Post
Terraria 1.4.5 Roller Skates: Too powerful a mobility item, will it be nerfed?The Roller Skates, added in the Terraria 1.4.5 update, are currently considered a very powerful movement item in the game. Despite their low cost and easy acquisition, they boast faster speeds than existing high-tier boots, significantly lowering the difficulty of early-game boss fights and impacting game balance. Consequently, there's active discussion about nerfing or reworking the Roller Skates, and developers have hinted at potential adjustments for this item.
1. 🎮 Roller Skates: Overwhelming Performance and Balance Issues
· Roller Skates were added in the 1.4.5 update as a mount, and from early leaks, their ability to move at block placement speed and walk on minecart rails like platforms was revealed.
· Currently, Roller Skates have three speeds: cruising speed, maximum speed based on block placement speed (38mph), and an intermediate speed (34mph).
· Thanks to their fast horizontal movement speed of up to 38mph and quick acceleration, they are extremely useful for platform construction and movement.
· However, balance issues arise because they are faster than high-tier boots like Lightning Boots, Frostspark Boots, and Terraspark Boots, which require significant time and effort to craft.
· Roller Skates can be purchased from the Skeleton Merchant for 10 gold or the Traveling Merchant for 15 gold, making them very easy to obtain.
· This overwhelming performance leads to some players quickly monopolizing items in multiplayer and excessively lowering the difficulty of early-game bosses (especially Eye of Cthulhu), reducing the game's challenge.
· Currently, Roller Skates have three speeds: cruising speed, maximum speed based on block placement speed (38mph), and an intermediate speed (34mph).
· Thanks to their fast horizontal movement speed of up to 38mph and quick acceleration, they are extremely useful for platform construction and movement.
· However, balance issues arise because they are faster than high-tier boots like Lightning Boots, Frostspark Boots, and Terraspark Boots, which require significant time and effort to craft.
· Roller Skates can be purchased from the Skeleton Merchant for 10 gold or the Traveling Merchant for 15 gold, making them very easy to obtain.
· This overwhelming performance leads to some players quickly monopolizing items in multiplayer and excessively lowering the difficulty of early-game bosses (especially Eye of Cthulhu), reducing the game's challenge.
00:00 - 02:25
1. 🎮 Roller Skates: Overwhelming Performance and Balance Issues
· Roller Skates were added in the 1.4.5 update as a mount, and from early leaks, their ability to move at block placement speed and walk on minecart rails like platforms was revealed.
· Currently, Roller Skates have three speeds: cruising speed, maximum speed based on block placement speed (38mph), and an intermediate speed (34mph).
· Thanks to their fast horizontal movement speed of up to 38mph and quick acceleration, they are extremely useful for platform construction and movement.
· However, balance issues arise because they are faster than high-tier boots like Lightning Boots, Frostspark Boots, and Terraspark Boots, which require significant time and effort to craft.
· Roller Skates can be purchased from the Skeleton Merchant for 10 gold or the Traveling Merchant for 15 gold, making them very easy to obtain.
· This overwhelming performance leads to some players quickly monopolizing items in multiplayer and excessively lowering the difficulty of early-game bosses (especially Eye of Cthulhu), reducing the game's challenge.
· Currently, Roller Skates have three speeds: cruising speed, maximum speed based on block placement speed (38mph), and an intermediate speed (34mph).
· Thanks to their fast horizontal movement speed of up to 38mph and quick acceleration, they are extremely useful for platform construction and movement.
· However, balance issues arise because they are faster than high-tier boots like Lightning Boots, Frostspark Boots, and Terraspark Boots, which require significant time and effort to craft.
· Roller Skates can be purchased from the Skeleton Merchant for 10 gold or the Traveling Merchant for 15 gold, making them very easy to obtain.
· This overwhelming performance leads to some players quickly monopolizing items in multiplayer and excessively lowering the difficulty of early-game bosses (especially Eye of Cthulhu), reducing the game's challenge.
02:26 - 03:56
2. ⚙️ How Roller Skates Work and Their Peculiarities
· Roller Skates are classified as a mount and do not occupy an accessory slot.
· They are perfectly compatible with wings, increasing flight speed, and can be used with hooks, double jumps, dashes, and minecart rails.
· Once a certain speed is reached, the player continues to move at that speed and direction until they stop or another factor intervenes.
· They can bounce off bumper rails.
· They cannot be used with ropes, Gravity Potions, or Portal Gun portals.
· They are unaffected by movement speed buffs or debuffs (e.g., Chilled, Sandstorm wind, Slow). This means they don't get faster with Swiftness Potion, but also aren't slowed by debuffs.
· They are still affected by liquid movement speed penalties, but wearing Triton or Fishron Wings can negate this.
· They are affected by certain blocks like Conveyor Belts, Asphalt, and Honey Blocks.
· They are perfectly compatible with wings, increasing flight speed, and can be used with hooks, double jumps, dashes, and minecart rails.
· Once a certain speed is reached, the player continues to move at that speed and direction until they stop or another factor intervenes.
· They can bounce off bumper rails.
