Damage (EU2012)

Damage System

Regarding the different numbers seen in the Armory info and the actual game values, the theory is that the Base Damage range can vary, i.e. a weapon listed with a 9 damage can vary between 8 and 10 and you see the Maximum Damage listed onscreen before firing.
How the critical damage is applied isn't clear/proven. The model below assumes that there are separate rolls, 1 for normal damage, then it is added the value of another roll for critical damage, which are then added.
The other model is that the maximum damage applied after a hit is the one listed as maximum critical damage but that doesn't fit with actual combat results, since there are examples of Heavy Plasmas dealing 16 damage to a flanked soldier or a Plasma Sniper Rifle dealing 22 damage to a Sectopod.
In addition, there are also specific Class perks that can increase Damage (both Base and Crit), such as Gunslinger (Sniper), Mayhem & Shredder Rocket & HEAT Ammo (Heavy), Bring 'Em On & Killer Instinct (Assault).

Based on the above model, the tables below indicate how many shots (Base or Critical) are usually required to take down the aliens.
BASE = alien can be killed with 1 shot dealing average (non-critical) damage
CRIT = alien requires either 2 base shots or 1 critical hit with close to maximum critical damage.

Weapon	Base Damage	Crit Damage	Critical Chance	Maximum Damage (Base + Crit)?	Sectoid Thin Man Outsider Drone	Floater	Muton Chryssalid	Zombie Sectoid Commander	Heavy Floater	Muton Elite	Cyberdisk	Bezerker Ethereal	Sectopod
					3	4	8	10	12	14	16	20	30
Pistol	1	1	0	2
Laser Pistol Laser Pistol (I)	2	3	10 30	5	CRIT	CRIT
Laser Pistol (I & III)	3	3	30	6	BASE	CRIT
Plasma Pistol Assault Rifle Plasma Pistol (I)	3	4	0 10 20	7	BASE	CRIT
Plasma Pistol (I & III)	4	4	20	8	BASE	BASE	CRIT
LMG Sniper Rifle Shotgun	4	6	0 25 20	10	BASE	BASE	CRIT	CRIT
Laser Rifle Plasma Light Rifle	5	7	10	12	BASE	BASE	BASE	CRIT	CRIT
Heavy Laser Laser Sniper Rifle Laser Scatter	6	9	10 30 20	15	BASE	BASE	BASE	CRIT	CRIT	CRIT
Plasma Rifle	7	10	10	17	BASE	BASE	BASE	CRIT	CRIT	CRIT	CRIT
Heavy Plasma Plasma Sniper Rifle Alloy Cannon	9	13	10 35 20	22	BASE	BASE	BASE	BASE	CRIT	CRIT	CRIT	CRIT

Weapon	Base Damage	Crit Damage	Critical Chance	Maximum Damage (Base + Crit)?	Sectoid	Thin Man Floater	Outsider Drone	Chryssalid	Muton Zombie	Heavy Floater Muton Elite Sectoid Commander	Cyberdisk Bezerker Ethereal	Sectopod
					3	4	5	8	10	14	20	30
Pistol	1	1	0	2
Laser Pistol Laser Pistol (I)	2	3	10 30	5	CRIT	CRIT	CRIT
Laser Pistol (I & III)	3	3	30	6	BASE	CRIT	CRIT
Plasma Pistol Assault Rifle Plasma Pistol (I)	3	4	0 10 20	7	BASE	CRIT	CRIT
Plasma Pistol (I & III)	4	4	20	8	BASE	BASE	CRIT	CRIT
LMG Sniper Rifle Shotgun	4	6	0 25 20	10	BASE	BASE	CRIT	CRIT	CRIT
Laser Rifle Plasma Light Rifle	5	7	10	12	BASE	BASE	BASE	CRIT	CRIT
Heavy Laser Laser Sniper Rifle Laser Scatter	6	9	10 30 20	15	BASE	BASE	BASE	CRIT	CRIT
Plasma Rifle	7	10	10	17	BASE	BASE	BASE	CRIT	CRIT	CRIT
Heavy Plasma Plasma Sniper Rifle Alloy Cannon	9	13	10 35 20	22	BASE	BASE	BASE	BASE	CRIT	CRIT	CRIT

Weapon	Base Damage	Crit Damage	Critical Chance	Maximum Damage (Base + Crit)?	Sectoid	Outsider	Thin Man Floater	Drone	Chryssalid	Muton Zombie	Sectoid Commander	Heavy Floater	Muton Elite	Cyberdisk	Bezerker Ethereal	Sectopod
					4	5	6	7	8	10	14	16	18	20	25	30
Pistol	1	1	0	2
Laser Pistol Laser Pistol (I)	2	3	10 30	5	CRIT	CRIT	CRIT
Laser Pistol (I & III)	3	3	30	6	CRIT	CRIT	CRIT
Plasma Pistol Assault Rifle Plasma Pistol (I)	3	4	0 10 20	7	CRIT	CRIT	CRIT	CRIT
Plasma Pistol (I & III)	4	4	20	8	BASE	CRIT	CRIT	CRIT	CRIT
LMG Sniper Rifle Shotgun	4	6	0 25 20	10	BASE	BASE	CRIT	CRIT	CRIT
Laser Rifle Plasma Light Rifle	5	7	10	12	BASE	BASE	BASE	CRIT	CRIT
Heavy Laser Laser Sniper Rifle Laser Scatter	6	9	10 30 20	15	BASE	BASE	BASE	CRIT	CRIT
Plasma Rifle	7	10	10	17	BASE	BASE	BASE	CRIT	CRIT	CRIT
Heavy Plasma Plasma Sniper Rifle Alloy Cannon	9	13	10 35 20	22	BASE	BASE	BASE	BASE	CRIT	CRIT	CRIT