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- How Does Overpower Work?
- How To Trigger Overpower
- Maximizing Overpower Damage
Overpower is a mechanic in Diablo 4 that is hard to utilize but can be rewarding. It’s a critical hit mechanic, one of three in the game, alongside Critical Strike and Lucky Hit. All three are mechanics that allow random chance to do some bonus damage.
Related: Diablo 4 - Fortify, Explained
Of the three, Overpower is the hardest to control since it has a set percentage of occurring that can’t be altered. Still, it’s worth mastering, especially if you’re playing a Barbarian, Druid, or Necromancer. This guide will cover the ins and outs of the sometimes confusing mechanic.
How Does Overpower Work?
Overpower is a bonus damage mechanic that has a three percent chance of being applies to every attack, but not on most damaging passives, damage over time effects (poisons, bleeds) or channeled effects like the Barbarian’s Whirlwind.
This is denoted in blue damage numbers.
The bonus damage is based on your health and Fortify value and is buffed by the Willpower stat. All classes can trigger this effect, but you can only really build around it with Barbarians, Druids, and Necromancers.
This is because the remaining classes don’t gain Fortify and generally have less health, and don’t have skills that interact with Overpower.
The mechanic essentially works as a critical hit for tankier characters who naturally stack health and Fortify, allowing them to turn some of that Survivability into damage. However, Overpower hits can also critically strike for even more damage, denoted by orange damage numbers.
How To Trigger Overpower
There are plenty of ways to increase Overpower damage, but there are currently no ways to increase the chance of triggering an Overpower hit. For now, it will be a three percent chance no matter what.
While you can’t increase the chance to Overpower, you can guarantee Overpower hits with the following skills, Aspects, and Glyphs:
Class
Type
Name
Barbarian
Skills
Combat Bash
Aspects
Earthstriker's Aspect
Glyphs
Dominate
Druid
Skills
Enhance Pulverize, Provocation
Necromancer
Skills
Paranormal Blood Surge, Supernatural Blood Lance, Rathma's Vigor
Related: Every Barbarian Key Passive In Diablo 4, Ranked
Maximizing Overpower Damage
Since Overpower scales mostly with health and Fortify, increasing those stats is one of the best ways to increase your Overpower damage, and also has the nice bonus of keeping you alive longer. However, there are also some stats that will improve your Overpower damage.
- Willpower is a main stat that increases your Overpower damage by a certain percentage, with one Willpower equal to a 0.25 percent increase in damage. This is also the main damage stat for Druids.
- Overpower Damage is a general percentage increase to all Overpower Damage effects.
- Overpower Damage for Skill Category gives a percentage increase to Overpower Damage effects to specific Skill Categories (Basic, Core, Ultimate, etc.).
- Overpower Damage with Weapon Type gives a percentage increase to Overpower Damage effects when using certain types of weapons. It should be noted that all Maces increase Overpower Damage.
Rubies, when slotted in weapons, grant a bonus percentage of Overpower Damage as well. Certain skills, Aspects, and Glyphs interact in some way with Overpowered hits to increase the damage it does or activate a separate (usually damaging) effect.
Class
Type
Name
Barbarian
Skills
Violent Hammer of the Ages, Brute Force, Gushing Wounds
Aspects
Earthstriker's Aspect
Glyphs
Crusher, Dominate, Overwhelm
Druid
Skills
Raging Pulverize, Enhanced Boulder
Glyphs
Dominate, Over\whelm
Necromancer
Skills
Blood Mist, Tides of Blood
Aspects
Aspect of Rathma's Chosen, Aspect of Untimely Death
Glyphs
Dominate, Overwhelm
Next: Diablo 4 - Guide To Renown
