[kanras]

I haven't double checked all of the numbers, but this is as good of an explanation that you'll find:

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.g...00d9749746aaf2

The important thing to remember is that damage cap and maximum damage
are two different things.

Every weapon has a weapon damage rating, it's what you see when you
right click on it. A Shiny Brass Halberd is listed as 16 damage. This
is the number affected by the damage cap. No matter what the weapon
rating, it is capped off at 10 until level ten, 14 until level twenty,
30 until level thirty, and at least 45 after level 30 (maybe 50, I
haven't found a weapon higher than 45 damage to test).

Maximum damage is calculated using weapon damage rating (WD), or level
damage cap, whichever is lower. It also uses the greater of
(Strength+Weapon Skill)/100 and 2.

At the lowest levels the formula is 2*WD+1. The after Str+WS=201 it
becomes (Strength+WeaponSkill)/100*WD+1 until level damage bonuses
kick in (around level 25), and then it becomes (Strength+Weapon
Skill)/100*WD+Level Damage Bonus.

To illustrate, a few examples (assume max skill in each case):

A level 5 Ogre warrior with 150 strength and a Shiny Brass Halberd (16
damage). 2hs skill is 30, so Str+WS=180. This is less than 2, so the
formula used is 2*WD+1. However, the damage cap is 10, so the weapon
is rated as 10. 2*10+1=21. Maximum damage is 21.

A level 15 Ogre Warrior with 160 str and a Shiny Brass Halberd. 2hs
skill is 80, so the formula is (Str+WS)/100*WD+1, but the damage cap
is 14, so it's (160+80)/100*14+1=34.6, or a maximum damage of 34.

A level 15 Human with 110 str and an SBH. 2hs skill is 80, 110+80 is
less than 201, so the formula is 2*WD+1 or 2*14+1=29 damage max.

A level 25 Ogre Warrior with 175 str and an SBH. 2hs skill is 130, so
use (Str+WS)/100*WD+1. (175+130)/100*16+1=49.8, or 49 damage max.

If you had a Mithril Staff (28 damage), in the first three examples
the maximum damage would be the same as an SBH due to level caps.
However, look at the jump in the last example.

A level 25 Ogre with 175 str and a Mithril Staff. 2hb skill is 130
(yeah, right). The formula is (175+130)/100*28+1=86.4, or 86 maximum
damage.

Emphasis mine.