Swift Arrow — Damage −20% Test
Experiment Topic
This page summarises in-game measurements of how much damage Swift Arrow actually reduces and which skills are affected. Rather than stopping at a vague "it feels weak," the goal is to confirm the numbers and identify exactly when choosing it is a net loss.
Conclusion
Damage −20%
Deducted inside the same group as Boss DMG Increase and Ground DMG Amp — not an independent multiplier.
Affected vs Unaffected Skills
Main weapon, Strike, Energy Ring / Arrow / Beam are reduced. Freeze, Plant Guardian, Bomb Fairy, Meteor Potion, and other elemental abilities are unaffected.
Energy Ring Hit Count Also Drops
Swift shrinks the ring, cutting hits from 8 to 6. This is an additional loss on top of the per-hit damage reduction.
Oracle Helmet Chaos + Swift = Damage Loss
Oracle Helmet Chaos + Symphony Legend + Tracking Eye / Energy Ring: adding Swift reduces total damage in this build.
What Is Swift Arrow?
Swift Arrow is an ability that increases attack speed in exchange for reduced damage. The official description does not state the reduction amount, making it difficult to gauge the real cost.
This experiment quantifies the exact damage reduction rate, the additional loss from the smaller Energy Ring size, and the compounded penalty that appears in certain gear combinations — all verified through in-game measurements.
Damage Analysis
Test Conditions
- Character Resonance
- Alex 7★ · Muira 7★ · Tata 3★
- Gear
- None
- Runes
- None
- ATK
- 144.37K
- Crit Damage
- 275%
- Final DMG Bonus
- 14.56%
- Ground DMG Amp
- 10%
- Boss DMG Increase
- 28%
- Main Weapon DMG
- 17%
Swift Damage
No Swift
+ Swift
Damage Breakdown
Swift's damage reduction is not an independent multiplier — it is deducted inside the same calculation group as Boss DMG Increase and Ground DMG Amp. The formula and group visualisation below show how the structure works.
267.04 ÷ 1.38 × (1.38 − 0.20) = 228.34 ← matches Swift in-game measurement
Divide 267.04K by the group multiplier (×1.38) to get the base damage, then multiply by the post-Swift multiplier (×1.18) to get 228.34K — an exact match with the measured value.
1 + 0.10 + 0.28 = ×1.38
1 + 0.10 + (0.28 − 0.20) = ×1.18
The fewer boss/ground options a build has, the larger the share Swift occupies within the calculation group. High-end builds with lots of boss damage stacked through relics and guild research will see a slightly smaller relative loss from Swift — but it is still a net loss.
Skills Affected by Damage Reduction
Choosing Swift Arrow does not reduce damage on every skill. The main weapon and Strike are reduced; other skills (elemental, plant, fairy, meteor potion, etc.) are unaffected. The numbers confirm this.
No Swift
+ Swift
No Swift
+ Swift
No Swift
+ Swift
No Swift
+ Swift
No Swift
+ Swift
No Swift
+ Swift
ATK Ability Interaction Check
Verifying whether an ATK +10% ability (Warrior's Breath) still applies correctly when Swift is active. Since Swift modifies the calculation-group coefficient rather than base damage, ATK abilities should be unaffected.
Baseline (No Swift)
+ Swift
228.34 × 1.10 = 251.17 ≈ measured 251.18K — ATK increase applies normally even with Swift active.
ATK abilities such as Warrior's Breath apply at full rate even with Swift active. However, since the 10% is applied on top of a base already reduced by Swift, the absolute damage gain is smaller.
Damage Comparison by Skill Combo
Normal and crit values with and without Swift for key combinations: Energy Ring, Energy Arrow, Energy Beam, and more. All measured with a no-gear, no-rune control build.
No Swift
+ Swift
No Swift
+ Swift
No Swift
+ Swift
No Swift
+ Swift
No Swift
+ Swift
No Swift
+ Swift
Energy Ring Hit-Count Reduction
Swift Arrow has an additional side-effect beyond the damage reduction: picking it shrinks the Energy Ring, reducing the number of times it hits an enemy. While per-hit crit values drop in proportion to the Swift penalty, the total hit-count also falls — making the real-world loss far greater.
Crit (per hit)
476.81K
Hits / Shot
8
Total DMG / Shot
3.81M
Crit (per hit)
402.31K
Hits / Shot
6
Total DMG / Shot
2.41M
Crit (per hit)
476.81K
Hits / Shot
11
Total DMG / Shot
5.24M
Crit (per hit)
402.31K
Hits / Shot
11
Total DMG / Shot
4.42M
Adding Swift to Energy Ring + Tracking Eye shrinks the ring and drops the hit count from 8 to 6. On top of the per-hit damage loss (−15%), the hit-count loss (−25%) means total damage per shot falls by roughly 37%. Adding Energy Beam restores the ring size so the 11-hit count is maintained — meaning Swift no longer causes a hit-count penalty in that combo.
