Damage

Not to be confused with Damaged.

Damage is a weapon statistic in The Last Stand: Union City and The Last Stand: Dead Zone.

The Last Stand: Union City

Damage determines the amount of health a weapon can deplete from an enemy when used. Weapons with a higher damage rating kill faster than a weapon with a low damage rating. Damage ratings can be variable, and should not be the sole factor of determining whether or not to use and keep a weapon, as a weapon's damage output may be offset by other deficiencies.

During the earlier stages of the game, only low damage weapons are available. As the game progresses, better weapons are slowly introduced to the player. If the player has the Survival Kit, some mid-ranged weapons are available in the storage footlocker, ready to be used right away.

Many attachments and conditions affect a weapon's damage output, either by increasing or decreasing it. In addition, upgrading the Precision character statistic increases the damage of projectile weapons, while upgrading Strength increases the damage of melee weapons.

The Last Stand: Dead Zone

Much like The Last Stand: Union City, a weapon with a higher damage rating packs a greater punch with each shot or strike. The primary difference is that damage now has a range so that each shot may not deal the same amount of damage every time. Much like before, the damage rating of a weapon can be offset by other statistics.

Low-level missions tend to yield simple, low damage weapons. In order to obtain weapons that deal more damage, players must scavenge higher level locations, or craft their own.

Much like The Last Stand: Union City, many attachments and conditions influence a weapon's damage output. Many gear items can also affect a weapon's damage: firearms can have their damage rating boosted with Ammunition Mods; bows can get a boost from arrows; and some vests and gloves can increase a survivor's ranged or melee combat, which affects damage output. Survivor classes also play a role in determining the damage of weapons; survivors tend to do more damage with weapons they are specialized in.

Damage per Second

"Damage per second (DPS)
Used as a metric in some games to allow the player to determine their offensive power."

— Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia

The Last Stand: Dead Zone also introduces a new statistic called Damage per Second (often abbreviated as DPS), which differs from the main damage rating. It measures the amount of damage a weapon can deal within a time period of one second, and is influenced by the Attacks per Second and Reload Speed statistics.

A weapon's DPS can help make up for its low damage per shot. For example, the Minigun deals very little damage per shot, but its high rate of fire means that it is still quite effective when used, as the sheer quantity of shots make up for the weak punch each individual shot deals. On the other hand, the MSR-82 deals incredible amounts of damage with each shot fired, but it can only muster about one shot per second, limiting its effectiveness. Some weapons, such as the Superior Savage Sawn-Off, are capable of juggling both a high DPS and a high damage per shot, making them very powerful weapons. Players should note that all types have their strengths and weaknesses, and that having both types of weapons can help offset and balance out their differences.