calculateDamage

calculateDamage is a function used in video games and simulations to determine the amount of health an attack will remove from a target. It combines factors from the attacker, the weapon, any active buffs or skills, and the target’s defenses to produce a single damage value.

Common inputs include attackerStats (attack power, critical chance, elemental or type bonuses), weapon properties (base damage, type, flat bonuses), skillModifiers (multipliers and duration), and targetStats (armor, resistances, shields, absorb effects). Some implementations also include randomness, damage type, and penetration factors.

A typical calculation follows a sequence. First, compute raw damage by combining weapon damage with attacker bonuses and any flat additions. Next, apply multipliers from skills or buffs. Then determine critical hits using the attacker’s critical chance and apply the critical multiplier if triggered. After that, apply target mitigation, usually through armor and resistances. Armor often reduces damage by a factor such as a divisor or percentage, while resistances lower specific damage types. Some systems include armor penetration or shield absorption before final mitigation. Finally, apply a small random variance to avoid determinism and clamp the result at zero to prevent negative damage.

Edge cases include situations where defenses exceed raw damage, resulting in zero damage, or when penetration and resistances interact in unusual ways. Different games handle damage types separately (physical, elemental, magical) and may exclude certain modifiers from certain types.

See also: damage calculation, armor, resistance, critical hit, armor penetration.