· They cannot be used with ropes, Gravity Potions, or Portal Gun portals.
· They are unaffected by movement speed buffs or debuffs (e.g., Chilled, Sandstorm wind, Slow). This means they don't get faster with Swiftness Potion, but also aren't slowed by debuffs.
· They are still affected by liquid movement speed penalties, but wearing Triton or Fishron Wings can negate this.
· They are affected by certain blocks like Conveyor Belts, Asphalt, and Honey Blocks.
03:57 - 06:28
3. 🚧 Interaction with Blocks and Honey Block Bug
· Conveyor Belts: Move at 13mph, and combined with block placement speed, can move at a pure 1mph. The Stopwatch doesn't account for Conveyor Belt speed, displaying a higher speed (14mph) than actual.
· Asphalt: Affects maximum speed but not cruising speed, so it can still be used for block placement.
· Honey Blocks: Interfere with the Roller Skates' basic function of gliding over blocks, causing an immediate stop upon contact with Honey Blocks. However, under specific conditions (approximately 91% movement speed increase buff), gliding over Honey Blocks is possible. This appears to be a buggy interaction discovered accidentally during testing.
· Before a past patch, there was a bug where wearing Roller Skates prevented damage when walking over Spikes, Wooden Spikes, Sharp Spikes, Rolling Cacti, and Hellstone, but this has since been fixed.
· Asphalt: Affects maximum speed but not cruising speed, so it can still be used for block placement.
· Honey Blocks: Interfere with the Roller Skates' basic function of gliding over blocks, causing an immediate stop upon contact with Honey Blocks. However, under specific conditions (approximately 91% movement speed increase buff), gliding over Honey Blocks is possible. This appears to be a buggy interaction discovered accidentally during testing.
· Before a past patch, there was a bug where wearing Roller Skates prevented damage when walking over Spikes, Wooden Spikes, Sharp Spikes, Rolling Cacti, and Hellstone, but this has since been fixed.
08:00 - 09:46
4. 📊 Factors Increasing Block Placement Speed and Cruising Speed
· The cruising speed of Roller Skates is affected by block placement speed. Factors that increase block placement speed are as follows:
· Placement speed varies by block type: solid blocks, all ropes except streamers (same as block placement speed), all minecart rails.
· The Bricklayer seems to only increase block placement speed when an item is held.
· There appears to be a cap on placement speed or cruising speed, and cruising speed no longer increases beyond a certain point.
· The fastest cruising speed achievable with Roller Skates is 27mph.
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Ambrosia | Obtained by shimmering all fruits Permanently increases mining and placement speed by 5% |
| High Spirit Buff | Obtained by flying a kite Increases mining, movement, and placement speed by 15% and increases luck |
| Builder Potion | Increases placement speed by 25% (for 45 minutes) |
| Bricklayer | Purchased from the Traveling Merchant Increases placement speed by 50% (when equipped) Can be crafted into Architect Gizmo Pack, Hand of Creation, but effects do not stack |
· Placement speed varies by block type: solid blocks, all ropes except streamers (same as block placement speed), all minecart rails.
· The Bricklayer seems to only increase block placement speed when an item is held.
· There appears to be a cap on placement speed or cruising speed, and cruising speed no longer increases beyond a certain point.
· The fastest cruising speed achievable with Roller Skates is 27mph.
09:47 - 12:29
5. 💡 Roller Skates Nerf/Rework Suggestions and Future Outlook
· It is suggested that the easy acquisition difficulty of Roller Skates itself is not an issue, and they should be easily obtainable early on as they facilitate arena construction.
· Maximum Speed Reduction Suggestion: Reduce the current maximum speed of 38mph to 30mph, similar to Hermes Boots, to balance it so that Roller Skates are a better early-game choice, but other options become available once Specter Boots or Lightning Boots are obtained.
· Hardmode Variant Suggestion: Make Roller Skates a pre-Hardmode item, and in Hardmode, sell 'Rollerblades' or 'Inline Skates' that offer faster speeds (e.g., over 38mph), deal a small amount of damage upon landing, or provide additional features like a 10-15% increase in block placement speed.
· Currently, Roller Skates have several bugs and lingering issues, including an infinite flight bug, strange interactions with Honey Blocks, and methods to achieve 38mph cruising speed through cheats. These problems need to be addressed.
· Maximum Speed Reduction Suggestion: Reduce the current maximum speed of 38mph to 30mph, similar to Hermes Boots, to balance it so that Roller Skates are a better early-game choice, but other options become available once Specter Boots or Lightning Boots are obtained.
· Hardmode Variant Suggestion: Make Roller Skates a pre-Hardmode item, and in Hardmode, sell 'Rollerblades' or 'Inline Skates' that offer faster speeds (e.g., over 38mph), deal a small amount of damage upon landing, or provide additional features like a 10-15% increase in block placement speed.
· Currently, Roller Skates have several bugs and lingering issues, including an infinite flight bug, strange interactions with Honey Blocks, and methods to achieve 38mph cruising speed through cheats. These problems need to be addressed.