Elemental damage

This article is about mechanics behind elemental damage on weapons.

Elements

 * Incendiary: A weapon with fire damage is ideal for use against fleshy enemies that do not have any shields.  The weapon will do base damage, and then light the enemies on fire for extra damage over time.
 * Corrosive: This damage type will damage an enemy over time, and can spread from one enemy to another in close proximity.  Each corrosive attack that an enemy is subjected to will cause them to take more damage from subsequent attacks.  Corrosive damage is best used against armored enemies.  Note that an armored enemy is not an enemy with a shield.  It is an enemy such as an Alpha Skag which has thick armored plates on the front.
 * Shock: Shock damage will discharge an enemy's shield much more quickly than a normal bullet. Once the shield is down, the shock damage will also electrocute an enemy to deal damage over time.
 * Explosive: Explosive damage is excellent for dealing high amounts of damage immediately and to adjacent targets.  It is the only elemental type that will not deal damage over time, and will not deal as much damage as a fire weapon of the same level, but sacrifices that power to do all of its damage immediately.

Weapons

 * Sniper Rifles: Sniper rifles charge their elemental damage between each shot. The longer you wait between each shot, the more elemental damage will be done.
 * Revolvers/Shotguns: These guns always have at least a little elemental damage associated with every shot, but the amount of elemental damage is completely random. In the case of shotguns, the damage is determined every shot and not for each individual pellet.
 * SMG/Repeater Pistol: Bullets for a Submachine Gun or a Repeater Pistol have a chance to do the maximum elemental damage with every shot but will otherwise do no additional elemental damage.
 * Combat Rifle: These guns use a fixed amount of elemental damage, with the most damage being associated with the first shot in the burst and tapering down as more bullets leave the gun.
 * Rocket Launcher: Rockets always deal high amounts of elemental damage.

Matching Elements to Enemies
Skags - Because skags are naturally armored, it is best to use corrosive damage.

Spiderants - Corrosive damage will degrade their armor from the front, but it's more effective to use a fire or explosive attacks to gain critical hits on their backside.

Scythids - Most susceptible to incendiary attacks.

Bandits - If the enemy has a shield, a shock weapon can quickly remove it. Once the shield is gone, if there was one, an incendiary weapon is most effective.

Crimson Lance - These enemies are most vulnerable to corrosive damage once you take down their shield, due to their heavy armor.