What is the difference between damage, and damage per second?

Damage is how much damage is done in one hit of a projectile or laser. I'm not sure how that applies to beam lasers, though.
 
Weapon stats show 'damage' and also 'damage per second'.
i understand dps, but what is meant by just 'damage'?

Damage means the instant damage done to a hypothetical structure with default resistance (no positive or negative resistance modifiers). For example, when you shoot a multicannon, Damage is the total resultant hitpoint reduction from one shot. DPS is the Damage divided by the time, or Damage multiplied by the rate of fire.
 
Damage is how much damage is done in one hit of a projectile or laser. I'm not sure how that applies to beam lasers, though.
For that purpose, I think the game treats beam lasers as very rapid fire pulse lasers. GFX & SFX when firing (RNGineered) beams support that idea.
 
DPS is a common indicator of how powerful weapon is with which you can compare different weapon types. With single shot cannons it's easier to compare since situation is simpler. One shot - damage done. Faster shooting = more damage done. But how to compare lasers with cannons? With DPS values.
 
Damage is how much damage is done in one hit of a projectile or laser. I'm not sure how that applies to beam lasers, though.
Beam damage is for one second, so the damage is the same as damage per second.

DPS is a common indicator of how powerful weapon is with which you can compare different weapon types. With single shot cannons it's easier to compare since situation is simpler. One shot - damage done. Faster shooting = more damage done. But how to compare lasers with cannons? With DPS values.

It's the same equation no matter what weapon: Damage x Rate of fire = DPS.

If the weapon damage is 10, and the weapon shoots 2 shots a second, it has 10 damage and 20 dps.

If you increase the rate of fire to 3 shots a second, you now have 10 weapon damage and 30 dps.
 
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I know there's some answers given, but holy cow I have an intimate understanding of DPS and am scratching my head going through this thread.

Damage=the damage a weapon does. A gun might have a damage of 10, and that is the damage it does when the projectile hits. As your queestion was focused here, it should be taken to mean the damage applied by a single hit of a single shot. The only time this doesn't apply is to beams, which only have a DPS rating.

DPS=damage over time. If the above gun fires once a second, you do 10 damage every second, so your DPS is 10.

Simples. DPS is a metric of how effective your weapon actually is at dealing damage, rather than assuming a weapon is most effective because it has the highest damage per shot.

To put it in context: If you have another gun that does just 8 damage, but fires twice a second, its raw damage per shot is lower but as it fires twice as quickly, its damage every second is 16...so you can expect the latter cannon to do 16 damage per second instead of 10, or an extra 60% total damage, provided all shots are hitting.

In any game, you will rarely hear people apply actual figures to DPS. You aren't expected to sit down and actually work out how much actual damage your weapons are all doing per shot and over time. Instead, it's effectively used as a term to clarify one is talking about the overall damage over time a weapon deals, because that is - for the most part - the most important factor. You are literally talking about how fast you are going to kill your opponent.

In a few cases, you will hear people talking about alpha damage though. Alpha damage is basically dealing high damage in a short time. This might technically be low DPS, as you might need to wait long periods between pushing out this damage, but sometimes when shieldbreaking or dealing damage at closer range it can catch someone out to pump incredible damage out in a short time period when it matters.
 
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Damage or Damage per shot becomes interesting if there is a mechanic that deducts a flat amount from the damage dealt. E.G. a piece of armour that would always negate 10 points of damage.
E.g: If you had a gun that dealt 120 DPS, very high rate of fire, but only 8 damage per shot it wouldn't even scratch the target with such armour. Afaik there is no such thing in ED, so I guess DPS is kinda best to judge. Don't forget magazine and ammo count though. The best DPS doesn't help if you run dry.
 
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