There are several different types of damage you can deal in Starfield which can change the outcome of a situation. From the main types of damage such as physical or energy, to environmental effects and statuses, there’s a lot to take advantage of. Unfortunately, most of these damage types aren’t really explained, or given much time for the player to understand. Some of them will be relatively straightforward, such as bleed or thermal; but others like particle beams and radiation will operate strangely. Compared to our real world, a lot of these conditions could be common sense in what happens, however things like radiation will work like a fear ability, and all poison, bacteria, or anything like that is considered airborne.
Because of these slight differences, it’s important to understand what each damage type is most effective against. This way you can not only save yourself a load of ammunition, but also time when dispatching aliens, robots, and spacers. Having a blend of different weapons and damage types can be one of the most effective ways of dealing with even the toughest enemies you’ll find in the game. Finally, understanding how each damage type interacts with the game will help the player avoid their deadly effects.
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Main Damage Types
The main damage types in Starfield include physical, energy, particle Beam, and explosive. These are all commonly found in weapons that the player can wield and take advantage of. Additionally, these are all damage types that can be upgraded with perks through leveling up. Each of these can also be combined with each other, and status effects in order to produce deadlier weapons. While these main forms of damage can be powerful, they are far from your only option. By mixing your environment with these mixed weapons, you can really even the odds in most boss-fight scenarios.
Environment Damage Types
Environmental damage types are those that can be found while traversing around various planets or conditions. Including thermal, radiation, airborne, and corrosive damage, these forms of area of effect damage rarely find themselves in weapons. Instead, you’re more likely to find these effects in locations, causing an extra level of concern when you choose to fight aliens or spacers. It’s important to note that most armor types will offer you resistance to these effects. Weapons can occasionally have these effects attached to them if they’re unique, especially things like thermal and radiation damage.
Status Effect Damage Types
Status effects are the last type of major damage you’ll come across in the game; including things like bleed, tesla, and EMP weapon. Each of these effects can hinder the opponent in some way, or cause damage over time. Most of these can be mixed with the main forms of damage in Starfield in order to create a devastating combination. For instance, throwing a bleed on a physical weapon can save you ammunition by bleeding your enemies out.
Physical damage can be dealt as either melee or ballistic depending on what you’re using
Physical
In terms of damage, physical is the most common type you’ll come across. Physical damage can be done through ballistic weapons and melee attacks, separating the type into two. Because of this, you’ll have the ability to take advantage of this damage type the most. While it is one of the main ways of killing individuals, it falls off against robots and armored targets. Because of this, you want to make sure you use physical damage against anything that isn’t tanky or cybernetic. Physical weapons can be increased through several perks including ballistic force expert, and the melee weapons variant. The best part about physical damage is that it can be combined with other types for a deadly effect.
Ballistic
Among the two types of damage that physical comes in, ballistic is the most common. Being dealt by firearms and other projectiles, you can bet anything that uses bullets deals physical damage. The best way to make the most of ballistic damage is to pair it with something like bleed or incendiary, though explosive is also a great choice. Basically, anything that can maximize the amount of damage per second is enough to make ballistic force ultimately more effective. In this regard, physical ballistic damage is the easiest way to get through Starfield as a whole.
Melee
The second form of physical damage is Melee, which is done by any form of blunt or sharp object. These can be found around the knives, swords, and axes of the game you can collect. Each of these items is designed to inflict close-range physical damage that pairs well with bleed or Tesla. Overall, the physical damage melee weapons inflict is generally more long-term than ballistic because they don’t reload. The only fallback of melee weapons is that they have extremely limited range to draw from.
Energy Damage
Energy
Energy damage is the second major contender of energy types that can be found around Starfield. Luckily energy weapons are great for taking out armored and robotic threats. The problem with them is that they generally hit with less power than traditional ballistic weapons. Another issue with energy weapons is that there is no melee variant. Instead, energy damage can come in many different forms and even mixed to produce something else entirely. Therefore energy damage is important when considering the effects of items you receive. Things like radiation, Tesla, and particle beams all use energy damage in one form or another.
Particle Beam
Particle Beam weapons are one of those things that mix both physical and energy damage to produce a special effect. The result of particle beams is that they deal damage per second when they hit an opponent, and travel farther. Quintessentially, particle Beam weapons already mix both damage types to produce a deadly amount of damage but can have other effects added. When considering this, particle beams are easily one of the best weapon types you can go with as they impact most enemies equally. The only downside is that their ammunition is rarer and more expensive to produce than most other sources. Additionally, there are no close-quarters options with the particle Beam weapon list as no melee weapons exist with energy properties.
