Understanding how poison damage works

I wrote this a while ago, but i didn't see a general tips section or anything so i'm sticking it here Not sure if anyone would use this much in depth but it's helpful.

Hi everyone, name's kody. This guide will hopefully help to alleviate the confusing business of understanding how poison damage is calculated.

V 1.0 -Up and running, waiting to find my many mistakes.

.Appendix
(type control + F and type in one of the following to skip to a section of the guide)
-1 Introduction
-2 Poison Calculation
-3 Poison Myths and General Nuances
-4 Final Notes and Tips
-5 How you can contact me

~Common Abbreviations~
fps = frames per second
avg.fps = average frames per second
dps/dpf = damage per second/frame
avg.dps/avg.dpf = average damage per second/frame





-1
*Introduction* (so just wtf is poison damage anyway?)

Alright, poison damage is the use of poison...to damage your enemies. Unlike the other elements, such as fire or lightning, poison is drawn out over a period of time, doing damage during its entire duration. What this means, is that with enough poison on your attacks, you can essentially hit an enemy once, then watch as their health slowly drops to nothing (or 1). An important thing to note is that while mass amounts of poison have the ability to drain an enemies life quickly, it will only reduce their health down to 1; if it's another character type. Monsters can die to poison, but other players will be left with one hp. Also realize that while this means poison damage itself can't kill you, it can pwn your merc, bringing him straight to death.



-2
~Poison Calculation~ (What the computer does when it sees (x psn damage over x seconds)

MELT DOWN, CAN'T UNDERSTAND!! NOOB HACKERXRS?!! 101001011101....nah, really, its quite simple once you get the hang of it.

First off, we must realize that while the item says poison damg in X amount of seconds, this is misleading. The computer actually calculates poison damage by frames per second. Diablo 2, being the shnazzy game that it is, runs in 25 frames per a second. This means that what your seeing on your screen is Reimprinted 25 times per a second. To understand the first steps in understanding how poison is calculated, we must convert the amount of time in seconds on the item to the amount of frames per a second. We do this as follows.(duration in seconds * 25) = length in fps(frames per second)

For example, let's pretend for a second that you are using a BlackBogs Sharp (488 poison damage over 10 seconds) we take the duration in seconds (10) and multipy it by 25 to get the duration in frames per second. (10seconds * 25 = 250fps) This means that the poison damage is being dealt over 250 frames. Now lets pretend you add a Grand charm that does 15 poison damg over 4 seconds, as well as a small charm that does 6 psn damg over 3 seconds. (Every source of poison should be accounted for seperately. Like if the BlackBogs is socketed with a tal rune(75 psn over 5 sec) then it would be accounted for individually and added to the rest for average fps) To find the average length in frames per a second of these items, you simply add their individual fps and then divide by the number of items.

Ex:[(BlackBogs 250fps) + (GC 100fps(4*25)) + (SC 75fps(3*25)) / 3] = 141.67 average frames per second (the avg length that damg is dealt)

(To convert from average fps back to seconds simply divide the avg fps by 25. This will give avg. lengh of poison duration in seconds)

Ex: (141.67 avg. fps)/25 = 15.74 Seconds


Ok, with me so far? Math not too complicated? Good. We now know how long our poison damg is dealt, but damnit, how much damg are we doing?
Again, lets look at this in frames per a second. To calculate poison damg on a single item is very simple. Take the amount of poison damage and divide by the frames per a second it takes to deal it. Example: (BlackBog 488 psn dmg / 250fps(10*25, remember?) = 1.952 psn dmg per frame.

You can then take that number in fps and multiply by 25 to find how much damg you are doing with that weapon, per second. (1.952*25 = 48.
then take that number and multiply by how many seconds the item has on it (48.8*10 = 488) and we arrive at a number that makes sense! Isn't math great people?

Now that we understand how to find the poison damg on a singular item, stepping up to multiple items is a breeze. Lets use the above example.

