Bigger damage numbers do not always mean more damage in Diablo 4
Additive damage bonuses can inflate your character sheet without providing the same benefit as multiplicative rolls.
If you have been masterworking Critical Strike Damage on your gloves because it gives you the biggest number, you might want to check your gear again. In Diablo 4, a stat that looks great on paper is not necessarily the one that will give you the biggest damage boost.
The Difference Between + and [x]
The important part is the difference between additive and multiplicative damage.
Additive bonuses are marked with a + sign and are added to the same pool
Multiplicative stats are marked with an [x] and have a different multiplier
So this means a +50% damage can give you less than a x50% bonus.
Do Not Just Stack Critical Strike Damage
Rob shared a post about the importance of balancing your multiplicative bonuses not long ago.
Rob2628@rob2628𝕏Getting asked tons of question on how to optimize DPS in #DiabloIV to finally hit for 100s of Trillions, so we made an in-depth Guide.
There are a lot of common mistakes players make & the character sheet in-game is just so inaccurate and misleading.
All Details here:…
Critical Strike Damage might already be one of your best stats, but adding more to it is not necessarily the best move if your build can get more out of Vulnerable Damage or All Damage multipliers instead.
Gloves, rings, and amulets are worth checking when deciding where to invest your masterworking crits. Just make sure you are looking at the multiplicative roll, and do not assume that every affix with "Critical Strike" or "Vulnerable" in its name works the same way.
And if you are not sure what is better, try both items against a target dummy in the Training Grounds and compare your damage under the same conditions.