Calculate burst DPS, sustained DPS, crit damage, hit-chance adjusted damage per second, weak-point or headshot scaling, reload-aware DPS.
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DPS comparison tool Use this DPS calculator as a damage per second calculator, weapon DPS calculator, crit damage checker, and time to kill calculator. Compare burst DPS, reload-aware sustained DPS, hit-chance adjusted DPS, weak-point or headshot scaling, and estimated TTK for any game that uses base damage, attack speed, crit chance, and crit multiplier.
Quick examples
Burst DPS inputs
Start with damage per hit, attacks per second, crit chance, and crit multiplier. This gives you the fastest way to compare raw burst DPS and crit-adjusted average damage before real-hit assumptions are applied.
Accuracy, headshot, and weak-point assumptions
Keep hit chance at 100% for a clean tooltip DPS calculation, or lower it to model missed shots. Use weak-point chance and multiplier for headshots, critical weak spots, or any bonus that only lands on some hits.
Optional sustained-fire and TTK inputs
Add magazine size and reload time to compare burst DPS with sustained DPS. Add target health to estimate time to kill. Leave optional fields at 0 to hide those advanced metrics.
What this model includes
Burst DPS from damage times attack speed, plus crit-adjusted average damage.
Combat-adjusted DPS from optional hit chance and weak-point or headshot assumptions.
Sustained DPS when you enter a magazine size and reload or cooldown time.
Target-health context so you can compare estimated time to kill instead of only raw DPS.
Quick crit checkpoints at common crit-chance levels with the same multiplier.
APS-based comparisons that work for melee swings, projectiles, and ability rotations.
Before you compare two builds
If your game shows fire rate in RPM, divide by 60 to get attacks per second.
Use magazine size `1` and a cooldown as reload time to model single-cast abilities.
Time to kill uses your hit-chance setting, but still does not include armour, movement, or damage falloff.
Result
250 burst DPS
25% crit chance at 2x crit damage adds 50 DPS over the non-crit baseline before hit chance and weak-point assumptions.
Base DPS
200
Crit-adjusted burst DPS
250
Combat-adjusted burst DPS
250
100% hit chance
Crit bonus DPS
50
+25%
Average damage per hit
125
100 base hit
Landed-hit average
125
0% weak-point chance at 2x
Hits per minute
120
Damage per minute
15,000
Effective crit multiplier
1.25x
Effective weak-point multiplier
1x
Crit chance checkpoints
These rows keep the current crit multiplier and show how expected burst DPS changes if the crit chance moves.
Scenario
Crit chance
Expected burst DPS
0% crit
0%
200
25% crit
25%
250
50% crit
50%
300
75% crit
75%
350
100% crit
100%
400
How to read the extra outputs
Burst DPS assumes continuous attacking with no reload or cooldown downtime.
Combat-adjusted burst DPS applies hit chance and weak-point or headshot assumptions after crit scaling.
Sustained DPS averages damage across a full magazine plus the reload or cooldown window.
Target-health timing is an estimate based on expected damage, so real fights can vary with armour, movement, overkill, or damage falloff.
DPS calculator guide: burst DPS, sustained DPS, crit damage, and time to kill
A DPS calculator helps you compare raw damage per second, crit-adjusted burst DPS, and reload-aware sustained DPS without relying on vague weapon impressions. This page also works as a damage per second calculator, weapon DPS calculator, and crit damage calculator because it lets you test attack speed, crit scaling, reload downtime, and target-health time-to-kill assumptions in one place.
What this DPS calculator measures
This page starts with the core numbers that most games expose directly: damage per hit, attacks per second, crit chance, and crit multiplier. Those inputs are enough to estimate burst DPS, average damage per hit after crits, and the extra damage your crit stats add over a non-crit baseline.
The calculator then adds two practical layers that many simple DPS tools ignore. Magazine size plus reload time let you compare burst DPS with sustained DPS, and target health lets you estimate time to kill instead of stopping at one abstract damage-per-second number. That matters because many weapons look strong in a one-second snapshot but fall behind once reload downtime or a larger health pool enters the picture.
