UE5 Blueprints: Melee Hit Windows & Ragdoll

Quick heads up: this build expands on my Wandering AI and Basic Melee Combat tutorials.
If you don’t already have those set up, grab them from the pinned comment before continuing.

Build precise melee hit detection that actually connects and knocks NPCs out on impact. This tutorial expands an existing melee combat system by adding animation-driven hit windows, real-time traces, and instant ragdoll knockouts.

You’ll learn:
• How to create an AnimNotifyState hit window
• Using Notify Tick for frame-perfect melee detection
• Sphere tracing from a hand socket for accurate hits
• Triggering NPC ragdoll physics with impulse knockback

By the end, you’ll have melee attacks that reliably register hits and drop NPCs into ragdoll the moment they’re struck.

0:00 Intro
0:45 Step 1: Create the Hit Window Notify State
1:41 Step 2: Set Up the Notify Tick Logic
2:35 Step 3: Create and Call the Hit Detection Function
4:09 Step 4: Configure the Sphere Trace for Hit Detection
5:07 Step 5: Set Up Ragdoll Activation on the NPC
7:09 Test
7:38 Outro

📌 Need the full step-by-step guide with screenshots and GIFs?
Check out the complete article version linked in the pinned comment.

💬 Thanks for watching — and I’ll see you in the next one!

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