Attack Speed

Overview

Attack Speed is a secondary stat in Crimson Desert that determines how quickly attacks are executed. Faster attack speed means shorter animation times between strikes, which translates to more hits per second and higher sustained damage output.

Unlike the primary resource stats, Attack Speed cannot be upgraded through the skill tree dials. It comes from your weapon type, Abyss Cores, and certain buff effects.

What Affects Attack Speed

Effective Stat Tiers (Diminishing Returns)

Community testing has confirmed that Attack Speed, along with Critical Rate and Movement Speed, operates on a tier system with effective breakpoints at levels 1, 6, and 11. This is different from resistance stats, which tier at levels 5, 10, and 15.

Investing beyond level 11 provides significantly diminished returns. For endgame builds, the optimal approach is to reach exactly level 11 through a combination of rings (which can provide up to level 4 Attack Speed each at max rank), gloves like the Tarive Cloth Gloves (which add Attack Speed), and weapon mods (Attack Speed 3). Two maxed rings alone provide 8 total levels, meaning a single Attack Speed 3 mod brings you to the optimal 11 threshold.

Once your rings are fully leveled to provide Level 4 each (total Level 8), you only need a single Attack Speed 3 mod on any piece of equipment to hit the 11 threshold. The Tarive Cloth Gloves become unnecessary once rings are maxed, freeing that equipment slot for gloves with other bonuses.

Tested Attack Speed Values

Community testing has measured the animation duration of a full two-handed sword light attack combo at various Attack Speed levels. The results reveal severe diminishing returns: the first rank alone provides more value than ranks 5 through 15 combined.

The practical recommendation is to aim for 1 to 2 ranks of Attack Speed from Abyss Cores or weapon properties for the best return on investment. Beyond rank 2, each additional rank provides diminishing returns so steep that spending the slot on other stats (Critical Rate, Attack Damage) is usually more efficient.

Frame-by-Frame Community Testing

Detailed frame-by-frame testing by the community using two-handed swords has confirmed that every individual rank of Attack Speed produces a measurable effect, not just breakpoints at 5, 10, and 15. Attack speed from any source (gloves, boots, rings, weapon) all affects your attacks equally as long as it shows on the stat screen.

The effect primarily reduces the windup time on the first attack in a combo and shortens the downtime before the next combo can begin. The improvements are not evenly distributed across ranks:

Recommendation: Always aim for at least Rank 5 Attack Speed. Rank 10 is the ideal target for most builds. Going beyond Rank 10 is generally not worth the investment unless you have no other stats to spend points on.

Template Build for Attack Speed

A practical setup that reaches Rank 11 (just above the optimal threshold):

This combination provides 11 total Attack Speed ranks with just three equipment slots. Since ranks beyond 10 offer diminishing returns, this setup hits the sweet spot without over-investing. If either ring is not yet at max refinement, the Tariv Cloth Gloves fill the gap until your rings are fully upgraded.

Global Stat Behavior

Unlike Attack and Critical Rate, Attack Speed is a global stat. It is not tied to individual weapon slots. Every point of Attack Speed from any source speeds up all attack animations equally, regardless of which weapon you have equipped. This includes not just light attack combos but also heavy attacks and techniques like Turning Slash.

Equipment Slot Interactions: Gloves and Shields

A critical distinction in Crimson Desert is how different stats behave depending on which equipment slot they come from. On Gloves, the Attack stat and Critical Rate stat only apply to unarmed combat. If Cliff is holding a weapon, those stats from gloves have no effect on weapon damage or crit chance whatsoever.

Attack Speed is the exception. Attack Speed from gloves applies globally to all weapon attacks, not just unarmed strikes. This is why the Tariv Cloth Gloves (which provide Attack Speed Lv.3 at max refinement) are considered the best gloves for any weapon build. They are the only gloves in the game that provide a real DPS increase for armed combat.

