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[2.3] Strategy, Tactics and Quests, Oh My!
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Calculating Damage Per Second
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In order to truly understand how much damage you are doing, you must learn to 
calculate DPS (damage per second). Since weapon damage is dependant on your 
ability stats and class levels, it will vary from person to person. However, 
you can compare two different weapons for your character by equipping each 
and calculating DPS for each.

DPS can be calculated with this formula:

(((MAX DMG - MIN DMG) / 2) + MIN DMG) / SPEED

Where

MAX DMG = Maximum damage of the weapon
MIN DMG = Minimum damage of the weapon
SPEED   = Speed factor of the weapon according to the following table*:

Speed        Factor
------       ------
Slow          0.9
Normal        0.73
Fast          0.67
Faster        0.625

* These factors are the "reload" times of the weapons taken from the 
wpn_bases.gas game data file. It is the time, in seconds, it takes to 
"reload" the weapon and attack again.

For example, you want to calculate DPS between a bow and crossbow. Bows are 
Faster weapons while crossbows are Slow; but crossbows do more damage. Your 
34th level ranger has a crossbow with a damage range of 97 to 165 and a bow 
with a damage range of 78 - 134. The speed factor of the bow is 0.625 and the 
crossbow is 0.9. The DPS of each weapon is:

Crossbow: (((165 - 97) / 2) + 97) / 0.9   = 145.5
Bow:      (((134 - 78) / 2) + 78) / 0.625 = 169.6

As you can see, the bow in this case is clearly superior under normal 
circumstances. 

Now let's consider a 34th level fighter choosing between a one-handed and 
two-handed weapon. The 2h weapon has a damage range of 90 to 143, the 1h is 
67 to 105. Two-handed weapons have a speed factor of 0.9 and 1h is 0.67:

2h: (((143 - 90) / 2) + 90) / 0.9  = 129.4
1h: (((105 - 67) / 2) + 67) / 0.67 = 128.6

The DPS of the weapons are almost identical. However, the 1h weapon allows 
the fighter to use a shield, thus drastically increasing armor ratings. On 
the other hand, the 2h weapon can stun enemies and would be greatly superior 
used with Brutal Strike.

The upshot of all this: when choosing among several weapons, equip each one 
and run the formula. Take the one with the higher DPS or one with only 
slightly less DPS but more bonus enhancements. In the long run, the faster 
your enemies die, the better off you'll be.


It's all about the armor, baby!
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No matter how much DPS you're dishing out, some enemies still take a long 
time to die because they have thousands of health points to your measly 
hundreds. So, while you're beating them to pulp, you don't want them 
returning the favor. There are three ways to keep your blood where it belongs 
(inside your veins):

1) Armor
2) Dodging
3) Resistances/Reflections

Now, why are they in that order?

Simple: Armor is king.

Yes, a chance to dodge melee/ranged attacks is nice. And all the various 
resistances are nice (especially physical damage resistance). But, when push 
comes to shove, you just don't want to get hit in the first place. Resisting 
20% of an attack that does 500 damage still leaves you 400 health points 
poorer. Dodging 25% of four attacks launched against you still leaves you to 
grin-and-bear three attacks.

A well-armored tank can stand in the middle of a mob and lay about with his 
weapon and take almost no damage. See, the vast majority of enemies you face 
in DS2 are melee or ranged attackers. There really aren't that many 
spellcasters outside of the bosses. And they usually have such crappy armor 
and health (sort of like your own mages) that they go down pretty quickly.

It's all the mutant dogs and kangaroos and sword fighters and archers that 
come at you in droves that can really make your life miserable. That's why 
you need armor, and lots of it. When picking out equipment, favor the stuff 
that increases your armor rating over anything else.