Damage Per Second

DPS or Damage Per Second is generally considered an MMO term, which describes how much damage a character, spell, skill, ability or item can produce on average per second.

All classes in the Diablo games are designed as DPS classes[1], capable of dealing out big damage and clearing any difficulty playing solo. This is not the case in most RPGs, especially MMOs, where classes are divided into roles, some of which, such as healers or clerics, deal little or no damage when playing in group situations.

DPS Class

DPS as a class role refers to the dichotomy of classes that are pre-designed to serve a specific purpose. There are generally three types of classes when it comes to online games: a tank, a healer, and a DPSer. The role of the DPS player is to inflict as much damage as possible to the enemy or enemies in the area, while the tank keeps the enemy's attention, and the healer keeps everyone alive during the entire process.

In an ARPG like Diablo, however, all classes can function effective as killing machines, so there are not such rigid class roles. However, it is possible to build a character in an ARPG that is capable of controlling enemy movement and absorbing damage to protect other players. This is generally done without the help of a threat or aggro system, and it requires the player to be very knowledgeable of game mechanics in order to succeed.

On Items

The DPS is part of the display of item stats in Diablo III. There are also pop up damage displays over the heads of other players in Arena combat, and sometimes over the heads of monsters when big damage hits are landed. These are slightly controversial, with some players arguing that they are distracting, or unfitting to the mythological mood.

Blizzard's counter-argument[2] is that they are optional, since the display can be turned on or off. Note that they show the damage taken not the damage delivered, which is always at least partially mitigated by resistances and/or defense.

There will not, however, be an on-screen DPS display, listing the actual damage a character is performing during combat. Many players use such a feature in World of Warcraft, but it comes from user-made addons, not from the game itself.[3]

There are no DPS charts in World of Warcraft.

People have though created add-ons which attempt to compare the DPS of each player, as well as healing output, absorption, etc. These aren’t included in the game, nor are they supported. Personally I think they can be useful to a point, but are abused by people who don’t know how to use and read them properly, and are too commonly relied on as a means to judge the performance of others.

In any case, Diablo III doesn’t provide customizable UI through add-ons, and we have no intent to provide DPS charts.

DPS Calculation Complications

In terms of dealing damage, DPS refers to the average damage a character will do with a weapon or a specific attack, averaged out between the base damage and the attack speed. Games rarely will have an accessible way to inform the player of what, precisely, the DPS would be for any weapon or attack due to the complex nature of how numbers work in games.

As an example, a fist weapon that does 2-5 damage, and hits 1.4 times per second, will have a base dps of 4.9, as displayed in the graphic. However, numerous other factors must be considered to arrive at an accurate DPS. The weapon may have a gem or enchantment that increases damage. A skill likely modifies the damage, as may that skill's rune. There might be a critical hit landed. And then monster's defense or resistances must also be factored in.

Hence, the DPS display is just a general indicator of the type of damage a player can expect.