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, with a chance of igniting enemies
- Arc - Blue - Causes shock damage, with a chance for splash damage
- Void - Purple - Causes void damage[1]
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.[1]
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 | 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 | Patience and Time | Eye of Sol, Praedyth's Revenge |
| Fusion Rifle | Murmur †, Praetorian Foil, Pocket Infinity, Vex Mythoclast | Murmur †, Light of the Abyss, Plan C, Queenbreakers' Bow | |
| Shotgun | Invective, Lord of Wolves | Astral Horizon, Found Verdict, The 4th Horseman | Swordbreaker |
| Sidearm | Dreg's Promise, 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 |
† 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. [1]
| 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 | Elite Psion |
| 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 Sword, 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 attack | x |
| Taken | Lurk melee attack, Taken Wizard darkness blast, Taken Knight grenade attack, Torch Hammer | Shredder, Skiver turret, Shrapnel Launcher, Slug Rifle, Taken Ogre Eye Blast, Taken Phalanx shield blast | Boomer |