Movement Speed

Movement Speed (AKA FM for Faster Movement or MSI for Movement Speed Increase) refers to how quickly a character moves around the game world in Diablo 3. This is an inherent property of all characters and can be increased with bonuses from items, skills, and the Fleeting Shrine.

Increasing their movement speed is a top priority for most players and items and skills that boost this are among the most popular in the game. Moving faster is a great help for escaping danger, and it also increases efficiency of play, speeding up every little thing by a fraction of a second; bonuses that add up to huge time savings in the long run.

Movement speed increase from equipment is capped at 25%, though the Fleeting Shrine and especially skill bonuses can considerably increase this. Thus most high end characters have two +MS items equipped, since such items give up to a 12% bonus, while few bother with a third since it would only provide a a tiny additional boost up to the 25% cap.

Paragon 2.0 Changes

The Paragon 2.0 update to the Paragon system coming with Reaper of Souls is adding Movement Speed as a bonus from Paragon Points in the Utility Tab.[1] It's not known how large a bonus each PP will provide, or if this potential bonus will count with item speed bonuses under the 25% hard cap, but players are excited by the opportunity to increase their movement speed in the future.

Expect further details as the Paragon 2.0 system grows closer to implementation.

Movement Speed from Skills

There is no cap on the movement speed from skills, and it adds on top of the movement speed from items. Since these speed bonuses are very unevenly distributed some classes have a huge advantage in potential movement speed, and this is a major factor contributing to the popularity and overpowered nature of some characters and builds in Diablo 3.

In addition to the "faster run" bonuses from skills, many other skills can be classified as Movement Skills or Escape Skills which move the character quickly from one spot to another, but can not be used repeatedly due to cooldown times or resource costs.

Barbarian Movement Skills

No passive skills boost the Barbarian's movement speed. That's not a handicap since the Barbarian is the fastest class in the game thanks to the Sprint skill.

• Sprint -- Grants a 40% movement speed bonus for 3 seconds. (Can be cast repeatedly, as long as there's enough Fury to fuel it.)

Barbarians use the huge resource generation of Battle Rage: Into the Fray to fuel their Sprinting and the most popular build of the most popular class in the game:

• Spin2Win.

Demon Hunter Movement Skills

Demon Hunters can use skills to move very quickly, and they have one passive, Hot Pursuit that boosts movement speed 15% when at full Hatred. This is not a popular ability though, since having to alter play style to constantly end battles with full Hatred takes more time than the movement speed saves.

The better way to move like lightning with a DH is to use her Vault skill, and pair that with the Tactical Advantage passive. Using those abilities a Demon Hunter can race through the levels at very high speed, though she'll need a lot of Discipline to keep it up long term. (Vengeance and/or Night Stalker enable rapid Discipline regeneration.)

• Tactical Advantage -- This passive provides a 2 second burst of 60% increased movement speed after using Vault, Smoke Screen, or the backflip from Evasive Fire.

• Vault -- Tumble acrobatically at high speed through any number of enemies. The Tumble rune cuts the resource cost by 50% for another Vault within 6 seconds.

Monk Movement Skills

Monks have several methods for faster movement. The most obvious is a passive skill, Fleet Footed, which grants a 10% faster movement bonus. This will exceed the 25% item speed cap and has no resource or other cost, giving Monks the easiest path for any class to permanently exceed the 25% MS gear cap.

Active skills can be used in addition to or in place of Fleet Footed. Dashing Strike is an attack skill that teleports the Monk to the selected target. It can not be used to pass over objects or to teleport to an open location, though.

Monks can also use Mantra of Evasion: Wind Through the Reeds to add a 8% Movement Speed boost while the Mantra is in effect. This is not a very powerful skill effect though, and is seldom utilized.

