Velocity

Velocity is a hidden statistic that defines the travel speed of a projectile, i.e. the number of pixels that it moves forward on its trajectory every tick. It is not to be confused with use time, which is the delay between subsequent uses of an item (e.g. "Fast", "Average", "Slow"). The higher the weapon's velocity, the faster the projectile travels, and the less the player will need to "lead" shots ahead of a moving target. This is an advantage that may prove very useful when fighting fast-moving enemies or when attacking from a long distance.
== extraUpdates ==
A special hidden velocity multiplier, internally known as extraUpdates, applies to certain select projectiles. It determines how many times the projectile moves by its listed velocity in each frame.
These multipliers are not displayed in-game, but are displayed on Terraria Wiki in one of two ways: Effective Velocity (for weapons with built-in projectiles), or "Velocity Multiplier" (for ammo items).
=== Effective Velocity ===
For weapons with a specific associated projectile, the multiplier effect is automatically calculated and displayed as Effective Velocity.
=== Velocity Multiplier ===
For ammo items, the multiplier is displayed alone as Velocity Multiplier.
To determine the total Effective Velocity of a weapon firing a particular type of ammo, add the weapon and ammo velocities together, then multiply the result by the Velocity Multiplier.
Example: Firing Ichor Arrows from an Ice Bow:
* Ice Bow's velocity = 10
* Ichor Arrow's velocity = 4.25
* Ichor Arrow's Velocity Multiplier = 2
: (10 + 4.25) * 2 = 28.5
The total effective velocity when firing an Ichor Arrow from an Ice Bow is 28.5.
=== Internal equation ===
"extraUpdates" counts from zero, which indicates no multiplier (the value for most projectiles). 1 extra update means a ×2 multiplier, 2 means a ×3 multiplier, etc.
As a general rule, extra updates are applied last in the formula determining the projectile's velocity, after the sum of projectile and weapon velocity:
totalEffectiveVelocity = (weaponVelocity + projectileVelocity) * (projectileExtraUpdates + 1)
For example, a Chlorophyte Shotbow with a velocity of 11.5, shooting Wooden Arrows with a velocity of 3, results in arrows traveling at a velocity of 14.5 ((11.5 + 3) * (0 + 1)). A Chlorophyte Shotbow shooting Jester's Arrows with a velocity of 0.5 will instead have a total of 12, until the arrow's extra updates are calculated into the formula (1 in this case) doubling the effective velocity to 24 ((11.5 + 0.5) * (1 + 1)).
The Magic Quiver sets the "extra updates" value of arrows with a value of less than 1 to 1, which essentially doubles arrow speed (if the original "extra updates" value was 0, like in most cases), but does not affect arrows like the Venom Arrow, which have an "extra updates" value of 1 or greater.
For beam weapons such as the Shadowbeam Staff, "extra updates" will also determine the length of the beam. The length in this case is calculated by multiplying projectile velocity by the extra updates multiplier.
== Tips ==
* Weapons that use arrows generally have lower velocities than bullet-firing weapons.
* Certain ranged modifiers can affect a weapon's velocity.
* Some weapons (often magic weapons) do not have a consistent velocity.
** The Demon Scythe fires a projectile that gradually increases in velocity.
** The Death Sickle's projectile is the opposite of the Demon Scythe – firing a projectile with exponentially decreasing velocity until it stops in place before disappearing.
** The Magical Harp's note projectiles increase in velocity depending on the distance between the player and the cursor, though its maximum velocity is still very low.
** The Cursed Flames' projectiles increase in velocity every time they bounce.
* Magic weapons that fire projectiles cannot have their velocity modified.
* Melee speed bonuses increase the velocity of melee weapons that fire projectiles, such as boomerangs.
* Velocity modifiers on a Flamethrower will increase its range.
* Most projectiles significantly decrease in velocity when entering liquids such as water. Some projectiles, especially flame-related ones, are immediately destroyed upon entering a body of water. Many projectiles only last a certain amount of time, meaning that liquids reduce a weapon's effective range, and projectiles affected by gravity will follow a heavier arc.
== Footnotes ==