Hero Power

Hero Power is a new statistic that determines many things in Vermintide 2. It is granted by equipping items and by leveling up.

Calculation of Hero Power
"Hero power = 10 * Level + (Sum of Item powers)/5"

Since max level is 35 and the maximum item power is 300, the maximum possible hero power is 650. Minimum Hero Power is 12, which can be achieved by having a level 1 character with only two 5 Power Weapons equipped and no Jewellery of any kind.

Item Power
Item Power ranges from 5 to 300. Each time the player opens a chest or crafts an item, the power of the items they get is determined by the average power level of the most powerful items they have found in chests in every item slot. The power of that item will be between [-5 to +10] over/under that number.

Hero Power Uses
Hero power above a specific minimum is needed to play higher Difficulties (which can be avoided by joining a friends game). There is also a maximum hero power for each difficulty level. If you join a Mission with a hero power above that limit, it is decreased to the cap.

Difficulty Restrictions
The requirements to start a mission are: Once you have reached a difficulty cap you are always allowed to join or start a mission with that difficulty, regardless of your current setup.
 * 12 for Recruit Difficulty
 * 115 for Veteran Difficulty
 * 215 for Champion Difficulty
 * 415 for Legend Difficulty

For all of these there is a cap as well, it is known for Recruit but not verified for the other difficulties:

Combat Effects
Hero Power directly affects:
 * 1) The amount of Damage you deal with every Single Attack ("Attack")
 * 2) The degree of Stagger your attacks produce on an enemy ("Stagger")
 * 3) The number of Enemies your attacks are able to hit simultaneously ("Cleave")

Power scaling calculation
In version 1.05 (i.e. after the bugged scaling was fixed) scaling is as follows:
 * 1) Your Hero Power is put within the allowed interval, i.e. capped according to above rules.
 * 2) Your damage ("attack"), stagger ("stagger") and cleave ("cleave") scaling factor is calculated. Use the table below for the different "Factors".
 * 3) Below 15 Hero Power (i.e. 15 and below)
 * 4) Scaling Factor = 185 + Hero Power
 * 5) For all intents and purposes this part of the calculation is only relevant for level 1 characters who unequip their trinkets, they will have a scaling of 197 (i.e. 185 + 10 + 3).
 * 6) If 15 <= Hero Power <= 115:
 * 7) Scaling Factor = 225 + (Hero Power - 15) * (Factor / 2)
 * 8) For all intents and purposes this "bump" is a 50 HP boost, i.e. a 15 HP character hits like a 65 HP character, and then converge at 115 HP where the normal scaling takes over.
 * 9) Above 115:
 * 10) Scaling Factor = 200 + (Hero Power - 15) * Factor
 * 11) This scaling factor is multiplied with the weapon base statistic.

Pre 1.05 scaling
In release version 1.00-1.04 the damage calculation was "bugged", i.e. does not scale correctly. See for more information.

So in earlier release versions the damage calculation or scaling was done as follows:
 * 1) Your Hero Power is NOT put in the allowed interval, i.e. no capping done.
 * 2) The scaling factor is calculated as Scaling Factor = 180 + Hero Power.

This has the effect that for all intents and purposes the Scaling Factor is between 200 and 1000, where Scaling Factors over 780 (i.e. 600 Hero Power) only reachable through boosts and bonuses, such as "+X% vs Y". Which is comparable to 1.05 where "attack" scaling goes from 200 to 700.