A Treatise on Smite Damage

[:1]I have given some thought as to gear selection for a Smiter and have been searching for a way to mathematically calculate which gear would optimize my 1 pt. Smiter. I found the math formula and entered it into a spreadsheet which allows to me to quickly calculate the effects of different gear options and skill selection. I will continue to update this post as I discover new and interesting facts about Smiters in general and the effects that different gear and skill options has on the Smite damage.



Part 1 Weapon Selection

Conventional wisdom dictates that the single most important stat in terms of weapon selection for a Smiter is that the weapon must have Crushing Blow. Now I don't see many Smiters using Crushflange Mace so there must be other important factors that go into weapon selection. There are indeed. The weapon must be fast because a faster weapon means more smites per given second and the weapon must do damage not only for Smite sake, but also for other attacks because many Smiters rely on skills other than just Smite.

Is Crushing Blow important? Absolutely, however there are other gear choices which can give the Smiter ample Crushing Blow. For instance, Guillaume's Face and Goreriders will add 50% Crushing blow. Is 50% CB enough? The difference in the chance to cast Crushing Blow is insignificant once you reach an ample amount. With a fast weapon at 50% CB a Smiter will trigger Crushing Blow about twice per second and 25 times over 10 seconds. At 83% CB with an equally fast weapon, a Smiter will trigger Crushing Blow three times per second and roughly 34 times over 10 seconds. The difference in time to kill even the Uber Bosses is a couple additional seconds with the 50% CB vs. the 83% CB.

Now lets look at damage. There are two important factors to consider when looking at damage. The first and most important to a Smiter is how the damage will affect Smite. Only weapons with Damage + x affect Smite. Likewise, weapons with +skills will also add damage with the increase in level to Smite itself, Holy Shield and Fanatism. The second factor and one that we will leave to another discussion, is how useful is the weapon damage when not Smiting?

Here is the formula for calculating Smite Damage:


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Min Smite Damage = (Shield Min Damage + (Damage +x) + (Holy Shield Min Damage)) * (1 + (Strength + (+x% Enhanced Damage) / 100)))

Max Smite Damage = (Shield Max Damage + (Damage +x) + (Holy Shield Max Damage)) * (1 + (Strength + (+x% Enhanced Damage) / 100)))




I used the above formula to calculate the Smite Damage of several different weapons. I used my 1 pt. Smiter build as the basis for the calculations adding my plus skills from gear and charms into the equation:

Fanatism = lvl 26

Holy Shield = lvl 24

Zeal = lvl 24

Smite = lvl 5

Strength = 150

My 1 pt. Smiter uses Guillaume's and Gores and Fortitude for armor (more on armor later in the discussion). I assumed a Zakarum Shield with an even 46 Smite to average the calculations. I added the damage from plus skills wherever necessary. Attack Speed is strictly based on Smite using the same gear and is sourced from the German Speed Calculator.

Heaven's Light (perfect 3 skills/2x Shael) is a 6 Frame Attack with 33% Crushing Blow (83% total).

Smite Damage = 1585

The Redeemer (perfect damage +120) is an 8 Frame Attack with no additional Crushing Blow (50% total).

Smite Damage = 2893

Astreon's Iron Ward (perfect +4 Combat skills/damage +85) is a 7 Frame Attack with 33% Crushing Blow (83% total).

Smite Damage = 2569

"Black" Flail, Knout or Scourge is a 7 Frame Attack with 40% Crushing Blow (90% total).

Smite Damage = 1326

"Last Wish" Phase Blade is a 7 Frame Attack with 60-70% Crushing Blow (100% total). Also an additional +200% ED from lvl 17 Might aura.

Smite Damage = 1567

"Grief" Phase Blade (perfect damage +400) is a 6 Frame Attack with no additional Crushing Blow (50% total).

Smite Damage = 5726



Part 2 Armor Selection

Armor selection can definately affect your Smiter damage as well. There is at least one armor with +% Crushing Blow and +skills and off weapon Enhanced Damage can also be added into the equation. I concentrated on 4 different armors for the calculations, Fortitude, Enigma, Chains of Honor and Duress and used the same weapon (a perfect Damage +400 Grief Phase Blade) in each of the calculations to be consistent.

