Ragnarok M: Eternal Love — Research

Damage Formula

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Damage Formula

Order of operations for physical and magical damage — so you know which card / refine / buff actually moves the needle.

Key idea

Damage is computed in stages. Each stage adds, multiplies, or subtracts. Knowing the order tells you where each card / buff / debuff slots in — and therefore which stacking strategy actually pays off.

Physical damage (simplified) [VERIFY exact RO M order]

Confirmed RO M general formula (per ROM In-Depth Guide, ~2019; pre-Feb-2026):

Skill: (((baseAtk × AtkInc% × WeaponSize × SizeMod × ElementMod × ConverterMod
        × ElementDmgInc + StatsAtk) × RaceMod × Penetration × HiddenRefineBonus
        × DefRed) + RefineAtk) × GearSkillMod × RuneMod × SkillMod% × DmgInc%

Mental shorthand:

Base ATK   = Weapon ATK + Refine + STR-derived ATK + flat-ATK cards
Skill mod  = base × skill multiplier               (e.g. Bash 200%)
Element    = × element table cell                  (Fire vs Earth = 150%)
Race mod   = × (1 + race% bonuses)
Size mod   = × weapon-size multiplier × (1 + size% bonuses)
Penetration= × Pen multiplier (sits between RaceMod and DefRed)
Misc mods  = × buffs / debuffs / Boss% / etc.
DEF reduce = − soft DEF (% reduction) − hard DEF (flat reduction)
Final      = floor(result), at least 1

Pen/Res system update (Feb 2026)

Penetration was extended from a single stat to a family of Pen/Res stats:

  • Physical Defense Pen ↔ Phys Def Resist
  • Magic Defense Pen ↔ Magic Def Resist
  • Element Pen ↔ Element Resist (per element)
  • Race Pierce ↔ Race Resist (per race)

Each defensive Resist stat reduces incoming damage on its axis; the matching Pen/Pierce stat reduces the effect of that Resist on the attacker’s side. Exact subtraction formula not documented externally — [VERIFY in-game].

→ See race-size.md and patch-2026-02.md.

Magical damage (simplified) [VERIFY]

Base MATK  = INT-derived MATK + weapon MATK + refine + flat-MATK cards
Skill mod  = base × skill multiplier
Element    = × element table cell
Race mod   = × (1 + race% bonuses)
Misc mods  = × buffs / debuffs
MDEF reduce= − soft MDEF − hard MDEF
Final      = floor(result), at least 1

Why the order matters

  • Multiplicative axes stack separately: element × race × size all multiply, so matching all three produces big numbers. Stacking three race cards (additive) is far weaker than one race + one size + element match.
  • Flat ATK before %: a +50 ATK card scales with all later multipliers. A +5% card doesn’t compound the same way.
  • DEF is subtractive at the end: high-DEF enemies hurt low-base-ATK builds more. Refine and flat-ATK help pierce DEF.
  • Pierce / Ignore-DEF effects skip the final reduction — disproportionately strong against tanky targets.

Critical hits [VERIFY current RO M behavior]

  • Crits typically bypass DEF and never miss (FLEE doesn’t apply)
  • Crit damage often scales separately (different multiplier path)
  • Skill damage usually does NOT crit; auto-attacks and crit-flagged skills do

Practical takeaways

  • For PvE single-target: pick element + race + size match, then stack refine and ATK%
  • For PvP / WoE: most enemies are demi-human / medium → race + size cards are predictable, but defensive resistance counter-stacking is high
  • Against high-DEF MVPs: pierce / ignore-DEF effects are worth more than raw ATK%

See also

Sources / verification log

  • 2026-05-02 — scaffold; order is general RO. RO M may re-order or add steps — [VERIFY] against in-game damage tooltips when filling per-skill data

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