How DPS is calculated
Base DPS is the simplest part of the model: damage per hit multiplied by attacks per second. Crit-adjusted burst DPS uses expected value, which means the calculator multiplies base DPS by the average effect of your crit chance and crit multiplier over many hits rather than treating every attack as either a guaranteed crit or a guaranteed non-crit.
When you add magazine size and reload time, the calculator estimates sustained DPS by averaging damage across one full firing cycle. If you enter target health, the page converts those DPS outputs into an estimated burst time to kill and, where relevant, a sustained time to kill that reflects reload downtime.
Base DPS = Damage per hit x Attacks per second
The non-crit baseline before reloads, cooldowns, or target mitigation are considered.
Crit-adjusted burst DPS = Base DPS x (1 + Crit chance x (Crit multiplier - 1))
Uses average crit value rather than assuming every hit crits.
Sustained DPS = Damage per magazine / (Time to empty magazine + Reload time)
Useful when reload or cooldown downtime materially changes real combat output.
Burst DPS versus sustained DPS
Burst DPS tells you how hard a weapon, skill, or combo hits while it is actively firing. Sustained DPS tells you what happens after reloads, cooldowns, or forced downtime are included. If a weapon empties quickly and spends a long time reloading, sustained DPS can be much lower than burst DPS even when the headline damage looks impressive.
This difference is one of the biggest reasons players mis-rank weapons. A shotgun, launcher, or hard-hitting ability can dominate a burst window but lose over a longer boss phase. A weapon with slightly lower burst DPS may outperform over time if it reloads quickly, has a larger magazine, or keeps more of its damage active without interruption. That is why a reload-aware DPS calculator is more useful than a page that only multiplies damage by fire rate.
How crit chance and crit multiplier work together
Crit chance and crit multiplier are linked, not independent bonuses. Raising crit chance makes the crit multiplier happen more often, while raising crit multiplier makes each successful crit worth more. The calculator treats them as one expected-value system, which is why balanced crit builds often outperform a setup that pushes one stat while neglecting the other.
Average damage per hit is useful here because it translates the crit formula back into a weapon-level number. If your base hit is 100 and the expected crit-adjusted hit is 125, you can read that as a clean summary: your crit package is worth 25 extra damage on every hit on average over time. That also makes it easier to estimate hits to kill against a target-health pool.
Hit chance, headshots, and weak-point damage
Tooltip DPS assumes every attack connects. Real combat usually does not. The hit-chance control lets you turn a clean damage per second calculator into a more practical effective DPS estimate by reducing output for missed shots, dodged attacks, accuracy loss, or mechanics that only let part of your rotation land.
The weak-point inputs cover headshots, exposed cores, back attacks, precision hits, or any game mechanic where a percentage of landed hits receives a separate multiplier. Keeping this separate from crit chance matters because many games treat crits and headshots as different systems. If your game combines them into one stat, leave weak-point chance at 0% and put the full bonus into the crit fields instead.
Use the combat-adjusted burst DPS card when comparing two loadouts under realistic aiming assumptions. Use the crit-adjusted burst DPS card when you want the cleaner theorycraft value before accuracy, headshot rate, or weak-point consistency are considered.
Worked example: 35 damage, 10 attacks per second, 15% crit, 1.5x crits, 30 shots
Start with the burst side. At 35 damage per hit and 10 attacks per second, base DPS is 350. A 15% crit chance with a 1.5x crit multiplier raises the expected damage per hit to 37.625, which pushes crit-adjusted burst DPS to 376.25 before hit chance or weak-point assumptions are applied.
Now add realism. If the preset assumes 85% hit chance and a 20% chance to land a 1.75x weak-point hit, combat-adjusted burst DPS lands around 367.78. A 30-shot magazine empties in 3 seconds at 10 attacks per second, but once you include the 2-second reload, sustained DPS drops to about 220.67. Against a 500 HP target, burst time to kill is about 1.36 seconds, while sustained time to kill stretches to about 2.27 seconds because reload downtime finally matters.
