Part of the Sea of Conquest Mechanics Series:

Combat Mechanics Hub: Damage types and rage (Start Here).

Impact Explained: Armour penetration.

Captain Equipment: Trinkets and gems.

Best Heroes for Ships: Where the +20% comes from.

Quick Answer

They are two separate multipliers applied at different points, and they multiply against each other rather than adding.

Attack is your ship's base stat. Hero skills take that Attack figure and multiply it by their skill modifier to produce damage of a given type.

Damage Bonus is a further multiplier applied per damage type, at the end.

Because they multiply, the correct policy is not "stack the bigger one" — it is raise whichever is currently lower. Marginal value always sits with the weaker of the two, and that rule alone will out-perform most build guides.

And the cheapest single upgrade available: placing a hero on a ship matching their damage type grants a +20% attribute bonus. It costs nothing. Check your lineup.

What Builds Attack

Ship Attack is assembled from a chain:

Base sources

Ship level
Cannons
Artillery ammo
Star observation

Then multiplied by

The sailor bonus from your Captain's Quarters — a large multiplier, and the reason that cabin matters far more than it looks. At level 27 it has been documented at +134.3%
+0.2% per Might point
+20% for correct hero-to-ship damage type placement
Attack bonus percentages from ship parts, trinkets, gang bonuses and star observation

Two things fall out of that list.

The Captain's Quarters is a combat room, not an admin room. It multiplies your entire Attack chain. And it is gated by the Mess Hall up to level 35 — which means your cooking economy quietly caps your combat power. See the cabins guide.

Correct hero placement is a free +20%. If a hero whose skills deal Artillery damage is sitting on a Cutthroat hull, you are leaving that on the table for nothing.

What Builds Damage Bonus

Damage Bonus is applied per damage type at the end of the calculation, and it comes from a different place:

Trinkets — the primary source
Gems — specifically yellow gems, which boost a single damage type
Some hero skills

Ship parts mostly give Attack. Trinkets and gems mostly give Damage Bonus. That division is the practical takeaway: if your Damage Bonus is lagging, the fix is in your hero gear, not your ship gear — see the captain equipment guide.

The Marginal Value Rule

Because the two multiply, the same investment produces a bigger result on whichever is currently smaller.

Think of it as area. A long thin rectangle gains more area from widening than from lengthening. Two stats at 100% and 300% gain far more from raising the 100% than the 300%.

In practice:

Check your Attack total and your Damage Bonus for the type your ship actually deals.
Whichever is proportionally weaker, invest there.
Re-check after a significant upgrade — the answer flips as you build.

The common failure is players stacking Damage Bonus through gems and trinkets because those are the visible, collectable upgrades, while Attack lags because it lives in unglamorous places like ship level and the Captain's Quarters. If your damage feels low despite good gear, that is usually why.

Damage Bonus Is Per Type

This is the detail that wastes the most resources.

Damage Bonus applies to a specific damage type. A yellow gem boosting Blazing damage does nothing on a ship dealing Cutthroat damage.

So before slotting anything:

Confirm which damage type the ship deals
Confirm which type the captain's skills deal
Match your gems and trinkets to that type

A mismatched gem is not a small loss. It is zero. See the ship builds guide for matching heroes and hulls properly.

Two account-wide contributors sit underneath all of this: the Captain's Quarters sailor bonus, covered in the sailors guide, and Might at +0.2% per point, covered in the Might and Radiance Enhancement guide.

Priority Order

For a damage ship, roughly:

Correct hero placement — free +20%
Captain's Quarters level — multiplies the whole Attack chain
Ship level and parts — the Attack base, with percentage stats over flat
Type-matched gems and trinkets — Damage Bonus
Might — +0.2% each, accumulates from everything
Whichever multiplier is currently lower — from here on, follow the marginal rule

FAQ

What is the difference between Attack and Damage Bonus?

Attack is the ship's base stat that hero skills multiply. Damage Bonus is a separate final multiplier applied per damage type. They multiply against each other.

Which should I raise?

Whichever is proportionally lower. Marginal value always sits with the weaker multiplier.

Where does Attack come from?

Ship level, cannons, artillery ammo and star observation, multiplied by the Captain's Quarters sailor bonus, Might (+0.2% per point), correct hero placement (+20%) and attack-percentage gear.

Where does Damage Bonus come from?

Mainly trinkets and yellow gems, plus some hero skills. Ship parts give Attack instead.

Does hero placement really matter?

Yes — matching a hero to a ship of their damage type grants a +20% attribute bonus. It is the cheapest upgrade in the game.

Why does my gem seem to do nothing?

Damage Bonus is per damage type. A gem boosting a type your ship does not deal contributes zero.

Key Takeaways

They multiply. Raise whichever is currently lower.
Correct hero-to-ship placement is a free +20%.
The Captain's Quarters multiplies your whole Attack chain — and is gated by the Mess Hall.
Parts give Attack; trinkets and gems give Damage Bonus.
Damage Bonus is per type. A mismatched gem gives you nothing.

Sea of Conquest Attack vs Damage Bonus: Which to Raise