Weapon speed
See Attack speed, for an in-depth article on attack delay.
Attacking with a weapon with a listed attack delay of, for example, 150%, uses 15 units of time (on a scale where most actions take 10 units). Each two levels of weapon skill cut the delay by 1 unit down to a minimum that depends on weapon type.
The following table lists the base attack delay of melee weapons, the minimum possible delay, and the skill level required to reach this minimum. Note that all weapons eventually reach delay 7.
The minimum delay is base delay divided by 2 rounding down. If that number is greater than 7, truncate to 7. The only exception are cutlasses, which can reach 5.
For weapons of speed, multiply the numbers by 2/3 rounding up or down randomly.
Finesse halves all attack delays rounding up or down randomly.
Haste or Berserk rage multiplies delays by 2/3 (but not if Finesse is active), rounding up or down randomly. Delay can never go below 2.
If you are wearing a shield you may suffer some penalties, see Shields.
| General Weapon Speed | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base Delay | Min Delay | Skill Required | |||||
| 10 | 5 | 10 | |||||
| 11 | 5 | 12 | |||||
| 12 | 6 | 12 | |||||
| 13 | 6 | 14 | |||||
| 14 | 7 | 14 | |||||
| 15 | 7 | 16 | |||||
| 16 | 7 | 18 | |||||
| 17 | 7 | 20 | |||||
| 18 | 7 | 22 | |||||
| 19 | 7 | 24 | |||||
| 20 | 7 | 26 | |||||
| Short Blades | |||||||
| Name | Damage | Hit | Base Delay | Min Delay | Skill Required | Hands | Size |
| Dagger | 4 | 6 | 10 | 5 | 10 | One | Little |
| Quick blade | 5 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 8 | One | Little |
| Short sword | 6 | 4 | 11 | 5 | 12 | One | Little |
| Cutlass | 7 | 4 | 12 | 5 | 14 | One | Little |
| Long Blades | |||||||
| Name | Damage | Hit | Base Delay | Min Delay | Skill Required | Hands | Size |
| Falchion | 8 | 2 | 13 | 6 | 14 | One | Little |
| Blessed falchion | 9 | 2 | 12 | 6 | 12 | One | Little |
| Long sword | 10 | 1 | 14 | 7 | 14 | One | Small |
| Blessed long sword | 11 | 0 | 13 | 6 | 14 | One | Small |
| Scimitar | 12 | -2 | 14 | 7 | 14 | One | Small |
| Blessed scimitar | 13 | -1 | 13 | 6 | 14 | One | Small |
| Demon blade | 13 | -1 | 13 | 6 | 14 | One | Small |
| Eudemon blade | 14 | -2 | 12 | 6 | 12 | One | Small |
| Bastard sword | 15 | -1 | 15 | 7 | 16 | One | Medium |
| Blessed bastard sword | 16 | -2 | 14 | 7 | 14 | One | Medium |
| Great sword | 16 | -3 | 16 | 7 | 18 | Two | Large |
| Blessed great sword | 17 | -4 | 15 | 7 | 16 | Two | Large |
| Claymore | 19 | -4 | 19 | 7 | 24 | Two | Large |
| Blessed claymore | 20 | -5 | 18 | 7 | 22 | Two | Large |
| Axes | |||||||
| Name | Damage | Hit | Base Delay | Min Delay | Skill Required | Hands | Size |
| Hand axe | 7 | 3 | 13 | 6 | 14 | One | Little |
| War axe | 11 | 0 | 15 | 7 | 16 | One | Small |
| Broad axe | 13 | -2 | 16 | 7 | 18 | One | Medium |
| Battleaxe | 15 | -4 | 17 | 7 | 20 | Two | Large |
| Executioner's axe | 18 | -6 | 20 | 7 | 26 | Two | Large |
| Maces & Flails | |||||||
| Name | Damage | Hit | Base Delay | Min Delay | Skill required | Hands | Size |
| Whip | 6 | 2 | 11 | 5 | 12 | One | Little |
| Club | 5 | 3 | 13 | 6 | 14 | One | Little |
| Rod | 5 | 3 | 13 | 6 | 14 | One | Little |
| Hammer | 7 | 3 | 13 | 6 | 14 | One | Little |
| Mace | 8 | 3 | 14 | 7 | 14 | One | Little |
| Flail | 10 | 0 | 14 | 7 | 14 | One | Little |
| Morningstar | 13 | -1 | 15 | 7 | 16 | One | Small |
| Demon whip | 11 | 1 | 11 | 5 | 12 | One | Little |
| Sacred scourge | 12 | 0 | 11 | 5 | 12 | One | Little |
| Dire flail | 13 | -3 | 13 | 6 | 14 | Two | Large |
| Eveningstar | 15 | -1 | 15 | 7 | 16 | One | Small |
| Great mace | 17 | -4 | 17 | 7 | 20 | Two | Large |
| Giant club | 20 | -6 | 17 | 7 | 20 | Two | Big |
| Giant spiked club | 22 | -7 | 18 | 7 | 22 | Two | Big |
| Polearms | |||||||
| Name | Damage | Hit | Base Delay | Min Delay | Skill Required | Hands | Size |
| Spear | 6 | 4 | 11 | 5 | 12 | One | Small |
| Trident | 9 | 1 | 13 | 6 | 14 | One | Medium |
| Halberd | 13 | -3 | 15 | 7 | 16 | Two | Large |
| Scythe | 14 | -4 | 20 | 7 | 26 | Two | Large |
| Demon trident | 12 | 1 | 13 | 6 | 14 | One | Medium |
| Trishula | 13 | 0 | 13 | 6 | 14 | One | Medium |
| Glaive | 15 | -3 | 17 | 7 | 20 | Two | Large |
| Bardiche | 18 | -6 | 20 | 7 | 26 | Two | Large |
| Staves | |||||||
| Name | Damage | Hit | Base Delay | Min Delay | Skill Required | Hands | Size |
| Staff | 5 | 5 | 12 | 6 | 12 | One | Medium |
| Quarterstaff | 10 | 3 | 13 | 6 | 14 | Two | Large |
| Lajatang | 16 | -3 | 14 | 7 | 14 | Two | Large |
In-game display
There are two different ways to obtain some information about your attack speed.
- When the options show_gold_turns and show_game_turns are true, the turn counter in the stat area will display the exact value of the delay of your last action.
- The @ command will print a description of your attack speed:
| Attack speed description | Attack delay |
|---|---|
| blindingly fast | <3.4 |
| extremely fast | 3.5-4.4 |
| very fast | 4.5-5.4 |
| quite fast | 5.5-7.4 |
| above average | 7.5-9.4 |
| average | 9.5-10.4 |
| below average | 10.5-12.4 |
| quite slow | 12.5-15.4 |
| very slow | 15.5-19.9 |
| extremely slow | >=20 |
History
Prior to 0.14, the speed brand halved your attack delay rounding up, and decreased pre-AC damage by 10%.
Prior to 0.13, Finesse had no effect on non-blowgun throwing weapons.
