★ PRIORITY-1 · BALANCE REPORT · CLASSIFIED TACTICAL BRIEF ★
REPORT CLASSIFICATION: BALANCE REPORT
Durable damage is invisible, misleading, and creates false weapon expectations
FILED: May 1, 2026
5
VOICES CAST
Durable damage is one of the most impactful stats in the game but is completely hidden from players. Every weapon has a separate durable damage value that silently replaces its listed damage on any enemy part flagged as "durable." The problem is threefold:
1. Weapon cards only show base damage, which is meaningless without knowing the durable damage ratio. A weapon with 140 damage and 10% durable damage deals only ~14 effective damage against high-durability parts — a 90% reduction never communicated to the player.
2. Enemy durability changes are never noted in patch notes. When Arrowhead raises a part's durability % (e.g. Charger legs, Rocket Devastator chest), every weapon in the game is silently nerfed against that enemy with no disclosure. Players lose effective playstyles with no explanation.
3. The player-vs-enemy asymmetry is undocumented. Enemy weapons use durable damage as an amplifier against player equipment (Exosuit, shields), while player weapons use it as a reduction — these are functionally opposite mechanics sharing the same name.
Expected behaviour: players should be able to read a weapon's stats and understand how it will perform. Actual behaviour: weapons routinely underperform their listed stats against common enemies, and the reason is invisible to all but dataminers.
Add durable damage to all in-game weapon stat cards, displayed alongside base damage (e.g.
"Damage: 140 / Durable: 18").
Include enemy durability value changes in all patch notes, explicitly stating before/after values and which weapons are most affected.
Audit primary weapon durable damage ratios — most primaries sit between 5–20% of base damage, making them non-viable against common durable targets even at sufficient armor pen.
A minimum floor of ~35% durable ratio for primaries would restore meaningful primary weapon identity without disrupting support weapon hierarchy.
Suggest a sharper version of this issue. Proposals become candidates the community votes up or down — the highest net one is merged into the proposed change when voting closes. Buried suggestions drop off.