Arknights: Elemental Damage Guide

Hello and welcome to TacticalBreakfast's primer on Elemental Damage.  Elemental Damage is not a new topic and it has been in the game for quite a while now.  However, with the introduction of friendly Elemental Damage via Valarqvin in the IS#4 patch, there is renewed interest in the exact mechanical details of how it works.  There's also a lot of confusion out there due to bad official translations and a variety of fan translations.  This primer is an attempt to compile all relevant information in an organized and easy to access place.  I hope you find the information here helpful.

If you feel there is a mistake here or you have a suggestion, please feel free to DM me on Discord (DN: tacticalbreakfast).

I intend for this guide to be updated as things change.  I will note revisions here, primarily because the guide is rather large and conflicts are possible as terms change.  Hopefully these notes will alleviate some of that.  If you spot any inconsistencies or errors please feel free to ping me on the Gamepress Discord!

April 24th - In-game translation of Elemental-Infliction Resistance was updated to "Effect Resistance" in the Episode 13 patch.  Two pictures of the slug showing these are updated.  Several sections discussing this are also updated.  Finally, Virtuosa and Diamante's release dates are updated.

May 1st - With the release of Zwillingstürme im Herbst, we have official translations of the Fallout state.  Parts of the guide have been updated to reflect this, but the term "Fallout" will continue to be used to avoid discontinuity within the article itself (e.g. avoiding making conflicting statements if I miss something).  Additionally some information about Logos' Module from the CN patch, Absolved Will Be The Speakers has been added.

In typical Hypergryph fashion, Elemental Damage tends to be more confusing than it needs to be.  This is made worse by poor translations from Yostar which add another layer of ambiguity.  If you are completely confused, or only care about the rudimentary details, this section will attempt to provide a simple and plain English explanation of the mechanics.

For most people, this section will be all you really need.  However, for those of you interested in all of the gory details, there will be much more ahead.

Certain enemies and certain Operators can deal (or heal) a special type of damage.  This damage has no effect of its own, but once enough of it is dealt to a target, some negative effects against the afflicted unit are triggered.  Broadly, this mechanic is referred to as Elemental Damage.  Be aware that when discussing the details this term has ambiguity involved, however it tends to be used as a catch-all phrase for the entire mechanic and associated details.

There are multiple types of this special damage, each corresponding to a thematic "element", and each type has its own effects.  Within the game it is often (but not always) referred to by its specific type.  For example, Necrosis Damage as with Valarqvin.

The special form of damage is tracked by a UI element on the screen as a colored circle and a white ring.  It appears slightly different between enemies and allies, but functions the same.  The color (and icon if enemy inflicted) represents the element type while the white ring represents the amount of that infliction damage that the unit has received.  Once a certain amount of that type is accumulated (typically 1000, but increases to 2000 for bosses), as represented by the white ring draining completely, they enter a special cooldown state during which some negative effects will occur.

These effects vary by element type and whether the affected unit is friendly or hostile.  They can be seen in-game by tapping the keyword and are also detailed in the tables below.  The duration of these effects is represented by the white ring gradually refilling.

Of special note, the resulting real damage against enemies (inflicted by our Operators) is a new type of damage called Elemental (remember what I said about ambiguity?).  This is new and is in addition to Physical, Arts, and True.  Enemies may have defenses against both the damage which causes the state and the resulting Elemental Damage.  These defenses are labeled on the enemy page, but use ambiguous terms.  As of this writing, no enemy has a greater than 0 value for these defenses.  All enemies currently take the full value of the resulting damage.

Conversely, friendly Operators have no inherent defenses.  Instead, Wandering Medics are used to mitigate the build-up.  Additionally, enemy-inflicted effects do not deal Elemental Damage like the Operator-inflicted effects do.  Enemy-inflicted effects instead deal traditional Arts, Physical, or True Damage.

Once triggered, the unit cannot take new infliction damage until the resulting state ends.  Once the state ends, all accumulated infliction damage is removed and the unit returns to its default state, minus any permanent debuffs caused by the fallout.

For many of you, this will be where the article ends.  Thanks for stopping by!  However, if you’re ready to deep dive into the gory details and awful Yostar translations… read on.

Fallout Effects

Enemy-Inflicted Fallout Effects

Operator-Inflicted Fallout Effects

Friendly Operators cannot currently inflict Nervous Impairment or Corrosion.

