Combo

Combo damage is an additional damage done by performing Combinations, which are usually called Combos.

There are two parts to a combo, and if either isn’t performed, then combos cannot be triggered. A successfully triggered combo will make a distinct sound.

The targets have to be primed using a primer first, then they must be detonated using a detonator. Once detonated, the additional combo damage shows up as a damage floaty in yellow along with the word "COMBO!". Each of the four javelins that the Freelancer can use has a special bonus attached to their combos they detonate. Each javelin has a unique combo triggering sound.

Anyone with a detonator can detonate a primed target. But the damage amount depends on the javelin and the player who has detonated. So, care must be taken to not unnecessarily detonate combos—especially set up by others in a squad—by any lancer, as they can end up doing significantly less damage.

Cortex Entry[]

Check Cortex Entry: 3. Combinations and Effects for More Information

Weapons and gear launch various attacks on enemies, including unique combos that can cause devastating damage. Gear that apply status effects are known as primers, and have this icon: . An experienced Freelancer knows that strategic use of the right gear can control the battle and defeat the enemy.
FIRE: Sets enemies on fire. Causes them to burn and take additional damage over time.
ICE: Freezes enemies. Restricts their movement for the duration of the effect.
ELECTRICAL: Electrifies enemies and turns them into conduits that disperse arcs of electricity and shock nearby enemies.
ACID: Lowers enemy resistances and increases their damage vulnerability.
Weapon and gear that apply status effects have a Status stat in the Forge which indicates how quickly the status is applied. Different enemies have varying resistances that protect them from particular effects, and determine how long each takes to apply.
When an enemy has an effect on them—shown as a nameplate icon: , , , —launch a combo with weapons or gear that have the detonator property. These are indicated by this icon: . Different types of combos and effects will produce damaging results.
IMPACT: The Impact Combo consumes the energy of the Status Effect to do a large amount of damage of the same type, so the Fire Status Effect will do a burst of Fire damage.
EXPLOSION: The Explosion Combo consumes the power of the Status Effect to trigger an explosion of the same type of the Status Effect, dealing matching damage to enemies caught in the blast.
CHAIN: The Combo deals damage and spreads the Status Effect to nearby enemies.
AURA: This Combo deals damage and surrounds you with an aura matching the Status Effect, applying the Status Effect to enemies nearby.

For a Collection of similar Cortex Entries, See: How to Play (Tutorials)

Primer[]

Primers are used to set up a combo. A target is primed only if the primer can put that enemy in a status effect: Acid, Ice, Fire, or Electric. There is no Impact/Kinetic primer. The status effect, when applied shows up above the target as a red hexagon with the type of primer in it.

Every priming item has a special stack effect mentioned in its description. The higher the effect, the easier it is to prime the target. The higher the strength of an enemy, the tougher it is to prime it. The priming status lasts only for a short time, during which, if the combo is not detonated, the status will expire, and the target must primed again.

The ease of priming is in the following order:

Enemy < Heavy Enemy < Apex Enemy < Boss Enemy

AND

Standard Enemy < Elite Enemy < Legendary Enemy

The ease of priming is independent of the type of health and the type of primer, but only dependent on the type of the enemy and the stacked effect. A priming effect (Acid Effect/ Ice Effect/ Fire Effect/ Lightning Effect) is a number between 0 (cannot be primed) and 100 (guaranteed prime) that is used to show the ease of priming targets. An effect of 60 guarantees a primed status on any legendary enemy, but will be dependent on the enemy's health type and how susceptible it is to the damage type of the primer. An effect of 100 guarantees a primed status even on bosses. The primer damage is the same as the damage done by the priming weapon or gear.

Some Masterwork or Legendary combat equipment can have Masterwork Perks that allow them to prime an enemy guaranteed by performing the action mentioned in the perks without worrying about priming effects.

