What is the Speed Bar?
Unlike classic round-based combat systems where every fighter acts in a fixed order, Shards of Aethon uses an individual speed gauge system (inspired by Epic Seven).
Each fighter has a speedGauge that runs from 0 to 100. This gauge fills on each "tick" of the engine at the rate of the character's SPD stat.
When the gauge reaches 100: the character acts (uses a skill or basic attack), then the gauge resets to 0.
The impact of SPD
SPD directly determines how often a hero acts. A hero with SPD 200 acts twice as often as a hero with SPD 100.
A concrete example:
- Hero A — SPD 180: acts at t=56, t=111, t=167…
- Hero B — SPD 120: acts at t=84, t=167…
- Hero C — SPD 90: acts at t=112, t=223…
Hero A acts 1.5× as often as B, and 2× as often as C.
SPD is one of the most impactful stats in the game. A slow but very powerful hero can be easily dominated by a fast hero who acts constantly.
"N-turn duration" effects
Status effects in Shards of Aethon use an action-based semantics, not round-based.
When a skill says "inflicts Burn for 2 turns", it means: the target will suffer the effect over its next 2 actions.
A fast hero burning for 2 turns will take that effect twice in quick succession. A slow hero will take it twice as well — but over a longer real-time period. The effective "play-time" duration depends on the target's SPD.
Strategic consequence: applying debuffs to a slow enemy keeps them active longer (in real time), but they consume the same number of actions of the target.
Manipulating the gauge
Some skills directly modify the speed gauge:
- Gauge boost (allies) — fills an ally's gauge, letting them act sooner.
- Gauge reduction (enemies) — delays an enemy's action.
These effects are very powerful: a heal or a DPS that acts before an enemy can completely change the outcome of a fight.
Tie-break
If two fighters reach 100 simultaneously, SPD decides who acts first. In case of a perfect SPD tie, a tie-break mechanism based on the battle's seed guarantees a reproducible, deterministic result — the same battle always produces the same outcome.
Summary
| Concept | Behaviour | |---|---| | Gauge 0→100 | Fills at the character's SPD rate | | Action | Triggers at 100, the gauge resets to 0 | | "N turns" duration | N actions of the affected target | | High SPD | More actions in the same span of time | | Boost/reduction | Direct manipulation of the gauge |