README:  With the basic mechanics out of the way, the remaining sections will dive into the more nitty gritty details.  As said, there is a lot of ambiguity involved in the official terminology of this mechanic.  For the basic mechanical section I've done my best to describe it in a way that doesn't rely on either the ambiguous official terms or various fan terms and translations which might not always be obvious.

However, as we dive deeper into these mechanics, trying to talk about them like that becomes a big obstacle that causes more confusion, not less.  So, from here on out, this guide will be using strictly defined, but unofficial, terms to describe specific mechanics.  It's nearly impossible to discuss the details in a sane way otherwise.

Conventions

Unofficial terms will be italicized (e.g. Elemental-Infliction Damage (unofficial) compared to Elemental Damage (official)).  For a detailed explanation of why certain terms are used, see Appendix A. 

Additionally, any time you see <Type> it is a generic term used to represent a place in-game where a particular type is used rather than a generic term (e.g. Necrosis or Burn). 

Finally, “entity” or “unit” refers to something that can be hit by elemental effects.  In other words, it generically refers to both a friendly Operator or an enemy.  If the difference matters, “Operator” and “enemy” will be used instead.

Elemental-Infliction Damage

Elemental-Infliction Damage refers to the accumulating damage which triggers the elemental effects.  It is not damage in the traditional sense since it does not directly impact normal HP, but is instead tracked separately, represented by the white ring emptying.  Elemental-Infliction Damage is a generic term to refer to all forms of it, but in real effect, it is always a specific type.  In-game, this is usually referred to by its specific type, such as Necrosis Damage.  However, it does appear as a general term in some places, such as in the Ritualist Trait.  Unfortunately there is ambiguity with the Elemental Damage term, so the unofficial term Elemental-Infliction Damage is used here instead.

Burn Damage / Necrosis Damage / Nervous Impairment Damage / Corrosion Damage

These terms all refer to specific types of Elemental-Infliction Damage.  While Elemental-Infliction Damage is the generic term that covers all types, these are each the specific types which are all tracked differently via different colored UI elements and have different resulting effects.

These are all official terms and are (mercifully) not ambiguous in any current usage in-game.  In the future additional types may be added.

As noted above, <Type> Damage refers to these in a generic way and is equivalent to the Elemental-Infliction Damage defined above.  The difference within this guide is in the context.  <Type> is used when it being a specific type matters, such as when discussing corresponding Fallout states.

Elemental Damage

The term Elemental Damage refers to the actual damage which is dealt as part of the resulting effects of Elemental-Infliction Damage accumulation, or directly by certain units.  Unlike the Elemental-Infliction Damage, Elemental Damage is the real damage dealt to a unit’s normal HP.  It is a new type of damage, in the same way that Physical and Arts are types of damage.

Note that if a damage is a qualified type, either in this guide or in this game, such as “Burn Damage” for example, it ALWAYS refers to Elemental-Infliction Damage.  The direct real damage dealt is always just Elemental Damage and is not typed.

This term is ambiguous with the Elemental-Infliction Damage mentioned above, which is also called Elemental Damage in-game (as seen in the Necrosis description, for example).  In this case, the official term is the most correct since it is a new type of real damage like.

Elemental Fallout State

This term generically refers to the state an enemy unit or friendly operator is in when the Elemental-Infliction Damage reaches its threshold, triggering the resulting effects.  Graphically, it is represented by the colored type ring turning a paler color and the white ring refilling.  Because there is no official term for this state, no official translation (as of this publishing), and the literal translation is clunky to use in a guide such as this, the unofficial term Elemental Fallout (or just Fallout) is used instead.

On CN the in-game text translates literally to “under the active effects of <Type>”.  There are many unofficial terms for this state for the reasons listed above.  Terms like “Fallout”, “Burst”, and “Break” (and others) all refer to this state.  The EN version uses “Explodes” to refer to the triggering of this state, but not the state itself.  It uses "burst" to refer to the state itself, however this is not a keyword.  See Appendix A for more details.

Elemental-Infliction Resistance

This is an enemy stat which provides defense against Elemental-Infliction Damage.  It makes the Fallout state more difficult to trigger, but does not provide any defense against the resulting real damage.  This was originally labeled as Elemental Resistance in-game, and is currently labeled as Effect Resistance.  Due to the confusion with the similarly labeled Elemental RES the unofficial term Elemental-Infliction Resistance is used in this guide.

