[Guide] Moze's Damage Formulas

Hello Vault Hunter!

Welcome to a breakdown of Moze’s damage formulas!

Contents

Overview:

Final Damage Output = Bullet Damage + Bonus Element Damage + Short Fuse Damage


Bullet Damage:

Bullet Damage is the damage done by the actual pellet you fire.

Bullet Damage = Normal Hit x Special Multipliers x Splash x Elemental Multiplier x Critical Damage x Guardian Rank

Normal Hit:

Normal Hit = { Gun Card Damage x Gun Damage x Pearl Stacks x Weapon Charge Bonus x Amp } + Overkill

Gun Damage = 1 + Armored Infantry + Drowning in Brass + Desperate Measures + Phalanx Doctrine + Tenacious Defense + Scrappy + Click, Click… + Harmonious Havoc + Consecutive hits anoint + Class Mod Manufacturer Damage + Class Mod General Weapon Damage + Pearl Full Stack Bonus

Pearl Stacks = 1.01Stacks

  • All Amp damage modifiers are pure multipliers in the damage formula.
  • Gun Card Damage is what is listed on the weapon card.
  • Pearl Stacks cap at 15, at which point the Gun Damage portion also becomes active.
  • Weapon Charge Bonus is present on some Maliwan guns and the Ion Cannon.
  • Both Desperate Measures and Click, Click… scale linearly. Eg if your Health or Mag is 65% empty then you get 65% of the skills damage bonus.
  • For more info on Click, Click see Click, Click… Analysis & Math.
  • Class Mod Manufacturer Damage is all class mod stats of the form “+% ___ Weapon Damage”
  • Class Mod General Weapon Damage is all class mod stats of the form “+% Weapon Damage”
  • Normal Hit is calculated when the bullet is fired. The rest of the damage formula is calculated when the bullets impacts the target.

Special Multipliers:

There’s a couple categories here, I’ve condensed it under 1 tag as they tend to be relevant to more than just gun damage.

Special Multipliers = v1 x v2 x Debuff Gear x Debuff Perks

v1 = 1 + C-C-Combo bonus + Victory Rush + Terror Fire Rate and Damage Anoint + Flare

v2 = 1 + Class Mod Weapon Type Damage + Artifact Weapon Type Damage + 25% on Grenade Throw Anoint + 300% Damage vs Enemies above 90% Health + Icebreaker Damage vs Frozen Enemies

Debuff Perks = 1 + Harmageddon + Target Softening

Debuff Gear = 1 + Eruption + Servos Execute + It’s Piss

Weapon Type Damage is class mod and artifact bonuses to specific weapon types. They appear as “+% ___ Damage.”

Critical Damage:

Critical Damage = 2 x [1 + Critical hit anoints + Scorching RPM’s + Class Mod Critical Hit Bonus + Artifact Critical Hit Bonus + Guardian Rank Critical Hit Bonus] x [1 + While Airborne Crit Anoint] x [1 + Manufacturer Bonus] x [1 + Weapon Card Bonus] x [1 + Sniper Bonus]

  • Manufacturer Bonuses tend to be hidden, for instance all Jakobs guns have a 10% crit bonus of this type and Hyperion has a 5% crit bonus. No other manufacturer has a hidden bonus.

  • Weapon Card Bonuses are what is listed on the weapons item card.

  • The sniper bonus is 20% and is active on all snipers.

See here for a more in depth breakdown of critical hit damage.

Guardian Rank:

Guardian Rank = 1 + Guardian Rank Gun Damage

Splash

Splash = 1 + Torgue Cross Promotion + Class Mod Splash Damage + Artifact AOE Damage + Splash Anoints + Blast Master Splash Bonus

Elemental Multiplier:

  • Elemental bonuses are the typical elemental modifiers such as Fire on Flesh.
Cheat Sheet

If you are in any mayhem mode the game uses the true vault hunter mode values.

Note: Normal Mode Radiation vs Shields is actually 120%/

  • Artifact Elemental Damage can be both the stats on the card or the bonus from an Elemental projector. In the case where both are relevant the bonuses are added.

  • If the damage type is fire then Stoke the Embers fits in here.

Moze Fire Damage = Fire Damage Multiplier x [1 + Stoke the Embers + Artifact Incendiary Damage + Guardian Rank Elemental Bonus + Old God]

Else for general elemental damage:

Elemental Damage = Elemental Damage Multiplier x [1 + Artifact Elemental Damage + Guardian Rank Elemental Bonus + Old God]


Bonus Elements:

For each bonus element of a new element do this formula over using the new bonus element. You don’t want to be including bonus corrosive and bonus fire in 1 calculation.

