What's The Lowest CD You Can Obtain?

[Akisohida]

I'm just curious, really. I'm level 41 and gearing out as best as I can for the moment, aware that I won't really get the good gear until way later.

So, hypothetically, at max level, if someone geared hard into Skill Speed as DPS (In my case; Lancer/Dragoon), what is the quickest they could reduce skill cooldowns too?

At the moment, I have most skills from 3 seconds down to 2.47 seconds.

[SaitoHikari]

Global cooldowns typically hover between 2.35-2.47 seconds for most classes for most of the game, depending on your skill/spell speed. Exceptions are Ninja and Monk, who have abilities built into the optimal rotations that push the cooldown lower. The way the game's stats work is that the higher your level, the more of a certain stat you'll need to achieve the same effect as what you had as a lower level character (which is particularly true for critical hit rate, though that calculation mostly takes into account the level of the enemy you're attacking too).

For the most part, having too much of either stat is actually considered a bad thing, because it leads to faster TP drain and off-globals clipping, to the point where those points in skill speed would have been better going to other secondary stats like critical hit rate. For example, Bards, considered the class with the most spammable attacks, currently hover around 2.47-2.48 second global cooldowns with their current best in slot gear. This isn't considered a problem because the way the class plays involves a lot of ability weaving between each global cooldown skill (due to the way critical hits with our damage over time ticks either reset the cooldown for one of our abilities, gives us a mini-haste, or triggers another ability for use), making the class incredibly fast-paced in actual practice. So all those points in skill speed instead go to our astronomically high critical hit rate.

Basically, the main point of leveling up is to get more abilities to weave in between each GCD, not exactly to lower it.

I think there's only two or three classes that seriously stack the stats to push their global cooldowns as low as possible, and IIRC they're Samurai and Black Mage, though I'm not too familiar with them (they're probably only to a certain breakpoint).

[Akisohida]

Global cooldowns typically hover between 2.35-2.47 seconds for most classes for most of the game, depending on your skill/spell speed. Exceptions are Ninja and Monk, who have abilities built into the optimal rotations that push the cooldown lower. The way the game's stats work is that the higher your level, the more of a certain stat you'll need to achieve the same effect as what you had as a lower level character (which is particularly true for critical hit rate, though that calculation mostly takes into account the level of the enemy you're attacking too).

For the most part, having too much of either stat is actually considered a bad thing, because it leads to faster TP drain and off-globals clipping, to the point where those points in skill speed would have been better going to other secondary stats like critical hit rate. For example, Bards, considered the class with the most spammable attacks, currently hover around 2.47-2.48 second global cooldowns with their current best in slot gear. This isn't considered a problem because the way the class plays involves a lot of ability weaving between each global cooldown skill, making the class incredibly fast-paced in actual practice.

Basically, the main point of leveling up is to get more abilities to weave in between each GCD, not exactly to lower it.

I think there's only two or three classes that seriously stack the stats to push their global cooldowns as low as possible, and IIRC they're Samurai and Black Mage, though I'm not too familiar with them (they're probably only to a certain breakpoint).

Huh, well thank you very much. It never occurred to me that too much skill speed would be bad. I'll stick at the 2.45 I now have for my class skills since I've used some materia.

Though I am speaking of class skills, not globals.

[Kabooa]

You can naturally get around 14% speed from super stacking, maybe 15%. We'll round 15% since it's easier.

That's -.375 ro 2.12 GCD.

Ninjas and Monks get the largest attack speed buff at 15%, so 2.12 x .85 = 1.80
Astros giving an improved Arrow at 15%, so 1.8 x .85 = 1.53
Scholars with 3% from Selene - 1.48

1.48 is approximately a 41% total haste increase.

[Orbus]

BLM definitely benefit from it, but probably not as much as the class use to in HW.
Or rather, we can stack so much spell speed now that it becomes unnecessary.
The fact is that we're still bound by our mp then have to switch into our umbral phase which is a literal dead weight to our dps, and while umbral phase restores mp it's not instant and even umbral 3 doesn't restore it all in one tick, and the ticks are server sided via the servers clock.
To help fill in that time so we're not just sitting on our butts for upwards of six seconds doing nothing we'll use ice4 and foul, and if the mood strikes us, thunder 3, and it's entirely possible to launch the ice4 and foul and switch back to astral before all our mp has recovered, especially if we have leylines up, if we land in the umbral phase at an unlucky point. (right after it ticked)

It helps with potentially getting a spell off when you would have had to otherwise move and interrupt your cast, but then having good placement and knowing when to activate swift and triple cast will make risky maneuvers like this unnecessary to begin with.

[Akisohida]

Thank you for the info, everyone!
I may level a BLM, since it's been so long, though my main, as you can see, is a Red Mage. I'm just getting back into the game after a years hiatus.

[Ryaz]

Global cooldowns typically hover between 2.35-2.47 seconds for most classes for most of the game, depending on your skill/spell speed. Exceptions are Ninja and Monk, who have abilities built into the optimal rotations that push the cooldown lower. The way the game's stats work is that the higher your level, the more of a certain stat you'll need to achieve the same effect as what you had as a lower level character (which is particularly true for critical hit rate, though that calculation mostly takes into account the level of the enemy you're attacking too).

For the most part, having too much of either stat is actually considered a bad thing, because it leads to faster TP drain and off-globals clipping, to the point where those points in skill speed would have been better going to other secondary stats like critical hit rate. For example, Bards, considered the class with the most spammable attacks, currently hover around 2.47-2.48 second global cooldowns with their current best in slot gear. This isn't considered a problem because the way the class plays involves a lot of ability weaving between each global cooldown skill (due to the way critical hits with our damage over time ticks either reset the cooldown for one of our abilities, gives us a mini-haste, or triggers another ability for use), making the class incredibly fast-paced in actual practice. So all those points in skill speed instead go to our astronomically high critical hit rate.

Basically, the main point of leveling up is to get more abilities to weave in between each GCD, not exactly to lower it.

I think there's only two or three classes that seriously stack the stats to push their global cooldowns as low as possible, and IIRC they're Samurai and Black Mage, though I'm not too familiar with them (they're probably only to a certain breakpoint).

Samurai as well for lower sks thanks to Shifu buff. I know a lot of us run with 2.08 it 2.11. Less if they go full Sks for the over 2100 build.

[SpeckledBurd]

You can naturally get around 14% speed from super stacking, maybe 15%. We'll round 15% since it's easier.

That's -.375 ro 2.12 GCD.

Ninjas and Monks get the largest attack speed buff at 15%, so 2.12 x .85 = 1.80
Astros giving an improved Arrow at 15%, so 1.8 x .85 = 1.53
Scholars with 3% from Selene - 1.48

1.48 is approximately a 41% total haste increase.

It's my understanding that the game eventually locks your GCD from getting below a 1.5 GCD, though I don't recall where I heard that.

[Kitfox]

Though I am speaking of class skills, not globals.

Ability cooldowns timers can't be altered except for some fight or class specific mechanics. GCD speed is currently hardcapped at 1.5s minimum and can't go any lower. Skill/spell speed only affects GCD speed.

[Rongway]

It's my understanding that the game eventually locks your GCD from getting below a 1.5 GCD, though I don't recall where I heard that.

This vid from 2016 demonstrates a GCD floor of 1.50s.