Duress has an additional 15% Crushing Blow for a total of 65% CB.

Smite Damage = 4164

Enigma has +2 skills and will have a total of 50% Crushing Blow.

Smite Damage = 4566

Chains of Honor has +2 skills and will have a total of 50% Crushing Blow. The off weapon Enhanced Damage that changes with different monster classes does not work with Smite.

Smite Damage = 4566

Fortitude has 300% off weapon Enhanced Damage and will have a total of 50% Crushing Blow.

Smite Damage = 5726



Part 3 Shield Selection

There is much debate amongst Smiters as to which shield to use. The general consensus is split between Herald of Zakarum and Exile. Each has it's advantages. HoZ has plus skills and resists and Exile has high defense and the all important chance to cast Life Tap. Suprisingly, neither does the most damage in terms of Smite. Here are the Smite damage calculations for the more popular shields including an upped Herald of Zakarum. They are based on the same gear and skill selections noted above for consistency.

Exile has +2 Offensive Skills, can be made in an ethereal elite paladin Shield for extremely defense as it has the repair mod, gives a level 13-16 Defiance Aura and has a 15% chance to cast level 5 Life Tap.

Smite Damage = 5726

Herald of Zakarum has +2 Paladin Skills and +2 Paladin Combat Skills, has 50 to all resistances and can be socketted, has a very high block and adds strength and vitality.

Smite Damage = 5891

Herald of Zakarum can be upped to an elite Paladin Shield following the Horadric Cube recipe.

Smite Damage = 6143

Alma Negra has +1 or +2 Paladin Skills, has a high block, can be socketted and adds 40-75% Enhanced Damage. A perfect (+2/75% ED) Alma Negra was used for this calculation.

Smite Damage = 6368

Phoenix has +400% Enhanced Damage, gives a level 10-15 Redemption Aura, adds 50 life, and plus to maximum fire and lightning mods.

Smite Damage = 7631

Note that the increase in Smite damage by upping your HoZ is minimal (only about 250 with this gear). One could easily ask whether the gain of a few points in Smite damage is worth the cost of a Ko and Lem rune.



Part 4 Skill Selection

I started thinking about the effect that the level 17 Might aura had on the Last Wish PB's Smite Damage. Recognizing that the right side of the Smite equation had a less dramatic effect than the left side, I began to wonder what effect Maximizing the Smite Skill would have on the Smite Damage vs. the Single point I use in my build.

This is the 1 point Smiter build using Grief and Fortitude which equates to a level 5 Smite with Torch and Annihilus sc.

Smite Damage = 5726

Here is the Calculation with a dedicated Smiter build, level 24 Smite using same gear as above:

Smite Damage = 7209

That damage difference would of course be a much lower if it used a weapon other than Grief. A person making a Smiter could ask themself is the 1500ish increase in damage is worth the additional 19 skill point investment. Obviously PvP Smiters would want to make this investment however, if the build is used in PvM for Uber running or any other purpose, only investing a single point in Smite allows you to max another attack skill thus increasing your flexibility with the build. I'm certainly not the first to discover this as the 1 pt. Smiter build has been around for a while but, it does help me understand why the build is so effective.

I hope people thinking of building a Smiter find this information useful.|||Part 5 Theoretical Max Damage Calculations

I've run the theoretical max damage calculation and here are the results:

Smite Damage for Theoretical Max is 14,976

Here's the gear I chose for the theoretical max damage calculation (with explanation why):

Helm: rare +2 Paladin skills Diadem with 2os (+2 Skills and ability to socket 2x 40% ED Jewels)

Amulet: Mara's Kaleidoscope (+2 All Skills)(I actually tested a +3 PCombat Amulet but found +2 All Skills did more damage)

Rings: 2x Bul-Kathos’ Wedding Band (+2 All Skills)

Armor: Fortitude (300% ED)

Shield: perfect Knight’s mod (AR/ED) Zakarum Phoenix (65% ED for Knight’s mod and 400% ED for Phoenix)

Weapon: perfect Grief Phase Blade (400% ED)

Switch Weapon/Shield: Herald of Zakarum/perfect Heaven’s Light (+7 Holy Shield prebuff)