Electromagnetic
Electromagnetic weapons are a great source of immobilizing the enemy as it’s one of two stun types. This one is the true stunning option though as EMP weapons deal nonlethal damage which can make bounty hunting very easy. Electromagnetism will differ from other damage types because once an opponent takes 100 emp damage they’re stunned for thirty seconds. Afterward, they can get up and continue to be a problem unless you have a special item. During this time, you can loot the enemy or scan them; ultimately leaving you with the option to let them live or not. While electromagnetic damage may not kill your targets, it’s always good to have at least one weapon with this damage type for tough bosses.
Particle Beams mix physical and energy damage and can have effects added on them
Thermal
Thermal damage is the primary form of environmental effect from fire, heat, and incendiary weapons. The only surefire ammunition type that deals this kind of damage if 6.5MM white-hot, but otherwise plenty of weapons can have the effect added. Thermal damage is great against biological enemies and unarmored threats. Outside of this, there isn’t much else it can do on its own. Instead to make the most out of thermal damage, pair it with additional weapon types like energy or particle beams. Thermal can also be seen in the specialized fire grenades and mines that Starfield keeps around for throwables. If you’re struggling to deal with fire damage, certain space suits specialize in resisting this damage type.
Airborne
Airborne damage refers to pathogens, vacuums, and poisons that can be found in the environments around you. Gas grenades are one of the few options that actually take advantage of this damage type, and not much else. Most biologicals are impacted by airborne damage, but it will primarily be used against the player themselves. Keeping a space suit around that has his airborne resistance, or at the least having a helmet can help tremendously. The best case scenario when dealing with airborne threats is to deal with them as quickly as possible. Usually these do damage over time like bleed or thermal, so don’t be in them for a long time.
Corrosive
Corrosive damage refers primarily to the idea of acids and venoms that can be used against the player. Most commonly these will be carried by specialized aliens who try to melt through armor and items quickly. Corrosive damage is primarily useful because it can ignore armor, and weaken it over time. Certain weapons can get this ability as an effect which allows them to punch through tougher targets. A great way to use corrosive damage is against robots and heavily armored targets but also works wonders against anything else. The only real issue with corrosive damage in Starfield is that it is a rare effect. Like bleed, corrosive damage will happen over time making it extremely potent to use.
Environmental damage takes the form of thermal, radiation, airborne, and corrosive.
Radiation
Radiation is another one of the environment-based damage types that can sometimes be found in weapons. The radiation not only weakens the body but acts like an area of effect version of energy damage. Where airborne damage is meant to affect you physically, radiation ravages you through the molecules. Because of this a lot of creatures will often turn away and run because of the utter demonization cancer-causing attacks instill. Keeping this in mind, radiation is probably one of the best methods of protecting yourself from living targets. Robots aren’t as likely to turn away from radiation making it limited in its use. Nonetheless, a good radiation weapon can turn the tide of combat quickly through utter fear.
Bleed
Bleed is one of the most effective damage types you can find when it comes to dealing with living targets. Essentially, bleeding will basically act like physical damage over time that some weapons and attacks cause. It’s notable that this can be found on melee and ballistic weapons, but rarely is found on energy items. Bleed can be a serious tool early on as it drains hit points by a percentage every time you hit someone with it. The best way to implement bleed is to put it on a rapid-fire weapon, or shotgun where each pellet or shot causes the effect. It’s very important that bleeding isn’t tried on machines as obviously, they don’t have anything to give the effect any value.
Tesla
The second form of stunning damage is the much more potent Tesla damage. Slowing your enemy down, Tesla damage allows you to keep your distance from aggressive aliens and machines. While this can be great when you’re getting into fights with melee combatants, Tesla damage is less effective against gunmen. This is because it only impedes physical movement speed and not their attacking speed. This is considered, if you add Tesla damage onto a shotgun or rifle, the enemy can’t escape your volleys. Keep in mind that enemies who have been slowed by this effect also have a harder time jumping around. Without the ability to jump, spacers and other aliens will have a much harder time getting out of your line of sight. Overall, this makes Tesla damage one of the better things to keep on hand.
Explosives are one of the most deadly forms of damage you can get your hands on
Explosive
Explosive damage can be described as a mixture of thermal and energy damage in a massive area of effect. This can be seen most commonly in grenades, mines, and explosive ammunition. While this type of damage can be found right off the bat, it will follow you through all the way to the end if you can find the right load out. Explosive damage is wonderful for any kind of engagement where you’re outnumbered, and have plenty to spare. Additionally, there are plenty of perks to make you deal more explosive damage, and resist it. Overall, explosives are useful for every enemy type but do slightly fall off against armored targets. To make the most of it, try to make fully automatic weapons into explosive ammunition-bearing ones.