The same global behavior applies to Abyss Cores socketed into glove slots. Attack and Critical Rate cores placed in gloves only boost unarmed damage. However, Attack Speed cores (Gale, Swift) in glove slots do affect weapon attacks globally. For weapon builds, this means the only worthwhile offensive core to place in glove sockets is an Attack Speed core.

Shields also contribute Attack Speed globally. Even when Cliff is not actively blocking with the shield, any Attack Speed bonus from the equipped shield applies to all weapon attacks. This makes shields a secondary source of global Attack Speed alongside gloves and Abyss Cores.

Weapon Speed Comparison

The inherent speed of your weapon has the biggest impact on Attack Speed. Below is a general comparison across weapon types:

Attack Speed and Spirit Regeneration

Attack Speed has an indirect but important relationship with Spirit regeneration. Since Spirit refills with each hit landed on an enemy, faster weapons generate Spirit more quickly per second. Dagger users, for instance, regain Spirit noticeably faster than greatsword users because they land roughly three times as many hits in the same window. Players who rely on Spirit-heavy skill builds benefit significantly from higher Attack Speed.

When to Prioritize Attack Speed

• If you use fast weapons like daggers, stacking Gale and Swift cores amplifies an already high hit rate.

• For builds that depend on Spirit recovery through attacking, faster hits mean more Spirit income.

• For Critical Rate builds, faster attacks mean more rolls against the crit chance per second, leading to more critical hits over time.

• Slow weapon users may prefer investing in raw Attack Damage instead, since each individual hit counts for more.

• Every weapon build should consider the Tariv Cloth Gloves for their global Attack Speed Lv.3 bonus, since they are the only gloves that directly increase weapon DPS.

How It Actually Applies

Attack Speed behaves differently depending on which slot it rolls on. On a weapon, boots, or gloves it is a weapon-scope stat and only speeds up attacks made with that specific slot. That means Attack Speed on boots or gloves only applies to kicks and punches. It does not speed up your equipped sword, spear, or bow. On rings it is a global stat and speeds up every attack the character makes, including melee weapon swings, bow shots, and unarmed strikes.

The Ring Baseline Cap

Rings are the only accessory slot that can roll Attack Speed, and each ring caps at four Attack Speed. Because you wear two rings at once, the effective ring-baseline cap is eight global Attack Speed. This is the real starting point for any speed-focused build: before you pick a weapon, before you touch the Abyss gear, you should already be sitting at eight Attack Speed from rings alone. Any additional Attack Speed from a weapon then stacks with that baseline but only applies while that weapon is equipped.

Recommended Ring Pairing

The two rings that most consistently roll four Attack Speed at 10 out of 10 refinement are Witch's Ring and Mark of Darkness. Witch's Ring is a chapter nine reward from the Unwavering Steps quest chain, obtained after clearing the mirror puzzle tower and defeating the boss at the Nest of Valor in the Abyss. Mark of Darkness sits inside a puzzle strongbox at Windmere Manor, north of Demenissh. Running both gives you the full eight-point global baseline without compromising any armor slot.

See Also

• Stats

• Tariv Cloth Gloves (highest Attack Speed from gloves)

• Abyss Cores

• Increased Attack Speed (consumable item)

• Movement Speed

• Critical Rate

• Weapons

Attack Speed Is The One Glove Stat That Carries Over

Most damage-related stats placed on gloves or boots power up your unarmed weapon type and do not scale onto your equipped weapon. Attack speed is the exception. Attack speed from Gloves and boots is added directly onto your main weapon's attack speed total, making it the one damage-related secondary stat you actually want on those armor slots.

How To Verify It Carries Over

Open the character sheet with your two-hander drawn and note the attack speed total. Unequip gloves that have six attack speed and the total drops by six (for example, from eight down to two). Re-equip them and the total jumps back up. This is the quickest in-game proof that attack speed from armor slots applies to the main weapon rather than just unarmed.