How is attacks per second calculated in Dota 2?

Attacks per second = (1 / base attack time) × (attack speed ÷ 100), where attack speed is 100 plus bonus IAS from agility and items. Attack speed is capped between 20 and 700.

How does armor reduce my DPS?

Physical damage reduction = (0.06 × armor) ÷ (1 + 0.06 × |armor|). For example, 10 armor gives about 37.5% reduction. Negative armor increases the damage taken instead.

How is crit factored into DPS?

Crit is modelled as an expected value: effective multiplier = 1 + crit chance × (crit multiplier − 1). A 30% chance for a 2× crit adds 30% average damage over many hits.

Why is my effective DPS lower than my raw DPS?

Raw DPS assumes the target has zero armor. Effective DPS applies the target's armor reduction, so any positive armor lowers the physical damage that actually lands.

Does this account for evasion or attack misses?

This tool focuses on damage, attack speed, crit, and armor. Evasion, miss chance, and bonus-damage procs are not modelled here, so treat the result as your unobstructed physical DPS.

Dota 2 DPS Calculator

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Compare Dota 2 builds with real DPS numbers

Picking between two items often comes down to which one actually raises your damage per second — and the answer is not always the bigger number on the tooltip. This calculator uses Dota 2’s real attack-speed and armor formulas so you can compare builds, gear, and buffs with confidence.

How it works

Your attacks per second come from the engine formula:

attacks_per_second = (1 / base_attack_time) * (attack_speed / 100)

Base attack time is 1.7 seconds for most heroes, and attack speed is 100 + bonus IAS, clamped between 20 and 700. Raw DPS is damage × attacks_per_second. Crit is added as expected value: 1 + crit_chance × (crit_multiplier − 1).

To get effective DPS against a real target, armor reduces physical damage:

reduction = (0.06 * armor) / (1 + 0.06 * |armor|)
effective_dps = raw_dps * (1 - reduction)

Example and tips

A hero with 120 damage, 1.7 BAT, and 150 bonus attack speed lands (1/1.7) × (250/100) ≈ 1.47 attacks per second, for about 176 raw DPS. Against a target with 10 armor (≈37.5% reduction), effective DPS drops to about 110. Because attack-speed and damage multiply, the best item is usually the one that pushes your weaker stat — if you already have high damage, more attack speed often wins, and vice versa. Use the target-armor field to test how an enemy’s defensive items change your real output.