From Dark and Darker Wiki
This page is work-in-progress. The information may be lacking, may not be up-to-date, however is not deleted as it provides some useful information or is capable of expansion.
Movement speed is the speed at which a player, Monster, or Summon moves through the dungeons.
General
The main way to influence your character's movement speed is through a stat called "Move Speed".
Move Speed is measured in both a rating as well as a percent. 3 points of Move Speed rating is equivalent to 1% Move Speed, which means 300 Move Speed = 100% Move Speed. Thus, you can convert between the two forms using the following formulae:
Move Speed = % * 3 % = Move Speed / 3
This conversion is important because certain effects are stated in terms of Move Speed rating while others are stated in % Move Speed.
Unless stated otherwise, effects that mention % Move Speed or % Move Speed Bonus are not multiplying your Move Speed rating by that % plus 1. Rather, they are adding to (or subtracting from) your % Move Speed obtained by converting your Move Speed rating as explained above.
Changes in % Move Speed will carry over to your Move Speed rating and vice versa so that they are never out-of-sync, and the conversion formulae above always hold true. Because of this equivalence, it is not incorrect to consider anything that applies to Move Speed as applying to % Move Speed instead or vice versa, provided that the appropriate conversions are performed.
In the Details screen, both Move Speed and % Move Speed are displayed in the Move Speed line in this form:
Move Speed (% Move Speed)
Like most other stats, Move Speed can be fractional - even if the Stats screen displays a rounded value - and the fraction portion still contributes to your actual Move Speed. The displayed % Move Speed value will usually be more accurate than the Move Speed value, but ultimately both may be slightly inaccurate due to rounding.
All classes technically have a base Move Speed of 300 (100%), but classes also have varying base Agility stats, which will affect each class's Move Speed with no gear, perks, or other modifiers. This modified base Move Speed may be referred to as a class's base Move Speed instead of the aforementioned 300 Move Speed.
An important distinction to keep in mind when reading this page is that between a character's movement speed and a character's Move Speed. While these can and are used interchangeably in certain contexts, more precisely, Move Speed is a character stat which reflects the amount of influence you could exert over your character's momentum using the movement keys, and it is visible in the Details screen. On the other hand, movement speed is a property representing the speed at which your character is moving at a given point in time, and it is not visible in the Details screen. Consider these situations:
- If you are standing still, you could have 30 Move Speed or 300 Move Speed, but in both cases you would have 0 movement speed.
- Ranger's Backstep moves your character a fixed distance over a fixed period of time. This gives your character a consistent, fairly high movement speed which likewise does not change whether you have low or high Move Speed.
Modifiers
There are a number of ways Move Speed may be modified.
All modifiers are additive aside from Action Movement Penalties.
The additive modifiers are applied first, and the AMP multipliers are applied after.
Move Speed is hardcapped to 330 (110%). This cap is applied after additive modifiers and AMP's, so manual calculations may need to use Move Speed values greater than 330.
Gear
Gear modifies your character's stats. Some of these modifications affect your Move Speed.
Agility
Agility is the attribute that affects Move Speed. See Stats#Move_Speed for more details including how to convert Agility to Move Speed.
Gear Move Speed
Most pieces of gear have a "Move Speed" value as a primary stat. This value is added to your Move Speed rating.
Note that this value is usually negative, meaning your Move Speed will actually decrease instead of increase.
Currently only boots have a positive gear Move Speed.
Gear with no gear Move Speed (effectively 0 gear Move Speed) include Torches, Lanterns, Accessories, Backs, most Hands, the Shadow Mask, and the Golden Scarf.
Additional Move Speed
Functions the same as gear Move Speed, but is only available as a gear enchantment.
Only found on boots.
Move Speed Bonus
Functions the same as gear Move Speed except it is a percent which is added to your % Move Speed (remember this also modifies your Move Speed rating).
Only found as an enchantment on boots, but can also be found as a primary stat on certain pieces of craftable gear - both boots and non-boots.
Perks
Some perks can affect your Move Speed by modifying your Agility, or by directly modifying your Move Speed or % Move Speed.
These effects can have unlimited duration or be applied as a temporary buff/debuff.
Fighter's Swift perk deserves special mention for its unique effect of reducing negative gear Move Speed by a percentage - the positive gear Move Speed from boots is unaffected.
Other examples include:
- Fighter's Counterattack perk temporarily granting 10% Move Speed Bonus upon successfully blocking
- Rogue's Double Jump perk applying a passive penalty of -10 Move Speed Add
Buffs
Some buffs can affect your Move Speed. These buffs might come from perks, skills, spells, songs, or shapeshifts.
Examples include:
- Rogue's Jokester perk granting 2 All Attributes including Agility, effectively granting the Rogue passive Move Speed
- Barbarian's Rage skill temporarily granting 10% Move Speed Bonus
- Wizard's Haste Spell temporarily granting 5% Move Speed Bonus
- Bard's Accelerando Song temporarily granting up to 3 stacks of 1/3/5 Move Speed Add
- Druid's Bear Shapeshift granting -20% Move Speed Bonus for as long as the Druid remains in Bear form
Debuffs
Some debuffs can affect your Move Speed. These debuffs might come from perks, skills, spells, songs, weapon hit slow, or Monsters.
Weapon Hit Slow
Being hit by a player's weapon applies a hit slow. This takes the form of a debuff, with the duration and severity of the slow varying based on the weapon as well as which part of the weapon's combo you are hit with.
See Weapons for individual data.
