Hit Speed vs Hit Time

Hit Speed and Hit Time are two different terms that are often mixed together, causing confusion and other issues. This page aims to explain in detail the differences, and also to help you differentiate between them.

Basics

Hit Speed and Hit Time are inverse to each other.

• Hit Time measures the time of an action, usually in [seconds] or [miliseconds].

  For example, Princess needs 3 seconds to shoot.

• Hit Speed measures the amount of actions per second, usually in [hits per second]. Another term to describe it is Hit Frequency.

  For example, Princess shoots 0.33 times per second, which is the same as 1/3.

The inverse correlation is simple:

Hit Speed = 1 / Hit Time

Comparison

Human intuition

Depending on the use case, one of the two may be more appropriate; neither of them is intrinsically better than the other.

Hit Time is easier to measure, making seem simpler for many players.

Hit Speed is harder to measure directly, but it can be more intuitive to see in action.

For quick and recurring events, the main perception for players is frequency. We can tell when something happens more or less often. For longer durations between events, the concept of frequency becomes less visible and time becomes a preferred option.

Damage output is what matters

In relation to game design, it's important to keep in mind that these two concepts are often meaningless by themselves. Players ultimately care about the damage output of their troops: the DPS (damage per second).

DPS allows you to directly compare the offensive power of a troop. Damage per Hit, Hit Time and Hit Speed are all smaller pieces that need to be combined with the rest to show the full picture.

Direct and inverse relationship with DPS

From this standpoint, Hit Speed takes a clear lead over Hit Time. Why? Simply look at how both are used to calculate DPS:

DPS = Damage per Hit * Hit Speed

DPS = Damage per Hit / Hit Time

This difference completely changes how the two options relate to DPS.

Both Damage per Hit and Hit Speed are directly correlated with DPS. This means that their relationships are very straightforward. E.g.: if Hit Speed is doubled, so is DPS.

In contrast, Hit Time is an inverse relationship. More Hit Time is worse, and less is better. This is less intuitive for obvious reasons.

From inverse to chaos

Stats are often in the limelight with balance changes, and a very useful tool to communicate them is percentages.

The way percentages mix with Hit Speed remains simple due to the direct correlation. E.g.: a +50% Hit Speed buff becomes a +50% DPS buff.

With Hit Time, the inverse relationship can strongly distort these percentages. E.g.: a +50% Hit Time nerf translates into a -33% DPS nerf.

Now not only is "more" turning into "less", the percentage values also change significantly.

Current Use

You can regularly see Hit Time and Hit Speed mentioned in card stats and balance changes.

In-Game

The in-game card information tabs (in English) mention "Hit Speed", but it truly is referring to Hit Time. This is clear if you look at the unit, seconds, which is a unit of time.

RoyaleAPI Stats

We try to be careful and consistent whenever we label these stats, even if this means contradicting the information tab shown in-game.

Whenever we mention Hit Time, we measure in time units; when we mention Hit Speed, we are referring to speed, in hits per second.

This also means that when we say that Hit Speed is increasing, a change will be labelled as a buff, and vice versa.

Our Request

For the reasons explained above, we believe that Hit Speed is the most useful stat for most scenarios, specially to communicate balance changes.

Our main request is for the text label inside Clash Royale to be changed to Hit Time, as that would help players understand that these terms are not interchangeable.