Attack

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

AgilityArmorAttackDefenseDisciplineIntellectLightLevelsRecoveryStrength
Aim AssistAttackBlast RadiusCharge RateDamage TypeEquip Speed
ImpactMagazineRangeRate of FireRecoilReloadStabilityVelocityZoom
DefenseEfficiencyEnergyImpactRangeSpeed
Last modified on 5 August 2016, at 13:02