Elemental-Damage Resistance

This is an enemy stat which provides defense against Elemental Damage.  It reduces the amount of damage taken in the Fallout state or directly inflicted by Primal Casters.  This is labeled as Elemental RES in-game.  Due to confusion with the similarly labeled “Elemental Resistance”, the unofficial term Elemental-Damage Resistance is used in this guide.

README:  The next three sections dig into the ambiguity of the terms used here in an attempt to provide a complete explanation.  If this doesn't interest you, feel free to skip it.  Just don't complain if you aren't sure why I'm using a given term.

Elemental Damage vs Elemental Damage?

There's a lot of confusion when it comes to Elemental Damage, and much of it comes down to two ambiguous terms.  There is Elemental Damage, which is used as an umbrella term to cover all varieties of the damage which is used to inflict the negative effects.  This is the damage which fills the circles and is dealt by units like Valarqvin.  In game, it is usually referred to by type, such as Necrosis Damage, however the Ritualist Trait specifically calls it Elemental Damage as a general term.

Then there is Elemental Damage, which is instead of actual real damage which results from triggering the elemental effects.  This is the damage dealt over time by the Necrosis effects, or the additional damage dealt directly by Primal Casters, for example.  This damage is *not* “typed” to specific elements like the previously mentioned kind.  The damage from Burn and Warmy is the same as the damage from Necrosis and Diamante.  It's all "Elemental Damage" in the same way all physical damage is Physical and all magic damage is Arts.

This is why we have the situation where the enemy page shows both "Elemental Resistance" and "Elemental RES"!  (More on that later).  It's extremely confusing, ain't it?  It's helpful to look at the Chinese characters here.

The Elemental Damage, as in the Ritualist Trait is "元素损伤" while the Elemental Damage, as dealt by Primal Casters is "元素伤害".  Notice the first two characters (元素) are the same in both, which is the “Elemental” part.  The latter two (损伤 vs 伤害) differ, however both roughly translate to damage in English!

This difference is why this article uses unofficial terms.  The official translations leave ambiguity and otherwise depend on context to determine the difference.

Confused yet?  It's only gonna get worse.

What to call the Fallout state?

So, what do you call the state a unit is in when the Elemental Damage accumulates?  Answer:  No one knows.  There is no official in-game keyword term for this state in any language.  On CN, operators which interact with this state refer to it as 处于[...]爆发期间 which is not keyworded and has a large variety of potential translations.  This has resulted in a lot of unofficial terms used for this state.

You may have seen "Fallout" (used by DragonGJY, and a term I'm personally fond of, and thus use in this article), "Burst" (the MTL version), "Break" (the term used in the code), or no term at all such as "the active effects of <type>" (used on Aceship and Gamepress, it is the literal translation of the in-game text).  The official in-game translation of the Necrosis effects use “Explodes”, although that only refers to the trigger and not the state itself!  There are more too.

I’ve opted not to use the “official” term of “Explodes” because it is not a keyword, only refers to the trigger, and doesn’t really make sense as a replacement for Fallout in a lot of contexts in this guide.

With the introduction of Virtuosa in the Zwillingstürme im Herbst we have an official translation of this as burst (see Virtuosa's S1 or Diamante's S2 or Talent).  However, this is not a keyword.

This article will continue to use Fallout despite this translation for now.  This is primarily to avoid conflicting information since updating the entire guide will take some time.

Elemental RES vs Elemental/Effect Resistance?

In the Episode 13 patch, Yostar addressed the major translation issue that was present with the enemy defenses.  In the original version, one was labeled Elemental Resistance and the other Elemental RES.  Since then, Elemental Resistance has been updated to read Effect Resistance.  This is better, but I still think is unclear since it doesn't actually protect against the effects, so this guide still uses Elemental-Infliction Resistance.

The easiest way to tell them apart in-game  is to just look at the icons.  The one for Elemental-Infliction Resistance looks like the circle that measures the amount of infliction dealt, while the shield icon represents the actual damage.

Calculation of Enemy Defenses

Both Elemental-Infliction Resistance and Elemental-Damage Resistance are calculated in the same way as RES with Arts damage.  That is, it is done by percentage with a minimum of 5% always dealt.  For example, if an enemy has an Elemental-Infliction Resistance of 20, they would take 20% less Necrosis Damage from Virtuosa.

