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Speed ​

Speed is Scope's single most strategic stat. In a CTB turn system, faster units act more often - which means more damage, more heals, more buffs dealt out over a fight. Speed is also what determines dodge chance.

Speed

What Speed Does ​

Speed splits into two distinct effects:

  1. Turn frequency. Faster units reach their next turn sooner. Over a long fight, a unit with twice the Speed of another acts roughly twice as often.
  2. Dodge chance. Each point of Speed adds a small percentage to your dodge chance, up to a cap.

Two effects, two different ceilings. Dodge has a hard cap. Turn frequency doesn't - Speed keeps paying off in turn order long after it stops paying off in dodge.

How Speed Translates to Turns ​

The CTB system gives every unit a countdown. Lower countdown acts first. After acting, the unit resets their countdown based on their current effective Speed - fast units reset to small numbers, slow units reset to big numbers.

The net effect: Speed is not a tiebreaker. It's an action economy. A Bard with high speed will act more times than a Knight with low speed over the same fight, and every one of those extra actions is extra output.

Speed in the Turn Preview ​

The battle UI shows a preview of the next several turns. Fast units appear multiple times in the preview; slow units might appear once or not at all. Applying a speed buff or debuff visibly shifts portraits on the strip right away.

Reading the timeline

The timeline is your most important in-battle readout. Glance at it before every action - are your soldiers bunched up before the enemy's next turn, or is the enemy about to go three times in a row? The answer changes which skill is worth casting.

Buffs and Debuffs That Shift Speed ​

Speed is uniquely satisfying to manipulate because modifiers take effect immediately. When you apply a speed buff, the target's countdown is rescaled on the spot - they slide forward on the timeline strip and act sooner. When you apply a speed debuff, they slide backward.

Some of the skills that move Speed around:

SkillSourceEffect
Rallying AnthemBard+100% Speed to all allies for a short duration
Frost SpikeMage−50% Speed to a single enemy
Shadow DiveSeveral Flying monsters−20% Speed briefly
Frost NovaNaga Sorcerer−30% Speed to all players

There's a hard stacking cap on both ends - no unit can fall below half their base Speed or rise above double it, regardless of how many effects stack.

See Status Effects for the fuller list.

Speed's Soft Asymmetry ​

When a speed buff or debuff expires, the countdown is not rescaled - the unit's restored Speed only affects their next countdown reset. This is deliberate: applications are loud and visible, expirations are quiet and organic.

Class Baselines on Speed ​

  • Rogue - highest starting Speed by a huge margin. The Rogue's identity is built on going first and going often.
  • Archer - high starting Speed. Pairs with the Archer's dodge floor to make ranged positioning feel natural.
  • Bard (soldier) - high starting Speed. The Bard's whole kit is about tempo, so starting fast is essential.
  • Knight, Wizard - low starting Speed. These classes rely on Armor or magic resistance rather than evasion or initiative.

The Bard Role ​

Because Speed translates directly into turn count, the Bard is positioned as a tempo controller. A Bard who never deals a point of damage can still single-handedly swing a fight by handing extra turns to allies (Rallying Anthem) and scrapping away at enemy Speed with debuffs.