Only enemies under a primed status can be detonated for combos. The following status icons show up above an enemy that is successfully primed:

Primed Status	Primed Icon
Acid Primed
Ice Primed
Fire Primed
Lightning Primed

List of Primers[]

The following are a list of Weapons, Gears, and Components that can prime or cause a combat equipment to prime an enemy. Click on Expand/Collapse to reveal/conceal the list:

Priming Combat Equipment
Ranger	Colossus	Storm	Interceptor
Acid Slugs Arctic Tomb Cold Blooded Elemental Ops Explosive Blaze Focused Freeze Frost Grenade Inferno Grenade Jarra's Wrath Ralner's Blaze Shock Mace Siege Breaker Tactical Onslaught Transmuting Volt Venom Darts	Acid Slugs Firewall Mortar Fist of the Crucible Flamethrower Focused Freeze Inferno Glove Jarra's Wrath Meteor Smash Ralner's Blaze Rubidium Furnace Sentinel's Vengeance Shock Coil Siege Breaker Solvent Green Venom Spitter Venom Storm Voltaic Dome	Acid Slugs Binary Star Black Ice Chaotic Rime Eternal Squall Focused Freeze Frost Shards Hailstorm's Renewal Ice Blast Ice Storm Jarra's Wrath Lightning Surge Living Flame Ralner's Blaze Seal of the Open Mind Shock Burst Shocking Strike Siege Breaker Steam Vent Venomous Blaze Winter's Wrath	Absolute Zero Acid Slugs Cariff's Talon Cryo Glaive Deathstalker Blades Detonating Strike Focused Freeze Jarra's Wrath Ralner's Blaze Serpent's Veil Shadow Claw Siege Breaker Spectre's Flash Tesilar Trap Venom Bomb Venom Spray Viper's Bite

Detonator[]

Detonators are used to trigger a combo set up by the primers. Once the combo is triggered, the additional combo damage is performed and a unique javelin-specific sound is set off.

The exact value of this damage is determined by the type of the javelin equipped and the health-type (normal/red or armored/yellow) of the enemy, and whether the enemy is weakened using acid status or resistance lowering support gear, or combo damage increasing items (Combo Sigil or Tarsis' Last Stand). However, the type of primer used does not affect this damage value.

Combos cannot be performed on shields, so the shields must be depleted before priming a target. If the shields of a primed target regenerate, the combo can still be triggered by the detonator.

All damage types can detonate a combo and unlike a primer, do not have any status effect criterion. A target can have up to 3 primed statuses: Ice or Fire, Acid, and Lightning. Since Ice effects and Fire effects cancel each other out, only one of these two primed statuses can be active. A target primed by one lancer can be detonated by another lancer.

However, primers can only be detonated in the following order, regardless of when or how the enemy is primed:

Ice/Fire Prime > Lightning Prime > Acid Prime

List of Detonators[]

The following are a list of Weapons and Gears that can be used to detonate any primed enemy. Click on Expand/Collapse to reveal/conceal the list:

Detonating Combat Equipment
Ranger	Colossus	Storm	Interceptor
Artinia's Gambit Avenger's Boon Fist of the Mountain Frag Grenade Last Argument Lightning Rod Pulse Blast Rampager Recurring Vengeance Relentless Pursuit Seeking Missile Seismic Mace Sticky Grenade The Gambit Truth of Tarsis	Again and Again Artinia's Gambit Best Defense Earthshaker Final Judgment Garred's Hammer High-Explosive Mortar Lightning Coil Lightning Rod Railgun Seismic Glove Siege Artillery Truth of Tarsis Vassa's Arc Venom Storm	Artinia's Gambit Black Ice Burning Orb Eternal Squall Explosive Strike Glacial Spear Howling Veil Lightning Rod Lightning Strike Ponder Infinity Searing Blast Steam Vent Ten Thousand Suns Truth of Tarsis	Artinia's Gambit Blades of Warding Lightning Rod Raneri's Charge Spark Dash Spectre's Flash Sudden Death Tempest Strike Truth of Tarsis Twin Blades

Priming Detonators and Detonating Primers[]

There are a few gears which can self prime and detonate or prime a target after detonating them. These are usually classified as detonators, however, it is important to mention these gears as they can be used differently while in combat to prime targets as well. These items can prime and detonate, or detonate and prime without having to use a second gear charge or magazine.