Gear Experiment — Energy Ring Build
Damage measured against a boss over ~20 seconds with actual gear and runes equipped. Three attempts per condition; averages are compared.
Test Conditions
Rune
Without the Oracle Helmet the Energy Ring fires fewer projectiles, so the attack-speed gain from Swift can sometimes offset the damage penalty — making it a net positive in this specific case.
No Swift
53.90B
53.09B · 53.95B · 54.67B
+ Swift
▲ 41.0%76.01B
77.36B · 76.42B · 74.25B
No Swift
214.36B
198.84B · 218.64B · 225.59B
+ Swift
▼ 26.7%157.08B
152.36B · 162.23B · 156.64B
No Swift
309.17B
337.74B · 289.24B · 300.53B
+ Swift
▼ 23.4%236.94B
252.69B · 227.04B · 231.09B
No Swift
193.27B
181.06B · 203.64B · 195.12B
+ Swift
▼ 20.7%153.25B
144.68B · 156.5B · 158.57B
Gear Experiment — Tracking Eye Build
Damage comparison with and without Swift in a Tracking Eye solo build. Changes when Energy Beam is added are also documented.
11.86B · 11.62B · 9.22B
10.90B
9.31B · 9.79B · 9.22B
9.44B
28.98B · 31.1B · 33.26B
31.11B
29.57B · 29.06B · 29.59B
29.41B
Why Is Oracle Helmet Chaos + Swift So Bad?
Oracle Helmet's Chaos option (Crit → +1 Multishot) introduces a firing delay on every shot. This delay effectively negates the +100% attack speed from Swift. Two specific questions were tested and measured.
Measured without the helmet, Swift's attack-speed increase is fully reflected. Hit count rose ~80%, and total damage increased accordingly.
No Swift
3.7B
Hit Count: 459
+ Swift
▲ 52.2%5.63B
Hit Count: 824 +79.5%
With the Oracle Helmet equipped, the Multishot delay prevents Swift's attack-speed bonus from registering properly. Hit-count growth was only ~12%, resulting in a net damage loss.
No Swift
31.11B
Hit Count: 12,533
10-Run Avg
+ Swift
▼ 5.5%29.41B
Hit Count: 14,104 +12.5%
10-Run Avg
Thor was used to try to eliminate the Multishot delay, but hit-count growth remained at the ~12% level. The delay is not resolved by Thor.
No Swift
30.7B
Hit Count: 12,337
10-Run Avg
+ Swift
▼ 5.7%28.95B
Hit Count: 13,862 +12.4%
10-Run Avg
Oracle Helmet Chaos's Multishot delay structurally cancels out Swift's attack-speed benefit. Thor does not fix the delay. With Oracle Helmet equipped, Swift yields only a tiny hit-count increase while cutting damage — a double penalty.
Frequently Asked Questions
QShould I never pick Swift Arrow?
In most situations Swift is a net loss. However, testing showed that in builds without the Oracle Helmet, using Swift alongside Energy Ring can sometimes allow the attack-speed gain to partially offset the damage penalty. As a general rule, skip it — but it may be acceptable in a pure Energy Ring build with no Oracle Helmet.
QWhat exactly is the "boss damage calculation group" that Swift reduces?
The boss damage calculation group is the multiplicative layer where Boss DMG Increase (from relics, guild research, etc.) and Ground DMG Amp are summed together. Swift adds −20% to this group. As the group total grows larger, Swift's relative penalty shrinks slightly — but it remains a net loss in absolute terms.
QWon't faster attack speed mean more hits and therefore a net gain?
Testing shows total damage is still a net loss. Even though faster firing increases the number of shots, the combination of per-hit damage reduction and Energy Ring hit-count reduction results in lower total damage over a 20-second window. In particular, adding Swift to Energy Ring + Tracking Eye combos reduced total damage by roughly 20–30%.
QWhy are other skills (elemental, plant, fairy, meteor, etc.) unaffected by Swift?
Freeze Arrow, Plant Guardian, Bomb Fairy, Poison Meteor Potion, and similar abilities appear to belong to separate damage calculation groups that Swift's −20% does not touch. Swift's penalty applies only to the calculation group tied to main-weapon attacks.
QWhy is Oracle Helmet Chaos + Swift especially bad?
Oracle Helmet's Chaos option (Crit → +1 Multishot) creates an internal firing delay on every shot. Without the helmet, Swift's +100% attack speed is fully reflected in hit count — about 80% more hits. With the helmet, the Multishot delay limits the hit-count increase to just ~12%. Damage is already −20%, and firing rate barely increases — a double penalty. Testing also confirmed that Thor does not resolve this delay.
