Damage Calculation

This page discusses the method of damage calculation used by Dragon's Dogma and Dragon's Dogma:Dark Arisen.

There are two types of damage in this game, physical and magickal. The two damage types never combine; they are separately and respectively applied and then defended, in turn, by the imposition of the character's or enemy's Defense (DEF) or Magick Defense (MDEF) stat. When damage exceeds the target's DEF and/or MDEF thresholds, then the remaining points of damage are applied to the target's HP.

When the victim's HP is exhausted, it dies.

Upon reviewing a character's profile it is apparent that there are additional variables affecting combat damage. Armor pieces encountered throughout the game will have different piercing, blunt damage, Elemental and Archmagick resistances and weaknesses. These are all calculated as percentage modifiers to the two types of damage, e.g., a weapon may have blunt damage but not piercing damage in addition to its base physical attack, whereas another weapon performs only magickal damage and a small amount of knockdown damage.

Some spells and weaponry carry Archmagick, Elemental and Debilitation status effects; the likelihood of these status effects 'connecting' are a percentage based upon the character's strength and/or magick and modified by the victim's resistances or weaknesses. Status effects lower resistances by a percentage amount for a limited length of time and/or inflict a certain amount of damage over a limited length of time; these calculations are at a set rate rather than variable.


 * A physical weapon's base STRENGTH is incorporated into the character's attack, modified by Augments, further modified by percentages representing weaknesses and/or resistances, then that damage figure is applied to the victim's DEF. Any damage left over after DEF is exhausted is then subtracted from the victim's HP. This applies to strength-only weapons, e.g. any weapon lacking a permanent elemental enchantment, with the sole exceptions being a few of the Spellbows, Staffs and Archistaves (all of these weapons perform Magick damage only) that lack elemental properties.
 * A magickal weapon's base MAGICK is incorporated into the character' MAGICK ATTACK, modified by appropriate Augments, further modified by percentages representing the target's weaknesses and/or resistances, then that damage figure is applied to the victim's MDEF. Any damage left over after MDEF is exhausted is subtracted from the victim's HP.  This damage method applies to spells cast by Staffs and/or Archistaves.
 * A permanently enchanted weapon will perform an attack using BOTH physical and magickal damage as described above. If a balanced character is sufficiently powerful in terms of base stats and is armed with a sufficiently powerful enchanted weapon, it is capable of defeating both damage thresholds simultaneously.

Basic Physical Damage
This is a sample simple calculation using a single strike of a Core Skill with 100% Blunt and Slash damage. In any situation where an enemy's physical weakness is 100%, a character's Strength stat and the enemy's DEF are the only factors concerning damage. Additionally, Augment bonuses take effect before the enemy's DEF is factored in.
 * An Arisen with 200 Base Strength possesses a Sword with 100 Str, and also equips Clout and Vehemence, in that order, on their Augment list. The calculation for a Core Skill attack would be like this, beginning with the combination of your Base Strength and Weapon Strength:
 * ​'(Base Str + Weapon Str = Combined Str)

The next step in the process is to calculate the bonuses gained from Augments, using this base equation. In this case, Clout adds a 20% boost to Str, so...


 * [Combined Str + (Combined Str * Augment % boost ) = New Str]

Vehemence, being the second Augment on the list, would take place after the first operation, and the "New Str" from the first equation would now replace the original "Combined Str". Since Vehemence gives a 10% boost to Str:


 * [300 + (300 * .2 ) = 360 Str]

This operation is continued until all appropriate physical damage boosts from augments are calculated. The final result of all Augments added to the Str stat will be refered to as a "Character's Augmented Str" in the actual damage equation, this final result is also the number that appears in the subject Character's status page under Strength  (For both weapons if applicable), providing that this character has Augments and weapon damage to factor in.

After all Augments are factored in correctly, the actual equation for damage will take place.


 * [360 + (360 * .1 ) = 396 Str]


 * (Character's Augmented Str - Enemy's Defense = Final Damage)

Let's say that the enemy's DEF is 75 and its HP is 150. The Arisen has the previously calculated 396 Strength. the following would be the actual damage dealt to the enemy with a Physical, Main Weapon Core Skill: ...and 321 is subtracted from the enemy's HP as a result of this blow. Since 321 is greater than the target's HP of 150, congratulations! --the Arisen's target is a bloody mess on the floor.
 * (396 physical damage - 75 Defense = 321 Final Damage) 

Base Magical Damage
...is calculated separately in exactly the same manner, using its separate, appropriate augments such as Acuity, Attunement, Emphasis and so on.

Base Stat Modifiers

Certain armor pieces have minor stat bonuses, such as the Golden Belt's strength, the Laurel Circlet's Magick; certain Master Rings and/or Preceptor Rings provide additional base Strength and/or Magick to its bearer. These affect damage calculations by inclusion in the character's combined base Strength or Magick and weaponry stats prior to multiplication by its Augments.

NOTE: '' A player will only be able to determine exactly how powerful a pawn may be by reviewing its Rings while still in the Rift. When a pawn is reviewed in the Rift, base stats are not affected by Master or Preceptor Rings with +STR and/or +MAG. Once the pawn exits the Rift its full damage capacity will be recalculated in the Pawn's Profile, in accordance with its equipped augments.''

Exceptions:

The Mystic Knight's skills Magick Cannon and Great Cannon, the Sorcerer's Gicel, Bolide, Seism, High Gicel, High Bolide, High Seism and Grand Gicel, Grand Bolide and Grand Seism have both physical and magickal components. (It is suspected that the Mystic Knight's Stone Grove, Stone Forest, and Stone Jungle have a physical component, but this has not been specifically tested, to date). These are calculated using a percentage of the character's strength and magick combined with their weapon stats prior to augment multiplication. As an example, Great Cannon is comprised of 40% Strength/60% Magick. To determine a Mystic Knight's Great Cannon base damage, the equation would be:


 * (base magick + base weapon magick stat, if any) x .6




 * (base strength + base weapon strength x .4)


 * = BASE DAMAGE

These specific skills are the only attacks that incorporate a pair of simultaneous damage attacks; the damage is still segregated by the two separate categories. Since it IS a simultaneous attack, the secondary attack, typically the magickal portion, does not have MDEF interposed if the first part of the attack has been successful and defeated the creature's DEF already. This makes these skills extremely dangerous as, typically, monster MDEF values are significantly lower than DEF values.

Additional percentage modifiers:
These modifiers are applied after the base damage is determined and prior to the imposition of either DEF or MDEF.


 * Critical Hit
 * Successfully targeting a weak spot
 * Elemental weaknesses (works in the attacker's favor)


 * Elemental resistances (works in the victim's favor)
 * Piercing damage (works in the attacker's favor)
 * Blunt Damage (works in the attacker's favor)
 * Piercing Resistances (works in the victim's favor)
 * Blunt Damage Resistances (works in the victim's favor)

Lastly, if the weapon or applied skill has the appropriate properties, a percentage chance of a debilitation affecting the enemy's status is calculated and then applied, such as:


 * Burning
 * Tarred in oil
 * Frozen
 * Knockdown
 * Staggering
 * Poisoning
 * Silence
 * Torpor
 * Sleep
 * Blinding
 * Drenching
 * Lowered Defense
 * Lowered Magick Defense

...which is in turn affected by the victim's resistances or weaknesses.