Unreal Engine Hack & Slash Tutorial [2024] Series | Part 4 | Heavy Attack Combat

Heavy attack system (UE “hack & slash” tutorial, Part 4)

Heavy attack input

• Adds heavy attack input by creating a new Input Action in the Inputs folder.
• Maps the action to the Right Mouse Button (labeled as “heavy attack” / “IOE heavy attack” in subtitles).

Heavy attack state buffering

Implements heavy-attack buffering similar to the light attack system:

• If the character’s current state == Attacking, the script sets a “Save Heavy” flag.
• Adds a custom event/function “heavy attack” that triggers the heavy attack flow using the same “can attack” boolean style as the light system.

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Heavy attack execution + montage handling

Perform heavy attack (montage selection)

• Creates a perform heavy attack function by copying light-attack logic and adjusting variables.
• Sets up heavy attack montages as:
  • An array of heavy montages
  • An index to choose which heavy animation plays
• Resets/advances the heavy attack index after playback.
• Uses a local variable like “Lore heavy attack Montage” (auto-subtitle text) and prints debug info to confirm correct montage/index usage.

Reset heavy attack / buffer reset

• Implements reset heavy attack / buffer reset using an animation notify-driven loop.
• The “saved heavy” triggers at the correct timing via an Anim Notify State (e.g., “Save heavy attack”).
• That notify state is referenced from Tick (called continuously, per the subtitle).

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Animations + notify timing

Heavy variants

• Creates four heavy attack montage/animation variants:
  • Heavy 1
  • Heavy 2
  • Heavy 3
  • Heavy 4

Buffer timing difference vs light

• Heavy attacks have a longer delay before buffering/continuing.
• Therefore, notify timing is set earlier/shorter than light to enable buffering at the intended recovery window.

Root motion configuration

• Ensures Root Motion is enabled:
  • Enable root motion
  • Allow rotation on root motion
• Applies a rotation scale/value (subtitle suggests ~15 as a starting point).
• This lets the character rotate during heavy animations.

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Heavy ↔ Light switching (not yet a full combo system)

• Adds heavy-to-light and light-to-heavy switching using buffer flags.
  • Heavy → Light switching
    • Clears “saved heavy”
    • Uses “saved light” to queue the correct follow-up
  • Light → Heavy switching
    • Clears “saved light”
    • Queues heavy instead
• Design intent:
  • Switching is allowed, but includes a punishing/noticeable delay, especially heavy → light, to encourage commitment to the performed action.
• Note:
  • A true combo system (chaining light+heavy into rewarded combo attacks) is planned for a later video.

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Fixes / gating logic (jumping + attacking constraints)

Jump/attack bug fixes

• Prevents attacking while falling:
  • Checks movement component Is Falling
  • Disallows attacking when airborne
• Prevents jumping during attack:
  • Jump is only allowed when state == none (not attacking/dodging/dead)

Animation overlap / blending cleanup

• Fixes out-of-sequence blending by resetting opposite attack states:
  • Reset heavy before playing light
  • Reset light before playing heavy
• Improves blend feel/timing:
  • Tweaks animation blend settings (mentions Blend Out and blend mode choices)
  • Adjusts blend-out timing and removes “excess animation frames” to align transitions better

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Weapon Trails / VFX implementation (important practical details)

Trail visuals via Anim Notify State

• Adds weapon trail visuals using an Anim Notify State called Trail.
• Places it from swing start to swing end.

Trail positioning approach (sockets)

• The workflow attempts socket-based spawning from weapon sockets, but switches to a more controlled method:
  • Adds sockets on the character mesh, such as:
    • Trail start
    • Trail end
  • Mentions an intermediate weapon socket for sword attachment/pivot.
• Lesson learned:
  • For this project, sockets likely only need to exist on the character mesh; adding sockets to other skeleton meshes may not be necessary.

Trail coverage across attack types

• Applies trails to both:
  • Heavy attacks
  • Light attacks
• Achieved by copying the same notify/timing setup and ensuring sockets exist where needed.

Transform/sizing considerations

• Socket transform tweaking is tedious:
  • Requires careful placement
  • Small imperfections are acceptable since animation motion creates natural dips.

Editor vs Play mode issue

• If VFX shows in the editor but not in play:
  • Ensures the correct mesh/skeleton has the sockets.

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Tutorial/product-style deliverable

• The presenter offers a Patreon option to access project files for following along.

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Main speakers / sources (from subtitles)

• Primary speaker: “hey guys welcome back…” (creator/instructor; no name given in the subtitles)
• Video source: Unreal Engine Hack & Slash Tutorial [2024] Series (tutorial channel/creator; specific channel not stated)