Base weapon speed

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All weapons have a base weapon speed, which is the standard roundtime before accounting any factors that may increase or decrease that number. When wielding two weapons, the combined base speed is a calculated based on each weapon's base, the weight of the weapon, and the character's Strength stat.

Minimum Weapon Speed

A weapon's minimum speed is the lowest roundtime at which a weapon can be swung under normal circumstances. The minimum speed is derived from the weapon's base speed, and always falls between 2 and 4 seconds.

Base Speed Minimum Speed
1 sec 2 sec
2 or 3 sec 3 sec
4 sec or more 4 sec

Aimed strikes

Main article: AMBUSH (verb)

Aiming an attack with the AMBUSH verb increases the minimum roundtime of the attack by 1 in addition to the 3 second increase in roundtime.

How can the minimum be greater than the base?

The interplay between minimum speed and base speed can at first seem contradictory for very fast weapons, such as the dagger with its base speed of 1. Despite a base speed of 1, a character would swing their dagger in 3 seconds. However, because the base speed is 2 seconds faster than the minimum speed, factors that increase roundtime are diminished.

For example, if a character with no armor training were to wear a leather breastplate, their roundtime would increase by 3 seconds. This is added to the dagger's base of 1, for a 4 second swing. If the dagger's base speed and minimum speed were both 3, the attack would have taken 6 seconds, not 4.

Going below the minimum

While a character's training and statistics cannot decrease an attack below its normal minimum, there are a few ways to attack faster. The Quickstrike ability and combat maneuver provide a flat decrease to roundtime at a cost to the user's stamina. A warrior's bonded weapon can decrease roundtime as an occasional "flare". Two spells also help: a bard's Song of Tonis (1035) provides a roundtime reduction to the entire group, and the Celerity (506) spell reduces roundtime for a single target (via free and automatic use of a Quickstrike).

List of Base Weapon Speeds

Below is a list of the base speed for each weapon. Weapons in the game may have different names, but the INSPECT verb will show the weapon's base name, and the page for each weapon base should list the alternate names of that weapon.

Type Name Base Speed
Brawling Closed fist 1
Brawling Blackjack 1
Brawling Cestus 1
Brawling Fist-scythe 3
Brawling Hook-knife 1
Brawling Jackblade 2
Brawling Katar 3
Brawling Knuckle-blade 1
Brawling Knuckle-duster 1
Brawling Razorpaw 1
Brawling Paingrip 1
Brawling Sai 2
Brawling Tiger-claw 1
Brawling Troll-claw 2
Brawling Yierka-spur 1
OHB Ball and chain 6
OHB Crowbill 3
OHB Cudgel 4
OHB Leather whip 2
OHB Mace 4
OHB Morning star 5
OHB War hammer 4
OHE Backsword 5
OHE Bastard sword 6
OHE Broadsword 5
OHE Dagger 1
OHE Estoc 4
OHE Falchion 5
OHE Handaxe 5
OHE Katana 5
OHE Katar 3
OHE Longsword 4
OHE Main gauche 2
OHE Rapier 2
OHE Scimitar 4
OHE Short sword 3
OHE Whip-blade 2
Polearm Awl-pike 9
Polearm Halberd 6
Polearm Hammer of Kai 7
Polearm Jeddart-axe 7
Polearm Javelin 4
Polearm Lance 9
Polearm Pilum 3
Polearm Spear 5
Polearm Trident (1-Handed) 5
Polearm Trident (2-Handed) 6
THW Bastard sword 6
THW Battle axe 8
THW Claidhmore 8
THW Flail 7
THW Flamberge 7
THW Katana 6
THW Maul 7
THW Military pick 7
THW Quarterstaff 3
THW Two-handed sword 8
THW War mattock 7
Ranged Composite bow 5
Ranged Heavy crossbow 2
Ranged Light crossbow 1
Ranged Long bow 4
Ranged Short bow 3
Thrown Bola 5
Thrown Dart 2
Thrown Discus 5
Thrown Throwing net 7
Thrown Quoit 5

Original source: GM Ixix