Attack speed
Attack speed is how long you wait between two attacks. Roat Pkz runs on game ticks of 0.6 seconds, and every weapon waits a set number of ticks before it can attack again: a Dragon dagger attacks every 4 ticks (2.4 seconds), while a Dark bow attacks every 8 ticks (4.8 seconds). The lower the number, the faster the weapon. The speed shown in the stats box on item pages is this number of ticks.
A faster weapon hits more often, so attack speed counts as much as max hit for how much damage you deal over time. On Roat Pkz the speed depends only on the type of weapon, not on its tier: a rune scimitar and a Dragon scimitar both attack every 4 ticks.
Weapon speeds
| Ticks | Seconds | Ranged on Rapid | Melee weapons | Ranged weapons |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 1.8 s | 2 ticks (1.2 s) | – | Knives and darts:  Dragon knife,  dragon darts
|
| 4 | 2.4 s | 3 ticks (1.8 s) | Whips, daggers, swords (not longswords or 2h swords), scimitars, claws, rapiers and chainmaces, for example  Abyssal whip,  Abyssal tentacle,  Dragon claws,  Ghrazi rapier,  Blade of saeldor,  Voidwaker,  Abyssal bludgeon,  Inquisitor's mace,  Dual macuahuitl,  Zamorakian hasta,  Dragon hunter lance and  Arclight |
Shortbows, blowpipes and chinchompas, for example  Toxic blowpipe,  Craw's bow,  Webweaver bow,  Karil's crossbow, the  Eclipse atlatl and  black chinchompas
|
| 5 | 3.0 s | 4 ticks (2.4 s) | Longswords, maces, spears, axes and pickaxes, for example  Dragon longsword,  Dragon mace,  Dragon spear,  Osmumten's fang,  Scythe of vitur,  Statius's warhammer,  Dinh's bulwark,  Soulreaper axe and  Noxious halberd |
Thrown axes,  Bow of faerdhinen,  Crystal bow and  Scorching bow, for example  Dragon thrownaxe and  Morrigan's throwing axe
|
| 6 | 3.6 s | 5 ticks (3.0 s) | Godswords, battleaxes and warhammers, for example  Armadyl godsword,  Dragon battleaxe,  Dragon warhammer and  Elder maul. This is also the speed of any weapon that is not in another group, such as  Verac's flail and  Torag's hammers. |
Crossbows and longbows, for example  Armadyl crossbow,  Zaryte crossbow,  Dragon hunter crossbow,  Twisted bow,  Venator bow and  Morrigan's javelin
|
| 7 | 4.2 s | 6 ticks (3.6 s) | 2h swords, halberds and greataxes, for example  Dragon 2h sword,  Dragon halberd,  Dharok's greataxe and the  Granite maul |
Ballistas and the Tonalztics of ralos:  Heavy ballista,  Light ballista,  Tonalztics of ralos
|
| 8 | 4.8 s | 7 ticks (4.2 s) | – |  Dark bow
|
- Fighting without a weapon is as fast as the 4-tick group.
- A few weapons are faster or slower than others of the same type: the Zamorakian spear and Zamorakian hasta attack every 4 ticks (other spears every 5), Statius's warhammer every 5 (other warhammers every 6), the Noxious halberd every 5 (other halberds every 7) and Karil's crossbow every 4 (other crossbows every 6).
- Staves and wands also have a melee speed, but when you cast spells with them the magic speeds below apply.
Rapid
Bows, crossbows, ballistas and thrown weapons (darts, knives, thrown axes, javelins, blowpipes and the Tonalztics of ralos) have three attack styles: Accurate, Rapid and Longrange. On Rapid they attack one tick faster than the table above, for example every 5 ticks instead of 6 with an Armadyl crossbow, or every 3 instead of 4 with a Toxic blowpipe. Accurate and Longrange use the normal speed.
Rapid does not change melee or magic speeds. Chinchompas have fuse styles instead of Rapid, so they always attack every 4 ticks.
Magic
When you cast a spell, the speed comes from the spell, not from the staff or wand you hold:
| Spell | Ticks | Seconds |
|---|---|---|
| Combat spells from any spellbook, cast by clicking or autocast | 5 | 3.0 s |
Standard spellbook spells cast with the  Harmonised nightmare staff |
4 | 2.4 s |
The built-in spell of the  Trident of the seas,  Trident of the swamp,  Sanguinesti staff (and the holy version),  Thammaron's sceptre and  Accursed sceptre (its special attack too) |
4 | 2.4 s |
 Tumeken's shadow |
5 | 3.0 s |
 Easter Tumeken (2024) and  Tropical tumeken (2026) |
4 | 2.4 s |
 Eye of ayak |
3 | 1.8 s |
| Special attacks of the Eye of ayak and of the Volatile and Eldritch nightmare staves | 5 | 3.0 s |
When a Thammaron's or Accursed sceptre (a) autocasts a spellbook spell instead of its own spell, that spell has the normal speed of 5 ticks.
Other things that change your attack timing
- Eating: eating food delays your next attack by 2 ticks. A combo food eaten in the same tick does not add more delay. See Food.
- Instant special attacks: the Granite maul and Dragon thrownaxe special attacks do not wait for your attack timer. See Special attacks.
- Dual macuahuitl: after a hit that deals damage there is a 55% chance that its next attack comes one tick sooner, and its special attack always does this.
- Vesta's spear: if its special attack deals damage, your next attack comes one tick sooner.
- Dragon longsword (bh): after its special attack on a player, your next attack comes one tick sooner.
- Eye of ayak: its special attack takes 5 ticks instead of 3.