Damage per second
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Damage per second (DPS), a term typically used for certain computer games, describes the average rate of damage inflicted over time. The term is especially common in online role-playing games, such as World of Warcraft. Damage is a scalar quantity that is typically applied to an in-game opponent, until that opponent's capacity for absorbing damage is exceeded and the opponent is defeated. Therefore the higher the DPS value, the less time it takes to defeat an opponent.
In the context of a particular game, DPS can apply to any entity capable of inflicting damage on a target. Typically this might be a certain player, but it could apply more specifically to their current choice of weapon or skill, or more generally to a group of characters working together. Players may have to calculate values themselves based on empirical analysis, since not all the factors are always explicit.
As a measure of capability, it is obviously more accurate than a simple damage value that does not reflect how often the damage can be dealt, and is therefore potentially a useful metric both to game players and game designers.
