Attack is a stat that increases your damage to enemies. Attack is normalized (does not matter) in Crucible matches (with the exception of Iron Banner).
Effect:
Attack increases your damage done to enemies by 7% (compounding) per enemy level, capping at level attack / 15.
This means, for example, a weapon with attack 300 will increase damage by 7% per enemy level up to level 20 (300 / 15 = 20). So a weapon with attack 300 will do the same amount of damage to enemies of level 20 and higher.
To compare, if you had an fresh legendary weapon with attack 248, your attack would cap at enemy level 16.53. In this case you would get the full 7% up to 16, and then a partial (<7%) increase in damage toward level 17 enemies, after which damage would remain constant.
To summarize, the following table lists weapon damage output at common attack ratings as a percentage of "base" damage (which depends on the weapon's impact). Damage increase can be calculated with the following formula: 1.07 ^ (attack / 15) * 100.
| Attack | Max damage against enemy level | Damage (percent of base) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 248 | 17+ | 306% | Original legendary base |
| 260 | 18+ | 323% | Original exotic base |
| 272 | 19+ | 341% | TDB legendary base |
| 300 | 20+ | 387% | Original max |
| 302 | 21+ | 390% | TDB exotic base |
| 331 | 23+ | 445% | TDB max HoW base |
| 365 | ?? | ?? | HoW max |
Additionally, the benefits of fully upgrading each type of weapon (against appropriately high-level enemies) are outlined below. This is calculated with a similar equation to above: 1.07 ^ ((upgraded - base) / 15) * 100
| Weapon type | Base Attack | Upgraded Attack | Total damage increase |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original Legendary | 248 | 300 | 26% |
| Original Exotic | 260 | 300 | 20% |
| TDB Legendary | 272 | 331 | 30% |
| TDB Exotic | 302 | 331 | 14% |
NOTE: light level also affects damage output as described below (you receive a penalty to damage dealt if you are lower level than your target):
Level vs. Damage Test
Using the same weapon against the same enemy (Level 24 Acolyte) with only Light Level as the variable.
- Light 21: 184 damage per shot
- Light 23: 261 damage per shot
- Light 24: 383 damage per shot
- Light 26: 383 damage per shot
- Light 28: 383 damage per shot
Level vs. Damage Scaling
Damage Scaling:
- If you are 4 levels or lower below the enemy: 100% damage penalty
- If you are 3 levels the enemy: ~52% damage penalty
- If you are 2 levels the enemy: ~42% damage penalty
- If you are 1 levels the enemy: ~32% damage penalty
- If you are 0 levels below or higher than the enemy: 0% damage penalty
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