05-19-2012, 06:11 PM
(This post was last modified: 05-19-2012, 06:17 PM by MongoJerry.)
I just tested the damage formula using Wizard spells, and it does indeed work as one expects:
Damage per attack = (Base damage combined on all equiped items) * (1 + Class Primary Stat/100) * (Skill Modifier)
Now, the key here is that the Skill Modifier is a straight multiplier, not an additive multiplier. At one point, the game guide used to list skill modifiers like "+150% weapon damage." However, the tooltips (and current game guide) are correct in that they are straight multipliers. This is crucial for, say, the choice between Magic Missle - Charged Blast (143% weapon damage) and Split (fires 3 missles for 50% damage each). If they were additive, then the 3 missles for Split would be doing 150% weapon damage each, while Charged Blast would be doing 243% weapon damage, making Split an interesting choice for damage, if you're likely to hit with at least two of the missles. However, instead the comparison is 3 missles for 50% weapon damage versus 1 missle for 143% damage, making Charged Blast the natural choice, if one does not take into account the additional Prodigy procs that Split gives.
However, I have found a bug with Magic Weapon. If you cast it, the actual damage seems to work the way you would expect -- that is, spells are increased in damage by 10%. However, the damage dps listed in the character screen shows an increase of exactly 21%, which is what you would expect if the 10% multiplier was applied twice. Again, by my testing, the spell appears to be working correctly. This appears to be a display bug.
Damage per attack = (Base damage combined on all equiped items) * (1 + Class Primary Stat/100) * (Skill Modifier)
Now, the key here is that the Skill Modifier is a straight multiplier, not an additive multiplier. At one point, the game guide used to list skill modifiers like "+150% weapon damage." However, the tooltips (and current game guide) are correct in that they are straight multipliers. This is crucial for, say, the choice between Magic Missle - Charged Blast (143% weapon damage) and Split (fires 3 missles for 50% damage each). If they were additive, then the 3 missles for Split would be doing 150% weapon damage each, while Charged Blast would be doing 243% weapon damage, making Split an interesting choice for damage, if you're likely to hit with at least two of the missles. However, instead the comparison is 3 missles for 50% weapon damage versus 1 missle for 143% damage, making Charged Blast the natural choice, if one does not take into account the additional Prodigy procs that Split gives.
However, I have found a bug with Magic Weapon. If you cast it, the actual damage seems to work the way you would expect -- that is, spells are increased in damage by 10%. However, the damage dps listed in the character screen shows an increase of exactly 21%, which is what you would expect if the 10% multiplier was applied twice. Again, by my testing, the spell appears to be working correctly. This appears to be a display bug.