Bonus Element Damage = Normal Hit x { [ [ Selfless Vengeance + Experimental Munitions + Cloud of Lead + { Big Surplus x Mayhem Scaling x Iron Bear Damage } + Anointment ] x Critical Damage] + [ Fire in The Skag Den x Mayhem Scaling x Iron Bear Damage] } x Special Multipliers x Elemental Modifiers x Guardian Rank

Bonus elemental damage has a few sources for Moze, the first of which is her skills which give Bonus Fire Damage such as Selfless Vengeance and Cloud of Lead. In game this will appear as a separate damage number if you’re not dealing fire damage.

The second source of bonus elemental damage comes from annointments. Moze’s bonus fire damage skills and the next 2 mags annointment function the same. The grenade and shield bonus elements however will not get the weapon type boosts. Fire in the Skag Den and Big Surplus are also exceptions as they do not get weapon type bonuses.

Fire in the Skag Den and Big Surplus Mayhem Scaling is currently 31 at Mayhem 10 and 11.

Any bonus element on your gun gets weapon type. Shield and Grenade Bonus elements do not.


Short Fuse Damage:

Short Fuse Damage = Short Fuse Damage + Short Fuse Bonus Fire Damage

Short Fuse Damage = 0.75 x Mayhem Scaling x Trigger Damage x Splash x Kinetic Damage Multiplier x Special Multipliers

  • Trigger Damage is the damage of the hit that triggers Short Fuse.

  • Short Fuse Mayhem Scaling is 5.5 at Mayhem 10 and 11.

Short Fuse Bonus Fire Damage = 0.75 x Trigger Damage x { Fire in The Skag Den + Big Surplus } x Mayhem Scaling x Iron Bear Damage x Moze Fire Damage x Special Multipliers

  • Fire in the Skag Den and Big Surplus Mayhem Scaling is 31 at Mayhem 10 and 11.

Not all bonus element anoints apply to Short Fuse, only 150% Rad damage, Green Monster and nade/shield bonus elements. Be aware that the nade and shield bonus elements do not receive the mayhem scaling multiplier. 150/50 and Green Monster receive the same mayhem scaling modifier as Short Fuse (5.5x at mayhem 10).

Short Fuse Bonus Element Damage = 0.75 x Trigger Damage x Bonus Elemental Damage % x Mayhem Scaling x Elemental Damage x Special Multipliers x Guardian Rank

  • Note that weapon type damage does not apply to Short Fuse’s bonus elements.

Mind Sweeper

MS Grenade Damage = [Triggering Crit Damage] x Splash x Grenade x Special Multipliers x Elemental Multiplier

  • Mind Sweeper nades inherit their element from the crit that triggered them. Once again Weapon Type Damage does not apply to the v2 that multiplies Mind Sweeper nades.

Iron Bear

You can find a more detailed breakdown and the original testing in Duk’s thread on Iron Bear Damage.

Iron Bear Damage = Base Damage x TYPE A x TYPE B x 4th Tree x Specialist x v1 x Splash x Critical Damage x Elemental Multiplier x Debuff Gear x Debuff Perks x Mayhem Scaling x Doubled Mult x Hard Point Anointment

Base Damage is the damage dealt by the hard point without any active damage multipliers.

TYPE A = 1 + Scorching RPMs + Stainless Steel Bear + Desperate Measures + Action Skill Damage + Dakka Bear + Raging Bear Damage

  • Raging Bear Caps at 50%

  • Desperate Measures is based off Iron Bears HP now. It was originally based off Moze’s hp, however this was changed.

TYPE B = 1 + Drowning in Brass + Phalanx Doctrine

  • Note all stacks must be built while in Iron Bear.

  • Phalanx Doctrine only applies to the pilots left arm.

4th Tree = 1 + Really Big Guns + Feature Creep

Specialist = 1 + Specialist Bear

v1 = 1 + C-C-Combo bonus + Flare

Splash = 1 + Torgue Cross Promotion + Class Mod Splash Damage + Artifact AOE Damage + Splash Anoints + Blast Master Splash Bonus

Critical Damage = 2 x ( 1 + { 2 x Scorching RPM’s Crit Bonus } )

Elemental Multiplier = Elemental Damage Multiplier x (1 + Stoke the Embers)

Debuff Perks = 1 + Target Softening

Debuff Gear = 1 + Eruption + Servos Execute + It’s Piss

Doubled Mult = 1 + Scorching RPM’s + Stainless Steel Bear + Dakka Bear

  • This multiplier is new and was added with the M2.0 Scaling patch, I am still uncertain if it is a bug or intended.

