DPS Calculator

DPS (Damage Per Second) is the fundamental metric for measuring offensive power in video games. Whether comparing weapons in an RPG, choosing skills in an MMO, or optimizing a raid build, DPS determines how quickly you can defeat enemies.

Base DPS formula: DPS = Damage per Hit × Hits per Second

With critical hits: Effective DPS = DPS × (1 + Crit Chance × Crit Multiplier)

With attack speed: Hits per Second = Attack Speed / Base Attack Interval

What each variable means:

• Damage per Hit — the average damage value of a single attack (midpoint of damage range: (min + max) / 2)
• Hits per Second — the attack rate; typically expressed as attacks per second (APS) or as an attack speed percentage
• Crit Chance — probability (0 to 1) of a critical hit occurring
• Crit Multiplier — the additional damage factor on a crit (e.g., 2.0× means crits deal 200% damage; some games add bonus damage on top, e.g., “+50% crit damage” means 1.5× total)
• Effective DPS — accounts for the probability-weighted bonus from critical hits

Worked example: Weapon: 150–200 damage, 1.4 attacks per second, 35% critical chance, 2.0× crit multiplier.

Average damage = (150 + 200) / 2 = 175 Base DPS = 175 × 1.4 = 245 DPS Crit bonus = 1 + (0.35 × (2.0 − 1.0)) = 1 + 0.35 = 1.35 Effective DPS = 245 × 1.35 = 330.75 DPS

Comparing two weapons: Weapon A: 245 base DPS, 35% crit, 2.0× → 331 effective DPS Weapon B: 300 base DPS, 10% crit, 1.5× → 300 × (1 + 0.10 × 0.5) = 300 × 1.05 = 315 effective DPS

Weapon A wins despite lower base DPS — critical stats matter more than raw damage in this example.

Game-specific factors: Many games also include resistance penetration, elemental damage bonuses, skill modifiers, and buff stacking. Use the formula as a baseline, then account for game-specific multipliers in the correct order (additive vs. multiplicative stacking).