PoE Weapon DPS Calculator
Accurately calculate the true Damage Per Second (DPS) of any weapon in Path of Exile. This tool breaks down physical, elemental, and chaos damage to help you make informed decisions about your gear.
Base Damage
Add all flat fire, cold, and lightning damage together.
Attack Speed & Critical Strike
This is the final APS value shown on the weapon.
The base crit chance of the weapon.
Defaults to the base 150%. Change if you have local crit multi mods.
Total Effective DPS
Average Hit (Pre-Crit)
Physical DPS (pDPS)
Elemental DPS (eDPS)
Chaos DPS
DPS Source Breakdown
What is a PoE Weapon DPS Calculator?
A poe weapon dps calculator is an essential tool for any Path of Exile player looking to optimize their character’s damage output. It goes beyond the in-game tooltip by allowing you to isolate and calculate a weapon’s local damage potential based on its raw stats. The “DPS” value on a weapon represents its damage-dealing capability before any of your character’s passive skills, support gems, or global modifiers are applied. This is crucial for comparing items accurately.
This calculator helps you determine three key metrics: Physical DPS (pDPS), Elemental DPS (eDPS), and Chaos DPS. By understanding this breakdown, you can decide if a weapon is a good fit for your build, whether you scale physical damage, elemental damage, or both. It is the first and most important step in evaluating a potential weapon upgrade. To learn more about advanced crafting, see our guide on PoE crafting basics.
The PoE Weapon DPS Formula Explained
Calculating weapon DPS involves a few steps that combine the weapon’s base damage, attack speed, and critical strike statistics. The formula provides an “effective” DPS that accounts for the average damage increase from critical strikes.
The core formula is:
Effective DPS = ( (Average_Hit * (1 – Crit_Chance)) + (Average_Hit * Crit_Multiplier * Crit_Chance) ) * Attacks_Per_Second
Where `Average_Hit` is the sum of the average physical, elemental, and chaos damage.
| Variable | Meaning | Unit | Typical Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Min/Max Damage | The range of damage of a specific type (Physical, Elemental, Chaos) dealt per hit. | Damage Points | 1 to 1000+ |
| Attacks Per Second (APS) | The number of times the weapon attacks in one second. | Attacks/sec | 1.0 to 2.5+ |
| Crit Chance | The base probability of an attack being a critical strike. | Percentage (%) | 5% to 10%+ |
| Crit Multiplier | The damage multiplier applied on a critical strike. | Percentage (%) | 150% (base) to 200%+ |
Practical Examples
Example 1: High Physical DPS Axe
- Inputs: Min Phys: 120, Max Phys: 250, APS: 1.4, Crit Chance: 5%
- Calculation:
- Average Physical Hit: (120 + 250) / 2 = 185
- pDPS (before crit): 185 * 1.4 = 259
- Effective DPS (with crit): `((185 * 0.95) + (185 * 1.5 * 0.05)) * 1.4 = (175.75 + 13.875) * 1.4 = 265.5`
- Result: The axe has ~265.5 total pDPS. This is a solid weapon for builds like Cyclone or Boneshatter. For information on what builds are currently strong, check our starter builds for the current league.
Example 2: Fast Elemental Sword
- Inputs: Min Ele: 20 (fire) + 15 (cold) = 35, Max Ele: 150 (fire) + 120 (cold) = 270, APS: 1.9, Crit Chance: 6.5%
- Calculation:
- Average Elemental Hit: (35 + 270) / 2 = 152.5
- eDPS (before crit): 152.5 * 1.9 = 289.75
- Effective DPS (with crit): `((152.5 * 0.935) + (152.5 * 1.5 * 0.065)) * 1.9 = (142.58 + 14.86) * 1.9 = 299.1`
- Result: The sword has ~299.1 total eDPS. An excellent choice for attack-based builds that scale elemental damage, such as Lightning Strike or Frostblades.
How to Use This PoE Weapon DPS Calculator
- Enter Base Damage: Find the damage values on your weapon. For elemental damage, add all the flat fire, cold, and lightning damage from different modifiers together for the min and max values.
- Enter Attack Speed: Input the “Attacks per Second” value exactly as it appears on the weapon.
