Damage Types
Damage in the game is categorized into three primary types: physical, magical, and unique.
In Patch 6.3, a UI option will be added to allow players to view the type of damage they were hit by. Currently, it is not possible to view damage types without third-party websites or tools.
Physical
Physical damage includes most player weaponskill actions. Most (but not all) enemy auto-attacks are physical, along with many enemy actions.
Physical damage taken can specifically be reduced by the melee DPS role action Feint (which also reduces magical damage to a lesser degree), along with other actions that reduce damage from all types. Only physical damage can be parried.
Magical
Magical damage includes player spell actions and many enemy actions.
Magical damage taken can specifically be reduced by the magical ranged DPS role action Addle (which also reduces physical damage to a lesser degree), the gunbreaker ability Heart of Light, and the dark knight abilities Dark Missionary and Dark Mind, along with other actions that reduce damage from all types.
Unique
Unique damage, sometimes referred to as darkness damage by players, includes some miscellaneous enemy actions and instant-kill damage (e.g., enrage actions or death walls). Unique damage cannot be mitigated by actions that affect only physical or magical damage, although some sources of unique damage can be mitigated by actions that reduce all damage taken.
Other types
Damage can also be categorized into other types such as elemental (fire, ice, lightning, water, wind, earth, dark, light) and physical sub-types (slashing, piercing, blunt). These are usually specific to particular duties.
Often, players will encounter debuffs that will increase damage taken from a certain primary type, element or physical sub-type (e.g., Fire Resistance Down). These are commonly used to enforce ways of handling particular mechanics.
- For example, a mechanic may require players to soak an attack that inflicts Fire Resistance Down. Players with that debuff would take lethal damage if they attempt to soak the attack, requiring someone without the debuff to handle it.
- In another example, a "tankbuster" attack inflicts Physical Vulnerability Up on the target. The other tank can Provoke the boss to prevent the original target from dying to the boss's subsequent auto-attacks due to the debuff.
Many action tooltips will indicate the element of an attack (e.g., "Deals fire damage with a potency of XXX"). Innate elemental resistance is not a factor in combat, so these can be ignored. For example, a Bomb will not take reduced damage or absorb damage from Fire. It will also not take increased damage from Blizzard. Innate elemental and physical sub-type affinity is only relevant in the Masked Carnivale. Elemental affinity also plays a key role in the Forbidden Land, Eureka, although it is based on the player's Magia and not influenced by the element in an action tooltip.