In many strategy games, understanding how your damage is calculated is the key to maximizing your output. While both Skill damage and Smite damage can appear within a commander's ability descriptions, they operate under entirely different scaling rules.
The Core Difference
- Skill Damage: This is your standard "nuke" or active-skill damage. It is directly boosted by bonuses that specifically state "increases skill damage."
- Smite Damage: This is a specialized damage category. Crucially, Smite damage does not benefit from skill damage bonuses. Instead, it scales based on normal attack damage modifiers.
Quick Comparison Table
| Damage Type | Boosted by Skill Damage? | Boosted by Normal Attack Damage? |
|---|---|---|
| Skill Damage | Yes | No |
| Smite Damage | No | Yes |
What This Means for Your Build
When you are selecting equipment, inscriptions, or commander pairings, keep these rules in mind:
- If an effect says "increases skill damage": It will boost your active skills, but it will have zero impact on your Smite damage.
- If an effect says "increases normal attack damage": This is the stat you need to prioritize to amplify your Smite damage.
- Defensive play: Similarly, "reduces skill damage taken" will only protect you against standard skill-based attacks, not Smite-based ones.
The Bottom Line
Even if a Smite effect is triggered by a commander's skill, it is categorized separately from standard skill damage. Always check your tooltips carefully—especially for variants like Ranged Smite damage, which may follow its own unique scaling rules. By aligning your gear bonuses with the correct damage type, you can significantly increase your efficiency on the battlefield.