Post by Belix on Nov 20, 2012 3:40:41 GMT -5
Everything you never wanted to know about Attack Speed in Sacred + Underworld!
Melee and ranged, on foot, horseback, flying, and Combat Arts... it's all here!
(scroll down for the Attack Speed tables)
Greetings, Den-izens. I have put together a list of approximate weapon speeds for all characters using each type of weapon ranging from Very Slow to Very Fast, including some extra data on the 'Attack' Combat Art common to most characters. Please consider that this information was collected by observation, and is by no means perfect, but should serve as a good way of determining which types of weapons each character is faster or slower with than other types of weapons they can use.
Your mileage may vary slightly; a few characters have more than one animation for swinging some weapons, and when this happens sometimes one animation is noticeably faster or slower than the other, creating an unpredictable acceleration or pause in attacks. It was also difficult to consistently measure the true attack 'speed' of the Attack Combat Art since it is impossible to use it non-stop like a normal swing. This information was collected with Attack Speed maxed at 220; it is possible the relative speeds between weapon types could differ slightly if your Attack Speed is low.
I may have missed a few obscure weapons that have unique animations, as I did come across two anomalous weapons I'll elaborate on before the list. If anyone notices weapon types that are missing for a certain character that they CAN wield, please let me know. Otherwise you can safely assume if it isn't in the list, that character class cannot wield that type of weapon (Daemon cannot use Bows, so not listed for her).
I will also list all Combat Arts for a character that appear to benefit from increased Attack Speed (in that the execution of the combat art is sped up; this does not consider CAs that benefit indirectly, such as a 50 second spell that increases your weapon's physical damage output while active). In general, these are always only Attack, Hard Hit and Multi-hit (by different names on some characters), but there are two exceptions to this rule:
*All of the Wood Elf's Combat Arts except Multiple Shot (which is instant anyway) are executed faster. Higher speed means faster firing of her various Combat Art arrows.
*Both the Daemon and the Dwarf's Combat Arts gain no apparent benefit whatsoever from Attack Speed, including Assail (Daemon) and Assault/Heavy Blow/Wrath (Dwarf). This appears to have been an oversight made during Underworld's development and is quite harsh on the Daemon when using certain weapons with Assail.
Weapon categories marked with a * contain weapons that the character class has a related skill for (e.g. Sword Lore yields a * to 1h Melee and 2h Swords). When reading the charts, keep in mind that you cannot dual-wield from horseback (only one weapon is used) and the 'Attack' Combat Art (CA) of each character behaves differently with Bows/Crossbows, instead firing several projectiles simultaneously (up to at least 5 projectiles at CA level 10). Thus these table entries will be etched out with dashes, meaning not applicable.
Weapon categories/groups are based on weapons that share the same animations. These are NOT the same categories used by weapon/skill relations; the Sword Lore skill for instance covers both one-handed and two-handed swords, however, these are two different types of weapons with potentially different attack speeds. The groups listed are as follows:
Hand: Unarmed; bare fists, gauntlets, knuckle and claw type weapons.
1h Melee: One-handed Melee; Swords, axes, maces, daggers.
1h Blade: The Dark Elf's long blade weapons.
1h Dual: Dual wielding, using 2 one-handed weapons.
2h Sword: Two-handed Swords.
2h Axe/Hammer: Two-handed axes, hammers, mauls, etc.
2h Pole: All Pole-arms; staves, spears, halberds, lances.
And ranged weapons (self-explanatory):
Bow, Crossbow, Pistol, Rifle
Anomalous Weapons
Of final note, there are two anomalous weapons I have come across that deserve special mention. I will refer to them as the Mace Staff and the Blade Staff.
The Mace Staff is unique in that, unlike all other staves, it is associated with the Axe Lore skill instead of Long-Handled Weapons. This means that the Dwarf, who normally cannot wield pole-arms, can actually use this one particular type of staff. This is why 2h Pole is listed for the Dwarf.
