Maximizing per-arc damage?

Dumb question, but it got me thinking: so this week we need to damage hornets for trials, but this would apply to other things too. Best way to kill flying arc is to shoot off 2 thrusters, and let them crash on their own. But, do we get LESS damage points for causing them to crash, or does a kill on an arc net the same damage points awarded regardless? In other words: should I be shooting the body of the hornet for example until it explodes for max points, or does it matter?

This applies to snitches and wasps, rocketeers, bastions and bombardiers etc. can we maximize damage values per arc based on what bits we shoot or is it a fixed amount of damage per kill?