LoL Attack Speed Guide: The Cap, the Ratio and Windup

Attack speed caps at one swing every 0.333 seconds, your levels are filed as bonus rather than base, and every champion carries a hidden multiplier that decides what your items are actually worth. Here's the whole stat.

League of Legends Guide

Attack Speed

Caps, Ratios and Windup

Attack speed is measured in attacks per second, and it's the stat most likely to be worth something completely different on two champions who bought the same item.

That's down to a number the client never shows you, and it's the single most useful thing here.

The Cap and the Floor The Hidden Ratio Levels Windup FAQ

0.333sFastest possible attack

5sSlowest, however slowed

1:1How bonus stacks

BonusWhat levels grant

0.5 to 6%Growth per level range

HiddenYour champion's ratio

It stops dead at both ends

The ceiling is one attack every 0.333 seconds, and everything you gain past that point does nothing at all. Only a handful of champions reach it in a normal game, but the ones who do should count, because the last attack speed item can be worth literally zero.

There's a floor too: no amount of attack speed slow pushes a unit below one attack every five seconds. Which is why a heavy attack speed slow guts a marksman and barely registers on something that wasn't attacking much anyway.

Between those two, bonus attack speed adds 1:1. Two items at 25% each give you 50% of bonus, with no compounding and no diminishing returns in the stat itself. What that 50% is worth to you is a separate question.

Every champion multiplies your items differently

Each champion carries an attack speed ratio, and your bonus percentage is multiplied by it before it reaches your actual attack rate. A high ratio turns bonus attack speed into a lot of extra swings. A low one turns the same item into much less.

This number appears nowhere in the client. It's the real reason an attack speed item is core on one marksman and never bought on another, and why copying a build across champions sometimes just fails for no visible reason.

Your levels are filed as bonus, not base

Every other stat you gain from levelling raises your base value. Attack speed is the exception: what you gain per level is stored as bonus attack speed, which means your levels are multiplied by that same hidden ratio your items are.

The growth range is enormous, from 0.5% per level at the bottom of the roster to 6% at the top, with one champion built to gain none at all. So two champions levelling side by side can pick up wildly different amounts of real attack speed from identical experience, which is part of why some matchups drift away from you without either player doing anything.

Every attack starts with a windup you have to stand still for

An attack has two halves. The windup is the part where you're rooted in place getting the swing out. The rest is recovery, and you're free to move during it.

Melee attacks land the instant the windup ends. Ranged attacks launch a projectile at that moment, which then has to travel, so the damage arrives later than the animation suggests and can miss a target who moved.

Attack speed shortens both halves, which is why buying it feels like it improves your kiting as much as your damage. It does: more attack speed means less time rooted per swing.

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Frequently asked questions

What is the attack speed cap in LoL?

One attack every 0.333 seconds. Anything beyond that is wasted.

Why does attack speed feel weaker on some champions?

Every champion has a hidden attack speed ratio that multiplies your bonus before it reaches your attack rate.

Do levels give base attack speed?

No, they grant bonus attack speed, so they get multiplied by that same ratio.

Can attack speed slows stop you attacking entirely?

No. The floor is one attack every five seconds.

Does attack speed help kiting?

Yes. It shortens the windup, which is the part of the attack you can't move during.

The short version

Count to the cap if you're on a champion that can reach it, and don't assume an attack speed item does the same job it did on your last main. The ratio decides that, and you can't see it.

For the stat that turns those extra attacks into damage, our critical strike guide covers chance and crit damage, and our life steal guide covers what those attacks heal you for.

Which champion do you cap attack speed on? Let us know in the comments below.