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Diablo 4 Overpower Damage Explained

Updated: Jul 20, 2023 10:43 am
Diablo 4 Overpower Damage Explained

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In this guide we’ll explain ‘what is overpower damage in Diablo 4’. One of the many mechanics in Diablo 4 is overpower damage. When you want to hit enemies hard and deal some bonus damage, this mechanic comes in handy. But what exactly is it? What is overpower damage in Diablo 4?

What is overpower damage in Diablo 4?

If you check the in-game stats, it will tell you that overpower damage “deals bonus damage based on the sum of your current life and Fortify.” You start off with a small chance for overpowering to take effect. This percentage can increase based on your stats. This seems to be a way to allow tankier classes like the Barbarian and tanky builds for other classes to have a way to deal decent damage without sacrificing their health.

The menu also states that only certain abilities cause the overpower damage bonus. “Damage over time, passive abilities, and channeled skills cannot overpower.” To increase the damage number of your overpower skill, you will want to increase your willpower.

The best way to use overpower is to try to stay at full health. While at full health, build up your fortified life and trigger an overpower attack. Then, simply use a skill that does a lot of damage like Blood Lance. This will deal a lot of physical damage to your opponents. You can guarantee overpower attacks thanks to some weapon effects.

If you manage to get critical strikes, these will show up as yellow. Overpower damage is shown as light-blue numbers but a critical overpower is shown as orange numbers. This can lead to a bit of confusion on if you crit normally or hit an overpower crit, but you shouldn’t have to worry as long as stuff is still dying.

You will only need to worry about overpower if your build for a class is taking advantage of it. There are even some classes, like the rouge, that won’t really deal with overpower at all and you won’t need to even think about it.

How is overpower damage calculated in Diablo 4?

It’s quite simple, overpower damage stacks with the original skill that triggered it. On top of that skill damage, 50% is stacked on top which provides extra overkill to enemies. This is a great mechanic to tact onto a build who comes across tanky and aggressive enemies. With the additional 50% you can manage to slash health down a lot to make your enemies far more manageable.

How do you increase Overpower chance in Diablo 4?

With Overpower, every attack has a 3% chance to trigger, there seems to be debate within the community if there is a case where you can increase Overpower however there is no chance currently, especially for base.

Is overpower worth it in Diablo 4?

Overpower seems to be a very situational mechanic that Blizzard have added in. If you enjoy a tanky, more bruiser play style this mechanic could prove to be incredible with the damage stacks and multipliers. Some of the community around Diablo have expressed that overpower is deemed ‘unnecessary’ said user G1FTfromtheG0DS with other mechanics such as Lucky Hit and Critical Strike becoming more redundant.

What is overpower damage in Diablo 4?

Overpower damage is damage that “deals bonus damage based on the sum of your current life and Fortify”

How is overpower damage calculated in Diablo 4?

Overpower damage adds an additional base 50% damage stacked on top of the base skill damage you inflicted on enemies. This is great for making enemies more manageable with their health.


Aden is an avid gamer with a love for RPGs. He isn't afraid to scour the dungeon or raid the castle.

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