Rate of Fire

Cavalier infobox showing Rate of Fire as 1.80

The Rate of Fire (RoF) determines the speed at which a unit or building attacks. It is a measure of the time between two attacks, e.g. a unit with an RoF of 3 will attack every 3 seconds. The lower the Rate of Fire, the faster it attacks, resulting in a higher damage output.

Definition

In the Age of Empires series, the term 'Rate of Fire' can sometimes be a source of confusion and ambiguity due to how the term is defined. In common parlance, 'Rate of Fire' is a value per a set time interval, for example in terms of rounds per second or shots per second. This is the inverse of how it is used in Age of Empires, where it defines the duration of a single attack. This can be disambiguated by referring to the attack duration as 'reload time', and the number of attacks per second as attack speed. The relationship between the two properties is as follows:

$S_{A}=1/T_{R}$

where $S_A$ refers to attack speed, and $T_R$ refers to reload time or attack duration. For example, using this formula, we can deduce that if a bonus increases attack speed by 25% (equivalent to multiplying by 1.25, or 5/4), then it scales attack duration by 4/5 (0.8), equivalent to reducing it by 20%. Typically, when a bonus states that a unit 'attacks X% faster', this refers to the attack speed, not duration.

Defining RoF as an attack duration is also the standard in most sources and articles regarding Age of Empires, 'Rate of Fire' is henceforth used with the meaning of attack duration or reload time in this and other articles.

Rate of Fire is an important contributor to damage-per-second (DPS) along with attack damage. In the case of ranged units specifically, a faster Rate of Fire can often be more valuable than higher damage. This is because having a higher damage per attack can make it more likely for a group of ranged units to 'overkill' a unit (deal more damage than would required to kill it) when attacking all at once. This results in some of the attacks being effectively wasted. Conversely, increasing Rate of Fire allows groups of units to spread their DPS across more units, resulting in more efficient damage dealing. This is usually compensated by having units with a fast Rate of Fire deal lower base damage, which, in games with additive armor such as Age of Empires II and Age of Empires IV, makes them weaker against targets with high armor.

In the Definitive Editions and Age of Mythology: Retold, the icon used for Rate of Fire is two golden chevrons.

Age of Empires

Most infantry and cavalry units in the game have a fast RoF, as well as the Scout Ship line and the Helepolis. The Stone Thrower line, on the other hand has slow RoF, and so does the Catapult Trireme and the Juggernaut, whereas the Ballista has medium RoF.

The unit with the fastest RoF is the Fire Galley, which coupled with its large attack, means that it can easily fell ships in groups.

Technology trees in Age of Empires used to conflate Rate of Fire with attack duration. With Return of Rome, the percentage numbers were updated to represent their actual effect.

These civilizations have bonuses related to RoF:

• Assyrians: Archers fire 11%/22%/33% faster in the Tool/Bronze/Iron Age.
• Persians: Scout Ship line fire 18%/25%/33% faster in the Tool/Bronze/Iron Age.
• Phoenicians: Catapult Trireme and Juggernaut fire 33% faster.
• Romans: Swordsmen attack 50% faster.
• Shang: Cavalry line attacks 10% faster.
• Sumerians: Stone Thrower, Catapult, and Heavy Catapult fire 45% faster.

Age of Empires II

Clockwise: an Archer, Throwing Axeman, Cavalry Archer, Camel Archer, Scorpion and Organ Gun in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition.

In Age of Empires II, the most common RoF is 2. There are some units with a faster attack: most notably the Fire Ship with a RoF of 0.25, which has by far the fastest attack. Quite a few units have a slower attack, though. Units with heavy attack, such as siege weapons and gunpowder units have a much higher RoF, and most trash units also attack at a lower speed. Lastly, ships (bar the Fire Ship) range below the standard value. Listed below are all units and buildings in Age of Empires II that have a RoF different from 2 (civilization bonuses not included).

In the past, because of the ambiguity between RoF/attack speed and attack duration, technology trees in Age of Empires II incorrectly stated the percentage values of several civilization bonuses and unique technologies. For example, the Japanese technology tree stated that "infantry attack 25% faster", which actually meant that the Japanese infantry's attack duration was reduced by 25%. In reality, the attack speed is increased by the following: $\frac{x}{1-x} \times 100 \%$ for $0 \leq x<1$.

