Speed Mechanics

Preface (currently work in progress)
Just as damage per hit is one of the major driving aspects in the game speed is also one of the major driving factors for damage. This article's intent is to cover the various forms of speed calculations in its entirety.

Diminishing Returns Formula
(Effective Increased Speed) = ([Gear Increased Speed] * [Constant])/([Gear Increased Speed] + [Constant])

This formula applies to all increased speeds directly gained from gear. Increased speeds indirectly gained from gear via plus skills and auras on equip do not count for this formula. The output of this formula is one of the inputs for the formula that actually determines your actual speed. This formula is used in IAS, FCR, FHR, FBR, and FRW.

The constant's value is dependent on which effective increased speed is being calculated. It is 150 when calculating EFRW from gear FRW. For the other four the value of the constant is 120. If your total gear increased speed value is equal to the negative of the constant value used in the diminishing returns formula you will crash your game with a division by 0 error. If you can get decreased speed below the crash causing value the calculation will have a rollover of sorts that will suddenly cause you to have positive effective increased speed from the formula(!!!). On a more normal situation note with positive increased speed value input levels getting higher amounts results in less and less effective speed returns.

This table shows how much of the constant you will obtain in effective increased speed for an amount of gear increased speed that is x times the constant.

It should be noted, however, getting much more than 2x the constant in increased gear speed tends to be impractical in aftermath. It's impractical to reach 2x the constant value for in gear increased speed for some speed calculations such as faster hit recovery fort that matter.

Total Effective Increased Speed Formula
(Total Effective Increased Speed) = (Output of Diminishing Returns Formula) + (Sum of Increased speed from skills, auras, other states, [and weapon base speed if this formula is being used for the IAS speed calculation])

Taking into note the nature of diminishing returns, it becomes quite clear speed bonuses/penalties from sources other than directly from gear are more potent than increased speed bonuses directly from gear. Base Weapon Speed is the only speed bonus directly from gear that applies at full strength.

Animation Length Formula
(Animation Length) = [(Base Animation Length) * (Attack Skill Animation Length Modifier) * (100/{Base Speed Constant + Total Effective Increased Speed})]-1

The { } in the equation has limits placed on the range of its output. If the output is lower than 15 it is raised to 15 (effectively slowed 85%). If the output is higher than 175 it is reduced to 175 (an effective 75% increased speed compared to base speed). The output of the [ ] is rounded up to the nearest integer/whole number. This is one of the few exceptions where the game rounds up instead of down in a calculation. Due to the subtraction of 1 from this rounded up result it gives the illusion that the result is being rounded down except for when the result is an integer (in which case 1 is subtracted from the integer result).

While FRW has its own odd thing going on for its speed calculation the other 4 categories of speed calculations use this formula to calculate animation lengths. The Attack Skill Animation Length Modifier part is specifically for IAS calculations. For the other 3 speed calculation types just simply substitute a 1 for Attack Skill Animation Length Modifier. The value of the Base Speed Constant depends on the type of speed calculation being performed. Refer to the specific speed calculation section for the value of this constant. There are many Base Animation Lengths that could possibly be used in this calculation. Refer to the specific speed calculation sections to find out which particular base animation lengths apply to the calculations you are looking to figure out.