User:Savio/Damage

Why Is This Here?
I disagree with quite a few things on the Damage article page, but since almost everyone thinks Holy and Light damage are different, I refuse to touch that page. However, that doesn't mean I can't write a more accurate article myself.

What Is Damage?
Damage reduces a target's current health by a certain value.

Sources of Damage
Damage is caused specifically from two sources: Weapons and skills will always state specifically that they deal damage. Weapons list a damage range from which the game picks a number. For example, Victo's Blade has a damage range of 15-22, which means that it deals damage that is at least 15 and at most 22, provided you meet the requirement. Skills, on the other hand, list a single number for their damage, which is determined through attribute level. For example, Flare does 40 Fire damage at 12 Fire Magic.
 * Weapons
 * Skills

What Isn't Damage
Not all health reduction is considered damage. Some sources of non-damage health reduction: Some skills like Reversal of Fortune trigger only on damage, so other sources of health reduction do not trigger them.
 * Life stealing, such as Vampiric Gaze
 * Sacrifices, such as Offering of Blood
 * Degeneration, such as Conjure Phantasm
 * Health loss, such as Infuse Health

Damage Types
Most damage has a damage type associated with it. There currently exist Slashing, Piercing, Blunt, Fire, Cold, Lightning, Earth, Chaos, Shadow, Holy, Dark, and Light damage. There are also two larger categories of damage types, which themselves are damage types: physical and elemental damage. It is also possible for damage to not have a type, to be typeless.

Many armors, skills, and monsters react to a certain damage type. For example, Gladiator's Armor gains +20 armor against physical damage, but receives no bonus for any other type. Undead monsters take twice the normal damage from Holy/Light damage. Note that damage that ignores armor is dependent on the skill, not the damage type.

The Damage Equation

 * Effective Damage = (((BD × DScale × AE) + DShift) × DMult) + DRev

BD
Base damage. Most weapons have attribute requirements for their damage ranges. If the weapon's wielder meets that requirement, the listed range is used. If the requirement is not met, one of two damage ranges can be used:
 * For an attack, equal to a number in the damage range for the weapon or pet.
 * If the weapon is a collector, crafter, quest reward, or unique weapon, then the damage range used is the range for a starter weapon of the same type.
 * If the weapon is a dropped item, then the damage range used is half of the current damage range. For example, a max 6-28 axe will have a damage range of 3-14 when you do not meet requirements.


 * For a non-attack skill, equal to the number listed.

DScale
Multiplier for damage dealt by the attacker. Currently only available for attacks. Examples: Customization, Weapon modifiers, Life Attunement, Flurry
 * Standard value equal to 1.
 * Equal to the product of all applicable factors.
 * A weapon's

AE
Armor effect. OR
 * For armor-ignoring damage, equal to 1.
 * For armor-affected damage, equal to 2(EffDL - EffAL)/40 .
 * For armor-ignoring skill damage (attack or non-attack), equal to 1.
 * For base attack and armor-affected skill damage, equal to 2(EffDL - EffAL)/40 .

EffDL
Effective Damage Level. It is the sum of the Base Damage Level (BaseDL) and any Damage Level bonuses (DLBonus).
 * EffDL = BaseDL + DLBonus 
 * BaseDLmagic = 3 × CLevel 
 * BaseDLmight = 5 × Rank


 * For spells and attacks with caster weapons (Staves and Wands), BaseDL is equal to 3 times the Character Level (CLevel) of the attacker.
 * For attacks with swords, axes, hammers, bows, and pets, BaseDL is equal to 5 times the attribute rank (Rank) of the linked weapon/pet attribute of the attacker.
 * If Rank is greater than CLevel/2+2, then there is a DLBonus of (-3 × [Rank - (Level/2 + 2)]), serving as a diminishing return. The square bracket term in this case rounds up (towards zero).
 * Critical hits, which only occur with attacks, grant a DLBonus of 20.

EffAL
Effective Armor Level. Depends on a variety of factors.
 * Currently under revision as I need to test certain situations involving armor penetration. Not Sundering.

DShift
Additions and subtractions to damage. Examples: Strength of Honor, Absorption, Attack skills
 * Standard value equal to 0.
 * Equal to the sum of all applicable numbers.

DMult
Multiplier for damage received. Applies to all damage. Examples: Frenzy, Aura of the Lich
 * Standard value equal to 1.
 * Equal to the product of all applicable factors.

DRev
Subtracts an amount of damage and heals target for same amount. Examples: Reversal of Fortune, Mark of Protection
 * Standard value equal to 0.
 * If there is more than one number for DRev, the largest number is used.
 * Healing is calculated as a separate number and is not subtracted from any remaining damage.