Borderlands 2 Elemental Damage Guide

Borderlands 2 has multiple different damage types, which are Kinetic, Incendiary, Corrosive, Shock, Explosive, and Slag. Each of them has a specific purpose in the game because of their effectiveness.

In this Borderlands 2 Guide, I’m going to explain to you which (elemental) damage types there are, how they work, and how you use them effectively.

Elemental Damage Types

Kinetic, Incendiary, Corrosive, Shock, Explosive, and Slag are all the various damage types in Borderlands 2. Each elemental damage type has its own pros and cons because there are 3 types of health bars in Borderlands 2 and they each have their strengths and weaknesses.

Borderlands 2 does ease you into using the different elemental damage types, however, as you continue to play, you will rely more on them to be effective.

• Normal Mode: You can get away with almost everything as using elemental damage isn’t a big requirement but it does help.
• TVHM: You need to match up the most effective elemental damage type to swiftly defeat your enemies. Using Slag to your advantage isn’t required but can really help you out.
• UVHM: You need to slag your enemies and switch to a different elemental damage type because enemies have 4 times more health.

Non-Elemental Damage (Kinetic)

Non-Elemental Weapons are all-around and deal good damage. They are 10 to 20% stronger than their Elemental counterparts and don’t have any major flaws for the most part. While Kinetic damage is a bit weaker against armored enemies, it doesn’t suffer as much as other miss-matching damage types. The “Common” Rarity will always be Non-Elemental unless you are using a Maliwan or Torgue Weapon.

Incendiary Damage

Incendiary damage is strong against Flesh and can cause targets to burn. Burning deals high damage over a 5-second duration (15 ticks). Flesh targets are identified by their Red Health Bar.

Corrosive Damage

Corrosive damage is strong against Armor and causes targets to melt. Melting deals high damage over an 8-second duration (24 ticks). Armored targets are identified by their Yellow Health Bar.

Shock Damage

Shock damage is strong against Shields and causes targets to be electrocuted. Electrocution deals very high damage over a 2-second duration (6 ticks). Shielded targets are identified by their Blue Health Bar.

Explosive Damage

Explosive Damage is similar to Non-Elemental Damage but except being weaker against Armor it’s weaker against Shields.

Explosive Damage deals additional Splash Damage in close proximity to the impact. Direct Hits deal Explosive and Splash Damage.

Slag Damage

Slag damage can cause enemies to become Slagged and then take increased damage from other damage types for a short time. On Normal and TVHM enemies are slagged for 8 seconds and take double damage from other damage types. On UVHM enemies are slagged for 15 seconds and take triple damage from other damage types.

Elemental Effectiveness Overview