Weapon Damage Formula - Update for 1.5 (Weapon +% Damage Perks Buffed)

Note: Currently, this change only seems to apply to Ranged weapons. Melee weapons still seem to be using the old damage formula. This could just be a visual bug in the menus. Testing required.

Following on from my previous post, patch 1.5 has changed the weapon damage formula to improve the effectiveness of +% Damage perks found on weapons.

Previously, these bonuses were additive with Offense, so +10% Damage was equivalent to +10 Offense. At high Offense values, this made only a miniscule difference to effective damage.

These bonuses now appear to be additive with Hero bonuses - This includes the inherent Soldier +10% Ranged Damage as well as +% Damage bonuses from Hero perks and support bonuses. This makes +% Damage weapon perks much more effective. As a side-effect, this reduces the importance of the Soldier's class bonus, narrowing the gap in ranged damage with other classes.

Old formula:

Damage = ( BaseDamage + EvolutionDamage ) * 
         ( 1 + (WeaponLevel-1) * 0.05 ) * 
         ( 1 + Offense/100 + SurvivorBonuses + WeaponDamageBonuses ) * 
         ( 1 + HeroDamageBonuses )

Patch 1.5 formula:

Damage = ( BaseDamage + EvolutionDamage ) * 
         ( 1 + (WeaponLevel-1) * 0.05 ) * 
         ( 1 + Offense/100 + SurvivorBonuses ) * 
         ( 1 + HeroDamageBonuses + WeaponDamageBonuses )

This is a substantial change to the contribution of +% Damage and I suspect will cause a shift in the "best roll" meta for weapon perks.

While Crit Chance and Crit Damage are still good options, especially together, +% Damage is certainly no longer a trash perk, and may prove to be among the best. This may even be an over-buff, launching it to the top of the list. More math required.

Edit: A quick in-game test of melee suggests that it is still using the old formula. I expect this is an oversight and will be patched later. Don't recycle all your melee schematics just yet!