Damage type

A damage type - as the name says - is a type of damage. Each damage type has a different visual effect in the game, but also, for each type of damage each creature in the game has a different damage resistance.

Finding out which damage type a creature is vulnerable against helps greatly in defeating it. In some cases it's intuitive, for example it's not hard to guess that robotic machinery like Shield Drones are immune against virulent damage, but strongly affected by EMP damage. In other cases it's hard to find out. The Society of Xenobiologists has studied many species and may provide the player with valuable information regarding their weaknesses.

Medic ability Immunity can be used to make allies immune to specific damage types and Ranger ability Polarity Field can be used to alter the damage resistances of enemies.

List of damage types

The following are the damage types in the game:

Damage type name	Alternative names	Damage sources	Notes	Strong against
Fire	Pyro, Incendiary, Exothermic	Fire and other forms of extreme heat	Small chance to set the target on fire, causing additional damage over time.	Some creatures
Electric	Electrical, Energy	Electrical sources	Warnet, Machina, Technicians immune	Most targets
Ice	Cryo, Cryogenic, Endothermic	Ice and other forms of extreme cold	Small chance to freeze the target, similar to a brief stun.	Fire-based creatures
Sonic	Concussive	Powerful concussive forces and extreme-decibel sounds	Small chance to knockback the target.	...
Virulent	Poison	Poisons, toxins, and invasive microorganisms	Ineffective against all types of machines. Directly affects health pool, bypassing armor.	Living targets
Laser	Photonic, Flash, Light	Laser and other electromagnetic radiation sources	Small chance to cause a Crit Light debuff, which increases the target's critical hit vulnerability.	Most targets
EMP	EM, Pulse	Intense magnetic fields	Ineffective against biological health.	Shields, mechanical
Physical	Kinetic	Bullets, shrapnel, and other kinetic sources	...	Most targets

Non-combat damage

There are three non-combat damage types:

• Environmental - commonly known as fall damage; hurts health directly rather than armor
• System - experienced when falling off the map (for example the Abyssal Zone in Plains), or going into certain areas (like the Howling Maw Volcano); hurts health directly rather than armor, kills instantly
• Unspecified - various damages from scripted events (mortar hits in certain areas like between Irendas Penal Colony and Geyser Chimney Basin in Plains; detonators used in certain missions, explosive barrels in certain bases)