Damage Buckets

Damage buckets in Diablo 4 are the different types of damage that are in play for all classes.

Damage Buckets are broken down into five main types that players need to be aware of:

• Additive
• Multiplicative
• Critical
• Vulnerable
• Overpowered

Additive Bucket

This adds damage. This is prevalent on gear where it may say added damage Vs Bleeding or Damage Vs Injured for example. In essence if it says + it's additive.

As of patch 1.2.0, any stats on gear that would have previously been in the Critical of Vulnerable bucket are now added to this Additive bucket. See notes below on Critical and Vulnerable buckets.

Multiplicative

Add damage by a percent. Prevalent on skills and Paragon board where it may say X% increased damage. In essence if it says X it's Multiplicative.

Damage Types

Since the patch 1.2.0 release, there is now a heavier focus on the Additive bucket and the whole Damage Bucket system has been somewhat simplified.

Critical

As of patch 1.2.0 only gives a base damage as a Multiplicative which is 50% max. Any additional Critical damage goes into the Additive bucket as a bonus.

Critical Strike Patch 1.2.0

• Critical Strikes now always deal x50% increased damage.
• Critical Strike Damage Affix, and Critical Strike Damage with Bone, Earth, Imbued, and Werewolf Skills Affixes has increased by 20%.
• Critical Strike Damage Affix (Inherent on Swords) has increased by 100%.
• Critical Strike Damage Paragon Glyphs has increased by 100%.

Vulnerable

Vulnerable has 20% base where you will apply x20% more damage to a vulnerable target.

As of patch 1.2.0 only gives a base damage as a Multiplicative which is 20% max. Any additional Vulnerable damage goes into the Additive bucket.

Vulnerable Patch 1.2.0

• Dealing damage to a Vulnerable enemy now always deals x20% increased damage.
• Vulnerable Damage Affix has increased by 40%.
• Vulnerable Damage Affix (Inherent on Crossbows) has increased by 87%.
• Vulnerable Damage Paragon Glyphs has increased by 100%.

Overpower

Overpower is mainly aimed at classes with Overpower damage and it's Multiplicative and deal up to x50% increased damage. This is based on your current life percentage..

As of patch 1.2.0, it would be advantageous to look at Overpower more closely and thinking about adding Overpower as well as increasing the Additive bucket to increase the overall damage output value.

Overpower Patch 1.2.0

• Overpower attacks always deal up to x50% increased damage, based on your current life percentage.
• Overpower attacks gain +2% damage per 1% of your Base Life you have in Fortify.
• Overpower attacks gain +2% damage per 1% of your Base Life that you have in bonus life above your Base Life.
• All Overpower Damage Affixes have increased by 50%.
• Overpower Damage Paragon Glyphs have increased by 33%.
• Overpower Damage Paragon Nodes have increased by 50%.

Notes on Damage over Time Builds

Following the release of patch 1.2.0, Damage over Time (DoT) builds are less affected by the damage bucket changes as there is no Crit in play with effects such as poison.

Patch 1.2.0 Developer Notes on Damage Buckets

Developer’s Note: Builds that utilized Critical Strike Damage and Vulnerable Damage have been disproportionately powerful. This is because these stats were previously calculated as part of separate damage buckets that were fully multiplicative when combined with other damage bonuses. In order to promote greater build diversity, we are changing how Critical Strike, Vulnerable, and Overpower damage is calculated. These damage types will now always have a baseline multiplicative bonus. Additional sources of bonus Critical Strike Damage, Vulnerable Damage, or Overpower Damage will be additive to your other damage bonuses. Overpower will also receive additional additive damage based on your Maximum Health and Fortify amounts. This change represents an overall decrease in damage output, so we are adjusting monster scaling to ensure that the best Class builds are still as powerful as before. This change is not intended to lower the power of the best builds, but rather allow more builds to reach that same level of power. We have also added a variety of mechanics to classes that encourage them to chase other stats for multiplicative bonuses, rather than always chasing Critical Strike and Vulnerable Damage.

In-game Indicators

While playing, damage numbers are shown in targets. These numbers are coloured differently depending on what is be applied. Colours are as follows:

• Base Damage
• Critical Hit
• Overpowered
• Overpowered Crit

Keep a note on what you are seeing with the damage numbers to ascertain what is taking effect and how often.