DPS: How to Calculate Damage Per Second and Compare Weapons and Builds
Two weapons sit in your inventory. One hits like a truck but swings slowly; the other is fast but feeble. Which actually kills faster? The answer is damage per second — DPS — the single number that lets you compare weapons, builds, and characters on a level playing field. Whether you play an action RPG, an MMO, or a shooter, DPS is the language theorycrafters speak. This guide explains what DPS is, how to calculate it, and how to use it without falling into the traps that make a "higher DPS" weapon the wrong choice.
What DPS Is and Why It Matters
Damage per second is exactly what the name says: the amount of damage a weapon or build deals over one second of sustained attacking. It collapses two competing stats — how hard each hit lands and how often you land one — into a single rate you can compare directly.
DPS matters because raw hit damage is misleading on its own. A two-handed axe that deals 500 per swing sounds devastating, but if it swings once every two seconds it is doing 250 per second. A dagger that deals 100 per hit but strikes three times a second is doing 300 per second — and quietly outperforms the axe. Without DPS, you would pick the axe on the strength of its big number and lose damage every fight.
That comparison drives nearly every optimization decision in a game: choosing between two weapon drops, deciding which stat to stack on your gear, ranking class builds, and judging whether a new ability is an upgrade. Anywhere sustained damage decides the outcome, DPS is the metric that ranks your options.
How to Calculate DPS
The core formula is simple:
DPS = Damage per Hit × Attacks per Second
Damage per hit is how much a single attack deals. Attacks per second is your attack speed expressed as a rate — how many times you strike in one second. Multiplying the two gives sustained damage per second. If your game lists attack speed as the time between attacks instead, convert it first: attacks per second is simply 1 divided by the seconds per attack.
Worked example. Compare the slow axe and the fast dagger from earlier:
The axe deals 500 per hit and swings once every two seconds, which is 0.5 attacks per second:
1. 500 × 0.5 = 250 DPS
The dagger deals 100 per hit and strikes three times per second:
2. 100 × 3 = 300 DPS
Despite the axe's far bigger hit number, the dagger wins on sustained output, 300 to 250. You can compare any two weapons instantly with the DPS calculator by entering each weapon's hit damage and attack speed and reading off the DPS for each.
Using DPS to Compare Weapons and Builds
The strength of DPS is that it makes "which is better?" a calculation instead of an argument.
Weapon drops. When a new weapon drops, compute its DPS and compare it directly to your current one. A weapon with lower hit damage can easily be an upgrade if its attack speed is high enough — the dagger-versus-axe result is the rule, not the exception.
Stat priority on gear. DPS shows you whether to stack flat damage or attack speed. Because the two multiply, the better investment is usually whichever stat you currently have less of: doubling a low attack speed can lift DPS more than another chunk of flat damage on top of an already-fast weapon.
Build ranking. When comparing whole builds, compute each build's DPS under the same conditions and rank them. This is how theorycrafters separate top-tier builds from merely flashy ones.
Quick sanity checks. Even a rough DPS comparison catches obvious mistakes, like equipping a high-damage, painfully slow weapon for a fight that demands fast, sustained pressure.
Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
DPS is powerful, but a few misuses lead players astray.
Forgetting critical hits. Most games have a chance to deal bonus critical damage. True effective DPS factors in crit chance and crit multiplier — a weapon with high crit can out-DPS one with higher base numbers. Use the basic formula for a first pass, then layer crit in for serious comparison.
Ignoring burst versus sustained. DPS measures sustained damage assuming you attack continuously. For a boss with a short damage window, a high-burst weapon that front-loads damage can beat a higher-sustained-DPS weapon. Match the metric to the encounter.
Overlooking accuracy and uptime. A weapon only deals its DPS when it is actually hitting. Misses, dodges, reload time, ammo, resource costs, and time spent repositioning all cut into real-world output. Theoretical DPS is a ceiling, not a guarantee.
Skipping target defenses. Armor, resistances, and damage-type weaknesses change how much of your DPS lands. The same weapon performs very differently against an armored target versus an unarmored one, so compare under the conditions you actually fight in.
Comparing different damage types naively. A high DPS in a damage type the enemy resists can be worse than a lower DPS the enemy is weak to. Always consider the target before trusting the number.
Conclusion
DPS turns the eternal "big hit or fast hits?" question into a single comparable number by multiplying damage per hit by attacks per second. That one calculation lets you rank weapon drops, prioritize gear stats, and compare entire builds with confidence — and it routinely reveals that the weapon with the smaller hit number is the stronger choice. Use the basic formula as your foundation, then refine it with critical hits, accuracy, and target defenses to match the fight in front of you. Calculate first, then equip.
Key Takeaways
• Know the formula: DPS = Damage per Hit × Attacks per Second, converting "time between attacks" to a rate when needed
• Trust the rate, not the hit: A faster weapon with smaller hits often out-DPS a slow, hard-hitting one, as the worked example shows
• Balance your stats: Because damage and attack speed multiply, invest in whichever you currently have less of for the biggest DPS gain
• Refine for the fight: Compare weapons with the DPS calculator, then account for crits, accuracy, and target defenses before deciding