Elements
Every attack has an element; every target has a defense element and its level (1–4). The final multiplier comes from the attr_fix table. 0% means immune, above 100% means vulnerable. Cards and weapons change your attack element.
Why it matters
Elements are probably the single most important mechanic in RO, and the one new players most often skip, only to wonder later why their farming feels so slow. The idea is simple: every attack in the game has an element (from your weapon, a card, or a buff), and every target has a defensive element plus a level (1 to 4). When your attack lands, the game looks up a special element table and multiplies the damage by a percentage. The right element means you hit one and a half to two times harder. The wrong element means your damage can drop all the way to zero, which is to say the target is completely immune.
The ten elements
There are ten elements in total: Neutral, Water, Earth, Fire, Wind, Poison, Holy, Shadow, Ghost, Undead. We deliberately keep the names in English, since that is exactly how they appear in the game and on every database, so get used to them right away. Your plain attack with no cards is usually Neutral. Monsters and bosses, on the other hand, almost always have a specific element: fire lizards are Fire, water crabs are Water, plants are Earth, flying mobs are Wind, the dead are Undead, and so on.
How damage is calculated
It all works through a multiplier from the table. The formula is: final damage = base damage × attrTable[defensive_element_level][attack_element][defensive_element] / 100. A value of 100 means normal damage (×1.0), a value of 0 means full immunity (the target takes NOTHING), a value above 100 means weakness (you hit harder), and a value below 100 means resistance (you hit softer). The defensive element level (1 to 4) matters too: the higher it is, the more pronounced both the weaknesses and the resistances become.
Circle of superiority
A few key pairs are worth memorising forever. Water → Fire gives 150%: water puts out fire, so a water attack will tear through any fire mob. Likewise Fire → Earth (fire burns earth and plants), Wind → Water (lightning strikes water), and Earth → Wind (earth grounds air) form the classic circle of superiority. Fire → Fire, however, gives only 25%: an element strongly resists itself. So never hit a fire mob with fire, it is almost useless.
Special armours
Three special armours stand apart. Ghost armour is fully immune to Neutral, meaning plain physical hits with no element do nothing at all to such an enemy and you need any other element. Undead is healed by darkness and dies to Holy and partly to Fire, which is why Holy weapons are the go-to tool against the undead. And Holy and Shadow are a pair of opposites: Holy hits Undead and Shadow hard, while Shadow hits Holy. Understanding these three cases will save you in a great many dungeons.
damage = damage × attrTable[ defLevel ][ atkElement ][ defElement ] / 100- attrTable
- element table (attr_fix): % by armor level × attack × defense
- defLevel
- defense element level (1…4)
| Water attack | Water → Fire | 150% |
| Fire attack | Fire → Fire | 25% |
| Earth attack | Earth → Fire | 100% |
| Neutral → | 100% |
| Water → | 150% |
| Earth → | 100% |
| Fire → | 25% |
| Wind → | 100% |
| Poison → | 75% |
| Holy → | 100% |
| Shadow → | 100% |
| Ghost → | 100% |
| Undead → | 100% |
You are farming fire mobs (Fire element level 1) and hitting with a plain Neutral attack for 1000. Check the table: Neutral → Fire gives about 100%, so 1000 × 100 / 100 = 1000, nothing special. Now you slot a water card (Marina Card) into your weapon and your attack becomes Water. Water → Fire = 150%, so 1000 × 150 / 100 = 1500 damage. Same weapon, same character, but 50% more damage from a single card.
Imagine you already have a fire weapon (Fire) and you spot a fire boss. The urge to swing is there, but look: Fire → Fire = 25%. Your 2000 hit becomes 2000 × 25 / 100 = 500. You lose three quarters of your damage! In that same fight a water weapon would give 2000 × 150 / 100 = 3000. The gap between the best and worst element here is sixfold (3000 versus 500). This is exactly why experienced players carry a set of weapons, one for each element.
Some enemies (and players in WoE) wear Ghost armour of, say, level 1. You wail away with a plain Neutral attack for 1500 and see fat zeros: Neutral → Ghost level 1 gives 0%, so 1500 × 0 / 100 = 0 damage, full immunity. The fix is to change element: for instance a Fire weapon against Ghost gives around 100%, and Holy is usually even better. The moral: if an enemy suddenly takes zero damage, it is almost always about elements, not about defence.
- 0% in the table = full immunity: the target takes no damage at all from that element. Above 100% = weakness, below 100% = resistance.
- The classic circle of superiority: Water beats Fire, Fire beats Earth, Wind beats Water, Earth beats Wind, each at 150% (for level 1, more at higher levels).
- An element strongly resists itself: Fire → Fire, Water → Water and so on give about 25%. Never hit an enemy with its own element.
- The defensive element level (1 to 4) amplifies the effect: at level 3 to 4 weaknesses reach 175 to 200%, while resistances drop even lower (down to negative at high levels).
- Ghost armour grants immunity to Neutral: plain physical hits with no element card do not land on it at all.
- Undead is weak to Holy and Fire, but is HEALED by darkness (Shadow) and Undead attacks: a dark attack restores its HP instead of dealing damage.
- Holy and Shadow are mutual counters: Holy → Shadow and Shadow → Holy deal increased damage, and Holy is also strong against Undead.
- Running one weapon your whole life with no element cards. This is the biggest beginner mistake: the right element card often boosts damage more than any other upgrade.
- Hitting an enemy with its own element (fire on fire, water on water), which earns you a pathetic ~25% damage.
- Assuming that zero damage means the enemy is too armoured. It is almost always elemental immunity (Neutral on Ghost, darkness on Undead, and so on), so change element rather than hitting harder.
- Healing the undead with a dark attack. Shadow on Undead does not hurt, it RESTORES its HP, so you are literally healing the enemy.
- Ignoring converters (elemental converters and scrolls). They are a cheap way to gain the element you need temporarily when you lack the card for it.
- Overlooking the defensive element of your own armour. The right armour (water against a fire dungeon, for example) protects you just as the right weapon helps you attack.
Formulas verified against the uAthena engine (pre-renewal, Episode 11.2).