What is DPS?

The ultimate stat that matters is your clear speed (given adequate survivability). 90% of the game is about clearing out large groups of enemies. It doesn't matter how quickly you can kill a single trash mob but how quickly you can kill the entire group of trash mobs and move on to the next. In that sense you can think of the entire group of enemies as being a single enemy with a combined hp pool.

Of course there's no actual way to calculate a true DPS for an AoE skill because it's dependent on how many enemies are actually hit but being able to gauge a rough estimate is still important. For those players optimizing their build and playstyle around a particular skill knowing your maximum potential is also important. The only true way to calculate any DPS is to have a player completely clear an area like The Ledge and time it and then divide the total damage dealt by the clear time.

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Thero wrote:

DPS stands for Damage Per Second. I got that and I know how it works for gems that actually cause damage over time like poison and burn. What about the gems that have DPS but don't cause damage over time? I don't get it. For example...

I have "Freezing Pulse." Its effect is that it freezes enemies and from what I can tell does not cause damage over time. Its DPS is 968. It shoots and hits the enemy once sometimes causing freeze. Where does the damage per second come into play with "Freezing Pulse"?

Thanks

DPS (dmg per second) meaning if you have an attack that hits 2x a second for 100 dmg it does 200 dps
it is not a DOT (dmg over time)

really not sure what it is you dont understand other than english.

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really not sure what it is you dont understand other than english.

RitualMurder,

Rudeness is not needed so keep your comments to yourself.

There is obviously a lot of confusion about this and its not just me. But after all this I understand it a lot better. Thanks for everyone's help. I am sure this will also help others.

Danger Per Scenario

it is a meta-stat that gives a theoretical value to the amount of danger your opponents will incur when you enter a scenario. If your dps is 100 then it is 100 times more dangerous than if you are level 1 and naked.