# 🔥 Elements
Every combatant in Pixel Odyssey has an elemental affinity that affects damage dealt and received. Understanding the element system is key to optimizing your gear and combat strategy.
## The Six Elements
There are six elements split into two groups:
### Primary Elements
- 🔥 **Fire**
- 💧 **Water**
- 🌍 **Earth**
- 💨 **Air**
### Mythic Elements
- ✨ **Grace**
- 💀 **Decay**
## Element Interactions
Elements follow an advantage/disadvantage system. Attacking with an advantageous element deals significantly more damage, while a disadvantage reduces it.
### Primary Cycle
| Attacker → Target | Result |
|-------------------|--------|
| Fire → Air | **Strong** advantage |
| Air → Earth | **Strong** advantage |
| Earth → Water | **Strong** advantage |
| Water → Fire | **Strong** advantage |
The reverse matchups (Fire → Water, Air → Fire, etc.) are **strong disadvantages**.
### Mythic Interactions
- **Decay → Grace**: Strong advantage
- **Grace → Decay**: **Extreme** disadvantage — this is the hardest counter in the game
### Cross-Group
Primary and Mythic elements have mild interactions with each other — small advantages and disadvantages, but nothing as dramatic as same-group matchups.
## Combined Elements
Some monsters and gear have **combined elements** (e.g., Fire+Water, Earth+Air). These create blended interactions — the advantage and disadvantage of both component elements are averaged together.
## Elemental Damage & Resistance
- **Elemental Damage** stat increases the bonus damage you deal with your element
- **Elemental Resistance** stat reduces incoming elemental damage
- Having the right element affinity on your equipment gives a significant **damage bonus** to matching attacks
## Equipment Affinity
When your equipment's affinity matches your attack element, you receive a substantial flat damage boost. This makes it worth investing in element-consistent gear rather than mixing affinities.
> [!tip] Check a monster's element before fighting. Swapping to the right elemental gear can make a fight dramatically easier — or harder if you're using the wrong one.