Your feelings on DOT (Damage Over Time)?

[ZedClampet]

For me, while it varies a bit depending on the implementation, I generally want things dead right away, not later, so I rarely emphasize any sort of DOT builds. There are exceptions, of course.

Example of a good implementation: Wizard101, even though it is generally considered a kid's game, has deep, turn-based combat, and there are a lot of buffs, debuffs, etc. Enemies also use a lot of shields that can reduce the damage of the next attack anywhere from 35% all the way to 90%. By using a DOT spell, maybe even one that is backloaded with damage, you can get rid of those shields and then do higher damage in subsequent rounds.

Example of a bad implementation: Soulmask has mods that you can craft (or find in chests) and put on your gear/weapons. So I found a bleeding mod and put it on my bow. My next fight was with a 20,000 hp giant elephant. I shot the elephant in the head and did 2200 damage, and then watched in amusement as he lost 2 health per tick from the effects of bleeding. Not exactly helpful, that.

So I'd imagine you agree with the above two examples, but I'm curious on your thoughts and experiences with DOT.

 

[Frindis]

I often play solo in games with dots, so for me, it is a nice way to kite enemies around and slowly wither their health away. It depends on the game though as some implement it well and others more like what you mentioned with Soulmask. Very build dependable also.

Some games also use dot against you and when that is done poorly, you'll feel it whenever you stand in a puddle of poison or some other nastiness., like in Diablo 4 for example. It shouldn't be super deadly, it should be deadly enough, but it also depends on the difficulty you are running.

 

[Colif]

Diablo dots from puddles on the floor only suck as you can't see the floor in a lot of cases. You may not know what killed you. That used to happen to me in wow too. Blames Blizzard.

I don't play many games where poison is used as an attack, nothing that stands out to me. My rogue in WOW used it on blades but that was 16 years ago now. I can still hear "dots dots dots warlocks" in my head. Curses and poison are generally too biggest source of dots.

 

[Pifanjr]

Damage over time is usually a decent tactic in turn-based games, at least against some enemies. In real time games DOT is often too underpowered or it is too overpowered, making it optimal to hit enemies once and then run away until they drop dead, which isn't fun to me.

I think Borderlands is one of the few exceptions where DOT did feel good to use. It's powerful enough to be useful, but it's still better to keep shooting at enemies instead of just trying to kite them.

 

[Zloth]

Things I look at:

• The math. How much total damage does the DoT really do? They almost always do more total damage, but how long is that going to take?
• How does healing work with the DoT? Will it make it go away, or will the target go to max health then immediately take damage again. (And does max health give the target any bonuses?)
• Does the DoT cause some sort of detriment - like maybe the target can't sneak or go into overwatch mode with a DoT going.
• Will I be able to hide in some way while the DoT is going on my target? Do I *need* to because I have to "concentrate" or some such? Or can I just keep hitting?
• Can the DoT damage stack?
• Is there a danger of cancelling other attacks? Putting somebody under a cold DoT then hitting them with a fireball doesn't always work out so great in some games while others won't care.

HoT (Healing over Time) is just the same thing in reverse. Most of the same considerations apply.

 

[Brian Boru]

HoT (Healing over Time) is just the same thing in reverse

Oh, I thought CoLD was the reverse of that—Clobbering over Long Distance, the typical Ranger attack.

 

[ZedClampet]

Things I look at:

• The math. How much total damage does the DoT really do? They almost always do more total damage, but how long is that going to take?
• How does healing work with the DoT? Will it make it go away, or will the target go to max health then immediately take damage again. (And does max health give the target any bonuses?)
• Does the DoT cause some sort of detriment - like maybe the target can't sneak or go into overwatch mode with a DoT going.
• Will I be able to hide in some way while the DoT is going on my target? Do I *need* to because I have to "concentrate" or some such? Or can I just keep hitting?
• Can the DoT damage stack?
• Is there a danger of cancelling other attacks? Putting somebody under a cold DoT then hitting them with a fireball doesn't always work out so great in some games while others won't care.

HoT (Healing over Time) is just the same thing in reverse. Most of the same considerations apply.

I've had a lot of DoT canceled out by the would-be victims, though usually they just do something to minimize the damage.

I've never had a HoT canceled out.

My favorite spell is probably a DoT with leech that does both DoT and HoT. Played a necromancer once who felt essentially immortal to me. He also had a spell that could leech for the whole party, but the other party members were not fans of it.

 

[Hveðrungr]

Damage over time is usually a decent tactic in turn-based games

Turn-based supremacy is real

Join the turn-based side

 

[Rolfil]

If done well it's really useful. Like when it bypasses physical armour. But there are far too many games where it just does so little damage that it's ok on small mobs but useless on bosses. Which in effect makes it worthless in those games.

 

[BeardyHat]

Usually I find that a fight will be over long before a DoT ever reaches its potential, so there's typically no reason to use them, because it's faster to just use something punchy instead.

But due to not using them for smaller fights, I forget that they're a thing for the longer ones and then end-up not using them there.

One of the only times I really ever liked them was in Final Fantasy 14, playing as the Scholar healer class; it was really neat to put DoTs on everything and then be able to focus on healing jobs, then reapply DoTs as needed.

 

[Johnway]

Apart from path of exile, i don't really use DOT. perhaps as an added +10 dmg here or there but as a core combat mechanic? probably not. So far only in POE do i use it to save clicks and allow me to remain mobile as i don't need to be all that accurate or stationary to use.

 

[DXCHASE]

Diablo 4 just dropped a test server for its next seasons changes and the one build im going for with this Rogue im building is a build that has DOT on my weapons, so well see how it turns out.


Update: So the build i went with is pretty broken, the DOT is crazy good on this rogue but its a distance fight style so it works with that. So my opinion would be that it all depends on the class or its build and then whatever game its in.

 

[Nocturnia]

It depends on how it's implemented, and on how the game's combat works. DoT is most impactful when you are able to tag enemies that are otherwise difficult to hit with it. Entire classes in PvP games are built around this. The kinds of classes that run circles around enemies or flit in and out of shadows. I used to play some League of Legends and there are some champions dedicated to this, most notably Singed, whose entire schtick is running around with a DoT poison trail and just generally being an annoyance. It even spawned a bit of a meme out of the saying Don't. Chase. Singed.

However, in other cases it can be more situational. DoT is advantageous precisely because it is over time. It is an excellent counter to things like temporary shields, and can be tagged on bosses and other enemies that like to teleport around. Sometimes I wish there was more DoT in Vindictus for some of the annoying teleporters like Blood Lord. Guy's in nether space more than half the fight and when he does appear, you often don't even have time to hit him before he disappears again.

In face-to-face smashfests, though, DoT doesn't really play much of a role. Still, some classes revolve around stacking it in creative ways, sometimes with combo effects or benefits to their own power. Other games treat it as just a rotational thing. Most DoTs in FF14 are like that. It's just an ability you have to line up in your skill rotation every 30~60 seconds.

 

[Zimbaly]

As long as the damage over time kills em in 3 seconds I'm good.

 

[neogunhero]

I like weapons with large AoE and DoT, such as a grenade launcher that also catches enemies on fire. Those kinds of weapons don’t ask you to be super precise or have the most accurate shots, so it’s good to sit back and relax with them. There are also grenades that do things just like that which I always enjoy, such as molotovs or gas/toxic grenades. In Fallout 4, I really liked legendary items that have a Bleeding effect to get in some DoT if I had to duck and cover.