Average Damage vs Skill Damage in Metin2
Explain why normal-hit and skill-focused bonuses should be tested in separate scenarios.

Which Damage Bonus Should You Pick?
This guide helps you choose between Average Damage and Skill Damage. Both are important Metin2 bonuses, boosting different aspects of your character's power. Understanding their differences is key to optimizing your gear and making smart choices. This isn't just about raw numbers; it's about optimizing your character for specific roles, whether that's farming, bossing, or PvP. The right choice can significantly improve your efficiency and combat effectiveness.
Understanding Average Damage
Average Damage (Avg. Dam.) directly boosts your normal attack damage. It's crucial if you auto-attack monsters or players. It adds a percentage to your weapon's base attack. Classes relying on consistent auto-attacks benefit most, making every swing hit harder. Key for physical damage builds like Body Warriors, Mental Warriors, and Dagger Ninjas who rely on sustained damage. This bonus scales well with attack speed and critical hit chance, providing a steady stream of high damage. It's often preferred for farming large groups of monsters or for boss fights where you can consistently auto-attack.
Understanding Skill Damage
Skill Damage (Skill Dam.) boosts your character's active skills. This applies to abilities like Dragon's Roar or Dark Protection. If you spam skills, Skill Dam. is your priority. PvP characters stack Skill Dam. for burst. It's key for skill-focused classes, making big hits even bigger. This includes Weapon Sura, Black Magic Sura, Dragon Shaman, and Healing Shaman. Skill Damage is vital for clearing high-HP mobs quickly or for delivering decisive blows in PvP. It's less about sustained damage and more about powerful, impactful abilities.
Why You Need Separate Tests
You cannot simply combine Average Damage and Skill Damage. They affect different damage types. An Avg. Dam. bonus won't boost skills. A Skill Dam. bonus won't improve normal attacks. Test them in separate combat situations to see their true impact. Prevents wasted upgrade slots and ensures you're not misinterpreting their value. Trying to apply a skill bonus to an auto-attack build, or vice-versa, will lead to suboptimal performance and frustration. A damage calculator helps isolate these effects accurately.
Setting Up Your Comparison
To compare, define your character's base attack, skill power, and weapon. Also, set your target monster's defense and skill resistance. These values are crucial for accurate comparisons. A fair comparison uses the same target. Adjust settings in a damage calculator to simulate scenarios. Consider your character's base Strength (STR) and Dexterity (DEX) for attack, and Intelligence (INT) for skill power. Ensure all buffs and debuffs are consistent across tests. You might want to test against different target types: a low-defense mob for farming, a high-defense boss, or a player with specific resistances.
The Damage Formulas (Simplified)
Here are simplified Metin2 damage formulas. They show how Average Damage and Skill Damage affect your hits. Avg. Dam. only applies to normal hits. Skill Dam. only applies to skills. This highlights why separate testing is vital. Understanding these core mechanics helps you choose gear wisely. The formulas demonstrate that these bonuses are applied at different stages of the damage calculation, making them mutually exclusive for their respective damage types. While other factors like critical hits, piercing, and magic resistance penetration exist, these simplified formulas focus on the direct impact of Avg. Dam. and Skill Dam. on their primary targets.
Normal Hit Damage (per hit): (Base Attack + Weapon Attack) * (1 + Average Damage Bonus%) - Target Defense
Skill Damage (per hit/cast): (Base Skill Power * (1 + Skill Damage Bonus%)) - Target Skill ResistanceWorked Example and Results
Let's use a Poison Sword +9 as an example. We'll set up a hypothetical character and target to compare bonuses. The table below shows calculated results for three scenarios: a baseline, a +10% Average Damage build, and a +10% Skill Damage build. This example makes the distinction clear. Your choice depends on your primary damage source. Notice how the normal hit damage increases significantly with Average Damage, while skill damage remains unchanged. Conversely, Skill Damage boosts skill output without affecting normal attacks. This direct comparison illustrates the importance of matching your bonuses to your primary damage source.
| Item Bonuses | Normal Hit Result | Skill Result | Target Settings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Poison Sword +9 | 457 | 1400 | Monster Def: 300, Skill Res: 100 |
| Poison Sword +9, +10% Avg. Dam. | 533 | 1400 | Monster Def: 300, Skill Res: 100 |
| Poison Sword +9, +10% Skill Dam. | 457 | 1550 | Monster Def: 300, Skill Res: 100 |
Making Your Decision
The results show a clear split. If you auto-attack, Average Damage is usually better for consistent damage. If you rely on powerful skills, Skill Damage is often superior for higher burst. Consider your class, build, and main activity. Focus your bonuses to maximize one damage type for better results. Always test your specific setup. For a Body Warrior focused on farming, Average Damage will be far more effective. For a Weapon Sura in PvP, Skill Damage will provide the necessary burst. Hybrid builds might require a more nuanced approach, but generally, focusing on one type yields better overall performance. Re-evaluate your gear as your playstyle or goals change.
Limitations and verification notes
- Market prices and item values can change between servers.
- The calculated result is an estimate, not a guaranteed outcome.
- Game updates, events and server-specific settings may change the result.
- Player skill and reaction time are not factored into calculations.

This calculation clearly shows that a +10% Average Damage bonus increases normal hit damage from 457 to 533. This 16.6% increase is significant for auto-attack focused builds. However, it provides no benefit to skill damage. Therefore, if your primary damage source is normal attacks (e.g., farming with a Body Warrior), prioritizing Average Damage bonuses on your gear will yield a much higher DPS increase than investing in Skill Damage. For this target, +10% Avg. Dam. is a better choice for normal attacks than +10% Skill Dam. would be for skills, assuming similar bonus values and a balanced playstyle. I would keep +7% Average Damage here if the alternative was +7% Skill Damage, given a farming scenario. This demonstrates the critical need to align your gear bonuses with your character's primary damage output method. For PvP, where burst damage from skills is often key, the +10% Skill Damage would be the superior choice, as it provides a substantial 10.7% increase to skill damage, which can be decisive in duels. The best choice always depends on your specific goals and playstyle.