The formulas for this are:

Elemental-Infliction Damage taken = Elemental-Infliction Damage * (1 - Elemental-Infliction Resistance/100)

Elemental Damage taken = Damage * (1 - Elemental-Damage Resistance/100)

Mechanical Descriptions in the Code

If you are interested in the code details (which are exactly the same, just with yet another set of terms), I suggest checking out this article on the CN wiki.  It machine-translates well and covers the same things discussed in this article.

Multiple Elemental Types at the Same Time

Although rare, it is possible to accumulate multiple types of Elemental-Infliction Damage.  As of this writing, it is most commonly possible for this to happen while using Warmy, who inflicts Burn, along with one of the Necrosis operators, such as Valarqvin.  When this occurs, both types of Elemental-Infliction Damage accumulate and are tracked separately.  The icon for the type of damage with the greatest accumulation is displayed.  The icons of other types are hidden, but the accumulation is still present.

However, only one Fallout state may be active at a time.  When any Fallout is active, no Elemental-Infliction Damage of ANY type can be further accumulated or healed until the Fallout state ends.  When it does end, ALL existing accumulation is removed, even if the type is different from the type of the Fallout state that was triggered.

This situation does not usually occur on friendly operators.  Thematic stage design usually means only one type is at play in any given stage.  However, it is possible and has occurred at least twice so far, in DOS and in RA.  Regardless, friendly interaction is identical to the enemy interaction described above.

Ritualists vs Primal Casters

Currently there are two main archetypes which normally interact with Elemental-Infliction and Elemental Damage.  The difference between them is hinted at by their Traits, but are not comprehensive and the line between them is a bit blurry when you look close.  Primal Casters are not currently translated, however their Trait on CN specifically refers to Elemental Damage, while the Ritualist Trait specifically refers to Elemental-Infliction Damage.  Broadly, this reflects the difference between them.  Ritualists are focused on Elemental-Infliction, while Primal Casters are focused on additional Elemental Damage to enemies already under the Fallout state.

However, note how their Traits say *can* and the phrasing doesn’t specifically exclude the other type.  The lines between them can be blurry at times.  For example, both Warmy and Diamante can still deal Elemental-Infliction Damage via their S1s despite being Primal Casters.

As of this writing, we only have 5★ Primal Casters.  6★s have more expansive design space, so we could easily see these definitions bend at the edges as new units are introduced.

Ritualists:  Valarqvin (Necrosis), Arturia (Necrosis)

Primal Casters:  Diamante (Necrosis), Warmy (Burn)

NOTE There is currently no Burn Ritualist.

NOTE It is possible for other archetypes to be able to interact with Elemental aspects.  Although rare, it is not necessarily exclusive to Ritualists and Primal Casters. See Ebenholz's or Logos' Module Delta for example.

Elemental-Infliction Damage by "% of ATK" versus "% of damage dealt"

There is a subtle difference in how the amount of Elemental-Infliction Damage is calculated between different units.  Currently this difference appears to primarily be between Ritualists and Primal Casters, although this pattern isn't necessarily guaranteed to continue.  It comes down to if the Elemental-Infliction Damage is determined based on a portion of the unit's ATK value or a portion of the unit's damage dealt.  The difference may not be obvious at first glance, but the latter tends to be worse since it applies after enemy RES.

For example, suppose we have a unit with 1000 ATK and an enemy with 50 RES (normal Arts RES).  If the unit is a Ritualist who deals "20% of ATK as Necrosis Damage" they would do 1000 * 0.2 = 200 Necrosis Damage.  Enemy RES does not have any effect on the Necrosis Damage in this case.  However, if the unit is a Primal Caster who deals "20% of damage dealt as Necrosis Damage" they would do (1000 * 0.5) * 0.2 = 100 Necrosis Damage.  Enemy RES applies first here, reducing the amount of Necrosis Damage dealt.

Is Elemental Damage True Damage?