Combat Equipment	Type	Category	How to Use
Artinia's Gambit with Focused Freeze	Light Machine Gun	Priming Detonator	This is a special case that happens when a specific component is used. Ten consecutive shots struck using Artinia's Gambit when Focused Freeze component is equipped can prime any enemy, while reloading the weapon will detonate an Explosion Combo in a small blast radius around it. This is the most effective when a Colossus is used, as the damage done by Explosion combo can be increased with Combo Blast Damage inscriptions.
Black Ice	Focus Seal	Priming Detonator	If a target is already primed, using Black Ice on it will detonate it. If the detonated primer is NOT ice type, then the target is primed with ice. Black Ice can self prime and detonate on any unprimed enemy.
Eternal Squall	Blast Seal	Detonating Primer	If the target is already primed with any ability, the lightning strike from Eternal Squall detonates it to perform a combo. This gear leaves behind a field of electricity where it strikes. Non lightning primed enemies in this field are primed with lightning.
Steam Vent	Focus Seal	Priming Detonator	If a target is already primed, using Steam Vent on it will detonate it. If the detonated primer is NOT fire type, then the target is primed with fire. Steam Vent can self-prime and detonate on any unprimed enemy.
Spectre's Flash	Assault System	Detonating Primer	If a target is already primed, using Spectre's Flash on it will detonate a combo. If the targets are not primed, the aura present on the Interceptor will prime those enemies when a projected interceptor ghost is released on the targets, which then detonate them. This also makes Spectre's Flash the only "primer" that can prime targets with all 4 priming damage types.
Venom Storm	Ordnance Launcher	Priming Detonator	If the target is not already primed with Acid, it is primed with the initial Venom Storm mortars and immediately detonated with additional mortars. The initial mortar prime can be detonated by other players also. Venom Storm can self-prime and detonate on any unprimed and non-acid primed enemy.

Ultimate Abilities as Detonators[]

Colossus Ultimate: The Colossus Ultimate Siege Cannon is a Detonator and can trigger combos in a blast radius around the launched cannon.
Interceptor Ultimate: The Interceptor Ultimate Assassin's Blades is a sustained detonator where both the Interceptor and the projected ghost can detonate combos on any primed enemy that is touched by the blades.
Storm Ultimate: The Storm Ultimate Elemental Storm is both a primer and a detonator. When a Storm unleashes its ultimate, the elemental field it creates can prime enemies in it, while the elemental meteor it summons can detonate any primed target in a blast radius.

Combo Effects[]

Combo effects are special perks that a javelin can trigger when a combo is performed. These effects can become apparent when the javelin detonates a combo. There are 4 types of Combo Effects, one each for a javelin type:

Some Weapons can trigger these combo effects as well, regardless of the javelin type used. They are classified as Other Combo Effects.

Combo Impact[]

Combo Impact can only be triggered by a Ranger. When a Ranger performs a combo, the damage done by the combo is significantly increased, the combo damage type, although not color-coded, will actually receive the benefit of being the damage type of the primer's status.

So, a fire primed enemy will receive fire damage bonus to the detonated combo, ice primed enemy will receive ice damage bonus to the detonated combo, lightning primed enemy will receive lightning damage bonus to the detonated combo, and acid primed enemy will receive acid damage bonus to the detonated combo.

The damage output of Combo Impact can be increased by the following methods, and they can be stacked:

Using Combat Equipment with Combo Impact Damage inscriptions
Enemies weakened by Support
Enemies weakened by Acid
Staying inside Tarsis' Last Stand
Using Combo Sigil
Using Combo Boost, an Inversion that exists in the game files and the list of Inversions, but unreleased for players.
Using components that improve Ranger’s combos such as: Ranger Combo Augment and Tip of the Spear.

