Damage calculation / formula (tested in both story and trial of soul)

[saturnv5]

After 30+ hours in this game, not knowing how damage was calculated kept bothering me, as I didn't know how to optimize between accessories and armor. So I decided to do some extensive testing to try and reverse engineer the formula.

Stats

ATK:

This is the main stat that determines your damage output. It is the sum of your weapon ATK and character ATK stats such as main/subweapon ATK and weapon-specific ATK increases (from talent nodes). More interestingly, all %-based modifiers seem to affect the overall ATK stat, and NOT the output damage, such as "normal weapon damage %" and "final damage %". Even elemental bonuses and critical damage scale the ATK stat directly instead of actual damage output. Furthermore, all %-based modifiers stack multiplicatively.

I actually really like this approach, as it makes it very easy to trade off between ATK+ and Damage %. For example, with a total ATK stat of 200, ATK +10 is equivalent to Damage +5%. Unfortunately, you can't check the total ATK directly in-game, so you have to keep track of it yourself.

DEF:

This stat works to reduce ATK. Specifically, for every point of ATK up to DEF, the damage is reduced to one-third; for every point of ATK above DEF, the damage is applied in full. When encountering a boss for the first time, assuming you're at a similar level with a good weapon (usually found in the same area as the boss), your base ATK stat will be below the boss's DEF, but using the right armor and accessories can usually bring your total ATK above the boss's DEF, which makes a big difference.

Damage reduction % (DR):

This reduces the actual damage received after the above formula, so a DR of -50% would half the damage received.

Resistance % (Res):

This further reduces the actual damage received, but only for the damage type that the resistance targets (i.e. physical or a specific element). A resistance of +50% would further half the damage, and stacks multiplicatively with DR.

Full formula

Actual damage = [min(ATK, DEF) / 3 + max(0, ATK - DEF)] × (1 + DR) × (1 - Res)

How to maximize damage

There are 3 ways to maximize damage:

1. Increase the ATK stat through "Main Weapon ATK+", "Weapon Skill Damage %" and "Final Damage %". Normal attack damage isn't that important, as you mostly use skill. This is the most general method for maximizing damage that works reasonably well in all situations.
   
   
2. Pump up critical chance and damage. Since damage output scales non-linearly (depending on enemy DEF), critical damage can do significantly more damage than you might think. For example, an ATK stat of 150 on any enemy with a DEF stat of 200 would result in 50 points of damage. However, a critical hit with +50% would be an equivalent ATK stat of 225, and thus result in ~92 points of damage (a lot more than the "+50%" might suggest). I recommend staying between a 1:2 to 1:3 ration between critical chance and damage.
   
   
3. Increase the ATK stat through elemental damage %. This one is more situational, but if you know an enemy is weak (or just not resistant) to a particular element, you can exploit that for TONS of damage. By combining this method with method 1, I've been able to create builds that scales the damage output by ~3x compared to not wearing any accessories.

[azuarc]

Originally posted by saturnv5:

Full formula

Actual damage = [min(ATK, DEF) / 3 + max(0, ATK - DEF)] × (1 + DR) × (1 - Res)

That should say "1-DR," right?

Normal attack damage isn't that important, as you mostly use skill.

I basically never use skills. Jump attack on katana is amazing, and there are good normal attack combos with scythe, as well as the option to crouch-cancel into extremely fast attacks.

• Pump up critical chance and damage. Since damage output scales non-linearly (depending on enemy DEF), critical damage can do significantly more damage than you might think. For example, an ATK stat of 150 on any enemy with a DEF stat of 200 would result in 50 points of damage. However, a critical hit with +50% would be an equivalent ATK stat of 225, and thus result in ~92 points of damage (a lot more than the "+50%" might suggest).

So crit affects the ATK value, and can help overcome the armor threshold? Interesting.

[saturnv5]

That should say "1-DR," right?

DR = damage received, so 1+DR is correct. Result is less than one if damage received is negative, and greater than one if it's positive.

I basically never use skills. Jump attack on katana is amazing, and there are good normal attack combos with scythe, as well as the option to crouch-cancel into extremely fast attacks.

Indeed, there's a lot of approaches to combat. Personally, past the midpoint of the game, I beat bosses exclusively using Judgement Cut (for the insane i-frames) and the dual dagger aerial skill (probably highest burst damage in the game once you unlock triple jump).

[azuarc]

Originally posted by saturnv5:

DR = damage received, so 1+DR is correct. Result is less than one if damage received is negative, and greater than one if it's positive.

Damage reduction % (DR):
This reduces the actual damage received after the above formula, so a DR of -50% would half the damage received.

I hope you understand my confusion.

I don't know what either of those skills are. I've played through the game fully like 5 times, but I legit have never used swords or greatswords, and the weapons I have used didn't even give me reason to want to discover what weapons with awkward Mortal Kombat combos to execute were. If anything, I disable them so they don't accidentally triggered unwanted.

[Suljin75]

Originally posted by azuarc:

Originally posted by saturnv5:

DR = damage received, so 1+DR is correct. Result is less than one if damage received is negative, and greater than one if it's positive.

Damage reduction % (DR):
This reduces the actual damage received after the above formula, so a DR of -50% would half the damage received.

I hope you understand my confusion.

I don't know what either of those skills are. I've played through the game fully like 5 times, but I legit have never used swords or greatswords, and the weapons I have used didn't even give me reason to want to discover what weapons with awkward Mortal Kombat combos to execute were. If anything, I disable them so they don't accidentally triggered unwanted.

lol I thought it was just me, getting old but yea 100% stopped using anything with an extra input beyond a single direction. If there were more i frames or something to make up for the slower input then I'd be all over it but just doesn't feel like there's any payoff