The Blade Staff is more interesting. It is associated with the Blade Combat skill unique to the Dark Elf. However, unlike all other Blade Combat weapons, it is not restricted to the Dark Elf class. Some characters in Sacred wield the Blade Staff exactly as they would a one-handed melee weapon, with no difference in animation. Others would appear to have their own unique animations for it. For any character other than the Dark Elf, if you see 1h Blade listed, it is referring specifically to the Blade Staff. If it is not listed, it means that character uses it like a normal 1h melee weapon.
CAs that benefit from Attack Speed: Attack, Hard Hit, Multi-Hit
CAs that benefit from Attack Speed: Attack, Hard Hit, Multi-Hit, BeeEffGee
NOTE: The Daemon holds the Blade Staff like a 2h sword, but swings it like a 1h weapon. However, one of her 1h melee attack animations is missing, so she always uses the same animation, yielding a more consistent, faster speed.
CAs that benefit from Attack Speed: None
NOTE: Pistols fire faster than Rifles.
NOTE: Like the Daemon, the Dwarf holds the Blade Staff like a 2h sword, but swings it like a 1h weapon. No difference otherwise.
CAs that benefit from Attack Speed: None
CAs that benefit from Attack Speed: All Wood Elf Combat Arts
CAs that benefit from Attack Speed: Rage (Attack), Revenge (Hard Hit), Sudden Fury (Multi-hit)
NOTE: Hand to Hand left-click swings are even faster in Vampire form.
CAs that benefit from Attack Speed: Ripping Claws (Attack), Claws of Death (Hard Hit), Whirling Claws (Multi-hit)
EDIT: I missed the Seraphim's BeeEffGee Combat Art in her list of CAs improved with Attack Speed. Added now.
EDIT #2: Completed information on the Mace Staff and Blade Staff, and added an explanation for the weapon groupings.
EDIT #3: Clarified which Combat Arts are considered as benefiting from improved Attack Speed.
Melee and ranged, on foot, horseback, flying, and Combat Arts... it's all here!
(scroll down for the Attack Speed tables)
Greetings, Den-izens. I have put together a list of approximate weapon speeds for all characters using each type of weapon ranging from Very Slow to Very Fast, including some extra data on the 'Attack' Combat Art common to most characters. Please consider that this information was collected by observation, and is by no means perfect, but should serve as a good way of determining which types of weapons each character is faster or slower with than other types of weapons they can use.
Your mileage may vary slightly; a few characters have more than one animation for swinging some weapons, and when this happens sometimes one animation is noticeably faster or slower than the other, creating an unpredictable acceleration or pause in attacks. It was also difficult to consistently measure the true attack 'speed' of the Attack Combat Art since it is impossible to use it non-stop like a normal swing. This information was collected with Attack Speed maxed at 220; it is possible the relative speeds between weapon types could differ slightly if your Attack Speed is low.
I may have missed a few obscure weapons that have unique animations, as I did come across two anomalous weapons I'll elaborate on before the list. If anyone notices weapon types that are missing for a certain character that they CAN wield, please let me know. Otherwise you can safely assume if it isn't in the list, that character class cannot wield that type of weapon (Daemon cannot use Bows, so not listed for her).
I will also list all Combat Arts for a character that appear to benefit from increased Attack Speed (in that the execution of the combat art is sped up; this does not consider CAs that benefit indirectly, such as a 50 second spell that increases your weapon's physical damage output while active). In general, these are always only Attack, Hard Hit and Multi-hit (by different names on some characters), but there are two exceptions to this rule:
*All of the Wood Elf's Combat Arts except Multiple Shot (which is instant anyway) are executed faster. Higher speed means faster firing of her various Combat Art arrows.
*Both the Daemon and the Dwarf's Combat Arts gain no apparent benefit whatsoever from Attack Speed, including Assail (Daemon) and Assault/Heavy Blow/Wrath (Dwarf). This appears to have been an oversight made during Underworld's development and is quite harsh on the Daemon when using certain weapons with Assail.