Combo Blast[]

Combo Blast Damage can only be triggered by a Colossus. When a Colossus performs a combo, it can detonate all primed targets in a radius around the detonator.

The damage output of Combo Blast can be increased by the following methods, and they can be stacked:

Using Combat Equipment with Combo Blast Damage inscriptions
Enemies weakened by Support
Enemies weakened by Acid
Staying inside Tarsis' Last Stand
Using Combo Sigil
Using Combo Boost, an Inversion that exists in the game files and the list of Inversions, but unreleased for players.
Using components that improve Colossus’ combos such as: Colossus Combo Augment and Catalytic Overdrive.

Combo Chains[]

Combo Chains can only be performed by Storm. When a Storm detonates a combo, the status effect on the target spreads to a few nearby enemies. (The spread effect will have the same status as the primer).

The damage output of Combo Chains can be increased by the following methods, and they can be stacked:

Enemies weakened by Support
Enemies weakened by Acid
Staying inside Tarsis' Last Stand
Using Combo Sigil
Using Combo Boost, an Inversion that exists in the game files and the list of Inversions, but unreleased for players.

The number of target enemies to which the status effect spreads is improved by:

Using Combat Equipment with Combo Chains Inscriptions
Using components that improve Storm’s combos such as: Storm Combo Augment and Token of the Pupil.

Combo Aura[]

Combo Aura can only be performed by Interceptor. When an interceptor detonates a combo, it gets enveloped by an aura. The aura can do additional damage (other than the combo damage itself) in pulses within a radius around the interceptor.

The type of aura is the same type as the primed status on the enemy. However, detonating a new combo with a different primed status will not change the type of the aura if it is still active at the time of the second detonation. If an aura is lost, it can be regained by a detonation. The damage output of Combo Aura and the pulse damage over time within the radius can be increased by the following methods, and they can be stacked:

Enemies weakened by Support
Enemies weakened by Acid
Staying inside Tarsis' Last Stand
Using the Masterwork Perk of Way of Integration
Using Combo Sigil
Using Combo Boost, an Inversion that exists in the game files and the list of Inversions, but unreleased for players.

The speed of released pulse damage over time can be improved by:

Using Combat Equipment with Combo Aura Effect Inscriptions
Using components that improve Storm’s combos such as: Interceptor Combo Augment and Way of the Bold.

Other Combo Effects[]

There are two weapons in the game that can do certain combo effect regardless of the type of javelin used.

Explosion Combo[]

Explosion Combo is the part of the Masterwork Perk of Artinia's Gambit. It can do Combo Blast Damage when detonated by performing the action mentioned in its perk. All Javelins can perform this combo, but the damage output mostly depends on the Combo Blast Damage inscription stacking. So, it is best used by Colossus.

Damage output of Combo Explosion can be Increased by:

Enemies weakened by Support
Enemies weakened by Acid
Staying inside Tarsis' Last Stand
Using the Masterwork Perk of Way of Integration
Using Combo Sigil
Using Combo Boost, an Inversion that exists in the game files and the list of Inversions, but unreleased for players.
Using Combat Equipment with Combo Blast Damage inscriptions

Chain Combo[]

Chain Combo is the part of the Masterwork Perk of Truth of Tarsis. It can trigger Combo Chains when detonated by performing the action mentioned in its perk. All Javelins can perform this combo. Damage output of Combo Explosion can be Increased by:

Enemies weakened by Support
Enemies weakened by Acid
Staying inside Tarsis' Last Stand
Using the Masterwork Perk of Way of Integration
Using Combo Sigil
Using Combo Boost, an Inversion that exists in the game files and the list of Inversions, but unreleased for players.

Trivia[]

Storm’s Combo perk was called Combo Target before launch and was changed to Chains later down the line.
Storm has access to more primers than any oher javelin.
Any damage type can be a detonator, however, only acid, ice, fire, and lightning damage types can be primers.
Enemies cannot perform combos, making the Bastion javelins unique.
Combo Damage can be increased by Combo Sigil.

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