Attributes, damage and status effects
How damage grows
Section titled “How damage grows”Damage starts from your weapon’s base damage and is multiplied by your bonuses. Bonuses from the same category add up; bonuses from different categories multiply. That way the numbers grow without spiraling out of control.
The main categories are: % general damage · % conditional damage (vs. elites, bosses, crowd-controlled, vulnerable, close or distant enemies) · primary attribute · critical strike · power modifiers.
- A critical strike multiplies the hit by 1.5 plus your critical damage bonus.
- Attack speed and cooldown reduction add up, capped at 75%.
- The basic attack always hits a single target; area damage comes from powers.
Damage types
Section titled “Damage types”| Element | Status effect | How it works | |
|---|---|---|---|
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Physical |  Bleeding |
Damage over 4 s; stacks up to 5 times. |
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Fire |  Burn |
Heavy damage over 3 s; doesn’t stack, it refreshes. |
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Ice |  Chilled →  Frozen |
Slows by 20 to 50% as it builds up; at 100% buildup, freezes for 1.5 s (bosses: 0.5 s, then 3 s of immunity). |
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Lightning |  Shock |
Arcs to up to 3 enemies within 4 m, for 50% of the damage. |
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Poison |  Poisoned |
Damage over 5 s; stacks up to 5 times. |
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Seiðr (arcane) |  Cursed |
The target takes +15% damage from all sources for 4 s. |
On screen, each element has its own color on hits and damage numbers, and status effects show up as icons above the enemy.
Where elemental damage comes from
Section titled “Where elemental damage comes from”- Added damage of an element, which stacks onto the hit (gems in your weapon, affixes, runes).
- Conversion: part of your physical damage becomes an element (the tree’s elemental paths, runewords, special affixes).
- % damage of an element.
- Penetration: ignores part of the target’s resistance.
Conditions
Section titled “Conditions”| Condition | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
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Vulnerable | Takes +20% damage for 3 s. |
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Crowd Controlled | Stunned, frozen or slowed. |
| Close | Within 3 m of the hero. | |
| Distant | 3 m or farther. | |
| Crush | Target above 80% life. |
Many affixes grant extra damage against a condition (for example, “+% Damage vs. Vulnerable”).
Attributes
Section titled “Attributes”| Group | Examples | What they’re for |
|---|---|---|
| Primary | Strength, Vigor, Agility | Strength = +damage · Vigor = +life and armor · Agility = +attack speed and critical strike |
| Offensive | % damage, critical strike chance and damage, attack speed, area damage, vs. elites/bosses/crowd-controlled/vulnerable, to close/distant enemies, Vulnerable chance, Crush | More damage, overall or under a condition |
| Per element | Added damage, % damage and penetration for each element; conversion | Elemental builds |
| Status effects | Chance and damage of bleeding, burn, shock and poison; slow and freeze potency; crowd control duration | Strengthen your status effects |
| Defensive | Life, % life, armor, block, dodge, damage reduction, life per hit, life on kill, regeneration, thorns, Barrier, resistances, crowd control reduction | Keep the hero standing |
| Resources | Mana, mana regeneration, mana on hit, cooldown reduction, cost reduction | Use powers more often |
| Powers and utility | +level of one power or all powers; movement speed, gold find, magic find, XP, pickup radius | Progression and pace |
Defense
Section titled “Defense”- Armor reduces damage taken with diminishing returns (each point is worth a little less than the last), capped at 75%. The higher the hero’s level, the more armor you need for the same reduction.
- Block (shield) reduces a blocked hit by 60%.
- Dodge avoids a hit entirely.
- Barrier is a temporary shield, gained by using powers, that absorbs damage before your life does.
- Resistances to each element are capped at 75%.
- The hero’s base life: 100 + 14 per level; base mana: 40 + 1.5 per level beta.
Damage the hero takes shows in red, with a red border around the screen and a trail on the life orb.