Attack speed

From Terraria Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Not to be confused with Mining speed.

Attack speed in Terraria refers to the rate at which a weapon can attack. Despite many modifiers and effects showing changes to attack or melee speed, attack speed is not an in-game statistic and is instead determined by its reciprocal, known as use time. This is the amount of ticks[1] it takes to swing (attack with) or use an item. If use time increases, attack speed decreases, and vice versa. For example, a weapon with a use time of 30 will have a lower attack speed (slower rate of fire) than a weapon with a use time of 10. As such, any attack speed modifiers will in actuality act as a variable within the use time equation. However, as shown below, for many melee weapons a change in attack speed (and therefore use time) will have effects other than a change in use time.

While almost all weapons can receive attack speed modifiers, such as Quick or Legendary, accessories will only ever provide bonuses to melee speed.

Effects

Melee speed bonuses affect different types of melee weapons and whips(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) in different ways. For most endgame weapons, it does not increase DPS, as most of them fall into one of the following categories:

Projectile melee weapons

Projectile swords

For projectile swords, melee speed mainly affects the actual swinging animation of the sword itself. It also affects their projectiles' velocity, effectively making projectiles reach further or easier to hit targets at long range. It also has a subtle increase on the projectile's fire rate, and the effect of this boost differs from weapon to weapon.

On the Desktop version Desktop version, Console version Console version, and Mobile version Mobile version, in addition to the velocity increase, the Blade of Grass, Night's Edge, True Night's Edge, and Terra Blade will fire their projectiles every time they are swung, making melee speed bonuses have more benefits on these weapons.

Only projectile

For melee weapons that only shoot projectiles (including Shadowflame Knife(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions), Scourge of the Corruptor, Vampire Knives, and Daybreak(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)), melee speed will only increase their projectiles' velocity, making them better at hitting targets at long range.

Yoyos

Melee speed bonuses increase the length of a Yoyo's string, but not its attack rate. This can be very helpful in the early game, when yoyos are very short and hard to hit bosses with, and against bosses where the player need to keep a distance. The exact multiplier for yoyo string length is (1+3×(melee speed))÷4, where melee speed is 1.0 without buffs. Thus, if the player can reach 2× melee speed through buffs, the yoyo string will be 75% longer.

Flails

Both thrown and launched flails will only have their velocity increased with melee speed bonuses. As a result, they effectively reach further or hit for more often, making them much better at hitting flying targets.

(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) With melee speed boosts, thrown flails will not attack more often when Use / Attack button is held down.

Spears

Spears attack faster with melee speed boosts. They also reach slightly longer, but this increase is negligible.

For spears that create projectiles when attacking (Mushroom Spear, Chlorophyte Partisan, North Pole, Storm Spear(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions), and (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) The Rotted Fork, Dark Lance, and Gungnir), melee speed will increase the fire rate and the velocity of the projectiles, making the projectiles reach further.

Boomerangs

Boomerangs gain velocity increase from melee speed, making them reach further.

Other melee weapons

All these weapons are Desktop version Desktop, Console version Console, and Mobile version Mobile-exclusive.

For the Terragrim, Arkhalis, Jousting Lance, Hallowed Jousting Lance, Shadow Jousting Lance, Sleepy Octopod, Sky Dragon's Fury's Use / Attack button attack, Solar Eruption, and Zenith, melee speed has no effect on them. However, the Zenith do have a visual change when benefited by melee speed: the amount of swords summoned per attack is reduced when having high melee speed.

For the Starlight, melee speed will increase the range of its rainbow projectiles, and slightly increase its attack rate.

For the Sky Dragon's Fury's Open / Activate button attack, melee speed will increase both the fire rate and its projectile's velocity.

Whips (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)

Despite doing summon damage, whips are also affected with melee speed. This will make them attack faster.

Boost gear

Accessories

Item Attack speed bonus
Fire GauntletFire Gauntlet 12%
Feral ClawsFeral Claws 12%
Berserker's GloveBerserker's Glove(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 12%
Power GlovePower Glove 12%
Mechanical GloveMechanical Glove 12%
Celestial StoneCelestial Stone 10%
Sun StoneSun Stone 10%
Moon StoneMoon Stone 10%
Moon CharmMoon Charm 5.1%
Moon ShellMoon Shell 5.1%
Celestial ShellCelestial Shell(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 15.1%

Armor

Item Attack speed bonus
Molten GreavesMolten Greaves 7%
Hallowed MaskHallowed Mask 10%
Frost LeggingsFrost Leggings 10%
Palladium MaskPalladium Mask 12%
Orichalcum MaskOrichalcum Mask 11%
Titanium MaskTitanium Mask 9%
Beetle Scale MailBeetle Scale Mail 6%
Beetle LeggingsBeetle Leggings 6%
GiGi(Desktop, Console, Old-gen console and Mobile versions) 10%
Solar Flare LeggingsSolar Flare Leggings(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 15%
Monk's Bushy Brow Bald CapMonk's Bushy Brow Bald Cap(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 20%
Shinobi Infiltrator's TorsoShinobi Infiltrator's Torso(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 20%
Ancient Hallowed MaskAncient Hallowed Mask(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 10%
Crystal Assassin PantsCrystal Assassin Pants(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 10%
Cobalt armorCobalt armor(with Helmet) 15%
Adamantite armorAdamantite armor(with Helmet) 20%
Beetle armorBeetle armor(with Scale Mail) up to 30%

Notes

Footnotes

  1. A tick is a time unit countable by the software. Most of Terraria's updating logic happens every tick. A tick has the length of 1/60th of a second, hence there are 60 ticks in a second and 3600 ticks in a minute.