The most common way to make a very fast Monk is to use the Tempest Rush skill. This active ability does not add movement speed at the base, but it enables the Monk to dash right through all enemy targets without being slowed or delayed. (Though he can be hit while using it.) The Tailwind rune effect adds a 25% movement speed bonus and makes the Monk a very fast object, though the damage from TR in this form is not sufficient to kill effectively, barring very high quality equipment and a low Monster Power level.

Tempest Rush has a heavy resource cost and most Monks use it to supplement their movement, as a burst of speed to move between one pack of enemies and the next. (Spirit is built up during combat.) There are full time TR-builds, though these require a lot of specialized equipment and other support skills, since a Monk requires a regen rate of around 13 Spirit/sec to use Tempest Rush non-stop.

Witch Doctor Movement Skills

The Witch Doctor lacks any way to provide a full time boost to his movement speed and the lack of fast dashing skills for this class is a common source of complaint from WD players.

Though none of the passives fit in here, there are some active skills that provide the class a short term movement speed boost.

• Horrify: Stalker -- Increases movement speed 20% for 4 seconds after each cast.
• Spirit Walk -- Witch Doctors move faster than usual for two seconds in this spirit form.

Wizard Movement Skills

Wizards lack any full time movement speed boosts.

Teleport was the ultimate movement skill in previous games in the Diablo series, but in Diablo 3 it is limited by lengthy cooldowns, and only the Wormhole rune effect allows for even two or three Teleports in rapid succession.

• Storm Armor: Scramble -- This rune effect in the armor skill triggers a 3s boost of 25% increased Movement Speed each time the Wizard is hit by a melee or ranged attack.

Movement Speed from Items

Note that 25% is the hard cap on increased movement speed from equipment, thus for end game gear most players want two items that add to their Movement Speed. Most characters in D3C have three items to choose from:

• Boots (many options)
• Lacuni Prowlers bracers
• Inna's Temperance pants.

Two of these three items can thus be found on most end game characters, with only an occasional Compass Rose or one of the legendary armors throw into the mix. It's not uncommon for players to have just one faster movement item, but most players put a premium on getting there more quickly.

Items data collected from a huge Diablo.IncGamers.com article on Movement Speed.[2]

Boots

Boots are the only item type that can spawn with a Movement Speed bonus from the affixes. All other items adding to MS are set or legendary items. (Most all Set and Legendary boots have MS as an inherent property, and the others can spawn MS as a random affix.)

Boots can add 1-12% FM, and most characters consider boots with MS to be an almost mandatory piece of equipment.

Set Boots

• Cain’s Sandals: ilvl 25, MS 10-11%
• Captain Crimson’s Whalers: ilvl 32, No MS. (2 random affixes.)
• Asheara’s Tracks: ilvl 53, no MS. (2 random affixes.)
• Sage’s Journey: ilvl 62, no MS. (2 random affixes.)
• Natalya’s Bloody Footprints: ilvl 63, MS 12%
• Immortal King’s Stride: ilvl 63, MS 12%
• Zunimassa’s Trail: ilvl 63, MS 12%
• Blackthorne’s Spurs: ilvl 63, MS 12%

Legendary Boots

• The Crudest Boots: ilvl 5, MS 6-7%
• Lut Socks: ilvl 21, MS 8-9%
• Boj Anglers: ilvl 41, MS 10-11%
• Lost Boys: ilvl 50, MS 12%
• Fire Walkers: ilvl 62, MS 12%
• Ice Climbers: ilvl 63, no MS. (Three random affixes.)

Of the six findable end game set and legendary boots, only Ice Climbers do not have FM as an inherent property. (Though they may get it as a random affix and if so they're very valuable.)

Strategy tip: Boots without FM are generally much less expensive to trade for or buy, and players who can stand to move less quickly, or who can make up the FM with other items, can get boots with extremely good properties, but not FM, at bargain prices.

Amulets

None of the set amulets provide faster run. Two of the legendary amulets do, but they’re both mid-level and thus unsuitable for use by max level characters:

• Talisman of Aranoch: ilvl 39, MS 10-11%.
• The Flavor of Time: ilvl 55, MS 12%.