Hard Point Anointment = 1 + Hard Point Anoint

Iron Bear Mayhem Scaling is 31 at mayhem 10.


Iron Cub

Iron Cub Damage = Base Damage x TYPE A x Doubled Mult x TYPE B x 4th Tree x Specialist x v1 x Splash x Critical Damage x Elemental Multiplier x Debuff Gear x Debuff Perks x Mayhem Scaling x Hard Point Anointment

Base Damage is the damage dealt by the hard point without any active damage multipliers. Iron Cub’s Base damage is 70% of Iron Bear’'s when using the same hard point.

TYPE A = 1 + Scorching RPMs + Stainless Steel Bear + Desperate Measures + Action Skill Damage on COM + Dakka Bear

  • Desperate Measures is based off Iron Cubs HP now.

Doubled Mult = 1 + Scorching RPM’s + Stainless Steel Bear

TYPE B = 1 + Drowning in Brass + Phalanx Doctrine

  • Note all stacks must be built while in Iron Bear.

  • Phalanx Doctrine only applies to the pilots left arm.

4th Tree = 1 + Really Big Guns + Feature Creep

Specialist = 1 + Specialist Bear

v1 = 1 + C-C-Combo bonus

Splash = 1 + Torgue Cross Promotion + Class Mod Splash Damage + Artifact AOE Damage + Splash Anoints + Blast Master Splash Bonus

Critical Damage = 2 x ( 1 + { 2 x Scorching RPM’s Crit Bonus } )

Elemental Multiplier = Elemental Damage Multiplier x (1 + Stoke the Embers)

Debuff Perks = 1 + Target Softening

Debuff Gear = 1 + Eruption + Servos Execute + It’s Piss

Hard Point Anointment = 1 + Hard Point Anoint

Iron Cub Mayhem Scaling is 31 at mayhem 10 and 11.


Auto Bear

Auto Bear was tested with Iron Bear as the triggering AS. There has been no testing to ascertain whether differences exist when Auto Bear is deployed at the end of Cub’s uptime.

Auto Bear Damage = Base Damage x TYPE A x Specialist x Splash x Critical Damage x Elemental Multiplier x Debuff Gear x Debuff Perks x Mayhem Scaling x Doubled Mult

The composition of some of the above multipliers differ from Iron Bear, below I have only listed the multipliers that differ. Please note that Flare does not apply to Auto Bear.

TYPE A = 1 + Scorching RPM’s + Dakka Bear + Stainless Steel Bear + Action Skill Damage

Specialist = 1 + Specialist Bear

Critical Damage = 2

Elemental Multiplier = Elemental Damage Multiplier

Debuff Perks = 1 + Target Softening + Harmageddon

Doubled Mult = 1 + Dakka Bear

  • This multiplier is new and was added with the M2.0 Scaling patch, I am still uncertain if it is a bug or intended.

Anyone interested in the generalized gun damage formula for Borderlands 3: [Guide] Borderlands 3 Damage Formulas

You can find an in depth breakdown on FL4K’s damage formula here [Guide] FL4K's Damage Formula

21 Likes

Great resource. Couple of things: Short Fuse Bonus Fire Damage looks like it should use Short Fuse Grenade Damage rather than Short Fuse Damage (as Short Fuse Damage is already dependent on Short Fuse Bonus Fire Damage). Also little spelling correction: “Guardian”.

Thanks.

Wow, I foresee myself happily losing many hours plugging data into this spreadsheet. You’re a fantastic human being. Thank you for sharing your hard work!

If I wanted to compare dps for COMs having different fire-rates, should I multiply the resulting gun damage by the fire-rate? I’m really curious if I can find a Marksman Com that can out-damage some of the others COMs I have.

Yeah, although you’d need to incorporate the reload time too. A faster fire rate also reloads more often. The fire rate boost will always up the dps, but it won’t up it by exactly the fire rate boost. If that makes sense?

