Base weapon speed

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	5
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