Attack speed

Info

The frequency with which units attack is measured in attack speed. A unit`s attack speed can be modified by items, agility Agility is the attribute that grants armor and attack speed. For each point of agility a hero gets: 0.14 (1/7) Armor 1 Attack speed Additionally, agility heroes also get 1 attack damage per agility point. , abilities, and auras.

Base attack time

Every unit has a base attack time (BAT), which refers to the default interval between attacks for an unbuffed unit with 0 agility and no attack speed bonus. For instance, a melee lane creep has a BAT of 1.00 seconds, and thus attacks once every second by default. Similarly, if a hero with 1.7 BAT had 0 agility and no bonus attack speed, they would attack once every 1.70 seconds. While nearly every unit can have their attack speed modified, only a few heroes can actively change their BAT.

Every hero has a BAT of 1.7 except for the following:

Hero	Base Attack Time	Difference in Attacks/Sec	AS Range in 1.7 BAT Representation	Actual AS Range in game
Alchemist   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs   Known Bugs     Alchemist 25 + 2.1 11 + 1.2 25 + (under Chemical Rage level 3)	1.0	(+70.0%)	34~1020	90~670
Alchemist   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs   Known Bugs     Alchemist 25 + 2.1 11 + 1.2 25 + (under Chemical Rage level 2)	1.2	(+41.7%)	28~850	61.7~641.7
Alchemist   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs   Known Bugs     Alchemist 25 + 2.1 11 + 1.2 25 + (under Chemical Rage level 1)	1.4	(+21.4%)	24~729	41.4~621.4
Juggernaut   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs     Juggernaut 20 + 2.2 26 + 2.4 14 + 1.4 Level Base	1.4	(+21.4%)	24~729	41.4~621.4
Oracle   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs   Known Bugs     Oracle 18 + 2.2 15 + 1.7 23 +	1.4	(+21.4%)	24~729	41.4~621.4
Anti-Mage	1.45	(+17.2%)	23~703	37.2~617.2
Lone Druid   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs   Known Bugs     Lone Druid 17 + 2.4 24 + 2.7 13 (under True Form)	1.5	(+13.3%)	23~680	33.3~613.3
Queen of Pain   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs     Queen of Pain 16 + 2 18 + 2 24 + 2.5	1.5	(+13.3%)	23~680	33.3~613.3
Terrorblade   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs     Terrorblade 15 + 1.7 22 + 3.2 19 + 1.75 Level Base	1.5	(+13.3%)	23~680	33.3~613.3
Troll Warlord   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs     Troll Warlord 20 + 2.5 21 + 2.5 13 + 1 Level (under Berserker`s Rage)	1.5	(+13.3%)	23~680	33.3~613.3
Windranger   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs   Known Bugs     Windranger 15 + 2.8 17 + 1.4 22 +	1.5	(+13.3%)	23~680	33.3~613.3
Morphling   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs   Known Bugs     Morphling 19 + 2.3 24 + 3.7 17 +	1.55	(+9.7%)	22~658	29.7~609.7
Huskar   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs     Huskar 21 + 2.7 15 + 1.4 18 + 1.5 Level Base	1.6	(+6.3%)	21~638	26.3~606.3
Lina   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs     Lina 18 + 1.8 16 + 1.5 27 + 3.2 Level Base	1.6	(+6.3%)	21~638	26.3~606.3
Bristleback   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs     Bristleback 22 + 2.2 17 + 1.8 14 + 2.8 Level Base	1.8	(-5.6%)	19~567	14.4~594.4
Magnus   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs     Magnus 21 + 3.2 15 + 2.5 19 + 1.65 Level Base	1.8	(-5.6%)	19~567	14.4~594.4
Sven   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs   Known Bugs     Sven 23 + 3 21 + 2 16 +	1.8	(-5.6%)	19~567	14.4~594.4
Weaver   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs     Weaver 15 + 1.8 14 + 2.8 15 + 1.8 Level Base	1.8	(-5.6%)	19~567	14.4~594.4
Lifestealer   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs     Lifestealer 25 + 3.3 18 + 1.9 15 + 1.75 Level Base	1.85	(-8.1%)	18~551	11.9~591.9
Treant Protector For Nature s Prophet s summons, see Treant. For the race in Dota 2 lore, see Treant Protectors.   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities	1.9	(-10.5%)	18~537	9.5~589.5
Spirit Breaker   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs     Spirit Breaker 29 + 2.7 17 + 1.7 14 + 1.8 Level	1.9	(-10.5%)	18~537	9.5~589.5
Doom   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs     Doom 26 + 3.5 11 + 0.9 13 + 2.1 Level Base	2.0	(-15.0%)	17~510	5~585

• Note: Rubick is also capable of lowering his BAT if he steals and uses any of the abilities listed in the above table.

