Elemental damage
Elemental Damage is an item bonus property with much expanded importance in Diablo 3 version 2 and Reaper of Souls. The in-game terminology is always "____ skills deal X% more damage." which means that any skill rune with that type of damage will be boosted in total damage by the item.
The damage from Elemental damage bonuses (available on a variety of items) are added last in the damage calculation, after damage is determined by all the usual sources, chiefly skill property, mainstat, crit chance and crit damage, +damage gear, etc. Thus a player with +50% damage to one element would add literally 50% to their damage output when using a skill of that elemental damage type, taking a 1,000,000 crit up to 1,500,000 damage.
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Elemental Damage Types
There are numerous types of damage in Diablo 3, but all item bonuses and skill effects are sorted into just seven types. They are:
- Physical damage.
- Arcane damage.
- Cold damage.
- Fire damage.
- Holy damage.
- Lightning damage.
- Poison damage.
All skills and rune effects in Diablo 3 are classified into one of these types of damage, and only Skill Rune Effect(s) that matches the elemental damage type from the item affix receives the benefit.
Fire damage was by far the most useful at and shortly after Reaper of Souls' release, since it was found on many legendary items and several of the most powerful skill rune effects. The developers were aware of that, and in the first few patches after release they tweaked the elemental damage of numerous skills and runes to provide players with more options in matching their gear to their builds.)
Sheet DPS
Though +elemental damage does *not* show in the character window (the "sheet DPS") it can be quite impactful, and for most players, adding 20% to the elemental damage of their main attack skill adds as much or more effective DPS than 10% critical hit chance or 75% critical hit damage. The exact benefits and values vary depending on play style, attack speed, and the relative level of other stats, but on the whole +elemental damage% is a very valuable stat. One many new players do not value properly, precisely since it does not get factored into the sheet DPS, and can only be seen by the pop up damage numbers or by judging relative kill speed in game.
Elemental Damage Availability
Items with bonuses to elemental damage are very valuable in Reaper of Souls, as they enable players to unlock much higher total damage than is possible with just the traditional trifecta and mainstat forms of attack. Those affixes are still essential even with elemental damage, but since the elemental damage multiplies the total sheet DPS, the total damage can be raised much higher with elemental bonuses.
All Elemental Damage
Only two item slots can roll elemental damage as a random affix. The bonus to any 1 type of elemental damage may appear as a random affix on any bracer or amulet. (Aside from a few legendary amulets where one type of elemental damage is inherent.)
- Bracers (db): 15-20% any elemental damage from random affixes.
- Amulet (db): 15-20% any elemental damage from random affixes.
Several legendary items always roll with 1 of the 7 types of elemental damage, randomly selected. These items are also listed in each damage type below for easier element by element reference.
- Andariel's Visage (db) -- 15-20% more damage to 1 or 7 elemental types. Helm.
- Eye of Etlich (db) -- 15-20% more damage from 1 or 7 elemental types. Amulet.
- Lidless Wall (db) -- 15-20% more elemental damage, 1 of 7 types. Shield.
- Stone of Jordan (db) -- 15-20% more damage from 1 of 7 elemental damage types. Ring.
Arcane Damage
Arcane damage is exclusively a Wizard damage type and nearly all the items dealing bonus Arcane damage are Wizard-only.
- Andariel's Visage (db) -- 15-20% more damage to 1 or 7 elemental types. Helm.
- Eye of Etlich (db) -- 15-20% more damage from 1 or 7 elemental types. Amulet.
- Lidless Wall (db) -- 15-20% more elemental damage, 1 of 7 types. Shield.
- Stone of Jordan (db) -- 15-20% more damage from 1 of 7 elemental damage types. Ring.
- Moonlight Ward (db)) -- 20-25% more damage from Arcane skills. Amulet.
- Triumvirate (db) -- 7-10% more damage from Fire, Lightning, and Arcane skills. Wizard orb.
- Gesture of Orpheus (db) -- 15-20% more damage from Arcane skills. Wand (Wizard only.)
- Tal Rasha's Relentless Pursuit (db) Item Set, two piece bonus. (Amulet, Helm, Belt, Chest Armor, Orb.)
- Arcane, Cold, Fire, and Lightning skills deal 5% more damage.
Cold Damage
- Andariel's Visage (db) -- 15-20% more damage to 1 or 7 elemental types. Helm.
- Eye of Etlich (db) -- 15-20% more damage from 1 or 7 elemental types. Amulet.
- Lidless Wall (db) -- 15-20% more elemental damage, 1 of 7 types. Shield.
- Stone of Jordan (db) -- 15-20% more damage from 1 of 7 elemental damage types. Ring.
- Azurewrath (db) -- 15-20% more damage from Cold skills. One-handed sword.
- Frostburn (db) -- 10-15% more damage from Cold skills. Gloves.
- Utar's Roar (db)) -- 15-20% more damage from Cold skills. One-handed axe.
- Winter Flurry (db))-- 5-20% more damage from Cold skills. Wizard orb.
- Tal Rasha's Relentless Pursuit (db) Item Set, two piece bonus. (Amulet, Helm, Belt, Chest Armor, Orb.)
- Arcane, Cold, Fire, and Lightning skills deal 5% more damage.
Fire Damage
Fire damage is not the most common bonus on items, but it's second to Lightning in frequency, and players feel that most of the best skills in the game hit for Fire damage.
- Andariel's Visage (db) -- 15-20% more damage to 1 or 7 elemental types. Helm.
- Eye of Etlich (db) -- 15-20% more damage from 1 or 7 elemental types. Amulet.
- Lidless Wall (db) -- 15-20% more elemental damage, 1 of 7 types. Shield.
