Elemental damage

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Elemental damage is a modifier that exists on certain attacks and weapons. Elemental damage is one of the manifestations of Light, and can be used to a player's advantage to make their attacks more effective. It comes into play for both Guardians and enemies.

Elemental Types

"A spark can give life...or take it."

— Grimoire Arc text.

"Sometimes the only answer is to burn it all away."

— Grimoire Solar text.

"It's fitting, then, that we have weaponized the unknown."

— Grimoire Void text.

There are four types of damage types:

• Kinetic—White—the default damage type on most weapons. Will cause basic damage to any enemy.
• Solar—Orange—causes Solar damage.
• Arc—Blue—causes Arc damage.
• Void—Purple—causes Void damage.

Weapons

Weapons can be infused with elemental damage; by default, most weapons only do kinetic damage, but some may come with modifiers. The modifier is indicated not only on the weapon's stats but also in the weapon menu on the HUD. At the common level, only Fusion Rifles do elemental damage, but at higher levels nearly all special and heavy weapons do elemental damage. Only a handful of primary weapons do elemental damage, and most of those weapons are typically acquired in Raids.

The damage type on most weapons is random, though some weapons such as Exotics or Legendary Raid weapons have a set damage type.

Weapon Class	Solar	Arc	Void	Kinetic
Auto Rifle	Abyss Defiant, Hard Light†	Necrochasm, Zhalo Supercell, Hard Light†	Atheon's Epilogue, Hard Light†	Sweet Business, Monte Carlo, Cerberus +1, Suros Regime
Submachine Gun	Tarrabah	Riskrunner	The Recluse	The Huckleberry
Pulse Rifle		Oversoul Edict, Praedyth's Timepiece	Graviton Lance	No Time to Explain, Bad Juju, Outbreak Perfected, Vigilance Wing, Blast Furnace
Scout Rifle	Vision of Confluence	Fang of Ir Yût		Jade Rabbit, MIDA Multi-Tool
Hand Cannon	Sunshot, Eriana's Vow	Fatebringer	Word of Crota	Midnight Coup, Sturm, The Last Word, Thorn, Lumina, Rose, Ace of Spades, Crimson, Malfeasance
Sniper Rifle	Black Hammer, Ice Breaker, Black Spindle, Borealis†, Whisper of the Worm	Patience and Time, Hereafter, Borealis†, D.A.R.C.I.	Eye of Sol, Praedyth's Revenge, Borealis†	Izanagi's Burden
Bow		Trinity Ghoul	Le Monarque	Wish-Ender
Fusion Rifle	Murmur †, Praetorian Foil, Pocket Infinity, Vex Mythoclast, Sleeper Simulant (D1), One Thousand Voices, Jötunn	Murmur †, Light of the Abyss, Plan C, Queenbreakers' Bow	Telesto
Shotgun	Invective, Lord of Wolves, The Chaperone (D1)	Astral Horizon, Found Verdict, The 4th Horseman, Legend of Acrius	Swordbreaker	The Chaperone (D2)
Sidearm		Dreg's Promise, Trespasser, Vestian Dynasty		Rat King
Machine Gun	Super Good Advice, Nemesis Star, Abbadon, Xenophage	Song of Ir Yût, Thunderlord	Corrective Measure, Nova Mortis, Hammerhead
Rocket Launcher	Hezen Vengeance, Hunger of Crota, Gjallarhorn, Dragon's Breath, Two-Tailed Fox‡	The Wardcliff Coil	Tomorrow's Answer, Truth, Deathbringer, Two-Tailed Fox
Sword	Sol Edge, Solar Infinite Edge, Raze-Lighter, The Young Wolf's Howl	Arc Edge, Arc Infinite Edge, Bolt-Caster, Worldline Zero	Dreadfang, Void Edge, Void Infinite Edge, Dark-Drinker, Quickfang, Goldtusk
Grenade Launcher		The Prospector, Anarchy	The Colony, Fighting Lion
Linear Fusion Rifle	Sleeper Simulant (D2), Man o' War	Tarantula	Crooked Fang-4FR	Arbalest
Trace rifle	Prometheus Lens	Coldheart, Divinity	Wavesplitter

† Murmur is capable of switching between Arc and Solar damage whereas Hard Light and Borealis can switch between Arc, Solar and Void

‡ Two-Tailed Fox fires a Solar Rocket and a Void Rocket, but it’s in-game element is void.

Subclass Elements in Destiny

Each Guardian subclass focuses on one type of elemental damage. This extends to melee attacks, grenades, and Supers.

