Item scaling (Dragon Age II)

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Item scaling (or item level scaling) is a gameplay mechanic responsible for adjusting item power to the character level.

In regard to scaling, items in Dragon Age II can be split into several distinct categories:

All generic and some unique items scale to Hawke's level at the time when they are generated and don't improve in quality after the acquisition. Container contents and merchant inventories are created when you enter the area. Loot from enemy remains and quest rewards are created when they are received.
Most unique items have fixed item level and do not scale.
Some unique weapons and accessories have Improves with level-up property. Such items re-scale every time Hawke gains a level. Companion armor also falls into this category even though it is not explicitly marked as leveled in UI.
Basic weapons (placeholder weapons used if you unequip a weapon) do not scale and are always level 1.

Note: Companion character levels are ignored when scaling items, only Hawke's level counts.

Scaling formulas

There are three possible property scaling formulas:

PropertyValue = PropertyData(Level) * PropertyScale * PowerScale * PropertyPower

is used for armor, resistances, attack, and defence.

PropertyData(Level) is taken from property_data.gda file that specifies base property values for levels 1 through 200.

PropertyScale is:

0.5 for heavy armor
0.4625 for medium armor
0.425 for light armor
2 for elemental resistances
0.5 for attack
0.25 for defense

BonusDamage = Damage(Level) * DamageScale * PowerScale * PropertyPower

is used for bonus damage.

Damage(Level) is (scaled) base weapon damage.
DamageScale is:

0.2 for bonus single-target damage
0.1 for bonus AoE damage
0.3 for bonus damage vs. enemy type (i.e. Humans, Qunari, or Demons/Undead)

PropertyValue = (BaseValue + ValuePerLevel * Level) * PowerScale * PropertyPower

is used for all other properties.

PropertyPower is 1.0 for most items. Some unique items change this value, for example, fake Bianca used in the exagerrated prologue of Family Matter quest has knockback power of 200.0 to provide Varric with 100% knockback chance.

PowerScale depends on base item type:

Item type	PowerScale
Chestpiece	1
Helmet	0.4
Gloves	0.24
Boots	0.36
Shield	0.75
Companion armor	2
Amulet	0.4
Ring	0.3
Belt	0.3
One-Handed	0.8
Two-Handed	1
Dual Wield	0.6
Bow	1
Staff	1

Table taken from item_base.gda.
Note that proc chance does not scale with level. For properties X% chance to regenerate Y% health it means that Y (power value) scale with the level, but X (proc chance) stays the same. X% chance to stun-style properties don't change with the level at all.

Weapon damage

Weapon damage improves linearly with level. There are five basic weapon types that define how damage is calculated.

Damage = (BaseDamage + DamagePerLevel * Level) * DamageScale * PowerScale

This formula can be reduced to:

Class	Weapon type	Damage (Damage per second)	Property ID	Notable examples
Warrior	One-Handed	`1.243 + 1.342 * Level (2.338 + 2.523 * Level)`	5000	The Edge of Night Fadeshear The Mountain-Father's Haft
Warrior	Two-Handed	`1.429 + 1.543 * Level (2.343 + 2.53 * Level)`	5100	The Dogs of War
Rogue	Dual Wield	`1.557 + 1.682 * Level (2.881 + 3.111 * Level)`	5200	Bard's Honor Beraht's Revenge Fiona Jarvia's Shank
Rogue	Bow	`4.983 + 5.381 * Level (4.684 + 5.059 * Level)`	5300	Bianca Hood's Message to the King Longbow of the Avvars
Mage	Staff	`1.714 + 1.851 * Level (2.331 + 2.518 * Level)`	5400	Freedom's Promise Malcolm's Honor

Note: Numbers are rounded to 3 decimal places for brevity.

For items that scale:

Level = HawkeLevel + ItemLevelOffset

For items that have fixed level:

Level = ItemLevel + ItemLevelOffset

Additionally most items have minimum and maximum level bounds.

