NOOB QUESTION: Increased Physical Damage on weapons

Ok. So I have some weapons that have increased phys dmg on them. I was wonderi g how they scaled. Does it scale on the weapon or does it scale as a whole? Like all my physical damage will go up. For example, a 4-8 dagger with lets say 50% increase dmg increases it on the dagger itself am I right? So does it only give the dagger 6-12 and basically that is it? Or is it like, the dagger is still 4-8 and then when you attack with normal or skill it multiplies it by 1.5? Sorry, noob question. I can't seem to find it in any mechanics guide. Just that it scales locally. I do not know what that entails much. I came from diablo and %increase doesn't really show on the weapons. Thank you in advance. Please don't flame, literally a noob. 3 days in.

That being said, that dagger with base 4 - 8 phys dmg with 50% increased physical damage would be better than a 12-20 sword, right? Or is it like the dagger's 4-8 would only be 6-12 and the sword is a lot better? Since basically the % dmg increase is only affecting the weapon and not the character?

Welcome to PoE! We were all noobs at some time or another, and the game continues to change so what you knew to be true a year ago could be different the next year.

For starting out, it's really worth setting aside some time and reading through many of the topics listed in this thread: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1487111 Many of the things you will have questions about will already be answered here.

Don't worry if you don't understand it all right away, this is a complex game! You can always read back over things later as you need to.

Specifically, for your question skip through to the link referencing affixes on items: http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Item_affix

The question you are asking refers to the difference between local and global modifiers. From the above link:

Local and global modifiers

"

Local modifiers can only spawn on items that have the stat by default. For example, the mod Vicious [?] can spawn on swords because it is a weapon with base physical damage. The mod won't affect the damage on an off-hand weapon when dual-wielding and won't increase physical damage added from other items like rings.[1]
Global appears on all items, but will affect the character instead.[1] All modifiers with a condition are global, Scaeva inventory icon.pngScaeva for example has a local and global critical strike chance because one modifier is conditional.

In your example, the dagger with 50% increased physical damage is a local modifier, so it only impacts the weapon's physical damage itself and nothing else. With PoE this increase is actually reflected in the visible physical damage component on the item itself already making comparisons a little easier.

So a dagger with 6 - 12 Phys Damage with a 50% increased physical damage modifier, is actually a base model dagger with 4 - 8 Phys Damage, which is already showing the effect of the damage modifier.

Now that we've got that clear, I'm going to confuse you more :)

There are multiple ways that damage delivered to monsters can occur so it's not as simple as picking the item with the biggest damage and wielding that. How fast you attack also has an impact, along with accuracy, critical strike chance, critical strike multiplier, elemental penetration, weapon range (generally this has minimal impact, but might be a factor in a specific build) and probably a few other things that I've forgotten.

Don't stress, the knowledge will come with time and a bit more play. You're on the right track and you've started with the best questions first. Everything else will build from there.

Good luck in Wraeclast! :)

Wow, thanks guys! That really helped me out! I have a better knowledge of it now. Yeah, I don't remember Diablo 2's mechanics for that. But with Diablo 3 it was different. All % mods were global.

Thank you again, this really made my day! Now on to leveling!!! Happy to be in Wreaclast!