This article is about damage per second. For Death Pact Signet, a skill with the same acronym, see Death Pact Signet. |
DPS is an acronym for "damage per second," a measure of how much health loss something, such as a weapon or combination of skills, can cause over a given, relatively long timeframe. It is an important criterion for pressure builds, and used as opposite to spike damage.
Although Guild Wars game mechanics distinguish between damage and health loss, most players will lump them together when considering DPS.