Damage per Hit vs Damage per Second

[LawZ]

Alo.

One of the most common questions Syrtis ask me ingame is what rings they should wear. Unfortunately, the answer is not straightforward.

In MMORPG terminology there are two main terms regarding damage.
The first term is the Damage per Hit (DPH) which is the simplest one for somebody to understand. It's the min and max values we get on character sheet ingame (calculated according to here), and simply express the damage we deal per hit.

The problem with this variable is the absence of time. This happens cause the "per hit" has no time sense, thus we don't know how much time is needed for each hit.
In order to solve this issue, the majority of MMORPG use the term Damage per Second (DPS). As the name self-explains, this variable express the damage we deal per time, for example per second.

Since game doesn't provide us with this variable, we have to calculate it by ourselves. In order to do it, we actually have to divide the DPH with the time per hit (TPH). So, DPS = DPH / TPH.
Of course, TPH varies for each weapon (and also class), thus we need first to define these values. Thankfully, Regnum Wiki has summarized these values here. Moreover, in the same site it is explained that: "attack speed modifiers work like cast speed modifiers, in that it's time that is reduced by the percentage amount, rather than speed increased. The Attack speed +25% actually reduces the time between hits by 25%, and the Attack speed +15% reduces the time between hits by 15%.".

So, lets move on with the following example: Assuming my marks, Lawz, and my medium 35 bow, three different sets of rings are examined, namely 2 x EVE, 2 x DSR, and 2 x ROL. In the following figure, we have calculated the DPH (which is also verified by character sheet with rounding down values) and the DPS for both min and max case. Results show that although the DPH value of ROL is significantly lower than the corresponding of EVE, the DPS are almost the same! This means that if we had an enemy with fixed life, we would have killed him (with normal hits and without moving) at the same time more or less.



Does this mean that EVE and ROL rings are equivalent?
Well, the answer is no. EVE are still supreme, because the DPS variable actually assumes only normal hits.
In real battle conditions, players also cast spells, the majority of which depend on DPH (for example "% of attack damage") rather than on DPS. From this point of view, EVE rings are better, but ROL are generally quite decent and probably better than DSR.

In a nutshell, in order for players to actually decide on what rings to wear, it should be wise to calculate both DPH and DPS. Moreover, the choice is also related to their playstyle. Do they rely more on normal hits or on spells?

And of course, the same thoughts should be considered for the questions "damage or attack speed gem on weapon?" and "main attribute or attack speed bonus on armor?".

Best,