, medium, and heavy armor can each receive separate base-armor multipliers and optional final movement-modifier overrides, with matching tooltip updates.
Weapons and equipment categories can also override their carried/equipped movement modifiers independently. This includes major melee weapon families, bows, crossbows, sledges, tools, and otherwise unclassified equipment. These are equipment penalties or bonuses and are separate from movement allowed during an attack.
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
- permanent food buffs
- permanent mead buffs
- permanent rested buff
- no-consumption behavior for food, mead, ammo, bait-style resources, and similar consumables
This makes it possible to change how strongly food controls combat pacing.
Consumables and Permanent Buffs
The mod can make selected resource systems less temporary if desired.
Configurable options include:
- permanent food buffs
- permanent mead buffs
- permanent rested buff
- food and mead recovery multipliers
- no-consumption behavior for food, meads, ammo, bait, and similar resources
- unique-food requirement behavior
These options are intended for players who want combat testing, sandbox tuning, or a less consumable-heavy progression loop. They can also be left at vanilla/no-op values if survival resource pressure should remain unchanged.
Gear Durability
Gear durability can be tuned globally and per item.
The mod can adjust:
- global unbreakable gear behavior
- per-item unbreakable gear behavior
- global durability usage multiplier
- per-item durability usage multiplier
- base and maximum durability values where exposed
This allows equipment durability pressure to be reduced, increased, or disabled without changing weapon damage or combat identity.
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, damage to buildings, knockback, blocking, parry, hit rays, stealth, 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, have more hyperarmor, or deal different damage to buildings.
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, PvP damage, and slam AOE radius. The category-level slam-radius multiplier changes the native hit-detection radius without resizing the authored visual effects.
An optional beta alternate moveset is available and is disabled by Goo's Ruleset by default. When enabled, Primary1, Primary2, and Running use dedicated direct hit rays with an authored base range of 2.4 m and a shared 135° angle; existing global and per-attack hit-ray modifiers stack afterward. Primary3 keeps the native sledge AOE slam and its original slam presentation. Secondary uses the real two-handed-axe secondary melee attack instead of a sledge AOE, and its movement resolves additively as (native two-handed-axe Secondary movement + configured SledgeAlt Secondary movement) × global attack-movement multiplier.
Alternate attacks retain the sledge's original swing/start sounds, while successful impacts use a two-handed-axe hit effect. Goo's Ruleset uses 1.5x normal and alternate sledge base damage, 1.5x sledge stamina cost across supported attacks, and 1.0x alternate normal/running PvE hit-stop duration. The goal is to offer a more conventional heavy-melee moveset without removing the sledge's defining Primary3 slam.
Pickaxes
Pickaxes can receive combat tuning while still preserving their utility role.
The mod can adjust pickaxe damage, animation behavior, combat feel, and destruction damage against buildings or placed pieces.
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, hit-ray shape, and lunge changes. Dual axe jump attack damage is tuned separately to keep it strong but controlled. Goo's Ruleset gives dual axes wider general hit rays while keeping the secondary attack's hit ray narrower and taller so it behaves more like its intended focused strike.
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, movement, projectile speed, and optional spear loyalty behavior. Spear loyalty can keep the thrown spear in the player's hand and suppress the thrown-spear pickup/drop behavior, while leaving the rest of the throw behavior such as stamina and durability unchanged. Goo's Ruleset keeps spear loyalty off by default while still exposing the option for players who want a returning-spear style.
Abyssal harpoons receive meaningful spear/harpoon support where valid, including damage, stagger, projectile behavior, and a rope-strength multiplier, while preserving vanilla backstab behavior.
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
- draw-time rotation factor
- damage
- PvP damage
The draw-time rotation factor controls how strongly the player can turn while a bow is drawn. 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
- recoil strength
- damage
- PvP damage
Crossbows often have high single-shot damage, so their PvP damage is especially important to tune under Valheim's armor system. Recoil strength controls the backward push applied to the firing player.
Spears, Harpoons, and Thrown Projectiles
Spear throws can receive projectile speed and damage tuning. Goo's Ruleset sets spear projectile speed above vanilla by default for a more responsive throw. Optional spear loyalty can keep the thrown spear equipped instead of consuming it into a dropped projectile pickup.
