Damage Dealing

No Bullshit guide to how damage is calculated in Diablo 4.

Average Damage Inline Formula

Damage =
×[
]×[100% +
]×[100% +
]×[100% +
]×[100% +
]
Damage Buckets
Additive×1.00
= 1,200
Vulnerable×1.20
= 1,440
Critical×1.50
= 2,160
Overpower×1.50
= 3,240
Percent inputs are plain percent values (25 = 25%).

Multipliers

These multipliers are percent values (10 = 10%). They apply to the final damage result after all buckets (Additive, Vulnerable, Critical, Overpower).
With 1 multiplier
applied: ×10 • total ×1.1
Additive×1.00 ×1.1
= 1.32K
Vulnerable×1.20 ×1.1
= 1.58K
Critical×1.50 ×1.1
= 2.38K
Overpower×1.50 ×1.1
= 3.56K
With 2 multipliers
applied: ×10 ×10 • total ×1.21
Additive×1.00 ×1.21
= 1.45K
Vulnerable×1.20 ×1.21
= 1.74K
Critical×1.50 ×1.21
= 2.61K
Overpower×1.50 ×1.21
= 3.92K
With 3 multipliers
applied: ×10 ×10 ×10 • total ×1.33
Additive×1.00 ×1.33
= 1.6K
Vulnerable×1.20 ×1.33
= 1.92K
Critical×1.50 ×1.33
= 2.87K
Overpower×1.50 ×1.33
= 4.31K

Understanding Damage Mechanics

Damage in Diablo 4 is calculated using a combination of additive and multiplicative bonuses.

Additive vs Multiplicative vs Buckets

  • Additive bonuses (like +20% to Burning or Close enemies) are all grouped into one "bucket" and added together.
  • Multiplicative bonuses (like Crit, Vulnerable, Overpower) are applied one after another and scale your total damage much harder.
  • Each "bucket" multiplies the result of the previous one stacking different buckets is key to high damage.

Attack Power in Diablo 4

Attack Power is a summary stat shown on your character sheet. It ignores crit, vuln, overpower, and real multipliers, so it doesn't reflect actual DPS. Use it as a loose estimate, not a measure of real damage output. It is calculated as:

Attack Power = [Weapon Damage] × [Skill Scaling] + [Sum of Additive Bonuses]

It includes:

  • Your weapon's average base damage
  • Additive bonuses like +X% to Core Skills, Close Enemies, Burning, etc.

It does not include:

  • Critical Strike Damage
  • Vulnerable Damage
  • Overpower Damage
  • Multiplicative Paragon/Aspect bonuses

Diminishing Returns

It just means the more you add to a single bucket, the less impact each new bonus gives.

Example

Scenario: You already have +100% additive.

You find a new item with +50% Close Enemy Damage. Your immediate thought:

“Nice! That should boost my damage by 50%!”

Before: 100 base × (1 + 100%) = 200

After: 100 base × (1 + 150%) = 250

That's only a 25% damage increase

Damage Over Time Builds

Damage-over-time effects work differently from direct-hit damage in Diablo 4.

DoTs CAN'T:

  • Critically Strike
  • Apply Overpower
  • Trigger Lucky Hit effects that depend on crit or overpower

DoTs CAN scale with:

  • +X% Damage Over Time
  • +X% Burning, Poison, Bleeding, Shadow Damage
  • +X% to Crowd-Controlled / Slowed / Affected Enemies
  • Vulnerable Damage (applies if the enemy is vulnerable when DoT ticks)
  • Paragon Glyphs and Aspects designed for DoT scaling
  • Attack Speed (for applying DoTs faster, but not increasing tick rate)

If you're running a DoT build: Focus on stats that amplify DoT multipliers, not Crit or Overpower. Ignore Crit Chance, Crit Damage, and Overpower Damage they do nothing for DoTs.

 

Final Summary

  • Attack Power only reflects weapon damage and additive bonuses.
  • Additive bonuses all go into one bucket = diminishing returns.
  • Multipliers like Crit, Vulnerable, and Overpower = separate buckets.
  • Real damage = decent base × multipliers.
  • Prioritize big additive bonuses, but stack multipliers to scale.