Action Movement Penalty
Certain actions apply an Action Movement Penalty as a multiplier to your Move Speed. These apply after all other additive effects (such as gear Move Speed, passives, and debuffs) have been applied.
| Source | Multiplier | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walking | .4 | This penalty applies while holding the Walk key. | |
| Crouching | .65 | This penalty applies while holding the Crouch key. | |
| Moving Backwards | .6 | This penalty applies as long as your horizontal momentum points at an angle within a certain cone behind you - even if you aren't holding the Move Backward key. Consequently, while moving in one direction such as during a running jump or when using Ranger's Backstep skill, you can apply/remove this penalty by spinning the camera around horizontally. At certain camera angles, you can have backwards momentum while not suffering this penalty, though you would also necessarily need to have significant sideways momentum.
| |
| Landing | .65 | This penalty applies for a short period when landing after being airborne.
| |
| Casting/Channeling | .65 | This penalty is applied during every stage of casting or channeling a Spell - cast bar, standby after cast bar fills, cast animation, channel bar, recovery animation). The Magic Staff and Ceremonial Staff are currently bugged and instead exhibit a casting penalty multiplier of ~.5575 and ~.6 respectively. | |
| Weapon attacks | Various | See Weapons#Movement_Multiplier_Explanation for explanation. See Weapons for individual data. | |
| Double Jump | .75 | This penalty is applied after double-jumping. See #Double Jump for more details. |
These multipliers stack multiplicatively e.g. crouching backwards results in an effective multiplier of .65 * .6 = .39
Jumping
Jumping is not directly affected by the Move Speed stat. Higher Move Speed does not result in a faster or higher jump.
However, jumping does interact with your movement speed. Momentum is maintained when jumping, so running jumps will go faster and farther than standing jumps. Jumping of course also means eventually landing (unless you are jumping into The Void), and landing will apply the landing Action Movement Penalty.
Jumping can't be performed while crouching or walking, but you may do either (or both) immediately after initiating a jump.
Rogue's Double Jump perk works a bit differently. See #Double Jump for details.
A strange interaction can be seen when jumping while moving backwards:
- While moving backwards on the ground, the backward AMP is applied.
- At the start of the jump, the backward AMP stops applying, even while moving backwards.
- Closer to the top of the jump, the backward AMP starts applying again.
- At the end of the jump but well before landing, the backward AMP stops applying again, even while moving backwards.
- As soon as you land i.e. as soon as the landing AMP starts applying, the backward AMP starts applying again.
| One possibility is that the cone determining whether the backward AMP is applied or not is actually a 3D cone, and gaining enough upward momentum (as when jumping) or downward momentum (as when falling for long enough) can push the momentum direction out of the cone. The problem with this theory is that it's already known that the cone is affected by the camera in real-time, but looking down while jumping or up while falling does not make the backward AMP apply. Maybe moving the camera moves the 3D cone horizontally but not vertically? Contribute by joining the Spells & Guns discord! |
Mid-Air Mechanics
While airborne, the primary influence on your movement is usually gravity. However, there are ways you can still influence your momentum while airborne.
This section describes movement options available to every class. See #Movement Abilities for class-specific mid-air mechanics.
Directional Influence
While mid-air, pressing the movement keys will still influence the direction in which your character travels. More broadly, Being able to DI means the movement keys will still affect your character's momentum while airborne.
DI'ing in the direction you're already traveling in will increase your horizontal speed, while DI'ing in another direction can change your momentum's direction, or even reverse its direction - multiple times, provided you can stay airborne long enough/can DI strongly enough.
Move Speed affects how strongly you can DI - the higher your Move Speed, the higher your DI strength. Thus, Move Speed can affect how fast you move while in the air - even if you disregard running jumps.
Action Movement Penalties are still applied while mid-air, so crouch-jumping, holding the walk button while jumping, flying backwards, etc. will all reduce your DI strength.
Just like Move Speed, differences in DI strength don't necessarily imply lower or higher movement speeds. If you only hold the Walk key during a running jump, you will travel exactly as fast and as far as if you held no key. DI strength only comes into play when you attempt to influence your momentum using the movement keys.
Generally, mid-air DI isn't nearly as impactful as running or even walking on the ground. But this apparent decrease in control doesn't appear to be due to an AMP or any other sort of direct Move Speed loss.
| Is there a special, hidden multiplier of some sort which applies while mid-air, resulting in less DI potential? It seems plausible that movement on the ground and DI in the air are coded as precisely the same mechanic, just with a hidden multiplier applied for DI in the air. Contribute by joining the Spells & Guns discord! |
Crouch-Jumping
Crouching mid-air will pull your feet up. Thus, crouching while jumping aka crouch-jumping can allow you to clear higher obstacles than you would be able to otherwise.
Crouch-jumping also pulls your head/camera up, allowing you to see higher. Your camera may even clip through the ceiling if you are close enough, allowing you to see the floor above you in rare cases.
| Does crouch-jumping forward reduce the distance traveled compared to DI'ing forward with no Penalties? Crouching pulls your feet up, delaying impact with the ground, thus granting you more distance. This may or may not be enough to make up for the lower movement speed. Contribute by joining the Spells & Guns discord! |
Movement Abilities
A number of perks, skills, spells, etc. modify Move Speed in a fairly straightforward manner. This section instead focuses on class-specific abilities which actually move your character. See the appropriate class page for details not related to movement.
Types
While each movement ability is generally unique, some groups of them share a number of properties. Some movement ability types are informally defined here based on those shared properties.
WIP
Rogue
See Rogue#Perks-0 and Rogue#Skills-0 for details not related to movement.
Double Jump
WIP