This is [i]should[/i] be a short and sweet summary of Attack and it's role in your total Damage. Many people are still unaware of how this stat works and I imagine there will be an influx of confused new comers. (inb4 this post is lost in the sea of quality posts)
Impact is essentially your weapons base damage, this is important because Attack works as a multiplier.
The estimated equation for this process is (Attack/15), so for example we have a Fate bringer with an Attack rating of 300.
300/15=20
The significance of 20 will be explained shortly!
300 Attack Fatebringer deals 765 damage criticals to level 10 Red HP bar enemies.
300 Attack Fatebringer deals 1505 damage criticals to level 20 Red HP bar enemies.
300 Attack Fatebringer deals 1505 damage criticals to level 28/29/30 Red HP bar enemies.
(Hypothetical) 350 Attack Fatebringer deals 1851 damage criticals to enemies level 23 and above. (It still deals the same amount of damage to level 20's as it did when it had 300 attack because 20 is under the new cap of 350/15=23.)
The following numbers are approximations.
If Fatebringer had an attack rating of 285, it would deal the same amount of damage to the level 10, but it would deal less damage to the level 20 and 30, approximately 7% less damage. (Or if you wanted to look at it the other way around for every 15 attack you do 7% more damage.) This is because (285/15=19) the damage of a 285 attack weapon caps out at level 19.
Attack/15 gives you the level at which your weapons damage caps out, that's why a weapon with 300 Attack does the same amount of damage to a level 20 as it does a 30, as it does a 31, as it does a 32 etc.
TL;DR: For every 15 attack you deal approximately 7% more damage, damages caps out at Attack/15.
If you've got any questions feel free to ask, if you disagree feel free to bring it up.
Reply/Bump/Up, I'm sure we'll be seeing this question soon, and many people still don't know how this works.
Edit: Forgot about the boobs guys, ( . Y . ) ayyyyyy.
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This is sticky-worthy. God forbid Bungie implement a sticky function on their forums...