- Enter Critical Strike Stats: Input the weapon’s “Critical Strike Chance.” Only change the multiplier from 150% if the weapon has a local “+X% to Critical Strike Multiplier” mod.
- Analyze the Results: The calculator instantly provides the Total Effective DPS, along with a breakdown of pDPS, eDPS, and Chaos DPS. The bar chart helps visualize which damage type is contributing the most. A tool like our PoE Aura Calculator can help you figure out how auras will scale this damage.
- Compare Weapons: Use these “local DPS” values to make an apples-to-apples comparison between two different weapons, before your character’s other stats are factored in.
Key Factors That Affect PoE Weapon DPS
- Flat Added Damage: Prefixes like “Vicious” (physical) or “Scathing” (elemental) that add a flat range of X to Y damage are the foundation of a weapon’s DPS.
- % Increased Local Damage: Suffixes like “Merciless” (% Increased Physical Damage) are powerful multipliers that scale the base damage on the weapon itself. This does not affect your global character damage.
- Attack Speed: The “of Celebration” suffix family (% Increased Attack Speed) is a direct multiplier to your final DPS. A high APS is crucial for many builds.
- Critical Strike Chance: A high base critical strike chance is essential for crit-based builds. This is determined by the weapon’s base type and can be modified by suffixes.
- Critical Strike Multiplier: A less common but very powerful local suffix that directly boosts the damage of your critical hits.
- Quality: Each 1% of quality on a weapon grants 1% increased physical damage. This is why 20% quality is a baseline, and 28-30% is a major goal for physical weapons. Understanding damage conversion is key for advanced builds.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Why is my in-game tooltip DPS different from this calculator?
This calculator computes the weapon’s *local* DPS only. Your in-game tooltip includes damage from your passive tree, auras, support gems, and other gear, which are global modifiers. This tool is for comparing the base weapon itself.
What is the difference between pDPS and eDPS?
pDPS (Physical DPS) is damage from only the physical part of the weapon. eDPS (Elemental DPS) is the combined damage from fire, cold, and lightning sources on the weapon. Certain builds scale one or the other, so knowing the breakdown is vital.
Should I combine all elemental damage types?
Yes. For calculating a weapon’s total eDPS, you should sum all flat elemental damage ranges. For example, if a weapon has “Adds 10-20 Fire Damage” and “Adds 5-15 Cold Damage”, you would input a min elemental of 15 (10+5) and a max elemental of 35 (20+15).
Does this calculator work for spells?
No. This is a poe weapon dps calculator specifically for weapon *attacks*. Spells have their own base damage and do not use weapon DPS. Their damage is scaled differently.
How important is Chaos Damage?
Chaos damage is calculated separately like physical and elemental. It is valuable because it bypasses Energy Shield. However, many builds do not scale chaos damage, so its value depends entirely on your build. Our guides on scaling damage in PoE can help.
What is a ‘good’ DPS value?
This is highly dependent on the league, the build, and the weapon type. A “good” one-handed sword might have 500-600 eDPS, while a top-tier two-handed physical axe could exceed 1200 pDPS. Check resources like PoE Ninja to see what top players are using.
Does this account for “Adds # to # Physical Damage to Attacks” from my gear?
No, this is a local weapon calculator. You should only input the numbers that are physically on the weapon item itself to get an accurate weapon-to-weapon comparison.
Where do I find my weapon’s base stats?
Hold ‘Alt’ while hovering over an item in-game to see its base type and local modifiers. The damage and speed values at the top of the item’s tooltip are what you need for this calculator.
Related Tools & Internal Resources
Expand your Path of Exile knowledge with our other tools and guides:
- PoE Map Calculator: Plan your Atlas strategy and estimate map returns.
- PoE Crafting Basics: A beginner’s guide to creating powerful items.
- League Starter Builds: Find a strong build to begin your journey in the new league.
- Understanding Damage Conversion: Learn the mechanics of converting damage from one type to another.
- Aura Reservation Calculator: Optimize your mana reservation for powerful aura setups.
- Advanced Damage Scaling: Dive deep into the mechanics of scaling your damage to endgame levels.