Elden Ring Damage Types Explained

Elden Ring is home to many incredible weapons, but if you’re not familiar with each of the damage types, you might not be using them to their full potential.

Some of the enemies in Elden Ring can be tenacious. No matter how many times you attack, they won’t budge, even if you’re using one of the best builds in Elden Ring.

But, it might not be your build at all. Certain weapons have different damage types.

These damage types affect enemies differently. They all have their strengths and weaknesses.

Here’s everything you need to know.

Read More: Elden Ring: All Prayerbook Locations & What They Do

Elden Ring Damage Types: Everything You Need to Know

Damage types in Elden Ring refer to the different types of physical damage and magic damage types that can affect enemies and the player. There are a total of four physical damage types and four magic types.

Physical damage types usually change with the kind of weapon you are currently wielding. A katana will not do the same kind of damage as a hammer.

Furthermore, magic damage types will match the type of magic you are using. Enemies also have different elemental magic damage types.

Here’s everything you need to know to use these damage types effectively and improve your Elden Ring build!

Read More: Elden Ring Story Progress: Best Route & Recommended Levels

Physical Damage Types in Elden Ring

These are all the four different types of physical damage that you can do with a weapon in Elden Ring:

• Strike Damage
  • Weapons like hammers and maces can do strike damage. It’s useful against enemies with armor or enemies that have a hard composition similar to the Crystalians.
  • If enemies are weak to Strike Damage, then there is a high chance the enemy will flinch when struck.
  • A few weapons that do strike damage include the Club, Battle Hammer, Grafted Dragon, and the Fallingstar Beast Jaw.
  • Ineffective against scaly creatures.
• Pierce Damage
  • Weapons like spears and lances can do pierce damage.
  • It is very effective against scaled enemies like Dragons and light or medium armored enemies.
  • A few weapons that do pierce damage include the Lance, Halberd, Claymore, and Pike.
  • Weapons like these are great for players that have mastered parrying!
  • Ineffective against enemies that are heavily armored.
• Slash Damage
  • Slash damage is usually dealt out by sharp weapons similar to the Omen Cleaver and Uchigatana.
  • It is especially effective against unarmored enemies or fleshy creatures.
  • A few weapons that do slash damage include Reduvia, Hookclaws, and Black Knife.
  • Ineffective against heavily armored enemies, rocky creatures, and Giant Ants.
• Standard Damage
  • If a weapon doesn’t fall into any of the categories above, it is characterized as standard damage.
  • This damage is effective against most enemies, with the exception of Miners.
  • Every physical weapon does standard damage regardless.

Once you’ve figured out the type of damage type that you are looking for, you can check out the best weapons in Elden Ring to see which one suits you best!

Have trouble with your damage output? Trying pairing up your weapon with one of the incredible Ash of Wars!

Magic Damage Types in Elden Ring

These are all the four different elemental magic damage types you will encounter in Elden Ring.

• Holy Damage
  • Effective against Undead, Death Rite Birds, Albinaurics, and Crabs.
  • Not effective against most of the royal family bosses, Revenants, and Erdtree Avatars.
  • Certain Incantations and weapons will be able to inflict Holy Damage. A few of these Incantations include Blade of Gold and Sacred Blade. Holy damage is great against Those Who Live in Death.
  • The Black Knife, Sacred Relic Sword, and Marika’s Hammer are a few weapons that are imbued with holy damage.
• Lightning Damage
  • Effective against enemies that are heavily armored, Silver Tears, and Abductor Virgins.
  • Not effective against Tibia Mariners, rock enemies such as Golems and Gargoyles, Ancient Dragons, and Miranda Sprouts.
  • Certain Incantations will be able to inflict Lightning Damage. Spells like Thunderbolt and Lightning Strike will inflict enemies with lightning damage.
  • Its damage increases with the presence of rain and wet areas.
• Fire Damage
  • Effective against Undead, Giant Ants, fleshy enemies, any wood or plant-themed creature, and unarmored enemies.
  • Ineffective against any fire-themed enemy, heavily armored enemies, and Draconic creatures.
  • Certain Incantations will be able to deal Fire Damage. Those Who Live With Death and unarmored enemies are weak to fire damage. Spells like Dragonfire and Flame of the Fell God will inflict fire damage.
  • There are also weapons that deal fire damage, like the Magma Blade and Giant’s Red Braid.
  • Its damage decreases with the presence of rain.
  • It can be cured and reset with the Frostbite ailment.
• Magic Damage
  • Effective against Miners and armored enemies.
  • Not effective against magic-oriented enemies.
  • Most Sorceries and even a few Incantations will be able to deal Magic Damage.

Need some spells to help you test out the different damage types? Check out these legendary Sorceries and Incantations!

Damage Types Tips & Tricks

Players can boost the effectiveness of their damage type by using certain talismans or consumables. Some of these consumables can even be crafted on your own.

You also need to know a few things to make the most of damage types, especially when it comes to enemies and bosses.

There will sometimes be bosses that are immune to certain damage types, for starters. You may not have the best time if you try to use a Frost Mage build against Glintstone Dragon Adula.

It’s similar to how if you use a weapon with slash damage on a heavily armored enemy, then it might knock you back a bit. This can leave you open to enemy attacks.

Also, certain enemies are immune to certain magic types when it comes to elemental magic. Usually, you’ll be able to find this out from the kind of attacks they use. If they use fire attacks, they will be immune to fire damage and so on.

And this also means that they deal with that type of damage type. If you’re not heavily armored, a fire attack can be pretty devastating.

So it’s good to know what you’re dealing with. Especially when going up against some of the final enemies like the Elden Beast!

You’ll need as much holy damage negation as you can to survive that fight.