Survivor:Damage

DRG

DRG:RC

DRG:S

SurvivorDwarvesEquipmentWeaponsDamage

Each of the weapons provided by Deep Rock Galactic, come with their own types of elemental damage, giving the Survivors plenty of ways for them to kill bugs.

Some weapons, with the help of Overclocks, may also be given the option to switch their element into a different one, or be given an element on top of their existing one. For example, one may want to switch their weapon's [KINETIC] damage into a [FIRE] damage, allowing them to apply strong status effect damage to bugs.

Mid-dive upgrades exclusive to a specific element, will apply to all weapons of a Survivor's kit, so long as they are of that element. Should the element of their weapons be switched, any upgrade bonuses relative to these elements won't be provided if the weapon's element no longer matches, or will if it does, and vice-versa.

Damage Types

[KINETIC] – basic non-elemental damage
[FIRE] – inflicts Burn on the target, which deals heavy damage over time
[ELECTRICAL] – inflicts Shock on the target, increasing critical hit chance against them and dealing damage to nearby enemies
[ACID] – inflicts Corrode on the target, which increases damage taken from all sources including itself
[COLD] – inflicts Slow on the target, which decreases move speed and has a stacking chance to Freeze the target
[PLASMA] – shots bounce off targets and terrain

Status Effect Damage

Elemental weapons ([FIRE] [ACID] [ELECTRICAL] or [COLD]), and also weapons that have been granted status effects via Overclocks, apply Status Effect Stacks when they hit enemies. Stacks apply effects and/or deal damage, and decay by 20% every tick (0.5 sec).

• Burn deals strong damage (4 dmg/stack/tick).
• Shock deals moderate damage (2 dmg/stack/tick) when other enemies are nearby, increases crit chance against targets (0.5% Crit Chance per stack, up to a max of 100% at 200 stacks), and arcs to nearby targets, applying a small number of stacks.
• Corrode deals moderate damage (2 dmg/stack/tick), increases the damage the target takes from all sources including itself (1% per stack, up to a max of 100% at 100 stacks), and applies a small number of stacks to nearby targets if the target dies
• Slow slows down the targets and has a chance to inflict Frozen on hit; slowness modified by target's freeze resistance.
• Frozen stops the target completely for several seconds; chance of application and duration modified by target's freeze resistance.

The more stacks you apply, the stronger these effects are. Damage dealt by these stacks (known as Status Effect Damage) benefits from any and all damage increases, with a couple of exceptions:

• It is not increased by Bigger Cogs upgrades, except for the Bigger Cogs upgrade for the matching element ([FIRE] [ACID] or [ELECTRICAL])
• It cannot crit, so it is unaffected by Critical Chance and Critical Damage upgrades

Potency is how many Status Effect Stacks are applied per direct hit. More potency means your status effects are stronger:

• Fire – increased ticking damage
• Electrical – increased crit chance and ticking damage
• Acid – increased damage amp and ticking damage
• Cold – freeze bugs faster

Status Effect Damage and Potency are multiplicative with each other.

Strategy

• Due to the different effects provided by each type of element, one can adapt their kit to a specific playstyle.
  • The [KINETIC] damage is the most common element, provides no additional effects, and only acts as a form of pure damage. It is also worth nothing that, it is the only damage type that can be switched into a different element upon choosing Overclocks and, unless playing as the Weapons Specialist from the Gunner, it is often recommended to change it into a different one whenever the option is present, unless the Survivor already invested into synergistic upgrades to [KINETIC] damage.
  • [FIRE] damage is one of three elements capable of dealing status damage to a target, and effectively being the best at it. As such, it is the element of choice for a playstyle based purely on status damage, such as the Interrogator from the Driller. Upgrades related to status damage should be a priority when picking weapons using this element.
  • [ELECTRICAL] damage is one of three elements capable of dealing status damage to a target, with this one increasing crit chances to affected target. This element is mostly useful for softening up bugs with direct damage, thanks to the increase in crit chance it provides. However, critical damage and status damage are mutually exclusive, and thus, status damage cannot deal crits. On top of that, crit chance from [ELECTRICAL] damage is capped at 100%, limiting its effectiveness as a supportive element. [ELECTRICAL] should be used in builds that specializes either on crit damage, either on a hybrid of both status damage and crit. Scout benefits the most from this element, thanks to his high crit damage.
  • [ACID] damage is one of three elements capable of dealing status damage to a target, with this one increasing all damage taken by the target. Much like [ELECTRICAL] damage, [ACID] damage acts as a softener for dealing more damage, the difference being that it is universally effective for both direct, and status damage. This makes it one of the most reliable damage types in the game, excelling both in status damage, and as a supportive element. However, it is fairly uncommon, as it is the element with the least weapons using it, with only 4 using [ACID] by default, and 1 as an Overclock option. For a build centered around direct damage, [ELECTRICAL] damage pairs well with it, as the damage inflicted to bugs can quickly ramp up when both are combined.
  • [COLD] damage acts primarily as a supportive element, impairing the mobility of all bugs affected by it. Bugs that are affected by the [COLD] element, will move slower and, should the effect be more potent, freeze in place, preventing them from moving entirely, rendering them unable to deal damage whatsoever. The Survivor can take advantage of this by running past them unharmed to move away from danger, and in situations of being cornered, can make the difference between life and death. In alternative gamemodes such as Hardcore, this can be extremely valuable.
  • [PLASMA] is a unique element which gives its weapons, the ability for its projectiles/beams to bounce off obstacles. This makes this element less reliant on precision for the weapon to hit its targets, and especially useful in confined places. On top of that, weapons who use [PLASMA] by default, can obtain Overclocks which, instead of replacing the [PLASMA] element by another one, add elements of [FIRE], [ELECTRICAL], or [COLD] to it, allowing a single [PLASMA] weapon to use up to 3 different damage types at once, making status damage builds viable with them.

Discussion

• Official Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor Discord (link: https://discordapp.com/invite/drgs)
  • #tips-and-tricks, "DRG:S Element Breakdown"
  • #tips-and-tricks, "Useful resources"