It’s usually abbreviated to SkS. Stacking Skill Speed can reduce your global cooldown – the rate at which your skills can be used in succession. The standard is 2.5 seconds, which might not seem like a lot of time, but in the heat of battle it can seem a bit long. Especially compared to other MMOs, which foster a faster & more energetic combat feel. XIV’s slower approach is intentional. It’s designed to reward players who know their rotation, and punish the ones who don’t. You won’t get anywhere fast in high level content by simply button bashing and hoping for the best. Higher Skill Speed means that you’ll be able to use some of your skills closer together. For some classes, this is vital for maintaining your optimum DPS output. For others, it’s almost entirely pointless, and your stat priorities will usually see Skill Speed close to the bottom.
Do I Need To Focus On Skill Speed?
For a definitive answer based on your job, I’d suggest checking out a resource like Salted XIV to look at your individual meld priority. But I’ll give a quick overview here. Most melee DPS and tank jobs will want to attain a certain level of Skill Speed, so their rotation flows better and they don’t lose out on any potential damage. Healers don’t need Skill Speed in general, but it’s preferable to having excessive Piety, which determines mana regen. Ranged DPS don’t really benefit from Skill Speed. You can also give your Skill Speed a temporary buff with certain types of food. If you’re below the amount recommended for your job, this can push you over the edge until you find some better gear, or can meld the required stats. As a general rule of thumb for everybody, Skill Speed is not something you need to think about at all until you’ve reached level 80 (and when you’re looking to progress in hard content). Always go for the highest item level above secondary stats, and worry about things like Skill Speed later. Having too much Skill Speed can actually be a detriment for some classes. Gunbreakers, for example, can have their rotation’s rhythm thrown entirely out of whack if their cooldowns reset too quickly, and they won’t be able to deal as much damage.
How Do I Increase My Skill Speed?
You can increase your Skill Speed by equipping gear, or melding Materia that increases it. As mentioned above, you can also temporarily buff it by consuming certain kinds of food. If you look into that route, food is prepared by Culinarians, and can readily be purchased from Market Boards.