... or by 33% in the Japanese example. With update 42848 for the Definitive Edition, the percentage numbers were updated to represent their actual effect.

In the table below, default RoF of the generic and unique units is presented.

Unit/Building	Base Rate of Fire
Fire Galley line	0.25
Elite Cataphract	1.7
Knight, Cavalier, Cataphract, (Elite) Magyar Huszar	1.8
Hussar, Winged Hussar, Paladin, (Elite) Samurai, (Elite) Plumed Archer, Condottiero, (Elite) Boyar, (Elite) Keshik, (Elite) Leitis, (Elite) Coustillier, Elite Shrivamsha Rider, (Elite) Centurion	1.9
(Elite) Mangudai, (Elite) Tarkan	2.1
(Elite) Kipchak	2.2
(Elite) Konnik	2.4
(Elite) War Wagon, (Elite) Ballista Elephant	2.5
(Elite) Conquistador	2.9
(Elite) Longboat, Spearman line, Skirmisher line, (Elite) Genitour, Galley line, (Elite) Caravel, Harbor, (Elite) Chu Ko Nu, Armored Elephant, Siege Elephant	3
(Elite) Organ Gun, Hand Cannoneer, (Elite) Janissary, (Elite) Hussite Wagon, Thirisadai	3.45
(Heavy) Scorpion	3.6
Ram line	5
Mangonel line, (Elite) Turtle Ship, Bombard Tower	6
Bombard Cannon, Houfnice	6.5
Dromon	8
Trebuchet, (Elite) Cannon Galleon	10

These civilizations have bonuses or unique technologies related to RoF:

Civilizations bonus affecting RoF
Civilization	Bonus	Affected units	Base RoF	New RoF
Byzantines	Fire Galley line and Dromon attack 25% faster	Fire Galley Fire Ship Fast Fire Ship	0.25	0.2
		Dromon	8	6.4
Dravidians	Skirmisher and Elephant Archer lines attack 25% faster	Skirmisher Elite Skirmisher Imperial Skirmisher*	3	2.4
		Genitour* Elite Genitour*
		Elephant Archer Elite Elephant Archer	2	1.6
Celts	Siege weapons attack 25% faster	Battering Ram Capped Ram Siege Ram	5	4
		Mangonel Onager Siege Onager	6	4.8
		Scorpion Heavy Scorpion	3.6	2.88
		/ Trebuchet	10	8
Ethiopians	Archer line attack 18% faster (-15% reload time)	Archer Crossbowman Arbalester	2	1.7
Hindustanis	Camel Rider line attack 20% faster	Camel Rider Heavy Camel Rider Imperial Camel Rider	2	1.6667
Japanese	Infantry attack 33% faster starting in Feudal Age (-25% reload time)	Militia Man-at-Arms Long Swordsman Two-Handed Swordsman Champion	2	1.5
		Spearman Pikeman Halberdier	3	2.25
		Samurai Elite Samurai	1.9	1.425
		Condottiero*
Mongols	Mounted archers attack 25% faster	Cavalry Archer Heavy Cavalry Archer	2	1.6
		Mangudai Elite Mangudai	2.1	1.68
		Mercenary Kipchak*	2.2	1.76
		Genitour* Elite Genitour*	3	2.4
Saracens	Galley line attack 25% faster	Galley War Galley Galleon	3	2.4
Spanish	Gunpowder units attack 18% faster (-15% reload time) (except the Conquistador)	Hand Cannoneer	3.45	2.9325
		Cannon Galleon Elite Cannon Galleon	10	8.5
		Bombard Cannon	6.5	5.525
Unique technologies affecting RoF
Civilization	Unique Technology	Affected units	Base RoF	New RoF
Bengalis	Paiks: Rathas and elephant units attack 20% faster	/ Ratha / Elite Ratha	2	1.6667
		Battle Elephant Elite Battle Elephant
		Elephant Archer Elite Elephant Archer
		Armored Elephant Siege Elephant	3	2.5
Bulgarians	Stirrups: Cavalry attack 33% faster (-25% reload time)	Konnik Elite Konnik	2.4	1.8
		Knight Cavalier	1.8	1.35
		Scout Cavalry Light Cavalry	2	1.5
		Hussar	1.9	1.425
Celts	Stronghold: Castles and towers attack 33% faster (-25% reload time)	Watch Tower Guard Tower Keep Castle	2	1.5
Japanese	Kataparuto: Trebuchets attack 33% faster (-25% reload time)	/ Trebuchet	10	7.5
Romans	Ballistas: Scorpions attack 33% faster (-25% reload time)	Scorpion Heavy Scorpion	3.6	2.7
Units affecting RoF
Civilization	Unique Unit	Affected units	Base RoF	New RoF
Romans	(Elite) Centurion: Nearby Militia-line attack 20% faster	Militia Man-at-Arms Long Swordsman Legionary	2	1.6

