gww>Ruine Eternelle: /* Formula */

2025-08-01T15:55:58Z

Formula

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{{rewrite|needs a rewrite to make it more accessible and coherent to new players}}
{{unofficial}}
{{TOCright}}
When [[damage]] is not [[armor-ignoring damage]], its value may vary depending on several parameters. While no official formula has been given, the following formulae have been theorized by players.

= Formula =
{{math|Damage calculation 1.png}}
Where :
* Base Damage is the damage stated on the skill or a random value in the weapon's range (critical hits always use the maximum damage).
* Armor level is the final [[armor rating]] obtained after [[Armor calculation]].
* Strike Level is :
{{math|Damage_calculation_formula26.png}}
* Attribute level is the effective rank in the Mastery attribute of the weapon.



Without any other damage modifiers, characters with rank 12 in their weapon attribute or level 20 are therefore expected to deal the stated damage against foes with 60 armor rating.

In the event of an attack skill dealing +X bonus damage, such as [[Executioner's Strike]], the armor-ignoring bonus damage from the skill is added to the base damage of the regular attack. Only one damage [[packet]] is inflicted.

==Hit locations==

Each player and hero can wear up to five pieces of [[armor]] - a chest piece, leggings, boots, gloves, and a headpiece. Any given attack on a player will hit one of these five locations, and only the armor rating of this location is considered.

In most circumstances, the chest piece and leggings have a higher probability to be hit, with respectively 3/8 and 2/8 while the other pieces each have 1/8.

However as far as melee attacks are concerned, the visual height of an attacking monster actually has an influence on the probability: small monsters or those close to the ground have higher chances to hit the legs or feet, while very tall or flying monsters have higher chances to hit the head or chest.

{|{{STDT|+=margin:0.25em auto;}}
|+ '''Hit Location Percentages'''
|- style="background:#ADA;"
! Hit Location !!Low Attack !! Normal or <br/> Ranged Attack !! High Attack
|- align="right"
! align="center" | Head
| 0% || 12.5% || 27.3%
|- align="right"
! align="center" | Chest
| 18.2% || 37.5% || 40.9%
|- align="right"
! align="center" | Hands
| 13.6% || 12.5% || 13.6%
|- align="right"
! align="center" | Legs
| 40.9% || 25% || 18.2%
|- align="right"
! align="center" | Feet
| 27.3% || 12.5% || 0%
|}

== Additional Parameters ==

=== Attacks ===

==== Weapon Customization and modifiers ====

Weapon [[customization]] increases Base Damage by 20%, or a 1.20 multiplier.

Base Damage can further be increased by one of the following [[inscription]] bonuses:
{| {{STDT|silver}}
|- style="background:lightgray;"

!Name!!Bonus!!Condition/Cost!!Attaches to!!Campaign!!Inherent bonus for
|-
|"Strength and Honor"||Damage +10...15% || while Health is above 50%||rowspan=8|Weapons||Rowspan=8|Core||Martial weapons (Prophecies, [[Factions]]), any inscribable weapon
|-
|"Guided by Fate"||Damage +10...15% || while Enchanted ||Martial weapons (Prophecies, [[Factions]]), any inscribable weapon
|-
|"Dance with Death"||Damage +10...15% ||while in a Stance||Martial weapons (Prophecies, [[Factions]]), any inscribable weapon
|-
|"To the Pain!"||Damage +14...15% ||Armor -10 while attacking||Martial weapons (Prophecies, [[Factions]]), any inscribable weapon
|-
|"Brawn over Brains"||Damage +14...15% ||Energy -5||Martial weapons (Prophecies, [[Factions]]), any inscribable weapon
|-
|"Too Much Information"||Damage +10...15% || vs. Hexed foes||Martial weapons (Prophecies, [[Factions]]), any inscribable weapon
|-
|"Vengeance is Mine"||Damage +10...20% || while Health is below 50%||Martial weapons (Prophecies, [[Factions]]), any inscribable weapon
|-
|"Don't Fear the Reaper"||Damage +10...20% || while Hexed||Martial weapons (Prophecies, [[Factions]]), any inscribable weapon
|-
|rowspan=2|''No corresponding inscription''||Damage +10...15% || Energy regeneration -1 ''(<small>AKA</small> [[Zealous strength]])''||rowspan=2|n/a||rowspan=2|n/a||rowspan=2|Martial weapons (Prophecies, [[Factions]])
|-
|Damage +10...15% || Health regeneration -1 ''(<small>AKA</small> [[Vampiric strength]])''
|}

