Hits are the primary means through which a player will both take damage, and lose Rating. Any hit that breaks the characters' Shields is registered as a hit. Hits have a chance to inflict different Ailments, depending on which Enemy inflicted it. Heavy Classes are eight times more resistant to ratings loss from hits than other classes, and Medics are more resilient.
The strength of hits and the time they were inflicted will weigh into how much Rating is player is likely to lose. Strong hits such as those from Slashers or Agrons will cause more rating lose than weaker hits from enemies such as Ghouls. Also, hits taken early in a match will punish a player more so than hits taken later. As campaigns are easiest towards the start, and quite difficult near the end, hits taken at the start are often avoidable or careless. As a result they will cause more potential loss to player Ratings.