Damage Bonus on weapons...?

General Discussion
1

I want to know how Str and Dex affects melee attacks. I read about “Damage Bonus” and each weapon has a different combination of Str and/or Dex it uses as Damage Bonus.

Do you need to have that Str and/or Dex value in addition to the Str and/or Dex required to use the weapon?

As example if you use a “Giant Thresher” which requires Str 188 &
Dex 140 to wield which has a stated “Damage Bonus: 100 Str”… do you now need to have to have 288 Str to get that full damage bonus or do you already get it with the 188 Str needed to wield it?

2

I cant tell you the exact details but most likely then not it doesent make any difference. Thats why almost all build in D2 are : enough stats for gear, maybe dex for max block, and rest vitality. Its kinda boring, i like games where you can fo max str or max dex for fun, but here if you max str you will get almost no dmg boost.

3

you need the str dex required and equip said item before the stats of the equip gets added, only then u could remove the excessive str/dex that may have added from the equip itself, but becareful u dont overshoot it or else it becomes unequipable again :stuck_out_tongue:

so yeah u need 188 str to equip it, then upon equiping you will get 288, which would allow you to remove 100 str from other items

4

Yeah… while I find it very good that in D2 you can actually distribute your stat points yourself… it is not so good a thing that basically everyone runs the same scheme: enough stat so you are able to equip gear, then dump the rest into vitality and don’t touch energy at all. How boring.
I not need to be able to have a viable all strength build… but it would be nice if every stat had some meaning.

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5

most games miss the mark when it comes to stat builds sadly, im glad its just there for nostalgia sake cause i do miss it in modern games where every stat point get chosen for you

6

I think you did not really understand my question correctly, I probably where not precise enough in the question.

Lets say I have 188 Str and 140 Dex. That is enough to equip the “Giant Thresher” a basic white item.
Giant Thresher gains “Damage Bonus: 100 Str”.
As I understand it that Damage Bonus mechanic increases the damage you do with this Giant Thresher by up to a certain amount of Strength and/or Dexterity, in this case it is Strength. 100 Strength to be accurate.

The question is now… do I get the Damage Bonus already because I have 188 Strength, or is that meant that I have to have up to 100 Strength more then the Strength needed to wield it? Which would mean I have to have 288 Strength to gain the full Damage Bonus.

Imagine I use a “Bardiche” which requires 40 Strength to wield. It also has a Damage Bonus of 100.
In this case just having the bare minimum of Strength 40 to wield it, certainly not gives me the full Damage Bonus. But do I need to have 100 Strength to gain the full effect, or is the value 140 Strength?

7

Damage Bonus: This determines how you multiply the item damage by your stats to reach the actual damage. Each 100 points in that stat doubles your weapon’s total physical damage. All Polearms are 100 Str, which means every 100 points in Str doubles the weapon damage.

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8

It’s a damage multiplier based on your character strength. Many items have 1, so every 1 point of strength is 1% damage increase. 100 strength would be 100% damage increase. Maces are 1.1, so 100 strength would be 110% damage increase.

Most builds do just spec enough str/dex for gear, rest vitality, but there are such things as “titan barbs” that go full strength to maximize damage.

9

I understand that part, that it is a damage multiplier.

But the question was, does every point of strength I have count towards that damage multiplier, or only the additional strength above the minimum value necessary to howl the weapon?

I guess maybe not. You sound like, when a weapon needs 40 strength to wield, in the case of a sword every one point strength you have overall adds 1% more damage.

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10

Yes it counts all of your strength. The requirements are only to allow you to use the weapon, all the strength counts towards your damage, not just above the requirements.

11

Yeah, I asked someone else which enlightened me quite allot on the background calculations of D2R. Basically you are far better served, if you only have as much strength/dexterity that you need to be able to use weapons, dexterity maybe for hit and/or max block… and then stuff the rest into Vitality.
While all strength/dexterity counts towards that bonus… not only the stat in addition to what you need to wield the weapon… it still is pointless to dump too much into strength/dexterity past the aforementioned things.

That leaves only one question, as a physical melee character, does it make sense to try and be able to wield the highest weapon on hell? Because the highest needs like 239 or something strength.

12

So what class specifically? I don’t think it makes sense to go for the max of any weapon, however this question is why people often make use of their respecs. Back in the day it was not uncommon for people to horde their stat points until they were sure how much STR/DEX they would need. It’s also why it’s often recommended to start with a caster class like a Sorc to have end game viable gear ahead of time for melee characters (which I personally think is disappointing that the game drives you to that. I’m okay with having classes excel at certain things, but melee are at a pretty big disadvantage here).