Weapon categories marked with a * contain weapons that the character class has a related skill for (e.g. Sword Lore yields a * to 1h Melee and 2h Swords). When reading the charts, keep in mind that you cannot dual-wield from horseback (only one weapon is used) and the 'Attack' Combat Art (CA) of each character behaves differently with Bows/Crossbows, instead firing several projectiles simultaneously (up to at least 5 projectiles at CA level 10). Thus these table entries will be etched out with dashes, meaning not applicable.
Weapon categories/groups are based on weapons that share the same animations. These are NOT the same categories used by weapon/skill relations; the Sword Lore skill for instance covers both one-handed and two-handed swords, however, these are two different types of weapons with potentially different attack speeds. The groups listed are as follows:
Hand: Unarmed; bare fists, gauntlets, knuckle and claw type weapons.
1h Melee: One-handed Melee; Swords, axes, maces, daggers.
1h Blade: The Dark Elf's long blade weapons.
1h Dual: Dual wielding, using 2 one-handed weapons.
2h Sword: Two-handed Swords.
2h Axe/Hammer: Two-handed axes, hammers, mauls, etc.
2h Pole: All Pole-arms; staves, spears, halberds, lances.
And ranged weapons (self-explanatory):
Bow, Crossbow, Pistol, Rifle
Anomalous Weapons
Of final note, there are two anomalous weapons I have come across that deserve special mention. I will refer to them as the Mace Staff and the Blade Staff.
The Mace Staff is unique in that, unlike all other staves, it is associated with the Axe Lore skill instead of Long-Handled Weapons. This means that the Dwarf, who normally cannot wield pole-arms, can actually use this one particular type of staff. This is why 2h Pole is listed for the Dwarf.
The Blade Staff is more interesting. It is associated with the Blade Combat skill unique to the Dark Elf. However, unlike all other Blade Combat weapons, it is not restricted to the Dark Elf class. Some characters in Sacred wield the Blade Staff exactly as they would a one-handed melee weapon, with no difference in animation. Others would appear to have their own unique animations for it. For any character other than the Dark Elf, if you see 1h Blade listed, it is referring specifically to the Blade Staff. If it is not listed, it means that character uses it like a normal 1h melee weapon.
| GLADIATOR | FOOT | HORSE | ATTACK CA |
| *Hand | Very Fast | Fast | 3 Hits, Very Fast |
| *1h Melee | Fast | Fast | 4 Hits, Very Fast |
| *1h Dual | Very Fast | --- | 8 Hits, Very Fast |
| *2h Sword | Fast | Very Fast | 4 Hits, Fast |
| *2h Axe/Hammer | Slow | Fast | 2 Hits, Fast |
| *2h Pole | Slow | Fast | 4 Hits, Very Fast |
| *Bow | Normal | Slow | --- |
| *Crossbow | Normal | Slow | --- |
CAs that benefit from Attack Speed: Attack, Hard Hit, Multi-Hit
| SERAPHIM | FOOT | HORSE | ATTACK CA |
| Hand | Very Fast | Very Fast | 7 Hits, Very Fast |
| *1h Melee | Fast | Very Fast | 7 Hits, Very Fast |
| *1h Dual | Fast | --- | 6 Hits, Very Fast |
| *2h Sword | Very Slow | Very Fast | 4 Hits, Fast |
| *2h Pole | Fast | Very Fast | 6 Hits, Very Fast |
| *Bow | Normal | Fast | --- |
| *Crossbow | Very Slow | Slow | --- |
CAs that benefit from Attack Speed: Attack, Hard Hit, Multi-Hit, BeeEffGee
| DAEMON | FOOT | HORSE | FLY | ASSAIL CA |
| Hand | Very Fast | Fast | Normal | 4 Hits, Normal |
| *1h Melee | Very Fast | Fast | Normal | 3 Hits, Fast |
| *1h Dual | Very Fast | --- | Very Fast | 4 Hits, Slow |
| *2h Sword | Fast | Fast | Normal | 3 Hits, Normal |
| *2h Pole | Fast | Fast | Normal | 3 Hits, Fast |
| Crossbow | Slow | Very Slow | Very Fast | --- |
NOTE: The Daemon holds the Blade Staff like a 2h sword, but swings it like a 1h weapon. However, one of her 1h melee attack animations is missing, so she always uses the same animation, yielding a more consistent, faster speed.
