Damage calculation

How Damage numbers work

The ultimate explanation: Destiny 2 Outgoing Damage Scaling Spreadsheet by MossyMax

The combination character's Power Level, Activity's Recommended Power Level and Difficulty and Enemy Tier dictates how much damage you deal. Currently, calculator assumes that:

1. Character's Power Level is that high that it reaches the maximum damage values for selected combination of Activity and Difficulty.

2. Enemy Tier is Elite.

In this case, base damage values (from Gambit) are multiplied by precalculated values of Total Multiplier (You can find them in Destiny 2 Outgoing Damage Scaling Spreadsheet at Activity Types and Levels tab)

After scaling damage to an activity, Ability Damage Buffs should be taken into account.

Ability Damage Buffs stacks multiplicatively, e.g.: we have 20% damage buff and 50% one, basically 1.2x and 1.5x, their resulting multiplier will be:

So it is 1.8x damage multiplier or 80% more damage.