ShieldBash

ShieldBash

Raise your shield, press Left Click, and slam it into your enemies' faces.

Vanilla Valheim blocking is purely defensive. ShieldBash gives your shield a second job: a short, committed bash that shoves enemies back and buys you room to breathe — without turning blocking into an attack-spam button.

How it works

Hold block with a shield equipped, then press Left Click (rebindable):

• The shield drops low, swings up toward head height and sweeps to the left — all driven by code, no animation files.
• Enemies in front of you take blunt damage and are knocked back.
• It costs stamina and has a cooldown, so it is a tool, not a combo.
• If the bash is on cooldown or you are out of stamina, Left Click behaves exactly like vanilla (attack with your other hand).

Scales with your Blocking skill

• Higher Blocking skill = more blunt damage and a harder shove (at skill 100: 2x damage, 1.75x knockback by default).
• A bash that connects gives a little Blocking experience. Small on purpose, and limited by cooldown and stamina, so it is not a way to grind.

Design goals

• Vanilla-friendly: low damage, no free stuns. Parrying stays better when you want damage and timing rewards; the bash is for distance and space.
• Bosses are shoved less and are not stunned.
• Everything is configurable (in-game with the Configuration Manager / F1, or the .cfg file): key, stamina cost, cooldown, range, cone angle, knockback, damage ratio, skill scaling and animation tuning.

Notes

• Client-side: works without being installed on the server. Other players can't see the swing animation (the knockback and damage are handled by the game's normal damage path, so they behave the same for everyone).
• Works with any shield, including modded ones.
• Includes a safety net: if anything goes wrong, the animation turns itself off for the session and the bash keeps working.

Requirements

• BepInEx
• Jötunn

Feedback

Balance suggestions and bug reports are welcome — please include your LogOutput.log when something breaks.

Changelog

1.0.0 — First release.