Combat mechanics (Dragon Age II)

Damage
Damage is the value assigned to the damage effect. When the effect is applied to a creature, it has a couple other things that modify it. These are steps done on the creature when the effect is processed.

Order of operations for damage
Each is a separate step.

Base Weapon Damage (in the weapon description, not including on-hit bonuses) + Primary Attribute Modifier (0.5 per point over 10) * Ability Damage Factor (Winter's Grasp is 4.48833 for example) * Hit Result Modifier (1.0 for normal hits, 1.5+ for critical hits) + Berserk Bonus Damage * Damage Type Modifier (stuff like +15% fire damage) * Blood Frenzy/Veneer of Calm Modifier (1.0-2.0) * Cross class Combo Multiplier (if applicable)


 * Ability damage works the same for all the classes.


 * When an ability hits, if the ability was a hit with the weapon (basic attacks, a lot of Warrior and Rogue abilities), it looks at the individual weapon that cause the hit. It runs through each of the on-hit properties on that weapon and applies its effect. So a staff with the following properties:

Staff 69 fire damage per hit (whatever DPS) +10% spirit damage +7 electricity damage 2.5% chance to stun normal enemies for 3s


 * You hit with a basic attack. It processes that attack normally, applying damage, force and secondary effects from other abilities/modes you may have on you. Then it checks the weapon for on-hit properties. In this case, that's electricity damage and chance to stun. The damage it just applies straight, the stun it checks against the percentile chance of it happening before applying.


 * Those modify a character property, which is included in the "Damage Type Modifier" step.


 * Each weapon hits individually. Basic attacks usually alternate which weapon hits, and abilities usually hit with both (to avoid biasing towards one hand or the other). The "Base Weapon Damage" as well as what on-hit properties apply is determined by which weapon hit with that particular strike. There is no penalty or other trickery involved with calculating dual weapon damage.

Damage Effect Damage

 * Damage Effect Damage determines how much damage the creature takes and what number appears above its head. That's not the actual amount of health deducted from it, though, since that is abstracted a bit to allow for better scaling between difficulty levels.

Damage * Templar Damage Bonus (vs fade creatures/spellcasters) * Damage Type Resistance Modifier (armor, fire, resistance, etc) * Damage Resistance Modifier (flat damage resistance) * Magic Resistance Modifier (flat magic resistance) * Rear Vulnerability Modifier (Shield Defense gives this unless you upgrade it) * Blindside Modifier * Brittle Modifier (if a critical hit) * Damage Redirection Modifier (if Aveline absorbs damage from the target, etc)