Attack Speed

Attack Speed refers to the frequency with which Melee weapons attack, that determines how fast a melee weapon can attack within a particular span of time.

The base from which Melee Attack Speed is derived is the weapon's Attack Animation, which is the set of actions that a Melee weapon performs when attacking, e.g. swinging the weapon, with an animation taking up a set amount of time to complete. The listed Attack Speed for Melee weapons is a modifier that is derived from the Attack Animation's base value, altering the speed at which said animation is executed. For instance, a Melee weapon with an Attack Speed of 1.0 runs its attack animation at its default speed, while a Melee weapon with an Attack Speed of 1.2 runs the animation 20% faster, and a weapon with 0.8 Attack Speed runs the animation at only 80% of the default speed.

Different classes of Melee weapons have different base Attack Animation speeds, and thus the actual Attack Speed is different between weapon classes regardless of the actual value shown; ex. despite the Fragor Heavy Hammer and Karyst dagger both having listed Attack Speeds of 0.8, the Karyst's actual attack speed is still faster than the Fragor's due to hammers having a slower base Attack Animation speed.

Fast Attack Speeds are essential in enhancing a melee weapon's overall damage potential, both from the frequency of its normal attacks, and the ability to land more hits for a melee weapon's Combo Counter to further increase its damage. Faster Attack Speeds also affect the speed at which Melee Combos are executed, although the increased animation speed means that the timing to execute said combos become tighter.

Certain weapons like the Glaive and Redeemer have Charged Attack mechanics identical to ranged weapons, which is also affected by the weapon's Attack Speed values, with faster attack speeds allowing for faster charge times.

Attack Speed Mods
The following Mods affect Attack Speed positively, increasing a Melee Weapon's rate of attack:

The following Mods affect Attack Speed negatively, reducing rate of attack:

Attack Speed Powers
The following powers affect Attack Speed positively, increasing a Melee Weapon's rate of attack:
 * SpeedModU15.png
 * WarcryModU145.jpeg
 * (Volt) Speed: Increases Warframe Movement Speed and Melee Attack Speed.
 * (Valkyr) Warcry: Increases Warframe Armor and Melee Attack Speed.
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 * (Valkyr) Warcry: Increases Warframe Armor and Melee Attack Speed.
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Other Attack Speed Modifiers

 * The Status Effect slows down a unit's movement speed and Attack Speed.
 * The Tar-Mutalist MOA's Tar pool significantly slows down a unit's movement and attack speeds.