Boots: Goreriders (I considered War Travelers for the +damage but was unsure if it had a positive impact or not)

Belt: Arachnid Mesh (+1 All Skills)

Gloves: perfect Steelrends (60% ED)

Charms: Paladin Torch/Annihilus (+4 All Skills)

Skillers: 9x Paladin Combat Grand Charms (I ran both PCombat and POffensive and found that PCombat had the biggest impact on damage)

Totals = +11 All Skills, +9 PCombat Skills, +7 HolyShield prebuff, 1005% Off-Weapon Enhanced Damage

Please note that this is average damage. If using a shield such as a Vortex with a wide damage range (5 to 87), the maximum damage would be even higher.

Now be it known that this is strictly a theoretical build. I hope nobody would actually try this as it lacks Crushing Blow, Resists, Life Tap and other important Smiter attributes.|||Will look on that more thorougly tomorrow. From a quick look I can add that you can take your holy shield prebuff higher than +7,eg. using a war scepter CTA that has +3 to holy shield as base for a total of +5 from weapon only.

Adds damage mod on war travs does not affect smite and neither do +max/min damage charms/jewels. You could also factor in multiple auras.|||Errr. I was under the impression that ED% doesn't affect Smite.|||Quote:








Will look on that more thorougly tomorrow. From a quick look I can add that you can take your holy shield prebuff higher than +7,eg. using a war scepter CTA that has +3 to holy shield as base for a total of +5 from weapon only.

Adds damage mod on war travs does not affect smite and neither do +max/min damage charms/jewels. You could also factor in multiple auras.




Thanks for the input kingdryland. Glad you cleared up Wartravs and min/max charms and jewels. My hope is to list a few different options that Smiters have and to hopefully clear up some of the Smiter Fallacies that seem prevalent these days.

It's seems strange to me but my very first experience with a Smiter was reading and following your guide. I see it's still active as ever. I'm sure my questions are buried in there amongst the hundreds of pages of questions and replies that you have recieved.

I should acknowledge that the quotation used for the formula and any references to the 1 pt. Smiter are directly attributable to you.

MYK, off weapon %ED does indeed affect Smite.|||I'm going insane trying to remember why I have this line in my head that reads " Fortitude doesn't work with smite!" I remember reading it a whole lot at one point. That, or I just made it up because I couldn't afford fortitude or something, I don't know.|||Quote:








I'm going insane trying to remember why I have this line in my head that reads " Fortitude doesn't work with smite!" I remember reading it a whole lot at one point. That, or I just made it up because I couldn't afford fortitude or something, I don't know.




Don't sweat it. There are a lot of Smiter "Myths" out there and everyone has an opinion of what a Smiter should or should not use for different circumstances. That's the main reason I made this thread so I can demonstrate mathematically what actually works and what doesn't.|||does fort's ed constitutes as a hidden damage under the lcs?

this is because i checked with my character with the armor being the only variable. wearing no armor and wearing fort doesn't show any diff in the lcs damage..|||Wouldnt a +2pala amu with str etc be better in terms of dmg output than maras due to the fact that +str is added to the dmg, instead of maras that has +5, I believe +str on rare amus can go up to +20, or maybe a little less (not 100& sure about it).|||Quote:








does fort's ed constitutes as a hidden damage under the lcs?

this is because i checked with my character with the armor being the only variable. wearing no armor and wearing fort doesn't show any diff in the lcs damage..




zarirazz, here's a quote from the battlenet forums about what shows up on the LCS regarding Smite:


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The following things work with Smite but do *not* display on the Character screen:

- Enhanced Damage which is off-weapon (thanks to Grimble for bringing this to my attention; thanks to Mikeandroe for helping test) (new for 1.10)

Note: The %ED actually does *sort of* display. Each 100% ED increases damage displayed by 1. (Thanks to Talamek for testing in 1.11)




marcello, assuming the str on the +2 amulet is greater than 5 then yes, a rare can be better than Maras for Smite damage. Most builds however, are based around an end strength to equip gear. Therefore, strength is generally a constant. If I had such an amulet, I would probably adjust my hard points into strength so I can sink more into life.

I have tested the math for strength and since it is divided by 100 in the right side of the equation, the actual increase in damage is much less than you might hope.