When this calculator is most useful
Use it when you are comparing weapons with different fire rates, testing whether crit investment is worth more than raw damage, or deciding whether reload speed is a larger weakness than it first appears. It also works for ability rotations, spells, and single-cast skills if you treat the cooldown as reload time and set the magazine size to 1.
It is also useful for reading patch notes or build changes. If a weapon loses damage per hit but gains attack speed, or if a skill keeps the same burst damage but gets a longer cooldown, the calculator helps you see whether the real result is a gain, a wash, or a hidden nerf once sustained output is measured.
What this calculator does not model
This is still a general-reference DPS model rather than a game-specific combat simulator. It does not include armour or armor reduction, resistances, hit chance, projectile travel time, animation locks, damage falloff, buffs with partial uptime, elemental conversions, or game-specific proc systems. Those mechanics can change the real winner between two builds even when raw DPS looks clear.
Time to kill is also an estimate, not a replay of real combat. It assumes your average damage output lands consistently across the target-health pool. In actual play, missed shots, overkill, weak-point bonuses, movement, or forced downtime can all shift the result. Treat the output as a strong comparison baseline, then layer your game's own combat rules on top.
Frequently asked questions
What is DPS in gaming?
DPS means damage per second. It is the rate at which a weapon, skill, or build deals damage over time, and it is one of the fastest ways to compare offensive output across different loadouts or playstyles.
What is the difference between burst DPS and sustained DPS?
Burst DPS measures damage while you are actively attacking with no downtime included. Sustained DPS averages damage across reloads or cooldowns, so it is usually lower but often more realistic for boss fights, long encounters, or repeated combat cycles.
How do reload time and magazine size affect DPS?
Reload time creates periods where your damage output drops to zero, while magazine size determines how long you can keep firing before that downtime starts. A small magazine with a long reload can drag sustained DPS far below burst DPS even when the weapon's base damage looks excellent.
How do crit chance and crit multiplier work together?
Crit chance controls how often critical hits happen, and crit multiplier controls how much extra damage those critical hits deal. The two stats scale together because more crit chance makes the multiplier matter more often, and more crit multiplier makes each successful crit matter more.
Should hit chance be included in a DPS calculator?
Include hit chance when you want effective DPS rather than clean tooltip DPS. A 300 DPS weapon at 80% hit chance behaves more like 240 expected DPS before other bonuses, which can change time-to-kill comparisons dramatically.
Are headshots the same as crits in this calculator?
Not necessarily. Many games treat headshots or weak points separately from critical hits, so this page gives them separate chance and multiplier fields. If your game merges those systems, put the combined bonus in the crit fields and leave weak-point chance at 0%.
Does higher attack speed always beat higher damage per hit?
No. Damage per hit and attack speed are both part of the same DPS equation, so neither one automatically wins. Higher attack speed can help with procs, smoother output, or less wasted overkill, while higher damage per hit can be better for armour breakpoints, ammo efficiency, or shorter burst windows.
How do I convert RPM into attacks per second?
Divide RPM by 60. For example, a weapon that fires 600 rounds per minute is effectively firing 10 attacks or shots per second for DPS calculations.
Can I use this DPS calculator for spells or abilities?
Yes. If an ability deals one hit per cast, use the damage as damage per hit, the cast rate as attacks per second, and model cooldown as reload time. Setting magazine size to 1 is a simple way to convert a cooldown-based ability into the sustained-DPS view.
What does time to kill mean in this calculator?
Time to kill estimates how long it takes to remove a target-health pool with your current average damage output. It is useful because two weapons with similar burst DPS can perform differently once reloads, cooldowns, or larger health pools are involved.
Why can real in-game damage feel lower than the calculator result?
Because real combat includes misses, armour or armor mitigation, movement, weak-point logic, damage falloff, buffs with partial uptime, and game-specific mechanics that a general DPS model does not simulate. The calculator is a comparison baseline, not a replacement for live combat testing.
What is a good DPS in most games?
There is no universal threshold. A good DPS number depends entirely on the game's own damage scale, target health, and encounter design. The best use of this page is comparing options inside the same game or build system rather than comparing numbers across unrelated games.
