How damage is calculated

The path of a hit

Every hit follows the same order. First comes a roll inside the action's range. Then your percentage bonuses and the critical hit apply, under the damage cap. Next the monster defends itself: armor against physical hits, resistance to the element and, on some monsters, mitigation. Last come the multipliers on the damage that got through: the vocation bonus from level 200, Go beyond, damage food, weapon perks and the area and elite bonuses.

The build planner shows this sequence with your build's numbers: pick an action in the results and see each step.

The roll of spells and runes

Mage spells and runes use your level and the magic level of the element. Energy Strike, for example, goes from level/5 + ML × 1.403 + 8 to level/5 + ML × 2.203 + 13: at level 200 with ML 80, from 160 to 229. The element's magic level is your ML plus that element's points from rings, amulets and equipment.

Knight spells use the weapon's skill and attack. Brutal Strike goes from (skill × attack × 0.02 + 4 + level/5) × 1.28 to (skill × attack × 0.04 + 9 + level/5) × 1.28. The Paladin's ethereal spears use distance skill, and Monk spells use fist, weapon attack and level. Each spell's page in the wiki shows its formula.

The roll favors the middle of the range, and the average is always (minimum + maximum) / 2.

The basic attack

In melee, the maximum is 0.085 × weapon attack × skill + level/5, and the minimum is level/5. Without a weapon, attack is 7 and fist skill counts. At range, the maximum is 0.09 × (weapon attack + ammunition attack) × distance skill + level/5, and the hit chance depends on the ammunition and the skill. Wands and rods fire inside the weapon's range: rarity and refinement shift that range up, but level and magic level do not change the shot, and every shot costs mana.

The normal interval is 2 seconds. Attack speed shortens it to 2 s × 100 / (100 + speed), counting up to 54%.

Percentage bonuses and critical hits

Damage dealt, elemental damage (up to 30% per element) and the guild's damage training add up and multiply the roll once: +10% damage dealt with +6% fire becomes × 1.16 on a fire spell.

There is no base critical chance: it comes from affixes, food, Inner Power and perks. A critical hit deals +50% damage, plus the additional critical damage. On average, criticals multiply damage by 1 + chance × (0.5 + additional critical damage). With 20% chance and +40% additional critical damage, that is × 1.18.

Damage cap

The multiplier formed by percentage bonuses and the critical hit has a ceiling: 8 × (1 + your damage cap in %). Above it, only 25% of the excess still counts. The base of the hit — level, skills, weapon and the action's formula — is never capped, and penetration, area damage, elite damage, Go beyond and weapon perks apply after the cap. The cap grows with the Bestiary, Gold Bars, Limit Essence and rare drops, and the Limit Potion removes it for seven days.

The monster's defenses

Armor reduces physical hits that respect it, such as the basic attack and the Knight's physical spells: each hit removes a value between half and almost all of the armor. Defense blocks melee and ranged basic attacks, at most one per second.

Resistance is a percentage per element: 20% fire resistance removes 20% of fire damage, and a negative value is a weakness that increases damage. Penetration ignores points of positive resistance, but never goes below zero or through immunity. Some monsters also have mitigation, up to 30%, against physical hits.

Hunt pages show each monster's resistances, and the planner applies those of the monster you choose.

What comes after the defenses

From level 200, Knights, Paladins, Sorcerers and Druids gain a damage bonus against monsters that grows until level 400: the Knight through weapon skill, the Paladin through distance and Sorcerers and Druids through magic level. A complete Go beyond adds +10%. Damage food adds 5% to 35%, depending on quality. Proficiency perks can raise damage against a monster class or against elites and bosses. Last, Area damage applies when the action hits two or more enemies, and Damage against elites and bosses applies against those targets.

The rhythm of the bar

The bar decides every 0.25 s and uses one action at a time: the first one from the left that is ready. Attack spells share a 2 s group, so more spells on the bar do not always mean more damage. Cooldown reduction shortens the own cooldown and that group of attack spells and runes, up to 35%, but does not touch the special cooldowns of strong spells, healing or potions. Because the bar only decides every 0.25 s, the gain comes in steps: the 2 s group drops to 1.75 s at 12.5% and to 1.5 s at 25%.

Potions and runes share a 1 s item cooldown, and every spell costs mana: when mana runs out, the bar waits. The planner shows how many potions your bar drinks per minute and what that costs.

Health, mana and equipment

At level 8, every character has 185 health and 35 mana. Each level, the Knight gains 15 health and 5 mana; the Paladin, 10 and 15; Sorcerers and Druids, 5 and 30; the Monk, 10 and 10.

Rarity adds to each piece's base attribute 1 point per 10, rounded up, for each rarity rank. Refinement multiplies base attributes and affixes: +2% per level up to +10, then +31%, +42%, +53%, +64%, +75%, +100%, +135%, +180% and +235%, up to +300% at +20. An affix line is worth its full value until your level reaches twice the base's level; after that it is worth √(base level ÷ half your level), never less than 30%.

The character limits are 30% per elemental resistance, 15% physical resistance, 30% damage per element, 25% healing received, 54% attack speed and 35% cooldown reduction.