- Stone of Jordan (db) -- 15-20% more damage from 1 of 7 elemental damage types. Ring.
- Cindercoat (db) -- 15-25% more damage from Fire skills. Chest Armor.
- Devastator (db) -- 15-20% more damage from Fire Skills. One-handed mace.
- Magefist (db) -- 15-20% more damage from Fire skills. Gloves.
- Maximus (db) -- 15-20% more damage from Fire skills. Two-handed sword.
- Triumvirate (db)-- 7-10% more damage from Fire, Lightning, and Arcane skills. Wizard orb.
- Firebird's Eye (db) -- 15-20% more damage from Fire skills. Orb. (Wizard only.)
- The Burning Axe of Sankis (db) -- 15-20% more damage from Fire skills. One-handed axe.
- Tal Rasha's Relentless Pursuit (db)Item Set, two piece bonus. (Amulet, Helm, Belt, Chest Armor, Orb.)
- Arcane, Cold, Fire, and Lightning skills deal 5% more damage.
Holy Damage
Holy damage type is mostly seen on Crusader and Monk skills.
- Andariel's Visage (db) -- 15-20% more damage to 1 or 7 elemental types. Helm.
- Eye of Etlich (db) -- 15-20% more damage from 1 or 7 elemental types. Amulet.
- Hallowed Barricade (db) -- 15-20% more damage from Holy skills. Shield.
- Holy Beacon (db) -- 11-20% more damage from Holy skills. Amulet.
- Lidless Wall (db) -- 15-20% more elemental damage, 1 of 7 types. Shield.
- Stone of Jordan (db) -- 15-20% more damage from 1 of 7 elemental damage types. Ring.
- Golden Scourge (db) -- 15-20% more damage from Holy skills. One-handed Flail (Crusader only.)
- Skycutter (db) -- 15-20% more damage from Holy skills. One-handed sword.
Lightning Damage
The largest number of item types with +elemental damage give it to Lightning. Only the fact that more of the best/most popular skills in the game deal Fire damage keeps this from being the #1 elemental damage type. (Up to 290% Lightning Damage could be achieved, though a character would need to be multiple classes at once and wear up to 4 items in the same slot.)
- Andariel's Visage (db) -- 15-20% more damage to 1 or 7 elemental types. Helm.
- Eye of Etlich (db) -- 15-20% more damage from 1 or 7 elemental types. Amulet.
- Lidless Wall (db) -- 15-20% more elemental damage, 1 of 7 types. Shield.
- Stone of Jordan (db) -- 15-20% more damage from 1 of 7 elemental damage types. Ring.
- The Eye of the Storm (db) -- Monk spirit stone, 20-30% Lightning Damage.
- Won Khim Lau (db) -- 15-25% more damage from Lightning skills. Monk fist.
- Triumvirate (db) -- 7-10% more damage from Fire, Lightning, and Arcane skills. Wizard orb.
- Odyn Son (db) -- 5-20% more damage from Lightning skills. One-handed mace.
- Schaefer’s Hammer (db) -- 10-15% more damage from Lightning skills. Two-handed mace.
- Storm Crow (db) -- 15-20% more damage from Lightning skills. Wizard helm.
- The Eye Of The Storm (db) -- 15-30% more damage from Lightning skills. Spirit stone, Monk only.
- Thundergod’s Vigor (db) -- 10-15% more damage from Lightning skills. Belt.
- Raiment of a Thousand Storms -- 15% more Lightning Damage 4 piece set item bonus.
- Tal Rasha's Relentless Pursuit Item Set (db), two piece bonus. (Amulet, Helm, Belt, Chest Armor, Orb.)
- Arcane, Cold, Fire, and Lightning skills deal 5% more damage.
Physical Damage
Physical damage is dealt by a number of skills and by most pets. Witch Doctors get the most benefit from physical damage bonuses, if they go with a heavy-summoning zookeeper build.
- Andariel's Visage (db) -- 15-20% more damage to 1 or 7 elemental types. Helm.
- Eye of Etlich (db) -- 15-20% more damage from 1 or 7 elemental types. Amulet.
- Lidless Wall (db) -- 15-20% more elemental damage, 1 of 7 types. Shield.
- Stone of Jordan (db) -- 15-20% more damage from 1 of 7 elemental damage types. Ring.
- Doombringer(db) -- 15-20% more damage from Physical skills. One-handed sword.
Poison Damage
Poison damage gets by far the least elemental damage bonuses from gear, and is fairly uncommon as a skill damage type as well. Players who want more of this damage type often joke that Blizzard assigns the bonuses alphabetically and thus there are none left by the time they finally get to Physical and then Poison.
- Andariel's Visage (db) -- 15-20% more damage to 1 or 7 elemental types. Helm.
- Eye of Etlich (db) -- 15-20% more damage from 1 or 7 elemental types. Amulet.
- Lidless Wall (db) -- 15-20% more elemental damage, 1 of 7 types. Shield.
- Stone of Jordan (db) -- 15-20% more damage from 1 of 7 elemental damage types. Ring.
- Swamp Land Waders (db) -- 15-20% more damage from Poison skills.
Elemental Damage Balance
The utility and sheer number of items with each type of bonus is nowhere near balanced as of Patch 2.0.5 (May 2014.) There will never be total balance, since some elemental types are much more common than others, but the Diablo 3 developers have stated their goal to achieve a relatively equal balance between the elemental damage types.
At launch and up through Patch 2.0.5 Fire damage was the biggest of the damage types, followed closely by Lightning. Many patches at and after release have tweaked the skills damage types and item damage bonuses, and more are yet to come.
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