So that Chu-Ko-Nu...

I'm bashing together a build idea while I'm having fun with my ES Warlock. I've noticed that Miasma Chain procs from the Authority runeword doesn't care about casting delays (as it shouldn't). Figured that, if I combine that with another source of Miasma Chain procs like Entropy Locket and an attack that hits a lot really fast like Mirrored Blades, there might be something really funny there. Provided that Mirrored (Cross)bows procs just like standard Mirrored Blades, throwing in a source of piercing could result in a hideous number of procs.

Anyways, with that context through, I was considering putting Mist on a Chu-Ko-Nu, on the basis that it's 1) able to have 5 sockets, 2) has base speed of -60, and 3) is lighter than Demon Crossbow. But then that got me thinking - base speed of -60 is a silly value, but I don't remember Demon Machine being... actually that fast?

So here's a thread asking about this from more qualified minds because I think I have a fundamental misunderstanding of attack speeds and inherently slow weapons like crossbows. The meat of the question is "Is Mist in a Chu-Ko-Nu faster than Mist in a Short Battle Bow?" but some elaboration on how one should think of Crossbow attack speeds and the base speed trait would be nutritious, if someone could offer it. I wouldn't want to find out that a Mist Chu-Ko-Nu is actually ass only after I've committed a Cham and a Gul in it!

So Mist is ass anyways. Its gimmicky. I've got one on my frost maiden. Not terrible but not super fun game play either.
However, you need to make Mist for the chronicle. So why not with your plan?

The reason I settled on Mist (for now) is for the 100% Pierce chance and +3 All Skills. I don't expect this build to deal any physical damage (hence Short Battle Bow as an alternative), but I do want a total of +9 All Skills so I can see the 10-soft-points effects of several Warlock skills. Buriza-Do Kyanon also has 100% Pierce, but no All Skills. Alas!

The idea is to proc as many Miasma Chain as possible and invest into the skill itself's synergies, so I can reap the benefits of too many chains that don't obey the casting delay limit. The idea was that piercing attacks would proc it more often, which makes Mist rather attractive to me!

But given that that front of the build works, the other front is "how frequently can I attack?", which is why I'm wondering if it's better to blindly believe in Chu-Ko-Nu's -60 base attack speed or Short Battle Bow's ordinary but sensible speed...

If your goal is to proc Miasma Chain as much as possible then Chu-Ko-Nu is your friend. You won't need much off hand ias to max frame rate. Since dmg isn't your primary, it's a good option.
I use Demon Machine (unique Chu-Ko-Nu) for my fire sorc and she only needs 10 offhand ias to max out.

Aha. That is both good and sad to know, because I remember being frustrated by my enchantress's attack speed. XP

Should I understand Chu-Ko-Nu's -60 base attack speed as "turns an ungodly slow weapon to a bearably slow weapon"? Going back to the original question, it feels like I'm not understanding the meaning of this value properly.

Hm! The script doesn't include Mirrored Blades yet. I remember reading that there's something weird happening with that skill's attack speed, like it's always attacking at the fastest speed?

The ias calculator here is a fork of warrens ias calculator, which is the single best ias calculator out there. He is still updating it for warlock. I recommend you wait to make this runeword until he updates it to v3.0
https://warren1001.github.io/IAS_Calculator/

Or perhaps I could f around and find out on my own. Mist's attack speed bonus can be simulated with a Shael and I can spare 2 of that.

Okay, that testing was easier and clearer than I imagined. Shopped vendors until they had magic Short Battle Bow and Chu-Ko-Nu available and cubed them to be socketed. Bashed in a Shael in each to test with Mirrored Blades.

A 20% IAS Chu-Ko-Nu is blatantly faster than Short Battle Bow with the same quality. The difference is more drastic than I expected and nothing like how I remember my enchantress's fire speed being like. I wonder if it really is something weird happening with Mirrored Blades attack speed.

Knappogue, thanks for the tips and pointers! I feel like this is enough information to try for a Mist Chu-Ko-Nu and be really silly. I always wanted to try a Brand necro but this is probably cheaper.