What is DPS (damage per second)?

DPS stands for damage per second. It measures how much damage you deal on average every second, taking into account hit damage, attack speed, critical hits, skills, cooldowns, and uptime. It is commonly used in RPGs, MMOs, ARPGs, and shooters to compare weapons, builds, and rotations.

How do you calculate DPS?

The simplest DPS formula is DPS = damage per hit × hits per second. In more realistic builds you also include critical chance and critical multiplier, plus skills with cooldowns. This calculator lets you enter base damage, attack speed, crit chance, crit multiplier, and optional skills with cooldowns and uptime to get a more accurate DPS estimate.

Can I compare two builds or weapons with this DPS calculator?

Yes. The DPS calculator has two side-by-side panels, Build A and Build B. You can enter different stats for each and instantly see which one has higher DPS, the percentage difference, and how much damage each build deals over a chosen fight duration.

What is effective DPS and how is it different from raw DPS?

Raw DPS is the damage you deal per second before considering enemy defenses or your own uptime. Effective DPS adjusts for uptime (how often you are actually hitting the target) and optional enemy damage reduction. This gives a more realistic value for boss fights or encounters with a lot of movement and downtime.

DPS Calculator – Damage Per Second for Games & Builds

How this DPS calculator works

This DPS (damage per second) calculator is game-agnostic: it works for MMOs, ARPGs, looter shooters, MOBAs, and any game where you can estimate your damage per hit and attack speed. It supports:

Base damage per hit and attacks per second (APS)
Critical chance and critical damage multiplier
Optional skill / burst damage with cooldown
Uptime (how often you are actually hitting the target)
Enemy damage reduction (DR) to approximate armor/resistance
Side-by-side comparison of two builds or weapons

1. Basic DPS formula

The simplest DPS formula is:

DPS = damage_per_hit × hits_per_second

For example, if you hit for 100 damage and attack 1.5 times per second:

DPS = 100 × 1.5 = 150

2. Including critical hits

Most games have critical hits that deal extra damage. Let:

C = crit chance (0–1)
M = crit multiplier (e.g. 2.0 for 200% damage)
D = base damage per hit (non-crit)

The average damage per hit including crits is:

avg_damage_per_hit = D × (1 − C) + D × M × C

Then:

raw_DPS = avg_damage_per_hit × attacks_per_second

3. Skill / burst DPS with cooldown

For skills with cooldowns (e.g. ultimate, grenade, burst combo), you can approximate their DPS as:

skill_DPS = skill_damage_per_use ÷ cooldown_seconds

The calculator adds this to your auto-attack DPS:

total_raw_DPS = auto_attack_DPS + skill_DPS

4. Uptime and enemy damage reduction

Real fights have movement, mechanics, and downtime. If you only hit the boss 70% of the time, your effective DPS is lower.

U = uptime (0–1)
DR = enemy damage reduction (0–1)

The calculator uses:

effective_DPS = raw_DPS × U × (1 − DR)

Total damage over a fight of duration T seconds is:

total_damage = effective_DPS × T

5. Comparing two builds or weapons

The comparison panel shows:

Which build has higher effective DPS
The absolute DPS difference
The percentage difference
How much extra damage the stronger build deals over the chosen fight duration

This is useful for deciding between:

High-damage, slow weapons vs. low-damage, fast weapons
Crit-focused builds vs. flat damage or elemental builds
Different rotations or talent setups

Worked example

Suppose you have two swords:

Sword A: 120 damage, 1.4 APS, 30% crit, 2.0× crit multiplier
Sword B: 90 damage, 2.0 APS, 15% crit, 1.8× crit multiplier

Sword A


                  avg_hit_A = 120 × (1 − 0.30) + 120 × 2.0 × 0.30 = 120 × 0.7 +
                  240 × 0.3 = 84 + 72 = 156

                  raw_DPS_A = 156 × 1.4 ≈ 218.4

Sword B


                  avg_hit_B = 90 × (1 − 0.15) + 90 × 1.8 × 0.15 = 90 × 0.85 +
                  162 × 0.15 = 76.5 + 24.3 = 100.8

                  raw_DPS_B = 100.8 × 2.0 = 201.6

Sword A has higher raw DPS. If both have 90% uptime and the enemy has 20% damage reduction:


                  eff_DPS_A = 218.4 × 0.9 × 0.8 ≈ 157.25

                  eff_DPS_B = 201.6 × 0.9 × 0.8 ≈ 145.15

FAQ

What does DPS mean in games?

DPS stands for damage per second. It is a measure of how much damage you deal on average every second. Players use DPS to compare weapons, builds, skills, and rotations, and to optimize their performance in raids, dungeons, and boss fights.

Is higher DPS always better?

Higher DPS is usually better for pure damage roles, but it is not the only thing that matters. Survivability, utility, crowd control, and mechanics can be more important in some encounters. Also, burst damage (high damage in a short window) can be more valuable than sustained DPS in fights with short burn phases.

How accurate is this DPS calculator?

This tool gives a theoretical average based on your inputs. Real combat has RNG, movement, missed attacks, mechanics, and buffs from teammates. For the most accurate results, combine this calculator with in-game combat logs or parsers and adjust your inputs (uptime, DR, skill damage) to match real fights.

Can I use this for DoT (damage over time) builds?

Yes. For DoTs, you can:

Convert the DoT into DPS (total DoT damage ÷ duration) and add it to your base damage per hit, or
Treat the DoT as a “skill” with damage equal to the full DoT and cooldown equal to its duration.

Either way, you get an approximate DPS contribution from your DoTs that you can compare between builds.

DPS Calculator (Damage Per Second)

Build A

Build B

Comparison summary