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====== Combat Speed ======

{{:dom6:stats:cs.png?nolink }} **Combat Speed** is a largely self-explanatory [[unit-attributes|unit attribute]]; it's how fast a unit is in combat, specifically for movement speed. This is not [[Map Movement]], which measures how quickly a unit can travel in extended periods.

According to the manual, a unit's Combat Speed is **exactly how many squares they can cross** in a single combat round. Testing in Dominions 5 revealed that a point of Combat Speed equated to roughly 3/4 of a square, but the battlefield was significantly smaller in that game than it is now.

Units get their rounds asynchronously, with a random order that is not well understood, and a delay between them that is even more esoteric. In the first four games, every unit took their turn one-at-a-time, and the shift to simultaneous movement occurred in Dominions 5. It took a while for Illwinter to tune certain things around this mechanic, particularly how fellows [[Precision#Missile-Combat|aim their missiles]].

==== Special Situations ====

Typically, units cannot enter a square that doesn't have enough free [[Size]] points for them. They can move diagonally around others, but this takes **1.5 Combat Speed points** instead of 1. Alternatively, a unit 3 Size points bigger than another unit in the square can displace them; this shoves the displaced unit into a random adjacent square, possibly the square the displacer came from, but this takes **1 extra Combat Speed point**. Displacing an [[immobile]] "scenery prop", such as a ??Bush??, instantly flattens and destroys them. 

Displacing an enemy is only possible for [[Trample|Tramplers]], and all displacement done by a Trampler causes damage. Combat Speed does not affect the damage output, but it does affect the "damage-per-second"; units who use up all their Combat Speed can't move again until their next round comes up, after all. Trampling also caused the Tramplers a bit of a delay in Dominions 5, which was reduced by both Combat Speed (their speed with moving) and Size, but it's not clear if that still applies.

[[Mounted]] units make use of their high Combat Speeds to make [[Charge Bonus|Charge Attacks]], getting a damage bonus that scales with that and their Size.

Last-but-not-least, the [[Flying]] don't really care about Combat Speed, for all that we know about the game.

===== Modifiers =====

{{:abilities:affliction.png?nolink }} [[Afflictions#Leg-Afflictions|Leg Afflictions]] can reduce Combat Speed. Having a **Limp** will **halve your Combat Speed**, for example, while being **Crippled** will reduce it to **2**. If you have both, the Cripple overrides the Limp.

{{:abilities:swiftness.png?nolink }} **[[Swiftness]]** is the most straightforward Combat Speed bonus, providing a multiplier. The [[Air]] [[Bless]] provides stackable chunks of 30%, while the spells and items provide 100%.

{{:abilities:quickness.png?nolink}} {{:abilities:slowed.png?nolink}} Last but not least, **Quickness** effectively doubles your Combat Speed by doubling the rate of your rounds, while **Slowness** halves it.

===== Example Stats =====

Combat Speed is highly dependent on the Size of the unit and is somewhat impacted by their Armor. To be specific, a unit's **Encumbrance from Armor and Shields** is subtracted from their Combat Speed.

^  Example Unit  ^  Their CS  ^
|  A ??Tree??  |  2  |
|  A crippled human  |  2  |
|  A magically-enlarged ??Large Ant??  |  4  |
|  A ??Soulless?? (zombie) human  |  6  |
|  A human in Full Plate Mail with no Shield  |  7  |
|  A Size-2 goblin in heavy armor  |  8  |
|  Most [[Caelum-ea|Caelians]] stuck walking around  |  9  |
|  A ??Militia??-man with a Shield  |  10  |
|  A bookish human  |  10  |
|  A naked ??Longdead?? (skeleton)  |  11  |
|  **A typical unarmored human soldier**  |  12  |
|  Most [[Pretender God|Pretender]] Titan forms  |  16  |
|  A ??Jotun Werewolf??  |  18  |
|  A ??Destrier?? (a Knight's horse)  |  20  |
|  An underwater ??Merman?? soldier  |  22  |
|  Most [[Pretender God|Pretender]] Monster forms w/o Wings  |  22  |
|  A ??Wolf??  |  26  |
|  A Size-7 ??Air Elemental??  |  26  |
|  A ??Fay Horse??  |  30  |
|  A ??Vanadrott??'s steed after he casts ??Windrunner??  |  60  |


Yes, **immobile units still have Combat Speed**. This is possibly a holdover from the games before Dominions 5; it isn't clear if it affects the random order of rounds.