Everything is in title.

To clarify a little more, I have the legendary weapon "Pig Sticker", with the two following affix : +30% damage against Humans +25% Damage against Beasts

So it gives +25% damage against any beasts (dark moon clan warrior, spiders, cursed nest, etc.) Those mobs are beasts because the have the affix "Beast"

But what about their elite version? Elite versions have their special elite affix (molten, avenger, etc.), but no Beast affix. So are they still considered Beasts, and does the bonus against beast apply to them?

Secondary question, if Bonus damage against Beast applies to elites: How does it interact with Bonus Damage against elites? Additively or multiplicatively?


So I found out for the first part.

I found an easy testing method. Although my raw DPS was too random to test anything, I could use a little trick.

If you don't know, hydra have a fixed attack speed and damage. Each of the head make the same damage and it takes everything into account (even your attack speed while hydra's AS remains the same) The damage of the heads is calculated when cast. That means hydra damage is fixed and very reliable.

The test method is as follow. I only equipped the weapon (which does +25% bonus damage against beasts). So I found myself with a really low DPS and fixed damage (when it doesn't crit, but even crit damage are fixed). Then you need to run and/or have a friend to tank things.

I tested the damage on different type of mobs. Those with which I don't have any bonus and beasts mobs. I did 36 599 damage when no bonus and 45 749 to beasts, which is exactly +25% damage. I then tried hitting different type of elite beast-like mobs (elite with the same model than beasts, but without the beast affix). On unique, yellow and blue I did 45 749 damage, which means the +25% bonus applied on them. That also means elite keeps the type their model belongs to, they just doesn't show it in the affix. So, yeah, bonus damage against {Mob type} apply to elite mobs of the same type.

As a side note, this also means "Pig Sticker" (+X% dmg against beats/human) and Tyrael (+X% damage against demons) can be more powerful than anything else because they provide a big bonus you don't find anywhere else, and which works against elite. I need to find item who does bonus damage against undead and reaper now.


Now, the secondary question: How does "Bonus damage against Beasts" interact with "Bonus Damage against elite"? Additively or multiplicatively?

Just to explain, I'm wondering about that second question because we can think: - dmg vs Beats and dmg vs elites are two distinct bonus and thus should be multiplicative. OR - dmg vs Beats and dmg vs elites are both dmg vs {mob type}, they are the same bonus and so are additively.

So, I tested with the same method using "Pig Sticker" (+25% against beasts) and "Unity ring" (+4% against elites). The results are as follow: - Undead: 72 207 dmg - Beast: 90 259 dmg - Elite Beast: 93 870 dmg

Basically, that means I did +25% damage against beast compared to undead. +4% damage to elite beast compared to beast. and +30% damage to elite beast compared to undead.

So yes: "Bonus damage against {mob type}" and "Bonus Damage against elite" are considered two different type of bonus for the game. And so they stack multiplicatively. (1.25 * 1.04 = 1.30)


Yes, damage bonuses stack. In addition, different damage bonuses seem to be multiplicative while bonus damage of the same type is multiplicative additive. For example, if you have 1 piece with 50% bonus damage to elites and another with 50% bonus damage to elites, you would have 100% bonus damage to elites. If instead the second piece was 50% bonus damage to demons, then against demon elites you would do 1.5*1.5 = 2.25 of your normal damage, or you'd get 125% bonus damage.

Some of the different bonus damage types include damage to elites, damage to slowed mobs (dh passive I think), damage to chilled mobs (wizard passive), bonus damage (buff type spells, like Magic Weapon for wizards), damage to demons, and the affix that says something like "Cold skills do xx% more damage". The zuni boots affix is treated a little differently, as others have stated, but it is similar in that those type of affixes are added before determining the bonus damage, even if the affixes are different elemental types, like fire, arcane, cold, poison, etc. The only real difference is that it only applies to the physical damage you do, so weapons with +arcane damage or any other elemental type won't benefit from those affixes as much as one with just +min/max damage.

  • Damage boosts work differently depending on the type, there's a good thread on the diablo 3 wizard forms that goes over the exact damage formula. But in this case, you are correct in the iteraction. – l I Apr 10 '14 at 13:23
  • Thanks but ... But that doesn't answer my question at all (Did you even read it?) Also, Yes, different bonus damage type stack multiplicatively while same bonus damage stack additively (Concerning Bonus vs Elite, that's only 1 or 2 days old thought). But if "bonus damage vs Beast" works against elite (if and only if), then it's possible that "bonus damage vs Beast" and "bonus damage vs Elite" belongs to the same category and thus stacks additively (That's my secondary question in OP). Thanks for the help anyway. – Divinicus Apr 10 '14 at 17:17
  • Ok, I'm sorry, I'm the one who didn't read or understood you completely. You're answering my second question. But are you sure Bonus dmg against Beasts and Bonus dmg against Elites isn't considered the same type of bonus by the game, and thus stack additively? Did you test it or have valid reference for it? Again, thanks for the help. – Divinicus Apr 10 '14 at 20:18
  • @z- Could you add the link to the thread in D3 forums you referenced in your comment above? – DiabloMonkey Apr 14 '14 at 14:12
  • @DiabloMonkey I can't access d3 forums right now, but if you go to the wizard subform its one of the stickied ones about mechanics. – l I Apr 14 '14 at 15:03

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