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With nearly 20 years on the market,World of Warcraft’s12 playable classes have seen several drastic shifts. EachWorld of Warcraftexpansion pack usually changes how each class plays, while some introduce brand-new classes altogether, like the Death Knight, Monk, and Demon Hunter. However, all throughWorld of Warcraft’shistory, one thing has always been present in almost every class:DoTs.
Though the history of DoTs is longer thanWorld of Warcraft’sown, the venerable MMORPG has a special relationship with them. As one of the longest-running RPG games ever, it has served as the introduction to game mechanics often found in the genre for many. DoTs were even featured inpopular memes from Onyxia’s Lair during VanillaWoW. But for newer players, understanding what DoTs are and how they work can be tricky.
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What are DoTs in World of Warcraft?
DoT is short for Damage over Time. DoT effects are anything that deals damage over a period of time, rather than all at once (sometimes called Direct Damage or DD).World of Warcraftoften refers to DoTs as “periodic damage.” Many of these abilities manifest as bleeding wounds, poisons, burns, or curses.
Though normally referring to periodicallydamaging debuffs inWorld of Warcraft, standing in damaging areas, drowning, or channeled abilities that deal damage multiple times can also be considered DoTs. Most DoT effects deal more damage than their Direct Damage counterparts, but spread out over their duration.
How do DoTs Work in World of Warcraft?
Though they seem complicated at first, Damage over Time effects are simple to understand. Most player DoT effects deal damage approximately once every three seconds by default. Increasing one’s Haste stat can cause these ticks to happen more rapidly. Each tick from Damage over Time effects can crit just like their Direct Damage counterparts, and otherwise scale like other spells and abilities.
Damage over Time effects shine when they are able to run for their maximum duration. As such, short encounters or weak enemies are poor targets for DoTs, while bosses and powerful monsters are great ones. DoT-heavy classes are devastating on boss encounters with multiple powerful targets, as they can maintain their DoTs on several bosses simultaneously. This strategy is often called “Multidotting,” and can provide a significant DPS boost onsomeWorld of Warcraftencounters.
Over the years,World of Warcrafthas made it easierto re-apply DoTs than it used to be. In the past, players could accidentally clip their own DoTs, causing them to miss damage ticks, severely hampering their DPS. That is thankfully no longer the case; not only do re-applied DoTs no longer reset the tick timer when applied, but they also benefit from the Pandemic effect.
This effect allows a DoT to borrow up to 30% of its remaining duration to add to the full duration of the re-applied DoT. This means a player can re-apply their DoTs at a low duration without losing any DPS. For example, if a DoT lasts for 15 seconds, re-applying it after the 5-second mark will add another 15 seconds to the duration without any wasted time, and without stopping the periodic damage.
DoT classes can also be devastating inWorld of WarcraftPvP. What these classes lack in burst damage, they make up for with sustained damage. While it takes time to apply all of their DoTs onto a target, the damage ramps up quickly once they finish, especially when combined with Crowd Control effects like Fear.
However, DoT effects can be cleansed with certain abilities, shutting down a DoT character’s offense. Healer classes can cleanse these debuffs easily, while many tanks and some DPS can remove some of them from themselves occasionally.
Which World of Warcraft Classes Use DoTs?
Among all theWorld of Warcraftclasses, Affliction Warlocks and Shadow Priests are the most heavily reliant on DoTs. AfflictionWarlocks inWorld of Warcraftuse debilitating curses and hexes, such as Agony, Corruption, and Unstable Affliction, to drain foes of their life force, while Shadow Priests use abilities like Vampiric Touch, Shadow Word: Pain, and Mind Flay to rend a foe’s mind asunder.
However, every class inWorld of Warcrafthas access to at least one DoT effect:
Damage over Time effects have a sibling: the HoT, or Heal over Time. These abilities are the opposite of DoTs, but otherwise, work identically. Mosthealing specializations inWorld of Warcrafthave access to at least one, but the Restoration Druid is the king of HoTs, with Discipline Priests and Restoration Shamans close behind.
Hunters and Warlocks also have HoTs for their pets, with the latter also having a DoT/HoT hybrid in the form of Drain Life, which harms their target over time while healing themselves.
It is important to noteWorld of Warcraft: Dragonflightis rebuilding the Talent Tree systemfrom the ground up, meaning players may see many of these abilities change. Some also may be removed, while new DoTs could be introduced as well. Players will have to wait untilDragonflightreleases more information on the classes’ Talent Trees to see how their favorite DoTs are affected.
World of Warcraftis available now on PC.
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