Age of Mythology

The Rate of Fire also plays a role in Age of Mythology but is instead divided into two factors: Rate and AnimationRate. In a unit's proto definition, most unit attacks have a rate of 5, however it is unknown whether or not this truly affects a units Rate of Fire.

Otherwise the Rate of Fire is dependent on the frames, and total length of a unit's animation, combined with tag definitions within a unit's anim file. Animation rates can also be affected by technologies (although Weightless Mace is the only example of this).

In-game, the Rate of Fire is not displayed anywhere, with the attack values shown being the attack per second, rather than per hit.

Age of Mythology: Retold

In Retold, the Rate of Fire of each unit and building is displayed in-game, with the attack values per hit separately. Just like the other games, the Rate of Fire term here is used to actually refer to the reload time, or attack interval, as the value is the time interval in seconds between consecutive attacks. The actual Rate of Fire, i.e. number of hits done per second, is thus the inverse of the displayed value. Hovering the mouse over the attack value also shows the attack per second as a tooltip.

Age of Empires III

Almost all ranged land units (such as Musketeers, Crossbowmen, and Dragoons) have a standard RoF of 3 for their ranged attacks, regardless of their weapon. Siege attacks are also generally fired at a RoF of 3. All melee attacks have an RoF of 1.5. Artillery RoF are normally in the ballpark of 4-6.

The main exceptions are ranged cavalry with a bow, such as the Bow Rider and Cavalry Archer, which have an RoF of 1.5, and mercenaries/outlaws, which vary from 1.5 to 4.0. For artillery, the Chinese Flamethrower is a very special case, having an RoF of 0.5 (essentially firing continuously), while the Great Bombard has a RoF of 8.

With the The African Royals expansion, units with variable attack of rate based on distance have been added:

• Dahomey Amazon
• Desert Archer
• Fulani Archer
• Gascenya
• Oromo Warrior (before Knights of the Mediterranean)
• Seminole Sharktooth Bowman
• Somali Issa Warrior
• Sudanese Dervish
• Xebec
• Yoruba Oyo Legionary

Yoruba Eso Rider attack targets faster as their hit points decrease.

Age of Empires IV

Definition

In Age of Empires IV, the Rate of Fire parameter is called 'Attack Speed' in the user interface (UI), which is technically incorrect, since it is actually defined as the attack duration in terms of seconds. Furthermore, this value is not actually a single parameter, but a combination of multiple ones. These are:

• Aim Time: The time taken to aim at a target between reload time and fire. This parameter also has an allowance for varying the aim time depending on the distance of the target, but no unit currently has such a variable aim time.
• Wind-up Time: The time it takes for a weapon to wind up before the firing calculation. The example given (although not directly relevant to Age of Empires IV) is soldiers putting rounds into a mortar
• Wind-down Time: The time it takes for a weapon to wind-down after the firing calculation. The example given (although not directly relevant to Age of Empires IV) is soldiers ducking after the mortar is fired.
• Reload/Cooldown Time: Ranged units have a reload time, whereas melee units have a cooldown time, but both refer to the duration of time after an attack is complete before the next attack begins.
• Attack time: The duration of the actual attack itself. For almost every unit, this is the minimum possible in-game time interval - 0.125 seconds. The only exceptions are units with burst fire, such as the Zhuge Nu and Ribauldequin.

