Elemental damage

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

There are four types damage types:

• Kinetic—White—the default damage type on most weapons. Will do base damage on any enemy.
• Solar—Red—causes thermal damage.
• Arc—Blue—causes shock 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
Auto Rifle	Abyss Defiant	Necrochasm, Zhalo Supercell	Atheon's Epilogue
Pulse Rifle		Oversoul Edict, Praedyth's Timepiece
Scout Rifle	Vision of Confluence	Fang of Ir Yut
Hand Cannon		Fatebringer	Word of Crota
Sniper Rifle	Black Hammer, Ice Breaker, Black Spindle	Patience and Time, Hereafter	Eye of Sol, Praedyth's Revenge
Fusion Rifle	Murmur †, Praetorian Foil, Pocket Infinity, Vex Mythoclast, Sleeper Simulant	Murmur †, Light of the Abyss, Plan C, Queenbreakers' Bow	Telesto
Shotgun	Invective, Lord of Wolves, The Chaperone	Astral Horizon, Found Verdict, The 4th Horseman	Swordbreaker
Sidearm		Dreg's Promise, Trespasser Vestian Dynasty
Machine Gun	Super Good Advice	Song of Ir Yut, Thunderlord	Corrective Measure
Rocket Launcher	Hezen Vengeance, Hunger of Crota, Gjallarhorn, Dragon's Breath		Tomorrow's Answer, Truth
Sword	Sol Edge, Solar Infinite Edge, Raze-Lighter, The Young Wolf's Howl	Arc Edge, Arc Infinite Edge, Bolt-Caster	Dreadfang, Void Edge, Void Infinite Edge, Dark-Drinker

† Murmur is capable of switching between Arc and Solar damage.

Guardians

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

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.

Race	Solar Shield	Arc Shield	Void Shield
Fallen	Noble Shank	Captain	x
Hive	Wizard	Anointed Knight, Omnigul	x
Vex	x	Harpy Zealot	Minotaur
Cabal	Centurion	x	Epic-difficulty Psion Operant
Taken	Taken Captain	Taken Centurion	Taken Wizard
Splicers	x?	x?	Splicer Captain
Bosses	Kolar, Psion Flayer, Valus Trau'ug †	Omnigul, Will of Crota, Vatch, Psion Flayer, Valus Trau'ug †	Numoc, Psion Flayer, Valus Trau'ug †

† Valus Trau'ug will alternate between different elemental 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
Fallen	Shrapnel Launcher, Fallen Walker's main cannon	Shock Pistol, Shock Rifle, Wire Rifle, Shock Grenade, Shock Dagger, Shock Blade, Pike, Skiff, Fallen Walker's secondary armaments	Servitor
Hive	x	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	x	Torch Hammer, Slap Grenade, Goblin's melee attack, Hydra, Cyclops
Cabal	Slug Rifle, Projection Rifle, Heavy Slug Thrower, Harvester, Interceptor, Goliath Tank	Psion Psychic Melee, Psionic Blast	x
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, Taken Wizard darkness blast, Taken Knight grenade attack, Torch Hammer, Wire Rifle	Shredder, Acolyte's Eye, Shrapnel Launcher, Slug Rifle, Taken Ogre Eye Blast, Taken Phalanx shield blast	Boomer, Line Rifle, Taken Hobgoblin Retaliation Swarm, Taken Centurion Axion Dart