Like a typical Bethesda offering, Starfield offers a huge variety of types of weapons that players can use. Different weapons offer different ways to deal damage and different types of damage against different types of enemies. Keeping track of all these Starfield weapons and damage types can be quite a hassle. Here, we will look at the different weapon types in Starfield and the different types of damage you can inflict on enemies.
All Starfield weapon types
Weapon types are the main crux of combat in Starfield. Your combat performance and playstyle will mainly be determined by these weapons as the same type of weapons can have different types of damage types depending on how you mod it.
Melee weapons
Mele weapons are the most basic weapons and work as you’d expect them to work. Melee weapons have abysmal range but deal high damage. Melee weapons deal only physical damage and are only useful if you find yourself close to an enemy but under video game rules, melee weapons in Starfield also deal superb damage, and are lightweight so carrying one around won’t be a problem for you.
Some of the main melee weapons in Starfield include Barrow Knife, Combat Knife, Osmium Dagger and Wakizashi.
Ballistic weapons
Ballistic weapons include all the guns that shoot bullets. Ballistic weapons include your basic pistols, revolvers, shotguns and rifles. Ballistic weapons deal only physical damage and are only viable on certain planets. Ballistic weapons in Starfield are the most common weapons types and are highly modifiable, allowing players to change their weapons and buff them as they want.
Whether they be Pistols such as Ambassador, Rifles such as AA-99 and Acid Rain, and Shotguns like Boom Boom and Breach, any weapon with a physical projectile is a ballistic weapon. Overall, Ballistic weapons in Starfield include the following weapon categories
Laser Weapons
Lasers are the most popular weapons. Lasers weapons deal mostly Energy damage, and some of them also deal electromagnetic damage but these Laser weapons are far and few in-between. Lasers are quieter as compared to Ballistic weapons, making them useful when players are trying to be stealthy. Lasers also have a chance to set the enemy being shot on fire.
Laser weapons include
- Laser Pistols
- Laser Rifles
- Heavy Weapons
Particle Beam Weapons
The most powerful weapon type in our opinion, Particle Beams deal both Physical and Energy damage and are excellent for dealing with highly defensive enemies in the late game. There are only 9 Particle Beam weapons in Starfield but since they are the only dual damage type weapons, they are all extremely important, particularly Reflection.
Particle Beam weapons come in 3 categories
- Particle Beam Pistols
- Particle Beam Shotguns
- Particle Beam Rifles
Understanding damage types in Starfield
Now that we have discussed the various weapon types, we also should address the different damage types in Starfield. In short, there are three damage types in Starfield; Physical, Energy and Electromagnetic(EM).
Physical is the most basic damage type in Starfield. All Ballistic, Melee and Particle Beam weapons deal Physical damage. Physical ammo weapons have the most variety in their ammo and are also the most common ammunition found in the game.
Energy damage is dealt with high voltage beams. In general, Lasers also work the same as bullets as far as depleting health is concerned, but weapons that deal Energy damage are more accurate and have a better range as compared to bullets. High-level lasers or any weapon that deals energy damage can also set your enemies on fire, dealing higher damage.
Lastly, Electromagnetic weapons deal electromagnetic pulses that can stun your enemies. Stunned enemies, although they don’t take damage, are incapacitated. Stunned enemies won’t be able to move and this is the only non-lethal damage option you have in Starfield. You can mod certain weapons to deal EM damage instead of their usual weapon type.
