Originally Posted by Chupes

They are totally redoing the fighting mechanics of the game, so it should be much, much better. I simply cannot wait!

Originally Posted by developer for oblivion

"Always use best attack" is the primary reason why combat wasn't much fun in Morrowind. You'd only ever see one animation for a particular weapon. And there wasn't any point in not picking always use best attack, because it always had a higher damage rating than the other two. The system described will give you a wider variety of animations and even (horrors) add some STRATEGY to your melee combat.

The die roll you're talking about was the die roll "to hit". Remember pressing that attack button, seeing that one animation for best attack, seeing the sword go right through your opponent and NOT hitting the guy? THAT is the die roll being talked about. And that is the die roll that has been eliminated. No more "but my sword went right THROUGH the guy, why didn't it hit?"

Oblivion is still a stat-based RPG. But it's going to be a lot more fun to play, and there'll actually be GOOD REASONS to select different attacks, unlike Morrowind.

Originally Posted by different developer for obilivion

The "special moves" Pete talks about are accessed by holding down the attack button for a brief time, rather than clicking it and releasing immediately as you would do to perform standard attacks. In addition, you can hold down one of the directional keys to select one of the attacks. You'll have basic forms of these "power attacks" at the beginning, and earn more as your skills increase. Power attacks can do more damage than standard attacks, but they also burn more fatigue and take longer to perform, so you need to be smart about when you use them. It's similar to how you would hold the attack button longer in Morrowind for a more powerful attack. In fact, as has been pointed out in this thread, aside from blocking being mapped to a separate button instead of being automatic, the combat controls are IDENTICAL to Morrowind's -- but selecting different attacks now actually MEANS something.