1 Like

It does make sense. (But I never reload :slight_smile: )

2 Likes

For mobbing, I think reload times don’t need to be considered because for Moze at least, she almost never requires more than 1 mag to kill an enemy. And it would complicate calculations because not only do you have to account for reload times, you have to account for Mag Size, Cloud of Lead and more importantly, interaction with MoD, Redis and Forge which can be very difficult to figure out.

2 Likes

So, if I have used your excel spreadsheet properly (which I wouldn’t bet on), a Marksman with +4 Scorching RPMs and a passive 13% fire rate buff requires you to lose health gating in order to outperform a Bloodletter with a +2 Desperate Measures and Deathless, and it only outperforms it in crit damage. (Presumably this makes it better for farming Graveward, but that’s not saying much…)

I assumed fire-rate bonuses are added together for a Super Shredifier with a base fire rate of 16.98 * (1.1 + 0.27 + 0.13) . (These being an anointment, +9 Scorching RPMs and the mod’s passive). It also had a 15% fire rate listed on the weapons card, but I don’t know if that is already included in the base fire-rate.

I’m disappointed because that fire-rate was delicious.

That sounds about right. Guardian Rank Fire Rate factors in somehow but I don’t know if it’s multiplicative or not, I also wouldn’t want to guess considering how GR is not consistent on everything else.

The last thing to consider is fire rate soft caps. They’re less of a worry at 60fps but for 30 fps they can make a large difference. If you’re not familiar soft capping occurs because a gun can’t fire in between frames.

You can generate soft caps by dividing your frame rate by whole numbers hence the fire rate soft caps are:

30 fps: 30, 15, 10, 7.5, 6, 5, 4.29 …
60 fps: 60, 30, 20, 15, 12, 10, 8.57, 7.5 …

If the Marksman is able to push into a higher frame rate soft cap it might outperform the Bloodletter because of hardware limitations.

Note it’s been a while since I’ve done anything with soft capping so I might have made a mistake, however the idea holds.

I’ve updated the OP.

I’ve added how splash and aoe bonuses from gear factor. Elemental bonuses are also now included.

Short Fuse is affected by the splash multiplier and by the kinetic elemental multiplier, I’ve updated the formula to account for this.

Critical hits have also been updated, the original formula I listed misplaced guardian ranks and did not include Sniper Rifles bonus modifier, this has been corrected.

Class mod bonuses have been separated. I was originally unaware of how they apply at different points in the formula.

4 Likes

I just want to let you know I really appreciate having someone like you around here who’s into the number crunching.

My personal method of testing, just trying ■■■■ and see what happens is fun and all, but math doesn’t lie, it’s really nice to know the numbers.

4 Likes

I know I am a bit late to replying to this thread but I was curious, how did you determine that Guardian Rank Gun Damage was applied as its own thing after Critical Damage?

I can’t determine the order that the game multiplies numbers, the result is the same regardless of order.

As for how I determined that the bonus isn’t part of a previous grouping: I systematically applied a bonus for each of the categories and compared my expected result with the games result. The only way my results where accurate was when Guardian Rank was alone at the end.

Yeah general order of the multiplication shouldn’t matter but its interesting to me that it only makes sense applied as its own thing, I thank you for putting this together and for the reply!

Another quick question if you dont mind, how did you come to the conclusion with the bonus fire damage being added after the final hit calculation for moze, and did you find this to only be the case with moze’s bonus incendiary from skill trees?

There’s actually an error currently which I need to fix. Bonus fire damage gets everything but the elemental damage modifier of the initial hit. It always gets the fire elemental modifier but the base hit could be any element.

The calculation I’ve found to be the same for all bonus elemental damage. So annointments can be calculated by replacing

[ Selfless Vengeance + Experimental Munitions + Cloud of Lead ]

With the percent elemental bonus.

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I don’t exactly if your method would equal the same thing but after doing some numbers tests of my own I came to the conclusion that adding the bonus elemental damage (at least on fl4k but i would imagine others) to your base damage (the damage on the weapon card) and then carrying through with the formula equals the same numbers in practice when taking the separate elemental multipliers into account. Would you be willing to look at my formula and change the bonus elemental part to match your method (I’m not sure if I understand fully) to see if we get around the same number?

Your method is equivalent to what I described in my above post. Changing the base damage is the same as using a multiplicative modifier to change the whole equation.

Okay it was confusing me a bit so I wasn’t quite sure, as long as its the same then thats all I needed to hear. I thank you for bearing with me and answering these questions again, this has been super helpful!