In order to study the variation rule of damping ratio of Maxwell model-based wall viscous damper structures under different seismic action intensities. The relationships between inter-story drift utilization, damping parameters, seismic intensity, and the additional damping ratio are analyzed, and a calculation formula for the additional damping ratio as a function of these parameters is derived. The results indicate that the inter-story drift utilization (?) increases with a decrease in damping coefficients and exponents and an increase in seismic intensity. When ? = 1, the additional damping ratio decreases with increasing seismic intensity; when ? ≠ 1, the additional damping ratio increases with the damping exponent or inter-story utilization ratio. Furthermore, a rapid prediction method based on the variation patterns of the damping ratio is proposed. The accuracy of the proposed method and theory is validated through a comparative analysis of seismic design and additional damping ratio calculations for a frame structure.