Damage per second
Damage per second (DPS) is a term in video games used to describe the average rate of damage inflicted over time. The term is especially common in massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) and is a key aspect of theorycraft. In this circumstance, "Damage" is a scalar quantity that is applied to an in-game opponent, until that opponent's capacity for absorbing damage is exceeded and the opponent is defeated. Therefore, the higher the DPS value, the less time it takes to defeat an opponent.
The term can also be used as a verb - to "DPS" an opponent is to inflict the maximum damage possible in the shortest time or as a noun, to describe a class which has a particularly high DPS, though this usage is debatable, with "DD" (Damage Dealer) an acceptable alternative.
As a measure of capability, it is more accurate than a simple damage value that does not reflect how often the damage can be dealt. In Eve Online, the players' weapons fire in volleys, while in more traditional MMOs the player strikes with melee weapons or fire ranged weapons or spells, which may need to 'recharge'. While an attack may deal 500 points of damage, if the weapon can only fire once every 5 seconds, the damage will be calculated as 100 damage per second. It is therefore a useful metric both to game players and game designers.
There are certain aspects of the actual attacks a player must know in order to calculate a DPS Attack Chain. The following three attributes are generally regarded as universal throughout the MMO community:
Tying these together is the simple formula of: Damage / (Activation Time + Recharge) = Damage per Second
As an example, if a player has an attack that does 75 damage, with an activation time of .25 seconds and a recharge of .75 seconds, the DPS is calculated as:
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