Elemental Damage is not True Damage, technically speaking.  However, it is usually functionally the same as True Damage.  As noted in the sections above, enemies may have coded resistance to Elemental Damage (in the same way Physical is mitigated by DEF and Arts is mitigated by RES).  However, as of this writing, no enemy has a value greater than 0 for this stat (1).  Additionally, most enemy dodge and damage reduction abilities specifically state they only apply to Physical and Arts (2).  Therefore, Elemental Damage is currently mostly functionally equal to True Damage.  This could easily change in the future, and in fact, is likely to change.

You may see some writeups refer to Elemental Damage as "pseudo-True Damage" or something similar.  This is what is being referred to.

One example (perhaps the only example) where Elemental Damage is not the same as True Damage is with the Fragile effect typically inflicted by debuffers like Suzuran.  This effect has been updated to specifically read that it only amplifies Physical, Arts, and True Damage.  So while Fragile can increase True Damage, it cannot increase Elemental Damage.

(1) There is a common statement that enemies in Arturia's event had these resistances.  However, I can find no actual evidence of this.  The enemy's coded values are 0 and there are no event mechanics that influence it.

(2)  Be aware that in-game terminology is not always consistent.  For example, Mandragora’s in-game description states her Stoneshield ability “Reduces damage taken”.  However, despite what it says, her ability only reduces Physical and Arts damage as can be seen on the CN wiki here.

Change to the Fragile effect

Along with the patch that introduced the friendly Elemental mechanics, the Fragile effect was updated.  This is the damage amplification applied by units like Suzuran, Saileach, and the Hexers.  Fragile now explicitly states that it only amplifies Physical, Arts, and True Damage.  It makes no mention of Elemental Damage, so Elemental Damage cannot be enhanced by the Fragile effects.  Previously, the description stated it enhanced “all damage”.

What is Apoptosis Damage?

Prior to the EN release of Valarqvin, which gave an official translation of Necrosis damage, Apoptosis was a common translation on fan sites, including here on Gamepress.  It is the word that machine-translations such as Google Translate give for the effect.  However, the official translation is Necrosis and there is officially no such thing as Apoptosis in Arknights.

Incidentally, this name was always a mistake.  The Chinese characters used in Valarqvin’s text are exactly the same as those used with the Chapter 10 enemies.  Nevertheless, the term Apoptosis became pretty common in usage.

Do Ritualist and Primal Caster basic attacks deal Elemental-Infliction Damage?

No.  Make special note how the Ritualist Trait says *can* deal Elemental-Infliction Damage.  The Primal Caster trait also says *can* but specifically refers to Elemental Damage and makes no mention of Elemental-Infliction Damage.  Both archetypes only deal Elemental-Infliction Damage when explicitly stated by their Talents or Skills.  Note that Valarqvin does deal Elemental-Infliction Damage as part of her basic attacks within IS#4, but this is due to her Talent 2 and is not a default part of the archetype.

Friendly Defenses against Enemy Elemental Damage - Wandering Medics

Our Operators do not have the same defenses that enemies do.  While enemies may have Elemental-Infliction Resistance and Elemental-Damage Resistance, no such stats exist for our Operators.  Barring outside factors, they will always take the full effects.

However, it's not all bad news.  First, the damage inflicted by Fallout on our Operators is NOT typed as Elemental Damage.  Instead it is source as traditional Physical (Corrosion), Arts (Necrosis, Burn), or True (Nervous Impairment).  This means that, except for Nervous Impairment, the damage can be mitigated in the usual manner via DEF and RES.

Second, we have Wandering Medics.  You are likely quite familiar with them already as they have been in the game for a few years now and are not new.  Wandering Medics directly heal the Elemental-Infliction Damage our operators have taken.  In some cases they may prevent it from accumulating in the first place, such as with Eyja's S2 or Mulberry's S2.

However, currently no Operator can directly mitigate the Fallout state.  For example, there is no friendly way to reduce the duration.  Of course, the effects can still be indirectly mitigated.  Therapist Medics can reduce or remove the stun on Nervous Impairment, for example.  Those are usually situational though, so do not often enter into the discussion directly.

Operators:  Chestnut, Honeyberry, Mulberry, Harold, Eyjafjalla the Hvít Aska

What about Ebenholz's or Logos' Module Delta?

If you are unaware, Ebenholz gets a third Module that was introduced during the Chapter 13 patch.  The base effects of this Module allow him to inflict Necrosis Damage, and the level 2 effect of the Module allow him to deal additional Elemental Damage.  It basically turns him into a Primal Caster!

