NPC damage types
Overview
Turrets usually inflict lots of a primary type of damage, less of secondary type and sometimes even with tertiary type. The strength of each type of damage is governed by ammunition type which also influences the range, damage and tracking of the turret.
Missiles have four variations, each variant corresponding to one of the four damage types. There is no difference in flight time, amount of damage or velocity between missiles of the same missile group. Racial missile ships tend to have bonuses only for the damage caused by missiles corresponding to their racial damage type.
Like missiles, combat drones have four variations per damage type. Each variation corresponds to one of the four races, doing the main damage type corresponding to its race and also having other attributes common to the race.
Other weapon types such as smartbombs, bombs and doomsday devices also come in four variations.
Electromagnetic damage
Often referred to as EM, is the primary damage type of the Amarr race. EM damage is also the primary damage type of lasers which are the primary weapon used by Amarr.
Armor has the highest resistance against EM damage, while shields the lowest.
Thermal damage
Thermal Damage is the primary damage type of the Gallente race. It is the secondary damage type of hybrid turrets - the racial weapons of Caldari and Gallente - and lasers.
Armour has the second highest resists against thermal. Shields have the second lowest resists against thermal.
Note: Thermal damage is not to be confused with heat Damage which is caused by overloading modules.
Kinetic damage
Kinetic damage is the primary damage type of the Caldari race. It is the primary damage type of hybrid turrets and the secondary damage type of projectile turrets. The Caldari are heavy users of missiles, however their missile ships often receive damage bonuses only for kinetic damage dealing missiles.
Shields has the second highest resists against kinetic. Armour has the second lowest resists against kinetic damage.
Explosive damage
Explosive damage is the primary damage type of the Minmatar race. It is also the primary damage type of projectile weapons.
Shields has the highest resistance against explosive damage, while armour has the lowest.
A brief Summary of NPC Damage Types
The following table lists averages, these may differ according to the pool of data gathered by running different selections of missions. Some missions may have different values, for best accuracy check individual mission reports. If you are not sure which faction a particular mission rat belongs to, please refer to NPC Naming Convention.
| Damage type to Deal | Damage type to Resist Against | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Faction | Primary Damage | Secondary Damage | Primary | Secondary | Tertiary | Quaternary |
| Angel Cartel | Explosive | Kinetic | Explosive (62%) | Kinetic (22%) | Thermal (9%) | EM (7%) |
| Blood Raiders | EM | Thermal | EM (50%) | Thermal (48%) | Kinetic (2%) | |
| CONCORD | Kinetic | Thermal | Kinetic (37%) | Thermal (32%) | Explosive (30%) | EM (29%) |
| EoM | Kinetic | Thermal | Kinetic (74%) | Thermal (26%) | ||
| Guristas Pirates | Kinetic | Thermal | Kinetic (79%) | Thermal (18%) | EM(2%) | Explosive (1%) |
| Khanid | EM | Thermal | Thermal | EM | ||
| Mercenaries | Kinetic | Thermal | Kinetic | Thermal | Explosive | EM |
| Mordu's Legion | Kinetic | EM | Kinetic (70%) | Thermal (30%) | ||
| Rogue Drones | See Footnote | |||||
| Sansha's Nation | EM | Thermal | EM (53%) | Thermal (47%) | ||
| Serpentis | Kinetic | Thermal | Thermal (55%) | Kinetic (45%) | ||
| Amarr Empire | EM | Thermal | EM (47%) | Thermal (42%) | Kinetic (7%) | Explosive (4%) |
| Caldari State | Kinetic | Thermal | Kinetic (51%) | Thermal (48%) | EM (1%) | |
| Gallente Federation | Kinetic | Thermal | Kinetic (60%) | Thermal (39%) | EM(1%) | |
| Minmatar Republic | Explosive | Kinetic | Explosive (50%) | Kinetic (31%) | EM (12%) | Thermal (7%) |
Footnote: Rogue Drones have a tendency to vary wildly in what damage type they deal out. Low-level missions seem to lean towards Electromagnetic/Thermal while high-level missions lean towards Explosive/Kinetic. Consult reports for the specific mission or exploration site before undocking. Experienced players may wish to consult http://games.chruker.dk/eve_online/npc_ships.php?supergroup=10&return_to= for damage statistics from the different types of rogue drones.
Drones (Types and Damage)
All races have a unique damage type, as do their drones, with the exception of Fighters that inflict a secondary damage type as well.
Some players argue that Thermal damage is the most effective overall in missioning and that this phenomenon is noticeable in the price of Gallente drones on the market, followed closely by the Kinetic dealing Caldari drones. This could be because of the damage modifier that drones get applied to there damage and the secondary Thermal hole listed for 11 of the 15 NPCs.
| Race | Damage Type | Light Scout | Medium Scout | Heavy Attack | Sentry Drones | Fighter Drones | Fighter Secondary Damage Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amarr | File:DamageEMP16.jpg EM | Acolyte | Infiltrator | Praetor | Curator | Templar | File:DamageTHE16.jpg Thermal |
| Caldari | File:DamageKIN16.jpg Kinetic | Hornet | Vespa | Wasp | Warden | Dragonfly | File:DamageTHE16.jpg Thermal |
| Gallente | File:DamageTHE16.jpg Thermal | Hobgoblin | Hammerhead | Ogre | Garde | Firbolg | File:DamageKIN16.jpg Kinetic |
| Minmatar | File:DamageEXP16.jpg Explosive | Warrior | Valkyrie | Berserker | Bouncer | Einherji | File:DamageKIN16.jpg Kinetic |
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