Abyssal harpoons receive valid spear-style and harpoon-specific tuning, including projectile behavior and rope strength. This gives thrown weapon gameplay a clearer hybrid melee/ranged identity without forcing every spear or harpoon to behave identically.
Throwables
Bomb-style throwables such as Ooze Bombs have a dedicated category-level configuration section. Throwables can tune stamina consumption, damage, projectile speed, and throw animation speed independently, while spears, the Abyssal Harpoon, arrows, bolts, and magic projectiles remain in their own categories.
Throwable direct hits and lingering AOE damage do not receive GCO's Flank bonus.
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 and per-staff projectile speed
- Staff of Embers fireball impact AOE radius
- Dundr projectile count, reload speed, recoil, and per-pellet lightning-chain chance
- Himmin Afl lightning-chain chance
- optional extra lightning impact visuals
- PvP damage
- staff shield behavior
- summons
The Staff of Embers AOE multiplier changes the fireball projectile's native impact radius and supported spawned AOE collision shapes without resizing particles. Lightning-chain chances are gameplay settings and are independent from the optional extra lightning impact visual effect; relevant tooltips show the configured chain chance. 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
- parry window timing
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 health cost, level, size, attack speed, PvP behavior, and quality-based native summon caps
- Staff of the Wild vine level, size, attack speed, damage, PvP behavior, and maximum active vines per caster
- summon-related balance options
Staff of the Wild limits are enforced per caster without periodic scene scans; when the limit is exceeded, the oldest authoritative vine owned by that caster is removed. Dead Raiser caps use Valheim's native per-owner tameable-cap path. 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. Goo's Ruleset includes weapon-specific hit-ray tuning, such as taller and wider two-handed axe Primary 1/Primary 2 swings, wider knife and dual-knife hit rays, wider unarmed primary hit rays, and specialized dual-axe hit-ray tuning. Running attacks copy the hit-ray preset of the attack slot they are configured to use. Modded attack slots stay at vanilla/no-op hit-ray values by default, and the mod avoids forcing hit-ray thickness onto modded weapons or attack setups that do not have a compatible hit-ray path.
One-handed swords and spears also have optional prefab-specific hit-ray range multipliers for vanilla weapon models. These are separate from attack-slot range multipliers, so final player melee range can stack as vanilla hit-ray range × global range × per-attack range × prefab-specific range × player size. Older-version migration leaves newly added prefab-specific values at their Reset-to-Vanilla 1.0x; applying Goo's Ruleset or creating a fresh config applies the curated Goo model-length presets.
Multi-Target Damage
Multi-target behavior can be tuned independently by attack slot.
When Multi-Target Damage Penalty is enabled for an attack, effective Hit Through Mobs is disabled so the penalized hit does not continue through character targets. The stored Hit Through Mobs preference is preserved and becomes active again if the penalty is disabled. Hit Through Walls remains a separate setting.
This allows wide swings and cleaving attacks to keep their identity while preventing them from becoming too strong against groups.
Stealth
Stealth-related combat is split into attack noise, Sneak, and Flank systems.
Attack-start and attack-hit noise can be tuned globally and per weapon/attack, changing how strongly combat actions alert nearby AI.
Sneak is Valheim's native unaware-target damage mechanic. GCO provides global and local per-weapon/per-attack Sneak multipliers, optional scaling from the player's Sneak skill, and configurable Sneak skill XP for successful Sneak attacks. XP can scale from the final configured Sneak multiplier, and ranged Sneak attacks have a separate XP multiplier so they can progress the skill without becoming excessively farmable.
Flank is GCO's separate rear-sector damage bonus. PvE and PvP rear angles, per-attack eligibility, local/global damage, stacking with other conditional bonuses, and the successful-hit ding can all be configured. Sledges and bomb-style throwable damage do not receive Flank bonuses. When a Flank ding plays, it takes priority over the same-hit native stagger-critical sound and the Counter Damage ding.
Tooltips label the two mechanics separately as Sneak damage and Flank damage, rather than treating them as the same bonus. Reset to Vanilla disables GCO's added Sneak scaling/XP and Flank behavior while restoring vanilla/no-op values where applicable.