In the case of axes, bows, hammers, and swords and (oddly enough) staves, the suffix [[of slaying|of <affiliation or creature type>slaying]] can be used to further increase Base Damage by +10-20% vs. a specific creature type or affilition:
* [[Charr]]: of Charrslaying (Daggers, scythes, and spears can also be obtained with this modifier from [[Jonathan Blunt]])
* [[Demon]]s: of Demonslaying
* [[Dragon]]s: of Dragonslaying
* [[Dwarf|Dwarves]]: of Dwarfslaying
* [[Giant]]s: of Giantslaying
* [[Ogre]]s: of Ogreslaying
* [[Plant]]s: of Pruning
* [[Tengu]]: of Tenguslaying
* [[Troll]]s: of Trollslaying
* [[Undead]]: of Deathbane
* [[Skeleton]]s: of Skeletonslaying

A few weapons have unreplicable modifiers:
* All Decade martial weapons ([[Decade Axes "Rival Skies"]], [[Decade Bow "Falling Star"]], [[Decade Scythe "Funeral Fang"]], [[Decade Sword "Distant Horizon"]], [[Decade Spear "Mist Piercer"]], [[Decade Hammer "Roaring Earth"]] and [[Decade Daggers "High Noon"]]) have an inherent 20% damage during festival events.
* Various weapons in Prophecies have additional fixed damage against a specific creature type:
** The Foehammer and Ascalon Longbow crafted by [[Arthur Ayala]] (pre-Searing) and [[Hala]] (post-Searing) deal 1 damage against Charr.
** The Battle Axe from [[Hylas]] deal 2 damage against Dwarves.
** The Battle Axe from the collector [[Leighton Cranford]], the axe, hammer and longbow crafted by [[Grahame]] deal 3 (4 for the hammer) damage against undead.
** The [[Long Sword]] crafted by Grahame deals 3 damage against Giants.
** The unique [[Ogre-Slaying Knife]] deals 9 damage against Ogres.

==== Weapon requirement ====
{{main|Requirement}}

As long as their requirement is met, two identical weapons with different requirements will deal the same damage at the same attribute rank.

If you do not meet the requirement of the weapon, the weapon will still keep all modifiers, including internal modifiers such as built-in additions to damage, but it will only deal 1/3 of its stated damage. For instance a sword that deals 11-22 will do 5-8 (11 on critical) if you don't meet the requirement.

==== Weapon Attribute rank threshold ====

When attacking with a weapon, the rank in the corresponding "Mastery" [[attribute]] when applicable (i.e. not for staff or wand) usually increases your "Strike Level" by 5 for each rank.

However, there is a threshold above which Strike level is only increased by 2 instead of 5 for each additional rank, resulting in less than half increase to damage for each rank above the threshold compared to ranks below the threshold.

The attribute threshold is based on your level as follows:
{{math|Damage calculation formula4.png}}


For level 20 characters, the threshold is rank 12. A level 20 warrior with a hammer for instance would have a strike level of 5x12=60 with 12 Hammer Mastery, but a strike level of 5x12+2x2= 64 with 14 Hammer Mastery (and not 5x14=70).

Including the threshold, the damage becomes:
{{math|Damage calculation formula5.png}}

<div style="margin:2em auto;">
{| {{STDT|+=margin:0.25em auto;}} cellpadding="5"
|+ '''Effect of Attributes on Weapon Damage''' <br/> (Normalized to level 20)
|- style="background:#ADA;"
! Rank || 0 || 1 || 2 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 6 || 7 || 8 || 9 || 10 || 11 || 12 || 13 || 14 || 15 || 16
|- align="right"
! {{center|Percent <br/> to rank 0}}
| 100.0%
| 109.0%
| 119.0%
| 130.0%
| 141.0%
| 154.0%
| 168.0%
| 183.0%
| '''200.0%'''
| 218.0%
| 238.0%
| 259.0%
| 283.0%
| 293.0%
| 303.0%
| 314.0%
| 325.0%
|- align="right"
! {{center|Percent <br/> to rank 12}}
| 35.6%
| 38.6%
| 42.0%
| 45.9%
| '''50.0%'''
| 54.5%
| 59.5%
| 64.8%
| 70.7%
| 77.1%
| 84.1%
| 91.7%
| 100.0%
| 103.5%
| 107.2%
| 111.0%
| 114.9%
|}
</div>

==== Caster Weapons ====

[[Wand]]s and [[staff|staves]] behave differently from martial weapons: the damage they deal only scales up with your character level, as there is no "Mastery" for these two weapon types. A level 20 player meeting the listed requirement will deal the listed base damage. Aside from this, they behave the same as any weapon.

==== Critical hits ====

{{main|critical hit}}
Every attack with a weapon of any sort has a chance of landing a critical hit. Each critical hit strikes for maximum damage, with the additional bonus of hitting as though the target had their armor level reduced by 20, which is identical to increasing the Strike Level by 20, or a 41% damage increase.

