Larian Studios Forums Divinity: Original Sin 2 Divinity - Original Sin 2 - General Warfare - how does it exactly work in Definitive e

I have read many forum threads and wikipedia pages that contradict each other on the topic of how does Warfare's 5% bonus to physical damage actually work, and frankly it is all rather outdated and confusing.

Some say it is similar as, for example, how Strength gives 5% bonus to relevant weapon/skill damage.

Others say that the Warfare's 5% bonus is actually different and ends up being much more valuable than other damage bonuses because it increases total damage instead of some base damage.

Often people claim that Warfare is so powerful that it is better to invest all possible points into Warfare to greatly increase damage instead of investing points into abilities such as Dual Wielding or Huntsman or Scoundrel (aside from a couple to unlock relevant skills).

Can anyone that has factually accurate and true information about Warfare please explain how it works (in the latest version of DOS2 Definitive Edition)?

Also as far as Dual Wielding weapons goes do abilities (like Warfare) use only one of the weapons to calculate ability damage - or do they add weapon damage from both weapons and then base ability damage from that?

And if i add poison damage from an ability or enchantment to my weapon, will the weapon-damage scaling abilities also take into account that added damage?

Thank you for reading and helping out a beginner

Warfare (like most similar combat abilities in that category) adds a 5% total damage increase.

Example:
You have a 'base damage' of 100 (%). 1 point of warfare increases this to 105(%), by taking 100 x 1.05.
If you had 200 (%) damage by having +20 in your chosen main stat (str, fin, int), warfare would add 200 x 1.05, which results in 210(%) damage, which is a net gain over having another point in any other damage stat (like dual wielding). In other words, the moment you have single point invested in any damage type, warfare scales better.

Scoundrel scales the same as warfare if you already have 10 in warfare (+50% damage) and 100% crit chance, but before that, warfare is always better.

In other words, you should always prioritize investing everything into warfare if you are a physical damage dealer and don't need a crucial splash point to gain a new skill.

What Lenny said, and here's how that's different from other abilities.

If you want to make a 2H warrior for instance, you can invest in 2-Handed weapons, which says if gives 5% more damage, or Warfare, which also says it gives 5% more damage. But Warfare works differently to every other +5% damage ability.

2-Handed takes your base damage, let's say it's at 150%, and adds 5%, so 155%.
Warfare takes your base damage, let's say it's at 150%, and multiplies it by 5%, giving you 157.5%

That's why Warfare gives you extra damage.