Damage weighting

Damage weighting is a property of a weapon that causes the weapon to inflict additional hitpoint damage on a target. Damage weighting does not apply when calculating the critical outcome of an attack. The additional hitpoints from damage weighting are added at the end of the combat resolution calculations. There is no special messaging to indicate that damage weighting is a factor in the attack resolution. In order to determine the amount of weighting added to a particular attack requires calculating the non-damage weighted outcome and comparing this theoretical value to the actual result.

As with critical weighting, there is both a numerical value and a corresponding descriptive message associated with the level of weighting a weapon possesses. However, unlike critical weighting, which requires that the initial raw damage be sufficient to cause a minimum Rank 1 critical before activating, there is no such requirement for damage weighted weapons. Damage weighting will activate with all successful (endrolls greater than 100) attacks.

The amount of damage weighting added to an attack is either fixed or variable depending upon the level of weighting. Weighting levels from Lightly to Somewhat will always add the weapon's actual weighting. Weighting levels higher than Somewhat will add a variable amount of HP damage but will never be less than Somewhat equivalent weighting.

Adding damage weighting to weapons is NOT available through the premium point system. Damage weighted weapons are often available in player run shops, through special merchants or events, or from private sales by other players. Because of their desirability weighted weapons can be quite expensive. High level weighted weapons can sell for tens of millions of silver or more.

Although not an intrinsic property of a weapon, damage weighting can also be added to melee, ranged and bolt attacks by members of the Guardians of Sunfist society by activating the Sigil of Minor Bane.

Damage Weighting Calculation

In order to determine the amount of weighting added to an attack it is necessary to know the weapon damage factor and the critical damage result. These values can then be used to determine the total theoretical damage (raw damage + critical damage). The amount of damage from the weapon weighting is simply (actual damage - theoretical damage).

Example I

You swing a vultite longsword at a hill troll!
  AS: +246 vs DS: +84 with AvD: +42 + d100 roll: +91 = +295
   ... and hit for 128 points of damage!
   Massive blow punches a hole through the hill troll's chest!
   The hill troll is stunned!

In this example, the weapon damage factor is .275 (longsword vs. light leather: Armor Group 2). The raw damage from the attack is (weapon DF * (endroll - 100) which results in (.275 * 195) 56 raw damage. The critical damage can be found by looking up the messaging on the appropriate critical table. In this case, the critical messaging Massive blow punches a hole through the hill troll's chest!, which can be found on the crush critical table, indicates a Rank 8 Chest critical with 65 points of damage. The total theoretical damage is (56 raw + 65 critical) = 119. The actual damage as shown in the combat messaging is 128. Therefore, the amount of damage weighting added to the attack is (128 actual - 119 theoretical) = 9 points of weighting.

Example II

In this example there is no critical damage. The messaging Light slash to the hill troll's abdomen! Barely nicked., that is found on the slash critical table, corresponds to 0 critical damage. Therefore, the only theoretical damage is the raw damage (weapon DF * (endroll - 100). In this example the raw damage is (.225 * 21) = 5. The difference between the weapon damage factor from examples I and II is due to the different armor worn by the hill trolls, as reflected in the different AvDs. The troll in Example II is wearing a leather breastplate (Armor Group 3). The weapon weighting is (actual damage - theoretical damage) which in this example is (13 - 5) = 8 points of weighting.

You swing a vultite longsword at a hill troll!
  AS: +163 vs DS: +113 with AvD: +43 + d100 roll: +28 = +121
   ... and hit for 13 points of damage!
   Light slash to the hill troll's abdomen!
   Barely nicked.

New Weighting Chart

Name	Rating
Lightly	01 - 02
Fairly	03 - 04
Somewhat	05 - 06
Decent	07 - 08
Heavy	09 - 11
Very Heavy	12 - 14
Exceptional	15 - 19
Masterful	20 - 24
Superb	25 - 29
Expert	30 - 34
Phenomenal	35 - 39
Fantastic
Incredible
Wondrous

• Krakiipedia and GSGuide.net are both wrong starting at very heavily. ~Wyrom 7/18/14

Old Weighting Chart

Name	Rating
Lightly	1-2
Fairly	3-4
Somewhat	5-6
Decent	7-8
Heavy	9-11
Very Heavy	12-14
Exceptional	15-19
Masterful	20-24
Incredible	25+

Resources

• Changes to padding and damage weighting (saved posts)
• Weighting (saved post)
• http://www.play.net/gs4/info/armory/enhancements.asp#merchantenhancements, on Play.net