Rings

One of the set rings and one of the legendary rings grant faster run as a property.

• Band of Untold Secrets: ilvl 32, MS 10-11%.
• The Compass Rose: ilvl 63, MS 12%.

Helms

There are no legendary helms or set helms (including partial set bonuses) that grant faster movement speed. This includes normal helms and all of the class-specific helms for the Wizard, Witch Doctor, and Monk.

Shoulders

None of the set shoulders or legendary shoulders grant faster movement speed.

Chest Armor

None of the set chest armor provides faster run, but a pair of the legendary chests do.

• Tyrael’s Might: ilvl 63, MS 12%.
• The Inquisitor: ilvl 63, MS 12%. (Demon Hunter only.)

Bracers

Two legendary bracers provide faster movement speed, and largely thanks to this bonus the Lacuni Prowlers are one of the most popular end game items. Slave Bonds are quite popular for leveling characters up, but their total bonuses are much too low to make them viable end game gear.

• Slave Bonds: ilvl 35, MS 10-11%.
• Lacuni Prowlers: ilvl 63, MS 12%.

Belts

None of the set belts provide faster movement, but one fairly-obscure legendary belt does. It’s a Mighty belt, and as such will only fit around a Barbarian’s waist.

• Pride of Cassius: ilvl 47, MSI 10-11%. (Barbarian only.)

This belt isn't seen in the end game in D3C since it's only level 47 and doesn't have end game sized bonuses... but it might become a very popular item once legendaries begin to scale up in Loot 2.0. No other non-glove/jewelry item in the game can provide a trifecta bonus, and with movement speed on top of that.

Gloves

None of the set gloves or legendary gloves provides faster movement speed.

Pants

One set and one legendary pants get faster movement. Inna's Temperance is one of the most popular items in the game for its bonuses to attack speed and movement speed.

• Hammer Jammers: ilvl 43, MSI 10-11%.
• Inna’s Temperance: ilvl 63, MSI 12%.

Off-Hand

Grouping shields, quivers, mojos, and sources all together, since they all come up dry. There are no set off-hand items or legendary off-hand items that add movement speed.

Weapons

There aren't many weapons that provide faster movement, and none of them are popular in the end game in D2C. It's possible that they might increase in popularity in Paragon 2.0 once their stats can scale up when dropped by higher level monsters.

Note that the Monk or Barbarian could dual wield the Scrimshaw and The 300 Spear, potentially maxing out their movement speed bonus from equipment without using a single armor slot.

• Scrimshaw: ilvl 18, MS 8-9%.
• The Three Hundredth Spear: ilvl 60, MS 12%.
• Anessazi Edge, ilvl 53, MS 12%. (Witch Doctor only.)

• The Executioner: ilvl 18, MS 8-9%. (Two-handed.)
• Sledge of Athskeleng: ilvl 62, MS 12%. (Two-handed.)
• The Sultan of Blinding Sand: ilvl 60, MS 12%. (Two-handed.)

Top Speed from Equipment

This is purely for fun, since there's a hard cap at 25% MS:

• Amulet: +12%, The Flavor of Time
• Rings: Band of Untold Secrets, 11% + The Compass Rose: MS 12%. (Can wear both rings at once.)
• Helms: 0%
• Shoulders: 0%
• Body Armor: 12%, Tyrael’s Might or The Inquisitor (Demon Hunter only.)
• Bracers: 12%. Lacuni Prowlers.
• Belts: Pride of Cassius, 11%. (Barb only.)
• Pants: 12%. Inna’s Temperance.
• Boots: 12%
• Weapon: 12% The Three Hundredth Spear + 9% Scrimshaw = 21% (Barb and Monk only.)

__________________________
= 95% for all classes, 104% for the Monk, 115% for Barb.