NPC damage types
There are four different damage types in EVE:
- Electromagnetic (EM)
- Kinetic
- Thermal
- Explosive
All weapons in EVE do at least one (often two) of these damage types, and every ship has different resistances against each. Understanding damage types helps you to survive longer and deal more damage to enemy ships:
- If you know that your enemy uses weapons which deal a particular damage type, you can fit modules to your ship to increase your resistance to that damage type, making your enemy's weapons less effective against you.
- Conversely, if you know that your enemy's ship has a low resistance to a particular damage type, you can use weapons which deal that specific damage type, making them more effective.
| Native resistance | Weapon damage | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shields | Armor | Lasers | Hybrids | Projectile | Drones | Missiles | |
 EM
|
- - | + + | Yes (60%) | Yes | Yes (Amarr) | Yes | |
 Thermal
|
- | + | Yes (40%) | Yes (40%) | Yes | Yes (Gallente) | Yes |
 Kinetic
|
+ | - | Yes (60%) | Yes | Yes (Caldari) | Yes | |
 Explosive
|
+ + | - - | Yes | Yes (Minmatar) | Yes | ||
Some points to note:
- "Native resistance" is a ship's resistance to damage before any modules or rigs are fitted. For instance, without any modules or rigs, shields are most susceptible to EM damage and most resistant to explosive damage. However, keep in mind that it's possible (with the right modules) to compensate for a ship's weaknesses to some degree.
- Thermal damage is not to be confused with heat damage, which is caused by overloading modules.
- Energy turrets (often called "lasers") do about 60% EM and 40% thermal damage. The exact proportions depend on the focusing crystals used.
- Hybrid weapons do about 60% kinetic and 40% thermal damage. The exact proportions depend on the ammunition type used.
- Each type of projectile weapon ammunition does two (sometimes three) different damage types.
- Drones from each of the four factions do one damage type each, but they have slightly different stats (for example, Caldari drones (kinetic) do less damage than Gallente drones (thermal), but are slightly faster).
- Each missile type comes in four variants, each doing one damage type. The variant have otherwise identical stats, although some missile-using ships have bonuses to one damage type (notably, many Caldari ships have a bonus to kinetic missile damage).
- The more "exotic" weapons in EVE (such as smartbombs, bombs, and doomsday weapons) have variants for each damage type, which are generally otherwise equivalent.
NPC damage types
Just like player ships, NPC ships ("rats") have individual characteristics regarding the damage types they deal, and the damage types they are susceptible to. This information is valuable if you are planning on running missions or ratting, as you can fit your ship accordingly and maximise your effectiveness against your chosen targets. Ship fitting tools like EFT can simulate combat against rats of different factions, giving you even more fine-grained control over your fit.
In general, all rats from a certain faction have similar damage profiles, making them much more predictable than player ships. Additionally, each faction only uses particular types of electronic warfare; this is also noted in the table below.
| Faction | Damage to deal | Damage to resist | Electronic Warfare |
|---|---|---|---|
| Angel Cartel | Explosive / Kinetic | Explosive (62%) / Kinetic (22%) | Target Painters |
| Blood Raiders | EM / Thermal | EM (50%) / Thermal (48%) | NOS/Neut, Tracking Disruptor |
| Guristas | Kinetic / Thermal | Kinetic (79%) / Thermal (18%) | ECM |
| Mordu's Legion | Kinetic / EM | Kinetic (70%) / Thermal (30%) | |
| Rogue Drones | (varies) [1] | (varies) [1] | |
| Sansha's Nation (missions / anomalies) |
EM / Thermal | EM (53%) / Thermal (47%) | Tracking Disruptor |
| Serpentis | Kinetic / Thermal | Thermal (55%) / Kinetic (45%) | Sensor Dampener |
| CONCORD [2] | Kinetic / Thermal | (Omni) [3] | |
| Equilibrium of Mankind | Kinetic / Thermal | Kinetic (74%) / Thermal (26%) | |
| Khanid | EM / Thermal | Thermal / EM | |
| Mercenaries | Kinetic / Thermal | Kinetic / Thermal | |
| Sleepers | (Omni) [3] | (Omni) [3] | (all) |
| Sansha's Nation (incursions) |
(Omni) [3] | (Omni) [3] | (all) |
| Amarr Empire | EM / Thermal | EM (47%) / Thermal (42%) | NOS/Neut, Tracking Disruptor |
| Caldari State | Kinetic / Thermal | Kinetic (51%) / Thermal (48%) | ECM |
| Gallente Federation | Kinetic / Thermal | Kinetic (60%) / Thermal (39%) | Sensor Dampener |
| Minmatar Republic | Explosive / Kinetic | Explosive (50%) / Kinetic (31%) | Target Painter |
- ^ a b Rogue Drones have a tendency to vary wildly in what damage type they deal and are vulnerable to. Low-level missions seem to lean towards EM/Thermal while high-level missions lean towards Explosive/Kinetic. Consult reports (e.g. at Eve-Survival) about the specific mission or exploration site before undocking.
- ^ This refers to CONCORD enemies found in certain missions (particularly in low- and null-sec). CONCORD ships patrolling high-sec are invincible, so the damage types they do is not relevant.
- ^ a b c d e "(Omni)" means that the ships do all damage types equally, or are equally vulnerable to all damage types.
Damage Types Formatted for In-Game Notebook
Copy this simplified version and paste it into your in-game notebook or character notes for quick reference.
FACTION • THEY DEAL · YOU DEAL → OTHER
Angel Cartel • EX/KIN · EX → Target Painters
Blood Raiders • EM/THER · EM/THER → NOS/Neut, Tracking Disr
Guristas • KIN/THER · KIN → ECM
Mordu's Legion • KIN/EM · KIN
Sansha's • EM/THER · EM/THER → Tracking Disruptor
Serpentis • KIN/THER · THER/KIN → Sensor Dampener
Equilibrium • KIN/THER · KIN
Khanid • EM/THER · THER/EM
Mercenaries • KIN/THER · KIN/THER
Sleepers • all · all → all
Amarr • EM/THER · EM/THER → NOS/Neut, Tracking Disr
Caldari • KIN/THER · KIN/THER → ECM
Gallente • KIN/THER · KIN → Sensor Dampener
Minmatar • EX/KIN · EX → Target Painter
Rogue Drones • 1 & 2 Level · 3 & 4 Level
Both Deal • EM/THER · EX/KIN
EM: Acolyte/Infiltrator/Praetor — Mjolnir — EMP, proton
THER: Hobgoblin/Hammehead/Ogre — Inferno — plasma
KIN: Hornet/Vespa/Wasp — Scourge — titanium, lead
EXP: Warrior/Valkyrie/Berserker — Nova — fusion
Uranium: all but EM