Also keep in mind that you can use other equipped items to reach the stat goals. For instance if you’re a Barb and going to wear Arreats, it provides a massive 20 STR and DEX.

Torches and Annihilus also each provide 10-20 to all stats, which can help out if you think you’ll be able to obtain either or both for your end game.

If Pally, you’re probably going to want to use a shield to take advantage of all the great blocking bonuses and HS he gets, so that limits you to 1H weapons which would be lower str req. You can read guides or look at available unique, set and runeword items to also get a feel for what are the weapons that are best suited to the melee pally build that interests you, and then plan your stat allocation accordingly.

For a Barb you’ll have to decide between dual wielding 1Hs, going 1H and a shield, or 2H, and since he has a dedicated weapons mastery, you’ll want to specialize in a specific weapon type. Often if it is not known what your end game weapon is, you spend skill points in your other skills first, leaving mastery for when you have a better idea of your final weapon options. Some people even throw a single point into several masteries at the very beginning, since the first point gives you a large AR/Damage/DS bump, and then they will respec once they get far enough to know what their final build and gear will be. Again, research into the planned build to see what the item progression path is can give you an idea of how much STR/DEX you may need. For instance IK set Sacred Armor takes a staggering 232 STR and the maul takes 225. Some people like to put a %-req jewel or hel rune in the armor to lower the STR down, so they have more points for vitality. I think last time I made an IK barb I also figured out putting +STR gem in helm ended up giving me more overall life since the points I saved in strength going into vitality in stead was actually more life than putting a Ruby in the helm. The Maul’s native sockets are probably best used to gain IAS (at least if going WW) and/or damage though, so you’re likely in it for at least 225 if you want to go IK. IK is a Hell viable set for Barbs but still can’t really compete with the BiS RW and Unique items though, so I’m by no means suggesting those have to be strength goals for all Barbs.

I’m less experienced with Druids, but same deal. Try to figure out what a good Hell difficulty viable weapon would be, and work towards getting your STR/DEX there. IIRC Druids do get a bonus with Mauls (maybe all mace weapons? But this game is already funny about mace vs. hammer vs. scepter so I never trust my memory), I think speed compared to the other classes? So depending on the type of melee druid that might make sense, but if you’re going for Fury then you may have specific speed considerations for attack frame goals.

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13

I was not having any class in particular in mind, but a melee/physical one at that. I read on base mechanics and was curious if while leveling, points I put in strength/dexterity are wasted or not… damage wise.

Yeah, I am not a big fan of getting rushed, or running teleport Andariel/Mephisto/Baal like a madman… that sucks the fun out of the game in just a couple runs.
This is actually one thing Diablo 3 did right for me… instead forcing you to run the story areas over and over… and over, you could open a rift that then has one of several graphic styles… then you just kill everything and the spawning boss and be done with it.

Yeah I know, even having some strength charms are helpful. Unless you stuff your whole inventory full of them :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

But yeah… research… the question is do I play a game then, or just exercise some skill I studied for. But yeah I wanted to play a melee, Barbarian is what I play right now.

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14

Yeah I get where you’re coming from. In this case I just meant people start a fresh ladder with a character like a sorc, in order to farm gear for a later char like a Barb. So once you can afford/find Hell Viable weapon/armor you start the barb, you still can play through without a rush, but you:

  1. Know how much STR/Dex you need since you know the end build gear you’ll use.
  2. Can transfer over and start using the gear your sorc found at the appropriate level.

Many people still play Self-Found though so it’s possible for sure.

This is a great point too. Honestly I’d say play and have fun and don’t worry about if if you end up having your first melee character be slightly sub-optimal stat point wise. That’s what the 3x quest reward respecs are for, and you can also farm tokens to do more. If you enjoy Barb, go for it! I started with Barb and am almost through NM, playing mostly SSF, but have done a few group games and someone gave me a few sigs pieces.

On that barb I’ve been keeping 15-30 stat points unused in case something major comes up, but ensuring I still have decent vit and gradually working up to the STR requirements of the items I’m hoping to be able to find and use. With BO he’s >1200 HP right now in the mid-50s in Act 4 NM with pretty good resists, so I don’t feel like I’m missing the extra HP too much. I’m hoping my current weapon lasts me the rest of the way through NM and to Hell Countess so I can do some rune farming to hopefully build the next one, so I have the STR/DEX requirements for that in mind.