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Hits to kill

Calculator for bullets, bites and swipes to kill at any biomass, Carapace, armor and weapon level, plus the biomass breakpoints where a hit is added.

How many hits each attack needs, calculated with the game's damage formula (Damage types, Armor) from the server's current numbers. Pick the situation and the table updates.

The calculator assumes every hit lands on a full-health target, no healing during the fight, and point-blank range for weapons with falloff. For mixed attacks (parasite + 2 bites, shotgun + pistol) see Kill combos.

How biomass and Carapace change it#

Every biomass level adds health to every lifeform, and Carapace adds armor that also grows with biomass. A lifeform at biomass 12 with 3 Carapace shells is a very different target from a fresh one:

0100200300400500600123456789101112Skulk + CarapaceSkulkGorge + CarapaceGorgeLerk + CarapaceLerkFade + CarapaceFadebiomasseffective HP (normal damage)
Effective HP of each lifeform by biomass: solid with 3-shell Carapace, dashed without.
050010001500200025003000123456789101112Onos + CarapaceOnosbiomasseffective HP (normal damage)
Effective HP of the Onos by biomass: solid with 3-shell Carapace, dashed without.

The jumps that matter are the ones where a weapon needs one more hit. The calculator above lists them for any weapon level; these maps show the most important matchups at a glance:

Rifle vs Skulk
bio123456789101112
W0101011111111121212131313
W19910101010111111121212
W28999910101010111111
W38888999910101010
W0 +Cara111212131314141515161617
W1 +Cara101111121212131314141515
W2 +Cara91010111111121213131414
W3 +Cara999101011111112121313
Rifle vs Gorge
bio123456789101112
W0262727272727282828282829
W1242424252525252526262626
W2222222232323232323242424
W3202121212121212222222222
W0 +Cara293030313232333334353536
W1 +Cara272728282929303031323233
W2 +Cara242525262627272828292930
W3 +Cara232324242425252626272728
Rifle vs Lerk
bio123456789101112
W0242525252525262626262627
W1222223232323232424242424
W2202121212121212222222222
W3191919192020202020202021
W0 +Cara272728282929293030313131
W1 +Cara252525262626272728282829
W2 +Cara232323242424252525262626
W3 +Cara212122222222232323242424
Rifle vs Fade
bio123456789101112
W0414242434344444545464647
W1383839394040404141424243
W2353535363637373838383939
W3323233333434343535353636
W0 +Cara464748495051525354555657
W1 +Cara424344454546474849505152
W2 +Cara383940414243434445464748
W3 +Cara353637383939404142424344
Shotgun vs Fade
bio123456789101112
W0333333333333
W1333333333333
W2333333333333
W3223333333333
W0 +Cara333333444444
W1 +Cara333333333344
W2 +Cara333333333333
W3 +Cara333333333333
Pistol vs Skulk
bio123456789101112
W0556666666777
W1555555666666
W2455555555666
W3444455555555
W0 +Cara666777788889
W1 +Cara566666777788
W2 +Cara555666667777
W3 +Cara555556666677
HMG vs Skulk
bio123456789101112
W0101010101111111212121213
W1999101010101111111112
W288999991010101011
W378888999991010
W0 +Cara111112121313141414151516
W1 +Cara101011111112121313141415
W2 +Cara9910101111111212131313
W3 +Cara89991010111111121212
Railgun vs Fade
bio123456789101112
W0333333333444
W1333333333333
W2333333333333
W3333333333333
W0 +Cara444444444444
W1 +Cara333334444444
W2 +Cara333333333444
W3 +Cara333333333333
Minigun vs Onos
bio123456789101112
W0192200209217225234242250259267275284
W1175182190197205213220228235243250258
W2160167174181188195202209216223230237
W3148154161167174180186193199206212218
W0 +Cara204215227239250262274285297309320332
W1 +Cara185196207217228238249260270281291302
W2 +Cara170180189199209219228238248257267277
W3 +Cara157166175184193202211220229238247256

Hits to kill by biomass (columns) and marine weapon level (rows; the lower block is with 3-shell Carapace). Darker = more hits; an outlined cell is a breakpoint where one more hit is needed.

Marine weapons at a glance#

Fresh lifeforms (biomass 1, no Carapace), W0 and W3:

WeaponSkulkGorgeLerkFadeOnos
W0W3W0W3W0W3W0W3W0W3
Rifle (bullet)108262024194132160124
Pistol (bullet)541310121021168062
Shotgun (all 17 pellets, <5 m)11222232108
HMG (bullet)107252023184031153118
Grenade (direct)224343652218
Flamethrower (tick)108272225204235162134
Axe (swing)4311810817136450
Minigun (bullet)1511352735275543192148
Railgun (full charge, <10 m)11222233119
Mine112222441313
Pulse grenade33776611114040

Hits to kill a fresh lifeform at biomass 1 without Carapace, by marine weapon upgrade level (W0, W3).

Alien attacks at a glance#

AttackNo upgradeFocus (3 Veils)Crush (3 Spurs)
A0A1A2A3A0A1A2A3A0A1A2A3
Skulk bite334423333344
Parasite16202428····16202428
Xenocide1122····1122
Gorge spit67810567867810
Lerk bite344533443445
Lerk spike16202428····16202428
Fade swipe334423333344
Fade stab222322222223
Onos gore233422332334
Onos stomp4455····4455

Hits to kill a full-health marine by armor level (A0–A3). A dot means the attack does not benefit from Focus.

Against exosuits#

Exosuit armor absorbs every point of damage until it runs out (armor use 100%), so an exo is a 740-point wall at A0. Crush adds 7% damage per Spur against exos.

AttackExo A0Exo A1Exo A2Exo A3
Skulk bite10111213
Gorge spit25272931
Lerk bite13141516
Lerk spike74808692
Fade swipe10111213
Fade stab7788
Onos gore991011
Xenocide4455

Effective HP#

How much normal damage each target can take:

LifeformHealthArmorEHP vs normalHealth @ biomass 9Armor with 3-shell Carapace @ biomass 9EHP fully upgraded
Skulk7510959924147
Gorge1605026017680336
Lerk1803024019651298
Fade25080410290122.5535
Onos700450160011006802460
Marine10030160Armor 0
Marine10050200Armor 1
Marine10070240Armor 2
Marine10090280Armor 3
Exosuit100320740Armor 0 (armor absorbs 100%)
Exosuit100410920Armor 3 (armor absorbs 100%)

See also#

Kill combos · Damage types · Armor · Lifeform comparison · Biomass

Hover any number to see where in the game code it comes from.
Page source: content/mechanics/hits-to-kill.md · Natural Selection 2 © Unknown Worlds Entertainment. Fan wiki, not affiliated.