Class	Solar	Arc	Void
Hunter	Gunslinger	Bladedancer	Nightstalker
Titan	Sunbreaker	Striker	Defender
Warlock	Sunsinger	Stormcaller	Voidwalker

Subclass Elements in Destiny 2

Class	Solar	Arc	Void
Hunter	Gunslinger	Arcstrider	Nightstalker
Titan	Sunbreaker	Striker	Sentinel
Warlock	Dawnblade	Stormcaller	Voidwalker

Enemies

Elemental damage will do bonus damage against certain types of enemies. The most obvious way to tell if an enemy is weak to a certain damage type is to see what color shield they have; for example, Fallen Captains with blue Absorption shields are weak to Arc attacks. Every race has at least one type of enemy shielded by default but will also have another type of enemy that's shielded whenever the Epic modifier is active (or during certain public events.)

In addition to the below list, Nightmare Hunts will also frequently spawn large groups of enemies (typically the lowest class associated with the Nightmare's original race, which normally should not be able to be shielded) with Solar shields that are unusually resistant to even matching elemental damage. Nightmare Breaker mods, obtained from the gamemode, are required to effectively penetrate these shields.

Race	Solar Shield	Arc Shield	Void Shield
Fallen	Noble Shank	Captain	Servitor (Only in Destiny 2 in presumably certain Strikes)
Hive	Wizard	Anointed Knight, Omnigul	x
Vex	x	Harpy Zealot	Minotaur
Cabal	Centurion	Bloodguard Legionary	Epic-difficulty Psion Operant
Taken	Taken Captain, Taken Knight (During The Whisper Mission)	Taken Centurion	Taken Wizard, Taken Acolyte (During The Whisper Mission)
Bosses	Kolar, Psion Flayer, Valus Trau'ug† , Protheon, Modular Mind†	Omnigul, Will of Crota, Vatch, Psion Flayer, Valus Trau'ug† , Protheon, Modular Mind†	Numoc, Psion Flayer, Valus Trau'ug† , Protheon, Modular Mind†

† Indicates enemies that alternate between different shield types.

Enemy weapons and abilities typically have their own elemental damage types as well. Normally this doesn't come into play unless players are playing a mission with damage modifiers on. For example, a Nightfall mission with a 300% boost to Arc damage applies to both Guardians and enemies, so enemies that do Arc damage are especially dangerous. Note that Taken versions of enemies will do a different type of elemental damage than the original base enemy.

Race	Solar weapon	Arc weapon	Void weapon	Kinetic Weapon
Fallen	Shrapnel Launcher, Fallen Walker's main cannon, Flame Censer, Flame Torch, Scorch Cannon	Shock Pistol, Shock Rifle, Wire Rifle, Shock Grenade, Shock Dagger, Shock Blade, Pike, Skiff, Fallen Walker's secondary armaments, Arc Spear, Melee (Wretch only)	Servitor's blasts	Melee
Hive	Acolyte Grenade, Splinter	Boomer, Thrall's melee attack, Cursed Thrall explosion, Wizard's darkness blast	Shredder, Ogre's Eye Beam attack, Shrieker, Tombship
Vex	Slap Rifle, Line Rifle, Hobgoblin's Shield	Hydra's Shield	Torch Hammer, Slap Grenade, Goblin's melee attack, Aeon Maul, Cyclops, Vex Laser Rifle	Temporal Shockwave
Cabal	Slug Rifle, Projection Rifle, Heavy Slug Thrower, Cabal Headhunter, Cabal Severus, Cabal Magma Launcher, Cabal warship Missile Fire, Harvester Missile Fire, Interceptor, Goliath Tank, Energy Shield, Cabal Melee (Legionary)	Psion Psychic Melee, Psionic Blast, Thresher Missile Fire, Cabal Slug Launcher, Cabal Slug Shotgun	Psion Void Melee, Void Orb Blast, Cabal Bronto Cannon, Cabal Melee (Centurion)	Melee (Incendior), Cabal Claws Melee (War Beast)
Splicers	Devil Splicer SIVA-infused weapons, SIVA Charge, Splicer Walker weapons (except Shock Grenades)	Shock Cannon	Null Cannon, Wretched Gaze
Taken	Taken Acolyte melee attack, Shadow Thrall melee attack, Taken Wizard Darkness Blast, Taken Knight grenade attack, Torch Hammer, Wire Rifle	Shredder, Acolyte's Eye, Shrapnel Launcher, Slug Rifle, Projection Rifle, Taken Ogre Eye Blast, Taken Phalanx shield blast	Boomer, Line Rifle, Taken Hobgoblin Retaliation Swarm, Taken Centurion Axion Dart
Scorn	Chieftain's Solar totem, Lurker's Scorn Pistol, Scorn Walker's Solar missiles, Wraith's Flame Torches, Ravager's Flame Cauldron	Chieftain's Arc totem, Fanatic's Staff, Scorn Repeater Pistol	Raider's Scorn Rifle, Chieftain's Void totem, Raider's Void Scorn Crossbow, Stalker's Scorn Grenade

Gallery

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List of appearances

• Destiny (First appearance)
• Destiny 2