Since the first Borderlands game, most of the series’ randomizing weaponry have employed elemental affinities and special effects on top of their flat damage stats. In the main games, this was explained away with technology, alien mojo, and other such sci-fi things, but in the fantastical realm of Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands- well, it’s still just explained away, but with magic instead. I dunno, what do you want, a dissertation? Some guns shoot fire, it’s just like that! Here’s an explanation of the different damage types in Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands.
In addition to the flat damage inflicted by things like bullets, explosives, and melee attacks, many weapons in Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands have additional damage effects applied to them, inflicting a little bit extra along with their base damage output. All of the damage types inflict damage-over-time on top of your flat damage rating, but the different damage types also have different situational applications. This is why it’s usually beneficial to keep at least one good weapon of each type in your pack to adapt to different enemy types.
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands Damage Types
There are five special damage types in Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands:
Damage types can be applied by just about anything, from regular bullet shots to explosives to spells to abilities. There are even some wards that inflict elemental damage in retaliation when you’re struck.
Fire
Fire damage sears flesh, making it best suited for non-humanoid enemies or enemies that aren’t wearing any kind of physical armor. If an enemy only has a regular red health bar, that’s when Fire damage does its best work. It’s especially helpful when applied to a shotgun or fast-firing weapon to quickly mow down small, unguarded beasties like shrooms and goblins.
Lightning
Lightning damage is a natural counter magical wards, or in simpler terms, shields. If an enemy is employing a ward, signified by a blue bar under their health bar, that’s when it’s time to call down the thunder, as Lightning will quickly strip away the ward’s strength the same way Fire burns health. Lightning tends to be more helpful against humanoid enemies, and especially spellcasters, as they’re more likely to employ magic-based defenses like wards.
Poison
Poison is highly caustic, melting away even the thickest metal plates. This makes it great for quickly breaking down physical defenses like thick hides and plate mail, signified by a yellow bar overlaid on an enemy’s regular health bar. Larger, heartier enemies like trolls or cyclopses usually have a lot of health and yellow armor on top, so have a Poison weapon ready to cut them down to size.
Frost
Frost damage is interesting, as its effectiveness changes a bit depending on the kind of enemy you’re fighting. No matter what you’re fighting, sustained Frost damage will cause an enemy to gradually slow down, and if they accumulate enough Frost, they’ll freeze completely. If an enemy is completely frozen, they’ll take triple damage from all melee attacks, which makes Frost a great option for quickly mopping up mid-tier mooks.
In addition to that, though, Frost is the direct kryptonite of a particular type of enemy: skeletons. As Frette explains in-game, skeletons’ lack of skin makes them highly susceptible to the cold, so Frost damage eats right through their special white bone meters, which replace the usual health meters. If you’re exploring a graveyard or otherwise haunted location, Frost weapons are a must.
Dark Magic
Dark Magic is a bit of an outlier among the other damage types because it doesn’t have any particular specialty. Instead of being more effective against a particular kind of life bar, Dark Magic siphons enemy health with every hit and sends it straight to your health bar. This is a great way to sustain yourself during drawn-out firefights instead of having to run around looking for health vials. Really, there’s never a bad time for Dark Magic weapons, especially if you’re running an HP-intensive class like Graveborn.
That’s everything you need to know about the damage types in Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands.