Unit	Base Attack Time	Difference in Attacks/Sec	AS Range in 1.7 BAT Representation	Actual AS Range in game
Death Ward	0.22	(+672.7%)	155~4636	692.7~1272.7
Familiar	0.4	(+325.0%)	85~2550	345~925
Necronomicon Warrior	0.75	(+126.6%)	45~1360	146.6~726.6
Greater Treant	1.0	(+70.0%)	34~1020	90~670
Melee and Ranged Creeps	1.0	(+70.0%)	34~1020	90~670
Necronomicon Archer	1.0	(+70.0%)	34~1020	90~670
Lycan Wolf (level 4)	1.1	(+54.5%)	31~927	74.5~654.5
Lycan Wolf (level 3)	1.15	(+47.8%)	30~887	67.8~647.8
Lycan Wolf (level 2)	1.2	(+41.7%)	28~850	61.7~641.7
Warlock`s Golem	1.2	(+41.7%)	28~850	61.7~641.7
Boar	1.25	(+36.0%)	27~816	56~656
Lycan Wolf (level 1)	1.25	(+36.0%)	27~816	56~656
Earth	1.35	(+25.9%)	25~756	45.9~625.9
Fire	1.35	(+25.9%)	25~756	45.9~625.9
Spiderite	1.35	(+25.9%)	25~756	45.9~625.9
Spiderling	1.35	(+25.9%)	25~756	45.9~625.9
Spirit Bear (level 4)	1.35	(+25.9%)	25~756	45.9~625.9
Spirit Bear (level 3)	1.45	(+17.2%)	23~703	37.2~617.2
Eidolon	1.5	(+13.3%)	23~680	33.3~613.3
Forged Spirit	1.5	(+13.3%)	23~680	33.3~613.3
Plague Ward	1.5	(+13.3%)	23~680	33.3~613.3
Serpent Ward	1.5	(+13.3%)	23~680	33.3~613.3
Storm	1.5	(+13.3%)	23~680	33.3~613.3
Spirit Bear (level 2)	1.55	(+9.7%)	22~658	29.7~609.7
Undying Zombie	1.6	(+6.3%)	21~638	26.3~606.3
Spirit Bear (level 1)	1.65	(+3.0%)	21~618	23~603
Treant	1.75	(-2.9%)	19~583	17.1~597.1
Roshan	2.0	(-15.0%)	17~510	5~585
Siege Creeps	2.7	(-37.0%)	13~378	-17~563

Videos

Attack speed representation

The reciprocal of base attack time is base attack speed. For most heroes, this is 1 / 1.7 = 0.588 attacks per second. Attack speed is expressed in percent of base attack speed. The base is therefore expressed as 100. Each point of increased attack speed (IAS) adds 1 to that, giving 1% of base attack speed. Each point of agility Agility is the attribute that grants armor and attack speed. For each point of agility a hero gets: 0.14 (1/7) Armor 1 Attack speed Additionally, agility heroes also get 1 attack damage per agility point. increases IAS by 1. IAS is also modifiable by items, abilities, buffs, and debuffs. Attack speed works together with BAT to determine how often a unit can attack.

Attack speed caps of 20 and 600 are reached with -80 attack speed reduction and with +500 increased attack speed respectively, since every unit has a base attack speed of 100.

• Note: When mousing over attack damage in the HUD, the first field shows the attack speed and the time per attack in parenthesis. The attack speed field is defaulted to 100 and adds the IAS afterward, leading to a lower boundary of 20 and an upper boundary of 600. Even though the display may show a unit to "exceed" these boundaries, the actual attack speed used for calculations will still obey the caps of 20 and 600. This can be easily verified by observing that the "time between attacks" display does not change even when pushing well past "600 attack speed".

• Note2: Units that do not have 1.7 BAT will display their attack speed differently in the in-game HUD as if they had 1.7 BAT. For instance, a unit with 0.85 BAT and no bonus attack speed (100 attack speed) will display itself as having 200 attack speed, because 0.85 seconds is how long a unit with 1.70 BAT and 200 attack speed would take in between attacks. This strange quirk makes it harder to figure out if a hero without 1.7 BAT is nearing the attack speed cap, but it does allow players to compare this uniform "attack speed metric" across all heroes more easily.

Attack speed formula

IAS vs BAT: attacks per second

The formulas below denote the relationship between BAT, IAS, attacks per second, and time between attacks.

Attacks per second = (100 + IAS) ⃗ 0.01 / BAT

Attack time = BAT / (100 + IAS) ⃗ 0.01 = 1 / (attacks per second)

For instance, a lvl 1 Axe with no items has 1.7 BAT and 20 agility, which is converted to (0.20).

Attacks per second = (100 + IAS) ⃗ 0.01 / BAT

Attacks per second = (100 + 20) ⃗ 0.01 / 1.7

Attacks per second = 1.2 / 1.7

Attacks per second = ~0.706

>> Axe attacks about 0.706 times per second.

Attack time = 1 / 0.706

Attack time = ~1.417

>> Axe takes about 1.417 seconds between attacks.

Remember that units start with 100 attack speed, which caps at 20 and 600. This can be modified by IAS, which therefore caps at -80 and +500.

Here are some attack speed benchmarks and their effect on attacks per second:

-80 attack speed, a unit with 20 AS will take 5/1 times their BAT to attack (1/5x normal speed) (lower cap)

-75 attack speed, a unit with 25 AS will take 4/1 times their BAT to attack (1/4x normal speed)

-66 attack speed, a unit with 33 AS will take 3/1 times their BAT to attack (1/3x normal speed)

-50 attack speed, a unit with 50 AS will take 2/1 times their BAT to attack (1/2x normal speed)

+00 attack speed, a unit with 100 AS will take 1/1 times their BAT to attack (1x normal speed)

+100 attack speed, a unit with 200 AS will take 1/2 times their BAT to attack (2x normal speed)

+200 attack speed, a unit with 300 AS will take 1/3 times their BAT to attack (3x normal speed)

+300 attack speed, a unit with 400 AS will take 1/4 times their BAT to attack (4x normal speed)

+400 attack speed, a unit with 500 AS will take 1/5 times their BAT to attack (5x normal speed)

+500 attack speed, a unit with 600 AS will take 1/6 times their BAT to attack (6x normal speed) (upper cap)

List of items increasing attack speed

List of abilities increasing attack speed