(BlackBog + GC 15 psn dmg over 4s + SC 6 psn dmg over 3s) First, start by finding the individual Damg per frame on each item.

(BlackBog = 1.952dpf above) |||| (GC = .15 dpf (15/100fps)) |||| (SC = .08 dpf (6/75fps))

You then add up the damage per a frame for each of these items ((1.952 + .15 + .08) = 2.182 total psn damg per frame)

This number can then be multiplied by the average fps of these items to find out the damage dealt over the amount of frames

(2.182 total dpf * 141.67 avg. fps found above, remember?) = 309.1 average poison damage over 141.67 frames.

Divide the number of frames by 25 and you get your avg. poison damg in seconds. (141.87/25 = 5.67seconds) Dealing 309.1 Dmg over 5.7 seconds.




-3
*Poison Myths and General Nuances* (So that means spamming ultra high psn charms roxors right?? (NO!))

So you've gotten this far and you may now be wondering, "Hey, if BlackBog is doing 488 psn damg itself, how did our total psn damage become lower in the end" Aha my friend, you have stumbled upon the pain and torture of poison. It is a commonly believed myth that stacking as many psn charms as you can, no matter their damg per sec, will make you come out on top. This is not always the case. Allow me to explain.

In the above scenario, we found the psn damage dealt if you used a BlackBogs, a GC, and a SC. Lets remove the GrandCharm from the equation and see what happens, eh?

Now we have the BlackBogs (488 over 10s(250fps)) and the SC(6 over 3s(75fps)) if we take their total fps and divide by 2, we get the avg. fps.
(325fps/2 = 162.5 avg. frames per second (the time damg is dealt in frames)

Finding the actual damg is the next step. Blackbog has an actual damg of 1.952 per frame(488/250 = 1.952) The sc has an actual damg of .08 per frame(6/75 = .08)

Add these together you get a damage of 2.032 per frame, over 162.5 frames. Next, multiply the damgPerFrame times the amount of FramesPerSecond and we get a total damage of 330.2 over a period of 162.5 frames, or 6.5 seconds.

Now, lets compare the two.

Using BlackBog + GC + SC we acheived a total damage of 309.1 dmg over 5.7 seconds.
Using only the BlackBog + SC, we acheived a total damage of 330.2 dmg over 6.5 seconds.

As you can see above, the time it takes a charm to deal its damage can outway the possible effects that might be gained by its amount of poison damage. Use this information to tailor your build to suit your needs. Would you prefer the max amount of poison damg possible, stretched over a longer period of time; or would you prefer to have slightly less poison dealt, though quicker. In this way, poison damage becomes ever changing and variable, requiring much trial and error to find what charms and gear will benefit you the most.



-4
~Final notes and tips~ (what can NOT be forgotten)

-A few quick things i wanna run by you again. Each source must be accounted for in calculating poison damage. This includes items that had their own poison damage, socketed with things that give poison damg. Treat them separately, calculating the fps and dmg per frame on each individual item.

-A general rule of thumb i like to stand by is to use charms and items with generally similar durations in psn length. This helps keep things equal and is recommended unless you have calculated what your poison damage will be and it appeals to you.

-So much of this information i have gained through my friends help as well as other guides over the years. I don't claim sole credit for any of this, just for putting it all together and making it understandable.



-5
*How You Can Contact Me*

Hey everyone! As this is my first version of this guide i am bound to have made some mistakes. Having spent so much time on this guide, i would greatly appreciate any and all comments, contructive or random. I tried my very best to make the math as simple to understand as possible, but it can still become confusing in parts, so any questions you have i will be more than happy to answer. Proof-reading, i do not believe that i have faulted in my calculations, thought if you find a mistake that i have made, please, let me know as soon as possible so i can fix it. If you need any extra help or would like to just say hi, drop me a PM. Kody

while this is neat and all... lol gj