CAs that benefit from Attack Speed: None
| DWARF | FOOT | ASSAULT CA |
| *Hand | Very Fast | 8 Hits, Very Fast |
| *1h Melee | Very Fast | 4 Hits, Fast |
| *2h Sword | Very Fast | 4 Hits, Fast |
| *2h Axe/Hammer | Fast | 4 Hits, Fast |
| *2h Pole | Very Fast | 4 Hits, Fast |
| *Pistol | Very Fast | 5 Hits, Very Fast |
| *Rifle | Very Fast | 5 Hits, Very Fast |
NOTE: Pistols fire faster than Rifles.
NOTE: Like the Daemon, the Dwarf holds the Blade Staff like a 2h sword, but swings it like a 1h weapon. No difference otherwise.
CAs that benefit from Attack Speed: None
| WOOD ELF | FOOT | HORSE | EYE FOR AN EYE CA |
| Hand | Very Fast | Very Fast | 5 Hits, Very Fast |
| 1h Melee | Very Fast | Very Fast | 4 Hits, Very Fast |
| 1h Blade | Fast | Very Fast | 4 Hits, Very Fast |
| 2h Sword | Very Slow | Very Fast | 4 Hits, Very Fast |
| 2h Pole | Very Fast | Very Fast | 5 Hits, Very Fast |
| *Bow | Very Fast | Fast | --- |
| *Crossbow | Very Slow | Normal | --- |
CAs that benefit from Attack Speed: All Wood Elf Combat Arts
| BATTLE MAGE | FOOT | HORSE |
| Hand | Very Fast | Fast |
| *1h Melee | Fast | Fast |
| 1h Blade | Very Fast | Very Fast |
| *2h Sword | Normal | Fast |
| *2h Pole | Fast | Fast |
| Bow | Normal | Fast |
| Crossbow | Very Slow | Normal |
| DARK ELF | FOOT | HORSE | ##TYPE |
| *Hand | Very Fast | Very Fast | 4 Hits, Fast |
| *1h Melee | Fast | Very Fast | 5 Hits, Fast |
| *1h Blade | Very Fast | Very Fast | 5 Hits, Fast |
| *1h Dual | Very Fast | --- | 7 Hits, Fast |
| *2h Sword | Normal | Very Fast | 4 Hits, Fast |
| 2h Pole | Very Fast | Very Fast | 5 Hits, Fast |
| Bow | Fast | Fast | --- |
| Crossbow | Slow | Normal | --- |
CAs that benefit from Attack Speed: Rage (Attack), Revenge (Hard Hit), Sudden Fury (Multi-hit)
| VAMPIRESS | FOOT | HORSE | RIPPING CLAWS CA |
| Hand | Very Fast | Fast | 3 Hits, Fast |
| *1h Melee | Very Fast | Fast | 3 Hits, Fast |
| *1h Blade | Very Fast | Fast | 3 Hits, Fast |
| *2h Sword | Normal | Fast | 3 Hits, Very Fast |
| *2h Pole | Fast | Fast | 3 Hits, Fast |
| *Bow | Normal | Slow | --- |
| *Crossbow | Slow | Slow | --- |
NOTE: Hand to Hand left-click swings are even faster in Vampire form.
CAs that benefit from Attack Speed: Ripping Claws (Attack), Claws of Death (Hard Hit), Whirling Claws (Multi-hit)
EDIT: I missed the Seraphim's BeeEffGee Combat Art in her list of CAs improved with Attack Speed. Added now.
EDIT #2: Completed information on the Mace Staff and Blade Staff, and added an explanation for the weapon groupings.
EDIT #3: Clarified which Combat Arts are considered as benefiting from improved Attack Speed.