Weapon damage table

Level	One-Handed	Two-Handed	Dual Wield	Bow	Staff
1	3	3	3	10	4
2	4	5	5	16	5
3	5	6	7	21	7
4	7	8	8	27	9
5	8	9	10	32	11
6	9	11	12	37	13
7	11	12	13	43	15
8	12	14	15	48	17
9	13	15	17	53	18
10	15	17	18	59	20
11	16	18	20	64	22
12	17	20	22	70	24
13	19	21	23	75	26
14	20	23	25	80	28
15	21	25	27	86	29
16	23	26	28	91	31
17	24	28	30	96	33
18	25	29	32	102	35
19	27	31	34	107	37
20	28	32	35	113	39
21	29	34	37	118	41
22	31	35	39	123	42
23	32	37	40	129	44
24	33	38	42	134	46
25	35	40	44	140	48
26	36	42	45	145	50
27	37	43	47	150	52
28	39	45	49	156	54
29	40	46	50	161	55
30	42	48	52	166	57

Item scaling (Dragon Age II)

Contents

Scaling formulas

Weapon damage

Weapon damage table

See also

Fan Feed

Level	One-Handed	Two-Handed	Dual Wield	Bow	Staff
1	3	3	3	10	4
2	4	5	5	16	5
3	5	6	7	21	7
4	7	8	8	27	9
5	8	9	10	32	11
6	9	11	12	37	13
7	11	12	13	43	15
8	12	14	15	48	17
9	13	15	17	53	18
10	15	17	18	59	20
11	16	18	20	64	22
12	17	20	22	70	24
13	19	21	23	75	26
14	20	23	25	80	28
15	21	25	27	86	29
16	23	26	28	91	31
17	24	28	30	96	33
18	25	29	32	102	35
19	27	31	34	107	37
20	28	32	35	113	39
21	29	34	37	118	41
22	31	35	39	123	42
23	32	37	40	129	44
24	33	38	42	134	46
25	35	40	44	140	48
26	36	42	45	145	50
27	37	43	47	150	52
28	39	45	49	156	54
29	40	46	50	161	55
30	42	48	52	166	57

Level	One-Handed	Two-Handed	Dual Wield	Bow	Staff
1	3	3	3	10	4
2	4	5	5	16	5
3	5	6	7	21	7
4	7	8	8	27	9
5	8	9	10	32	11
6	9	11	12	37	13
7	11	12	13	43	15
8	12	14	15	48	17
9	13	15	17	53	18
10	15	17	18	59	20
11	16	18	20	64	22
12	17	20	22	70	24
13	19	21	23	75	26
14	20	23	25	80	28
15	21	25	27	86	29
16	23	26	28	91	31
17	24	28	30	96	33
18	25	29	32	102	35
19	27	31	34	107	37
20	28	32	35	113	39
21	29	34	37	118	41
22	31	35	39	123	42
23	32	37	40	129	44
24	33	38	42	134	46
25	35	40	44	140	48
26	36	42	45	145	50
27	37	43	47	150	52
28	39	45	49	156	54
29	40	46	50	161	55
30	42	48	52	166	57

Level	One-Handed	Two-Handed	Dual Wield	Bow	Staff
1	3	3	3	10	4
2	4	5	5	16	5
3	5	6	7	21	7
4	7	8	8	27	9
5	8	9	10	32	11
6	9	11	12	37	13
7	11	12	13	43	15
8	12	14	15	48	17
9	13	15	17	53	18
10	15	17	18	59	20
11	16	18	20	64	22
12	17	20	22	70	24
13	19	21	23	75	26
14	20	23	25	80	28
15	21	25	27	86	29
16	23	26	28	91	31
17	24	28	30	96	33
18	25	29	32	102	35
19	27	31	34	107	37
20	28	32	35	113	39
21	29	34	37	118	41
22	31	35	39	123	42
23	32	37	40	129	44
24	33	38	42	134	46
25	35	40	44	140	48
26	36	42	45	145	50
27	37	43	47	150	52
28	39	45	49	156	54
29	40	46	50	161	55
30	42	48	52	166	57