Damage Types

Damage Types is a collective, generic term for the seven areas in which damage is meted out and armor is designed to resist. Prior to the release of Ultima Online: Age of Shadows, there was only damage and armor. Today, it is not that simple. The Damage Types are: Physical Damage; Fire Damage; Cold Damage; Poison Damage; Energy Damage; Chaos Damage; and Direct Damage.

The type of damage a character deals varies with the Base Damage of the weapon used, whether it be melee, magic, ranged, or of a summoned or tamed nature. Certain skills affect the amount of damage, see Damage Calculations for more information.

Melee

By default, melee weapons do Physical Damage. Enhancing melee weapons with certain of the colored ores allows alternate Damage Types to be inflicted upon an opponent. By enhancing a Longsword with Shadow Iron, a character would be more effective in the Fire Dungeon but less so in the Ice Dungeon. If a daring blacksmith should wish to enhance a Dragon Slayer weapon, Verite would be the logical choice as a Dragon's weakest resistance is poison (25 to 35%).

Ore & Damage Types

Ore Type Damage Type Inflicted
Shadow Iron Physical 80%, Cold 20%
Copper Physical 70%, Poison 10% , Energy 20%
Bronze Physical 60%, Fire 40%
Agapite Physical 50%, Cold 30% , Energy 20%
Verite Physical 60%, Poison 40% , Energy 20%
Valorite Physical 70%, Fire 10%, Cold 20%, Poison 10% , Energy 20%

Dull Copper and Gold do not impart modifications to the type of damage caused.

In addition to the material a weapon is made from, the damage type inflicted during melee combate is affected by:

Magic

The Damage Types from magical attacks, for the most part, are intuitive; Flamestrike causes Fire Damage and Lightning causes Energy Damage. However, there are some surprises.

Chivalry

Spell Damage Type
Cleanse by Fire Fire Damage to caster
Consecrate Weapon Damage Type is target's weakest resistance.
Holy Light Energy Damage

Magery

Spell Damage Type
Magic Arrow Fire Damage
Harm Cold Damage
Fireball Fire Damage
Poison Poison Damage
Fire Field Fire Damage
Lightning Energy Damage
Blade Spirit Physical Damage
Mind Blast Cold Damage
Poison Field Poison Damage
Energy Bolt Energy Damage
Explosion Fire Damage
Chain Lightning Energy Damage
Flamestrike Fire Damage
Meteor Swarm Fire Damage
Earthquake Physical Damage
Energy Vortex Energy Damage
Air Elemental 50% Physical Damage, 50% Energy Damage
Earth Elemental Physical Damage
Water Elemental Cold Damage
Fire Elemental Fire Damage
Summon Daemon Poison Damage

Necromancy

Spell Damage Type
Pain Spike Direct Damage
Poison Strike Poison Damage
Strangle Poison Damage
Vengeful Spirit Physical Damage
Wither Cold Damage

Spellweaving

Spell Damage Type
Immolating Weapon Fire Damage
Thunderstorm Physical Damage
Nature's Fury Poison Damage
Wildfire Fire Damage
Essence of Wind Cold Damage
Word of Death Energy Damage

Mysticism

Spell Damage Type
Nether Bolt Chaos Damage
Eagle Strike Energy Damage
Bombard Physical Damage
Hail Storm Cold Damage
Spell Plague Chaos Damage
Nether Cyclone Chaos Damage


Ranged

  • In addition to artifact bows and magical bows found as loot, the crafting skill of Bowcraft/Fletching allows for ranged weapons that deal all Damage Types (e.g., Blight Gripped Longbow deals 100% Poison Damage).
  • Of all of the properties that the colored woods impart to crafted weapons, only Frostwood affects the type of damage dealt. Weapons crafted with Frostwood cause 60% Physical Damage and 40% Cold Damage.
  • Quivers impart a Damage Modifier that applies a percentage of damage after the target's resistances have been calculated.

Summoned & Tamed

The Damage Types inflicted by summoned creatures are presented in the spell tables above. The type of melee damage inflicted by tamed creatures, or pets, is based on the Damage Type the wild versions cause. The following table of popular pets does not account for the type of damage from offensive spells that are cast by the pet.

Popular Pets & Damage Types

Popular Pets Melee Damage Type
Dragon, Greater Dragon Physical Damage
Cu Sidhe 50% Cold Damage, 50% Energy Damage
Nightmare 40% Physical Damage, 40% Fire Damage, 20% Energy Damage
Reptalon 25% Poison Damage, 75% Energy
White Wyrm 50% Physical Damage, 50% Cold Damage
Hiryu Physical Damage

See Also