Enemy Tuning
Enemy combat behavior can be adjusted.
The mod can tune:
- enemy damage
- enemy damage to buildings
- enemy stagger
- enemy knockback
- enemy size
- enemy movement
- generic enemy speed
- enemy attack animation speed
- enemy movement animation speed
- enemy attack hit-ray range, size, height, and offset
- difficulty-related values
This allows the combat overhaul to affect the full combat environment, not just the player. Enemy size also scales enemy melee hit-ray range, size/thickness, height, and offset proportionally, and the dedicated enemy hit-ray multipliers stack on top of that size scaling.
Debug Tools
Debug tools are intended for private testing, balance work, and troubleshooting. They should not be treated as normal gameplay features unless everyone in a world agrees to use them.
Goo Combat Debug Mode uses Valheim's native god-mode behavior for the local player and gates debug-only controls such as debug fly, no-placement-cost, ghost mode, manual debug healing, adding or refreshing the Rested effect, and PvP dummy actions. GCO debug fly and ghost mode do not enable Valheim's vanilla debugmode flag, so they do not fight vanilla debug hotkeys when devcommands is enabled.
Debug keybinds are configurable and use physical-key detection. Holding normal movement input such as W, A, S, or D should not cover up a GCO debug hotkey. The default debug keys are Z for debug fly, N for no-placement-cost, G for ghost mode, H for debug healing, and O for adding or refreshing Rested. Hotkeys are ignored while chat, the console, or text-input prompts are active.
The Debug section includes separate enable switches for debug fly, no-placement-cost, and ghost mode. Turning one of these switches off prevents its keybind or button action from toggling that state, and also forces the current GCO-controlled state off. This allows Goo Combat Debug Mode to stay active for god mode or healing while disabling individual testing powers.
Debug logging can be enabled for troubleshooting. Verbose debug logging expands coverage with detailed throttled output for player resources, movement, velocity, current weapon, weapon category, active attack role, attack/block/dodge/grounded state, GCO debug states, and related combat/runtime information. Verbose logging is intentionally noisy and should normally be used only during short test sessions.
Presets intentionally preserve the Debug section. Applying Goo's Ruleset or Reset to Vanilla will not overwrite debug logging preferences, debug keybinds, debug toggle permissions, or PvP dummy testing settings.
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.
The dummy can also be controlled through debug actions and flat gco_* console commands, including spawning, despawning, and resetting the test dummy where those actions are exposed.
Presets and Config Tools
Goo Ruleset
The Goo ruleset applies the intended default combat overhaul and does not overwrite Debug-section settings. Fresh config files start from this ruleset.
It reapplies the default Goo combat identity described near the top of this README: stronger heavy-weapon commitment tools, hyperarmor for selected slower attacks, counter damage for timing-focused attacks, running and jump attacks for aggression, more consistent PvP damage, more flexible blocking, separate PvP/PvE tuning, and weapon-specific identities. Better Free Aim remains disabled by Goo's Ruleset unless the player explicitly enables it.
Reset to Vanilla
Reset to Vanilla restores ordinary native systems toward vanilla or no-op behavior where possible. It does not overwrite Debug-section settings.
Values belonging only to mod-added running attacks, jump attacks, and alternate movesets are preserved rather than destroyed; those non-vanilla attacks or movesets are disabled by the reset. This makes it possible to return to vanilla behavior without losing custom values that can become active again later.
This is useful if you want to use only selected parts of the mod or compare Goo's ruleset against vanilla-style behavior.
In-Game Console Commands
Goo's Combat Overhaul includes flat gco_* console commands so settings can be inspected and changed in game without relying only on a configuration manager. The command layout is intentionally flat because Valheim's vanilla console autocomplete works best with command names plus one autocomplete argument.