{{math|Damage_calculation_formula15.png}}


The frequency of critical hit is dependent upon several factors - both attacker and target's level, and if wielding a martial weapon the attribute rank of that weapon. The exact formula for landing a critical chance is as follows:
{{math|Damage_calculation_formula43.png}}



In rough terms, your chance of landing a critical hit against a foe of comparable level with a level 12 weapon mastery is roughly 12% - if you're a level 20 character beating up on level 1 targets with a level 12 weapon mastery, your critical chance is close to 90%.

==== Height advantage/disadvantage ====

Attacking with a ranged weapon from a higher position increases your damage output, while attacking from a lower position lowers it. Height advantage effect is currently not well known, but testing has shown that damage increase can scale up to 200% of the initial damage on attacks with ranged weapons.

=== Skills ===

As a baseline, the amount of damage dealt by a skill is listed in that skill's description, rounded to the nearest integer. In actuality the damage dealt is rarely the same as in the description. Notably, the character's level plays a role in how much damage is actually dealt.
{{math|Damage calculation formula10.png}}

<div style="margin:2em auto;">
{| {{STDT|+=margin:0.25em auto}} cellpadding="5"
|+ '''Effect of Character Level on Skill Damage''' <br/> (Normalized to level 20)
|- style="background:#ADA;"
! Level || 1 || 2 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 6 || 7 || 8 || 9 || 10 || 11 || 12 || 13 || 14 || 15 || 16 || 17 || 18 || 19 || 20
|- align="right"
! align="center" | Percent of Skill Damage
|37.2%
|39.2%
|41.3%
|43.5%
|45.9%
|48.3%
|50.9%
|53.6%
|56.4%
|59.5%
|62.6%
|66.0%
|69.5%
|73.2%
|77.1%
|81.2%
|85.6%
|90.1%
|94.9%
|100%
|}
</div>

= Damage modifiers =

General damage modifiers (such as [[damage reduction]] from skills like [[Shielding Hands]] or increase such as from skills like [[Frenzy]]) are taken into account at the end of damage calculation for each [[packet]] of damage.

= Examples =

== General Examples ==
*A level 15 Elementalist attacks a level 7 Charr (21 AL) with {{skill icon|Fireball}} at rank 8 Fire Magic (69 damage in the skill description). Each fireball deals:
{{math|Damage_calculation_formula27.png}}

*A Warrior with a rank 2 Hammer Mastery and a customized 5-10 Hammer attacks a level 2 Flash Gargoyle (6 AL) and hitting with a critical hit (+20 to strike level) will deal:
{{math|Damage_calculation_formula28.png}}

*A Ranger with a customized, 15-28 Half Moon Bow, and a rank 12 attribute to go with it, attacking a level 28 [[Rift Warden]] (118 AL) with {{skill icon|Penetrating Attack}} (10% armor penetration) will deal:
{{math|Damage_calculation_formula29.png}}

Since the skill also deals 21 bonus damage, which is armor ignoring, the attack will be dealing 29.1~36.1 damage.

== Example of damage calculation for an attack ==

If you had a normal, customized (20% more damage) 15-22 damage [[Fiery Dragon Sword]], and a level 9 Swordsmanship attribute, each swing with the weapon would deal:
{{math|Damage calculation formula6.png}}


While swinging the same sword with a level 12 attribute would deal:
{{math|Damage calculation formula8.png}}


== Example of damage calculation for a skill ==
A level 6 [[Elementalist]] with a [[Fire Magic]] attribute of 5. Each {{skill icon|Flare}} (35 damage at attribute 5) you cast is going to be dealing:
{{math|Damage calculation formula11.png}}


If you then gained a level but didn't raise your Fire Magic attribute, your Flares would be dealing more damage regardless, to the tune of:
{{math|Damage calculation formula12.png}}


Unlike weapon damage, you don't exactly have control over your character's level - you're going to be dealing 100% of listed skill damage once you hit level 20. This makes it incredibly easy to min/max your skills, since the damage you're going to deal in combat is the same as the one listed in the skill description. You'll find this effect most useful when planning an attack against a [[mob]] who will quite often have levels that vary considerably from your own. For example, take a level 30 Elementalist boss casting a level 12 Deep Freeze:
{{math|Damage calculation formula13.png}}


Example for a wand or staff: Take a customized 6-10 wand, for example - when wielded by a level 10 character, each strike will deal:
{{math|Damage calculation formula14.png}}


== Example of critical hit calculation ==
Every critical hit with a customized top (6-28) axe and a level 12 Axe Mastery will deal:
{{math|Damage_calculation_formula16.png}}


== Example of armor effect calculation ==

A 30 damage physical attack directed at a Warrior wearing armor without [[Knight's Insignia]] (80 AL, +20 AL vs. Physical) using a 16 AL shield, would deal:
{{math|Damage_calculation_formula18.png}}


While that same attack on an Elementalist in a non-max level armor with [[Pyromancer Insignia]] (45 AL + 10 AL vs. Elemental, +10AL vs. Fire) would deal:
{{math|Damage_calculation_formula19.png}}


Note that the Elementalist actually suffered more damage than what the attack would have naturally dealt. This is the case whenever a target has a net armor rating below 60.

