Borderlands 4: Elemental Damage Explained

Each element behaves in a unique way. Some effects are more obvious like Incendiary, whereas others are a little more obscure.

Note that all elements apply a DoT (Damage Over Time) after application. Elements require a few hits to build up and apply their special effect.

• ⚔️Kinetic: Has no special effect or interactions. Isn't affected by Elemental damage modifiers.
• 🔥Incendiary: Extremely effective versus Flesh.
• ⚡Shock: Short stun. Extremely effective versus Shields
• 🟢Corrosive: Extremely effective versus Armor
• ❄️Cryo: Freezes enemies in place.
• ☢️Radiation: Enemies afflicted explode on kill.

Enemies in Borderlands 4 have access to three different health bars - Flesh (red), Shields (blue), and Armor (yellow). Elemental damage interacts differently with each of these types.

What's important to note is that not only do enemies' Elemental resistances increase the higher difficulty you go, but so too do their weaknesses.

• Flesh takes increased damage from 🔥Incendiary, less damage from ⚡Shock and 🟢Corrosive, and neutral damage from ☢️Radiation and ❄️Cryo.
• Shield takes increased damage from ⚡Shock and ☢️Radiation, and less damage from 🔥Incendiary, 🟢Corrosive, and ❄️Cryo.
• Armor takes increased damage from 🟢Corrosive and ❄️Cryo, and less damage from 🔥Incendiary, ⚡Shock, and ☢️Radiation.

Below are the specifics:

Here are some examples of enemies you might find in the world of Kairos and how Elemental damage would interact with them:

This first image shows an enemy with just a Flesh (red) health bar. This enemy will take bonus damage from 🔥Incendiary and reduced damage from ⚡Shock and 🟢Corrosive.

This second image shows an enemy with both Shield (blue) and Armor (yellow) health bars. In instances where enemies have more than one health bar, the bar at the top will be damaged first.

This enemy will initially take bonus damage from ⚡Shock and ☢️Radiation, and reduced damage from 🔥Incendiary, 🟢Corrosive, and ❄️Cryo. After its Shield (blue) health bar is depleted, its resistances will change: it will take bonus damage from 🟢Corrosive and ❄️Cryo, and reduced damage from 🔥Incendiary, ⚡Shock, and ☢️Radiation.

Enemies may spawn with an element which primarily affects the damage they deal. However, these enemies are also resistant to the corresponding Elemental damage. They will still take damage from the element, just around 25% less.

In the example below the enemy has spawned with the 🟢Toxic prefix, giving it 🟢Corrosive damage and resistance. This can prove tricky when an enemy spawns with an element that would otherwise be its weakness (e.g a Flesh health bar with an 🔥Incendiary prefix).

Elemental Eaters are a new enemy type introduced in Borderlands 4. As the name would suggest, these enemies are not only completely resistant to their corresponding element, but are even healed by it.

Below is an example of one such enemy. With the Elemental Eater tag and ❄️Cryo element this unit is completely immune to ❄️Cryo damage, despite his Armor healthbar suggesting a weakness.

• 🔥Incendiary is very useful the in early game as many enemies do not possess Shield or Armor until the mid and late game.
• Your Elemental damage can be enhanced with key skills such as Harlowe's Elementary and Vex's Burnt Offering.
• ⚔️Kinetic does the same damage to all enemies and as such is recommend to include in your loadout as a safety net.
• ⚔️Kinetic is not effected by Elemental damage modifiers.
• It is highly recommended to equip a variety of Elemental weapons in your loadouts.
• Most Bosses have specific Elemental weaknesses. Researching prior to engagement can save you a lot of pain!