Common command forms include:
gco_get_<Branch> <Feature>
gco_set_<Branch> <Feature> <Value>
gco_reset_<Branch> <Feature>
gco_list_<Branch> [FeatureFilter]
gco_applypreset <goo|vanilla>
gco_applypreset_<Branch> <Feature>
gco_run_<Branch> <ActionFeature>
gco_save
Examples:
gco_set_2HSwords destruction_Primary1_DamageToBuildings 0.75
gco_get_2HSwords destruction_Primary1_DamageToBuildings
gco_set_Debug CombatDebugMode true
gco_set_Debug VerboseDebugLogging true
gco_run_Debug pvpDummy_Spawn
gco_applypreset goo
gco_applypreset_2HSwords destruction_Primary1_DamageToBuildings
gco_list_2HSwords destruction
Weapon and tool branches use readable names such as 2HSwords, 2HAxes, 1HSwords, 1HAxes, DualAxes, Maces, Pickaxes, Bows, and Crossbows. Feature names use underscores to compress deeper config paths into one autocomplete-friendly argument. Numeric values are typed manually; boolean, enum, and key-style values may be suggested where Valheim's console supports them.
Preset commands intentionally do not alter the Debug section. Branch-specific preset commands are available for non-Debug branches only.
Every bound config entry has both a compact primary command path and an exact full-path fallback under the All branch. Runnable one-shot actions are exposed through gco_run_*, including Goo/Vanilla preset actions, PvP dummy spawning/removal, debug flight, no-placement-cost, ghost mode, debug healing, and adding Rested. Startup audits verify both config-entry reachability and action reachability.
Config Change Broadcasts
Config change broadcasts are multiplayer disclosure messages with a [GCO] prefix. They are meant to make visible gameplay-impacting GCO changes easier to notice in chat. This helps everyone see when gameplay-impacting settings have changed without relying on guesswork.
The General config section includes Broadcast Config Changes. Goo's Ruleset keeps ongoing broadcasts off by default. Turning the broadcast setting off still sends one final disclosure message before suppression begins, so other players can see that future GCO config-change messages will be hidden.
Presets are announced as a single summary instead of spamming every internal config write.
Multiplayer Notes
Goo's Combat Overhaul changes gameplay systems, not only visuals. Many features can affect the local player's combat behavior, including damage, PvP damage, damage to buildings, attack timing, animation speed, movement, lunge, blocking, stamina, food, durability, commands, debug tools, and other resource or combat settings.
When Sync Config in Multiplayer is enabled by the host, guests use an in-memory host-config overlay for synchronized gameplay entries. Guest config files and guest-local stored values are not overwritten; local behavior returns when the guest disconnects or synchronization is unavailable. Full snapshots are sent when guests connect, later host changes are sent as live deltas, and version/protocol mismatches are reported to both sides.
Sync Config in Multiplayer is enabled for fresh configs and is also forced on when an older config schema is migrated. Same-version configs are not rewritten, so an existing current-version config keeps its stored value.
Limit Guests Authority lets a listen-server host or dedicated server prevent non-host guests from using GCO's cheat-capable debug controls and PvP test-dummy manipulation. Diagnostic logging remains local.
For fair multiplayer, all players should agree on the same mod setup and compatible config values. Debug/testing features and heavily customized combat settings should not be used in normal multiplayer unless the host and all players explicitly agree to it. Config change broadcasts improve transparency, but they do not replace backups, trust, or server-side enforcement.
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:
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. Fresh configs use Goo's Ruleset. When an older config version is detected, every compatible existing value is inherited; newly added entries and individual entries that cannot be inherited or parsed use their Reset to Vanilla values. A failure in one entry does not replace the rest of the config. Sync Config in Multiplayer is the deliberate exception and is enabled after every older-version migration. Same-version configs are not rewritten on startup.
Important notes:
- Updating from older versions may add new config entries at Reset to Vanilla values until you explicitly apply Goo's Ruleset or tune them manually.
- Reset to Vanilla restores vanilla-like behavior where possible and preserves the Debug section.
- Set to Goo Ruleset reapplies the intended Goo preset and preserves the Debug section.
- Flat
gco_* console commands can inspect, change, reset, list, run, save, and apply presets for supported config entries.
- PvP and PvE values are often separate so they can be balanced independently.
Feedback
Feedback, bug reports, and feature requests are welcome:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ModdedValheim/comments/1toleqf/about_combat/
