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The Big Picture
How the engine calculates damage layered on top of each other.
Guide Accuracy
This guide is grounded in the actual damage formulas used by the KnightFrame damage engine and build calculator. Every formula and interaction described here is sourced directly from the engine code.
Every weapon in Warframe deals base damage split across one or more damage types. When you equip mods, arcanes, rivens, and Incarnon evolutions, the engine multiplies and adds to these base values through a layered formula:
Final Damage Per Shot = Base Damage × Damage Mods × Elemental Mods × Multishot × Crit Multiplier
The engine computes this in real time, producing Average Hit, Burst DPS, and Sustained DPS — which account for reload time, magazine size, and multi-tier critical hits.