Use time

Use Time is a statistic that applies to Weapons, Tools, and other useable Items, which determines the time that must pass, after use, before the same item or another item can be used again. In basic terms, this is the "rate of fire", as measured in game frames (1/60th of a second).

For example, a Use Time of 100 means the item takes ~1.67 seconds (100/60 seconds) to use, and can generally be used repeatedly every 1.67 seconds. There are exceptions for certain items, for example the Health restoration items like Mushrooms and Lesser Healing Potions, which have a special cooldown period before they can be used again, or Flail and Boomerang weapons that must return before being fired again.

This statistic is particularly useful in comparing the speed of tools and weapons. The in-game tooltips for these items automatically groups these values into categories like "Very Fast" or "Very Slow". These are grouped as following: The Shortswords, for example, have a Use Time of 11, meaning that they can be used in quick succession, as compared with the exceptionally slow Fiery Greatsword, which has a Use Time of 33 -- a much slower weapon that can not be used as often (though it covers a great deal more distance than a shortsword). Note: Snail speed (as of 1.1.2) is only possible with a program that can edit usetime such as terrahax.

Modified Use Times
When a typical Modifier is applied to the weapon, "+10% speed" actually means "-10% use time", the modified value is rounded down and produces the new Use Time. Due to rounding the actual bonuses come in diverse percentages. The table below juxtaposes the rapidly firing Megashark and the equally as hard hitting, yet much slower Musket.