If you've been playing Throne and Liberty for any amount of time, you’ve likely heard conflicting opinions and theories about attack speed. You may have come across guides and expert discussions that seem to disagree on the fundamentals of how attack speed impacts your character’s abilities, rotations, and overall damage. After a week of intense testing across multiple scenarios and analyzing over 40 abilities frame by frame, I’m here to clear up the confusion and explain everything you need to know about attack speed, how it affects your builds, and what it means for your gameplay. Additionally, if you're looking to enhance your experience further, consider to buy Throne and Liberty Lucent, as it can provide a significant boost to your character’s power.

What Does Attack Speed Actually Do?

At its core, attack speed is a mechanic that impacts the animation speed of your character's abilities. It directly influences how quickly your character performs their skills, such as melee attacks, firebombs, counter barriers, and even magic spells.

· Auto Attacks: The most straightforward application of attack speed is in the auto attacks. A higher attack speed allows your character to dish out more auto attacks per second.

· Skill Animations: Attack speed also shortens the time between skill animations. For instance, when you cast a skill, it will take less time before you can trigger your next skill, allowing for quicker combos and a smoother gameplay experience.

The only notable exception to this rule are mobility skills (e.g., Precision Dash, Devastating Smash), which remain unaffected by attack speed. These movement-based abilities operate on a fixed animation speed.

How Does Attack Speed Work?

There are four key stats that affect your total attack speed in Throne and Liberty:

1. Base Attack Speed: Each weapon has a base attack speed value, and this is the foundation of your overall attack speed. For example, a crossbow might have a base attack speed of 0.5.

2. Bonus Attack Speed: This is a percentage boost you get from your gear, runes, masteries, or other sources. It’s important to note that the bonus attack speed is applied after the base value but with diminishing returns. This means that the more bonus attack speed you stack, the less effective each additional point becomes.

3. Dexterity: Dexterity is the primary attribute that influences attack speed in the game. Every 10 points of dexterity reduce your total attack speed by a flat amount (around 0.02). This reduction is linear, with no diminishing returns.

4. Total Attack Speed: This is the sum of your base attack speed, the bonus from dexterity, and any additional attack speed provided by gear or runes.

Understanding Diminishing Returns in Bonus Attack Speed

Bonus attack speed from gear and runes is subject to diminishing returns, meaning the more bonus attack speed you have, the less effective each additional point will be. To demonstrate how this works, imagine you have a base attack speed of 0.5, a dexterity reduction of 0.04, and a bonus attack speed of 6%. When this bonus is applied, your total attack speed will be reduced by a certain percentage, depending on the formula for diminishing returns. After all calculations, your final attack speed might be reduced to 0.433.

How Attack Speed Affects Skill Animations

Once you have your total attack speed, the game will use it to calculate how quickly your character’s skills can be executed. The key takeaway is that only the total attack speed matters, not how you arrived at it. Whether your total attack speed is influenced by dexterity, bonus attack speed, or the weapon's base speed, the result will be the same.

For example, a total attack speed of 1 represents the slowest possible animation time. If your total attack speed is 0.5, your animation time will be halved, meaning it will take only 50% of the original animation time. Reducing it further to 0.4 would bring the animation time down to 40% of the original duration. This speed reduction can significantly improve your gameplay by allowing you to complete combos faster.

Practical Impact on Builds

So, what does all this mean for your build? To maximize your damage potential, you need to understand how important attack speed is for your character’s playstyle.

· For Combo-Focused Characters: If your character relies heavily on combos, like a dagger-wielding assassin, attack speed will be crucial. Shortening the animation time between abilities will let you chain your attacks together more effectively and deal more damage in less time.

· High-Cooldown Builds: If you’re playing a class with long cooldowns, maximizing attack speed can still be useful, as it allows you to execute your abilities more efficiently once they come off cooldown.

Building for Attack Speed in Tier 2

As you prepare for Tier 2 gear and build your character for maximum efficiency, you should focus on the following factors:

· Base Attack Speed: This is the starting point for your build. While it may seem insignificant, a low base attack speed can greatly affect your overall performance. Compare your base attack speed with your other stats to ensure you’re getting the most from your weapon. To further optimize your build, consider acquiring TnL Lucent from a reliable source like MMOEXP, as it can help enhance your character's capabilities and improve your overall gameplay.

· Dexterity vs. Bonus Attack Speed: While additional bonus attack speed (e.g., from gear and runes) can be powerful, the diminishing returns mean that adding more dexterity could provide a better return on investment. Dexterity provides a flat reduction that isn’t affected by diminishing returns, making it a solid choice if you want more consistent performance.

· Total Attack Speed: Remember, at the end of the day, your total attack speed is what matters most. Prioritize equipment and stats that maximize this number.

Key Takeaways:

· Attack Speed impacts both your auto attacks and skill animations, reducing the time between casting skills.

· Dexterity provides a flat reduction in total attack speed, while bonus attack speed (from gear and runes) offers a percentage-based boost, but it comes with diminishing returns.

· The total attack speed value is the final factor in determining your animation speed, which is crucial for maximizing combos and damage.

· Mobility skills remain unaffected by attack speed.

· Base Attack Speed, Dexterity, and Bonus Attack Speed all contribute to your total attack speed, but the diminishing returns on bonus attack speed mean that balancing these stats is essential.

With all this in mind, you’ll now have a clearer understanding of how attack speed works in Throne and Liberty and how to optimize your build for maximum damage output as you approach Tier 2 content.

MMOexp Throne and Liberty Team