This is notable because it shows that Elemental effects will not solely be the domain of Ritualists and Primal Casters.  However, as of this article's publishing (four months after his third Module’s release), Ebenholz is still the only unit who is not a member of these archetypes who interacts with dealing Elemental effects.  While he shows that it is possible for other units to interact with Elemental effects, expect such situations to be rare.

As a further update, in the Absolved Will Be The Seekers patch, Logos is introduced with another Module Delta which adds Necrosis damage to his kit.  Like Ebenholz, Logos' has him behave similar to a Primal Caster despite being a Core Caster.

Who is PhonoR-0 and what do they do?

PhonoR-0 is a robot added in the Absolved Will Be The Seekers patch.  PhonoR-0 deals Necrosis damage, Arts Weakening, and Elemental Damage Weakening with the usual Robot benefits and drawbacks.  PhonoR-0's attacks inflict a flat amount of Necrosis Damage.  At maximum potential, she can inflict Necrosis Fallout in 17 attacks which takes about 27 seconds.  She cannot inflict Necrosis against bosses alone.  Additionally she inflicts a 10% Elemental Damage Weakening effect.  Note that this weakening effect is for the Elemental Damage and NOT Elemental-Infliction Damage.

Other Enemy Defenses

In addition to the Elemental-Infliction Resistance and Elemental-Damage Resistance, there is a flag in the code which makes the enemy completely immune to Elemental-Infliction Damage.  However, no enemy currently has this flag active and there is no indication in the UI of its existence.

Instead, it is likely used internally to prevent additional Elemental-Infliction during Fallout.

For the technical detail, this flag is named ELEMENT_FREE_ALL and can be seen as the 21st element in this table of abnormal effects over on the CN wiki.

Note that EP_RECOVERY_PER_SEC (referred to by the CN wiki article on Elemental effects) is a friendly effect.  It is used by things like Honeyberry’s S1 or Eyja2’s Talent.  Enemies may not (currently) have this regeneration factor.

Release Dates

A number of units mentioned in this article are not available on the global servers yet.  Below are some estimated dates for their release, however be aware that these dates are speculative since Yostar does not release the schedule in advance.

Ebenholz Module Delta - Chapter 13: The Whirlpool That is Passion, estimated mid-April

Diamante - Purchasable for 600 Red Certificates, available in the Zwillingstürme Im Herbst patch

Virtuosa - Limited Gacha, available in the Zwillingstürme Im Herbst patch

Warmy - Gacha, available in the To the Grinning Valley patch, estimated sometime in July

Harold - Welfare available in the The Rides to Lake Silberneherze patch, estimated sometime in June

PhonoR-0 - Available in the Absolved Will Be The Seekers, estimated in November.

Logos Module Delta - Gacha, as the shared rateup on the Limited banner in the Absolved Will Be The Seekers patch.

Strategic Considerations

This is beyond the scope of this article which is intended to focus on the mechanical aspects.  The strategic aspects (e.g. who is good, who to use where and when, etc) vary quite a bit and are a topic worthy of their own article.  That said, as of this writing, Elemental Damage is quite powerful, and here are a few basic pointers.

• The 5★s are not essential for the usual reasons that 5★s don't slide into the meta.  Their overall power just isn't enough, although they are useful in niche or themed clears.
• Virtuosa is an extremely powerful unit that will be worth rolling for when she arrives on global.  She is the most "meta" example of friendly Elemental effects.
• Primal Casters are currently fairly underpowered.  They are not effective at applying Fallout themselves and are too reliant on short durations provided by Ritualists to do efficient damage.
• Ebenholz' third Module is generally considered his best Module.  However, he is still not especially meta himself.  Given the high costs of Modules, it is not an essential upgrade (although it is a very fun one).
• For Wandering Medics, if you don't have Eyjafjalla the Hvít Aska, the 5★s are all fairly interchangeable.  The best one to raise is the one that costs you the least to obtain.  Chestnut is not worth using, despite his lower costs.  Honeyberry is worth the Red Certificates if you don't have Mulberry or Harold.  If you do have Eyja, no other Wandering Medics are needed.
• Logos is extremely strong and his Module is very good as well.  Unlike Ebenholz though, Logos only has one Module so there's no real discussion of choice here.

I may update this section with another section in the future if there is demand.