If the warrior's armor is upgraded with Knight's insignias and a [[Rune of Absorption]], the shield has the inscription "Run For Your Life!" that reduces damage by 2 while in a stance, and this attribute is active during the hit, then the damage gets reduced to:
{{math|Damage_calculation_formula20.png}}


Note that this is only one tenth of the damage that would be dealt to an unprepared elementalist facing the same attack against a 60AL.

Now by using a skill such as [["I Am Unstoppable!"]] or [[Vow of Piety ]] and carrying the same shield, that same warrior can receive:
{{math|Damage_calculation_formula21.png}}


== Armor penetration example ==

With the 30 damage attack from the previous examples dealt 11.6 damage to a well-defended Warrior, that same attack with 50% armor penetration would deal:
{{math|Damage_calculation_formula23.png}}


== Example 1 ==
Two twin level 20 warriors in PvP use the axe attacks [[Cleave]] or [[Penetrating Blow]], both while in a stance (such as [[Sprint]]) with attributes of 12 in both strength and axe mastery, while wielding a sundering axe (20%) with +15% while in stance modifier, and striking a warrior wearing armor with [[Dreadnought Insignia]] of Superior Absorption and carrying a shield with 16AL and -2 damage while in stance:

* {{skill icon|Cleave}}
:Strength grants 12% penetration, the axe grants 20% penetration (20% of the time), the axe has 20% increased damage from customization, the axe has 15% increased damage from the modifier and the skill does damage in addition to this attack.

:The sum of the armor penetrations makes the armor of the opposing warrior:
{{math|Damage_calculation_formula30.png}}


:The weapon damage is:
{{math|Damage_calculation_formula31.png}}


:The skill damage is 26.

:The damage reduction is:
{{math|Damage_calculation_formula33.png}}


:So the damage range for this attack is between 26.970 and 48.858 with an average of 37.914.

* {{skill icon|Penetrating Blow}}
:The axe grants 20% penetration (20% of the time), the skill grants 20% penetration, the axe has 20% increased damage from customization, the axe has 15% increased damage from the modifier and the skill does its own damage in addition to this attack.

:The sum of the armor penetrations makes the armor of the opposing warrior:
{{math|Damage_calculation_formula34.png}}


:The weapon damage is:
{{math|Damage_calculation_formula35.png}}


:The skill damage is 17.

:The damage reduction is:
{{math|Damage_calculation_formula33.png}}


:So the damage range for this attack is between 19.011 and 44.718 with an average of 31.865 - slightly less than Cleave and at a slightly higher Adrenaline cost, but without taking the elite skill slot.

=== Example 2 ===

If the situation changes and one of these twin warriors is now striking the opposing monk (who only has 60 AL against physical)

* {{skill icon|Cleave}}
:The sum of the armor penetrations makes the armor of the opposing monk:
{{math|Damage_calculation_formula40.png}}


:The weapon damage is:
{{math|Damage_calculation_formula41.png}}


:The skill damage is 26.

:So the damage range for this attack is between 37.548 and 79.893 with an average of 58.721.

* {{skill icon|Penetrating Blow}}
:The sum of the armor penetrations makes the armor of the opposing monk:
{{math|Damage_calculation_formula37.png}}


:The weapon damage is:
{{math|Damage_calculation_formula38.png}}


:The skill damage is 17.

:So the damage range for this attack is between 29.550 and 75.567 with an average of 52.559 – half again that of this attack against the warrior, which is to be expected since the monk only has about half the armor and does not carry damage reducing shields or runes.

The following analysis is based on [[level]] 20 characters with [[max]] [[basic armor]] and maxed [[attribute]] ranks (attribute levels).

{{math|Damage calculation formula1.png}}


= References =
[http://web.archive.org/web/20100420061438/http://www.guildwarsguru.com/content/game-mechanics-id674.php A Treatise on Combat Mathematics] by Charles Ensign ''(original source of this article)''
:The text of this wiki article was originally taken verbatim from Charles Ensign's treatise, used with his permission. It has since been enhanced with additional findings and clarifications from the Guild Wars community and development team.

[[Category:Game mechanics]]

Damage calculation - Revision history

gww>Ruine Eternelle: /* Formula */