These values are almost always a multiple of 0.125 seconds, the minimum tick rate. Together, they add up to the number given in the detailed statistics on the UI, which is usually rounded or truncated to two decimal places.

Each attack has its own independent attack speed. As many units have multiple different attacks (for example, melee, charge, and torch), they will have different attack speeds depending on the type of attack used. Buildings with Emplacements will have different attack speeds for each Emplacement. Attack speeds can be improved with technologies, and can also be modified by various abilities and influences.

Attack speeds vary significantly between units, but unit types typically have the same attack speed among their generic version and unique equivalents. These are:

Name	Rate of Fire (seconds)
Man-at-Arms	1.375
Lancer	1.5
Archer	1.625
Horseman	1.75
Spearman	1.875
Crossbowman Handcannoneer	2.125

Some unique variants, such as the Ghulam or Gilded Archer, have faster attack speeds as a differentiating factor. The unit with the fastest base attack speed is the Mongols' unique unit, the Mangudai, at 0.875 seconds. The Onna-Bugeisha is a close second at 0.9 seconds. The slowest non-siege Rate of Fire belongs to the War Elephant and Tower Elephant) tusk attacks, although both of these units have additional melee or ranged attacks that effectively increase their overall attack rate. Siege engines typically have the slowest attack speeds, with the Huihui Pao having the slowest Rate of Fire in the game, at 13.625 seconds.

The base Rate of Fire of torch attacks (used by almost all melee units against buildings) is 2.125 seconds. In the original four campaigns released with the game, which have not since been rebalanced, the attack speed of all torch attacks is 4.125 seconds. Some attacks have an associated attack speed, but the time between attacks is actually limited by another factor. This includes the charge attacks of most melee units, who will switch to their standard melee attack after charging and require a certain distance from their target to charge again. Likewise, the Donso's special ranged attack is limited by its cooldown rather than its attack speed.

Attack speed buffs

Further compounding the confusion relating to what this parameter is called is that almost all abilities and technologies which improve it say: 'increases attack speed by X%', but refer to the actual attack speed (that is, the inverse of the listed attack duration value). Furthermore base attack speeds given in the UI are not simply scaled by the buff percentage as with other parameters such as hit points or damage. Rather, they are applied in an unintuitive manner such that the buffed value often does not match what might be expected from the percentage.

For example, the Network of Castles ability states that it increases attack speeds by 20%. However, comparing the final UI values of different units shows actual percentages anywhere between ~15% (for the Ribauldequin) and ~23% (for the Man-at-Arms). Furthermore, after the Network of Citadels technology is researched, which should further increase the attack speed by 10%, the actual increase is only 6% on average across all units, with Men-at-Arms gaining no improvement at all. While this may seem like a bug, it is actually due to how the attack speed buffs are applied. Out of the five values which define attack duration, only wind-up time, wind-down time, and reload/cooldown time are affected by buffs, while aim time and attack or fire time remain unchanged. However, wind-up and wind-down times are always required to be a multiple of of 0.125, and are rounded as such before being added to the rest of the values. So for example, the Men-at-Arms' 0.5 and 0.75 second wind-up and wind-down times respectively get reduced to ~0.42 and 0.625 seconds by the 20% Network of Castles buff then further rounded to 0.375 and 0.625 seconds respectively). The 30% buff from Network of Citadels results in values of ~0.38 and ~0.58 seconds, which then still get rounded to 0.375 and 0.625 seconds. Thus, because the Man-at-Arms already has a 0 second cooldown time, the Network of Citadels technology has no effect on it. As another example, the Ribauldequin benefits so little from attack speed buffs because so much of its overall attack duration is taken up by its firing time of 1 second (compared to 0.125 seconds for most other units), which is not affected by these buffs.

Another example of a discrepancy is that both Composite Bows and the Attack Speed Arrow reduce Archers' attack duration from 1.625 seconds to 1.25 seconds. However the former indicates a 33% increase, whereas the latter tooltip indicates a 50% increase. In this case, when applied in the same manner as described above, 50% is the correct number, and the 33% value is likely conflating attack duration with attack speed (since 50% increased attack speed is equal to 33% less attack duration).

