Attack speed

Attack speed in Terraria is handled in a somewhat unusual fashion compared to the accepted "norms" of other games featuring this combat model. While attack speed items do stack together, the actual bonus derived is different than a player would expect based on the in-game description.

The descriptions presented on items themselves are inaccurate. A description could say "10% melee attack speed" when the actual bonus is closer to 11.1%. This is because the bonus actually reduces the time to attack to 0.9 of base and ((1 / 0.9) - 1) * 100 = 11.11%.

Furthermore, the highest attack speed bonus is 91% (or 1150 through above equation) or .08 of base. You can reach this a cap using:


 * Shadow armor x3, Feral Claws, Well Fed, tipsy, werewolf buff, and total of 5 accessories reforged to violent
 * using hallow armor instead, gives 81% faster (426.32%) or ~.19.base

Melee Attack Speed
Melee attack speed affects the swing speed of almost all melee items. This includes swords, pickaxes, hammers and other tools. However, improving your melee attack speed won't improve the speed of mining.