What is “non physical damage” in Diablo 4? Explained

In Diablo 4, some of the gear pieces you obtain may have the “non-physical damage” trait, but what it means isn’t too straightforward. Is it an affix worth keeping? If so, here’s what it means and what it applies to.

What is non-physical damage in Diablo 4?

Non-physical damage is any damage type that isn’t labeled as physical damage, as straightforward as it sounds. 

For example, if you are leveling a Druid, all the core skills will be labeled as physical damage except for Lightning Storm. If you are equipping gear that gives a bonus to non-physical damage, you want to make sure that skills listed in your class’ tree have any other label than physical.

A class like a Druid will have a mix of the two, so make sure that you aren’t dipping into a damage type that you aren’t casting. It’s always best to specialize in specific damage types so you won’t lose out on any bonuses.

Is non-physical damage good?

In many cases, the non-physical damage boost can heavily increase your DPS in Diablo 4. This works exceptionally well for Sorcerers since all of their damage will come from fire, lightning, or cold. These are all examples of non-physical damage.

Most high-tier Sorcerer builds will either make use of the Tal Rasha’s Iridescent Loop, or the Fractured Winterglass because of the strong affixes they have. What they both also have are significant boosts to non-physical damage. 

It’s basically a direct damage upgrade by equipping these items, even if you’re running unoptimized builds that don’t benefit much from their key passives.

Rogues will also benefit from this when imbuing skills. Just know that just because you’re using a projectile attack doesn’t automatically mean it’s non-physical. The skill on your tree will tell you what type of damage it is, even if there is some type of class-specific element.