Damage type

Damage type is a property of weapons and attacks. They are purely cosmetic effects, having no impact on actual combat mechanics. Each weapon has a default damage type, determined by its skin, which can be overridden by attacks from weapon skills that use that weapon. Bundles also generally override equipped weapons.

There are five damage types (not to be confused with the three damage types (i.e., sources) listed on the Damage page):

• Physical - The default damage type of most weapons. This includes weapon skins that appear to incorporate elemental types but do not list a damage type, like Mjölnir, Cobalt, or Icy Dragon Sword.
• Fire - Creatures that die of a fire attack will collapse in a flaming heap (often while screaming). This is unrelated to the Burning condition, however. Fire is the default type for the Fiery Dragon Sword, Rodgort, The Predator, Incinerator, Royal Flame weapon skins, Luminous weapon skins, and Forged weapon skins.
• Ice - Creatures that die from an ice-type attack will become pale and stiff before collapsing. Ice is the default type for Frostfang, Astralaria and Wintergreen weapons.
• Lightning - Creatures that are killed using a Lightning attack stiffen and shake uncontrollably, then collapse. Lightning is the default type for Bolt, Meteorlogicus, and Soul Conductor.
• Choking - Creatures that die from a Choking attack go through a "choking" animation (usually clutching at their throats or stiffening, similar to the aforementioned ice damage type). Choking is the default type for Ashfall and some Halloween weapons like The Cure, and is prevalent in Necromancer skills. Some creatures (like golems) are immune.

Gallery

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  Physical damage type animation (Click to view)

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  Fire damage type animation (Click to view)

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  Ice damage type animation (Click to view)

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  Lightning damage type animation (Click to view)

• Damage type Choking.gif

  Choking damage type animation (Click to view)

Notes

• Changing a weapon's skin (e.g., by using the wardrobe or a skin consumable) will apply the skin's damage type to the weapon.
• With the release of Heart of Thorns, weapons with non-physical damage types are now displayed on the weapon's tooltip.
• Heart of Thorns exotic weapons and Forged weapons have Choking as the damage type of the weapon itself, not the skin. This can be seen via the API. Currently, the base weapon's damage type is not used in the game, and only the weapon skin's damage type is in effect.

Trivia

• In the original Guild Wars, damage types affect game play, increasing or decreasing damage dealt to targets depending on the armor rating of the damage type.

See also

• List of weapons with an unusual damage type