Damage Scaling Sources In general, you'll be scaling your build's damage through your passive tree, gems, gear, and Ascendancy. There are more ways to scale your damage than that, but that's the gist.

Flat Damage Sources

Weapons Skill gems (typically spells) Certain support gems Certain Uniques Increased Damage Sources

Passive Tree nodes Gear (local modifiers) More Damage Sources

Support gems Elemental penetration/reductions Ascendancy notables (varies from class to class) Keystones from the passive tree Certain flasks In general, if you want to make your build stronger, the best things to do are:

Upgrade your gear Level your skill and support gems Link more support gems to your skills Ascend (if possible) Penetrate enemy resistances There are far more ways of scaling your damage than these, but this should give you a rough idea as to what you should be focusing on when your damage starts falling off in later Acts or Maps.