List of boosts

The following technologies and abilities improve Rate of Fire, but because of the way Rate of Fire improvements are applied, as described above, the actual percentages may differ significantly.

Technologies

Attack speed

Lightweight Beams (+20%, Battering Ram); Improved: (+30%, Mongols) Roller Shutter Triggers (+25%, Springald); Improved: (+35%, Mongols only) Springald Crews (+20%, Springald ship) Composite Bows (+33%, Abbasid Dynasty Archers) Teardrop Shields (+15%, Varangian Guard) Reload Drills (+25%, Chinese Bombards) Crossbow Stirrups (+25%, Arbalétrier) Steppe Lancers (+10%); Improved (+15%, Keshik) Siege Crews (+25% while garrisoned, Ottomans siege engines) Dali Horses (+20%, Zhu Xi's Legacy melee cavalry)

Aura and ability enhancements

Attack speed

Golden Age: Tier 5 (+20%, Ayyubids camels) Zeal (+50% for 3 seconds, Delhi Sultanate) Network of Castles (+20%, or +30% with Network of Citadels, English) Arrow Volley (+70% for 5 seconds, Longbowman) Valorous Inspiration (+35% for 20 seconds, Jeanne d'Arc) Attack Speed Arrow (+50% for 5/10/12 seconds, depending on Whistling Arrows, Mongols ranged units) Mehter Attack Drums (+15%, Ottomans) Fortitude (+50% for 10 seconds, along with +50% melee damage taken, Sipahi) Static Deployment (+30%, Streltsy)

Civilization bonuses
Attack speed	Delhi Sultanate (+20% with Tower of Victory, infantry) Holy Roman Empire and Order of the Dragon (+5% for each Relic garrisoned in a Dock, ships)

References

Gameplay elements in the Age of Empires series
Age Ability (II · M · III · IV) Architecture set (II · III) Area of Effect (Trample damage) Armor (Melee I & II · Pierce I & II · M · IV) Armor class (I - original · I - Return of Rome · II) Artificial intelligence Attack (IV) Attack ground Aura (IV) Auto Scout Building (I · II · M · III · IV · C · AoE:DS) Civilization (I · II · M · III · IV · C) Civilization bonus Cheat code (I · II · M · III · IV) Conversion Counter Diplomacy Gaia/Mother Nature Game modes Garrison Gather Point Healing Hit points Hotkey Line of Sight Mini map Mobile building Pass-through damage Player Population Range Rate of Fire Regeneration Relic (II · M · IV) Repairing Resists Resource (Renewable resource) Scenario Editor (I · II · M · III · IV) Score Signal Allies/Flare Snare Soundtrack (I · II · M · III · IV) Speed Stealth mode Taunt Technology (I · II · M · III · IV · C · Unique) Technology tree (I · II · IV · C) Terrain (AoE:DS · AoM:DS) Town Bell Trade (IV) Tribute Unit (I · II · M · III · IV · C · AoE:DS · AoM:DS) Unit formation Unit stance (III) Unit type/tag (II · M · III · IV) Upgrade (I · II · III · IV) User interface Victory Villager Priority
Genie Engine-exclusive
Frame delay · Full Tech Tree · Team bonus
Age of Empires	Ruins · Discovery
Age of Empires II	Projectile duplication
Bang Engine-exclusive
Autoqueue · Multiplier
Age of Mythology	God (Major · Minor) · God power · Settlement (Settlement Victory) · Weight class
Age of Empires III	Age-up methods (Politician/Tribal Council/Wonder/Federal State/Alliance) · Banner army · Consulate · Damage Cap · Home City · Home City Card · Inspiring Flag · Minor civilization · Promotion · Revolution · Target Lock · Trade Monopoly · Trade Route · Treasure
Age of Empires IV-exclusive
Generic	Influence · Landmark · Point of Interest · Sacred Site · Variant civilization
Civilization-unique	Bounty · Dynasty · Golden Age · Imperial Council (Vizier Point) · Commanderie
If a gameplay element has different pages across games, like civilization, the individual pages are linked in brackets.