How exactly does weapon damage affect magic damage?

EramTheLiar · June 2015

I know it affects it in general terms, but I'm trying to figure out some of the minutiae.

Magic damage is somehow affected by weapon damage, but it's not affected by stamina. So when we're talking "weapon damage" we're probably only talking about the base damage of the weapon (i.e., the number associated with the weapon before any mods are added to it).

So (arbitrary numbers, they mean nothing other than placeholders) a staff with a damage of 150 will increase your magic damage only so much, and a 2h sword with a damage of 200 will increase your magic damage more, and dual wielding two swords with damage of 160 will increase your magic damage even more than the 2h (though not by too much) because there are two of them.

OK, I get that part.

How do weapon skills factor into the mix? If you have a 2H sword and you put points in Heavy weapons, that raises your weapon damage, your 2h damage is raised by either 3% or 6%, depending on if you put in 1 or 2 points. Does that raise your magic damage? I guess it depends on whether the 3%/6% boost is applied to the base weapon damage or your overall weapon damage (base damage plus stamina, etc.) Does anyone know?

glak · June 2015

Only the base damage of the weapon applies. Weapon power buffs do not help.

EramTheLiar · June 2015

OK, that makes sense. I just wasn't sure.

LegacyDM · June 2015

What do you mean "Magic damage is somehow affected by weapon?" How does a non-stave two handed weapon or duel wielding increase "magic damage" Do you mean spell damage?

Ffastyl · June 2015

joshdm2001_ESO wrote: »

What do you mean "Magic damage is somehow affected by weapon?" How does a non-stave two handed weapon or duel wielding increase "magic damage" Do you mean spell damage?

He does. He is referring to Damage (weapon stat) affecting Weapon Damage and Spell Damage (character stats) and how relevant Weapon buffs tie into them. As @glak mentioned, once the base Damage is converted to Weapon and Spell Damage, each buff only applies to the specific stat it refers to. i.e. Momentum only affects Weapon Damage.

Addendum:
As to why melee weapons grant higher Spell Power than Staves, the simple answer is they have higher Damage as weapons. The reason why melee weapons have higher Damage is how ZOS balances out the advantages to ranged combat over melee. The Bow and Destruction Staff have the same Damage because they are ranged weapons. Melee weapons (of which there are only Physical types) have higher Damage to compensate for the limited range and increased skill it takes to land hits. A Risk vs. Reward standpoint.