Damage Over Time

“

▶️ Wait for it... Wait for it... — Witch Doctor

”

Damage Over Time (DoT) is a debuff from an ability that causes the affected unit to take damage over an extended period of time. The damage is dealt at the end of each interval, the first of which begins when the unit is affected by the ability. Some damage over time abilities have an initial damage, which may or may not be equal to the periodic damage. All damage over time abilities has its intervals hard-coded in the ability and they follow their own individually specified intervals.

Definition

A damage over time ability have several components and can be broken down into the following, each of these components can cause a range of different interactions within the game.

Components	Definitions
Initial Damage	Some abilities have different initial damages. For abilities that start immediately upon impact, its initial damage is the same as damage per instance.
Interval	The time between instances in seconds. This value is usually hard-coded in the ability.
Damage Duration	Duration from the initial damage to the last instance of damage.
Damage per Instance	The total damage excluding initial damage over the interval.
Number of Intervals	The damage duration over the interval.
Max Total Damage	The total of the initial damage and the damage per instance multiplying its instances.

Example

Some abilities dealing damage over time continuously damage the target with a debuff, and most debuff refreshes its duration when it is reapplied, unless noted otherwise. Depending on the damage over time debuff's expiring condition, it might last until the effect expires, it may be dispeled, or the target might not be affected anymore if they moves out of range or a certain radius. These information will be stated in the ability's notes section.

E

E

Firefly

▶️

Ability

No

Affects

Enemy Units / Self

Damage

Spell / Magical

Batrider takes to the skies, laying down a trail of flames from the air. The fire damages any enemies it touches, and destroys trees below Batrider.

Cast Animation: 0 + 0

Initial Delay: 0.1

Damage per Second: 25/50/75/100

First Interval: 0.4

Subsequent Intervals: 0.5

Roshan is immune and does not bat an eye to the flames' damage.

45/40/35/30

100

When an enemy escapes into the Yama Raskav Jungle, most would cut through the brush to find the fugitive. Batrider just chooses to destroy the jungle along with his foes.

Misc.

• Damage is dealt to every enemy unit which comes within radius of the fire trail.

• Deals 12.5/25/37.5/50 damage per interval, starting 0.1 seconds after cast, the first interval is 0.4 seconds, the rest are 0.5 seconds, resulting in 31 damage instances.
  • Can deal up to 387.5/775/1162.5/1550 damage to a single unit (before reductions) when the affected unit stays in range for the full duration.

• The fire trails from successive casts fully stack. Each cast creates its buff with its own fire trail.

• When Batrider dies during Firefly, the already existing fire on the ground still stays for the remaining duration.
  • The buffs remain visible in the HUD, and are now only responsible for keeping the already existing fire up.
  • This means when respawning before they expire, they do not make Batrider fly again or make him leave fire behind again.

Damage Over Time Sources

Damage Over Time Sources

• Alchemist – Acid Spray
• Ancient Apparition – Cold Feet
• Ancient Apparition – Ice Blast
• Armlet of Mordiggian – Unholy Strength
• Axe – Berserker's Call^2a
• Axe – Battle Hunger
• Arc Warden – Flux
• Bane – Enfeeble
• Bane – Fiend's Grip
• Batrider – Firefly
• Batrider – Flamebreak
• Batrider – Flaming Lasso
• Brewmaster – Cinder Brew
• Broodmother – Spinner's Snare
• Fire – Permanent Immolation
• Cloak of Flames – Immolate
• Clockwerk – Battery Assault
• Crystal Maiden – Frostbite
• Crystal Maiden – Freezing Field
• Dark Willow – Bramble Maze
• Dark Willow – Cursed Crown^2b
• Dazzle – Poison Touch
• Death Prophet – Spirit Siphon
• Disruptor – Thunder Strike
• Disruptor – Static Storm
• Doom – Scorched Earth
• Doom – Infernal Blade
• Doom – Doom
• Dragon Knight – Fireball
• Dragon Knight – Elder Dragon Form
• Dragon Scale – Afterburn
• Earth Spirit – Magnetize
• Ember Spirit – Searing Chains
• Ember Spirit – Flame Guard
• Ember Spirit – Fire Remnant^2b
• Enigma – Malefice
• Enigma – Midnight Pulse
• Enigma – Black Hole^2a
• Faceless Void – Time Dilation
• Fallen Sky – Fallen Sky
• Giant's Ring – Giant's Foot
• Grimstroke – Phantom's Embrace
• Grimstroke – Ink Swell
• Gyrocopter – Rocket Barrage
• Gyrocopter – Homing Missile^2b
• Huskar – Burning Spear
• Invoker – Ice Wall
• Invoker – Chaos Meteor
• Jakiro – Dual Breath
• Jakiro – Liquid Fire
• Jakiro – Liquid Frost
• Jakiro – Macropyre
• Juggernaut – Blade Fury
• Kunkka – Torrent
• Kunkka – Torrent Storm
• Kunkka – Ghostship
• Leshrac – Diabolic Edict
• Leshrac – Pulse Nova
• Lone Druid – Entangling Claws
• Spirit Bear – Entangling Claws
• Luna – Eclipse
• Meteor Hammer – Meteor Hammer
• Necrophos – Heartstopper Aura
• Ogre Magi – Ignite
• Orb of Venom – Poison Attack
• Orb of Corrosion – Corrosion
• Phoenix – Icarus Dive
• Phoenix – Fire Spirits
• Phoenix – Sun Ray
• Phoenix – Supernova
• Pudge – Rot
• Pudge – Dismember
• Pugna – Life Drain
• Queen of Pain – Shadow Strike
• Radiance – Burn
• Razor – Eye of the Storm
• Sand King – Sand Storm
• Sand King – Epicenter
• Shadow Shaman – Shackles
• Silencer – Arcane Curse
• Skywrath Mage – Mystic Flare
• Slark – Dark Pact
• Sniper – Shrapnel
• Spiderling – Poison Sting
• Spirit Vessel – Soul Release
• Urn of Shadows – Soul Release
• Witch Blade – Witch Blade
• Tornado (Wildwing Ripper) – Tempest
• Timbersaw – Flamethrower
• Timbersaw – Chakram
• Timbersaw – Second Chakram
• Tiny – Avalanche
• Treant Protector – Leech Seed
• Treant Protector – Eyes In The Forest
• Treant Protector – Nature's Guise^2b
• Treant Protector – Overgrowth
• Tusk – Ice Shards^2b
• Underlord – Firestorm
• Venomancer – Venomous Gale
• Venomancer – Poison Sting
• Venomancer – Noxious Plague
• Viper – Poison Attack
• Viper – Nethertoxin
• Viper – Corrosive Skin
• Viper – Viper Strike
• Vhoul Assassin – Envenomed Weapon
• Warlock – Shadow Word
• Warlock Golem – Permanent Immolation
• Weaver – The Swarm
• Winter Wyvern – Arctic Burn
• Witch Doctor – Maledict
• Wraith King – Wraithfire Blast
• Wraith King – Reincarnation¹

¹ Requires talent.

^2a Requires Aghanim's Scepter.

^2b Requires Aghanim's Shard.

Fixed Attack Interval

Main Article: Fixed Attack Interval

Abilities that perform instant attacks or attacks based on fixed intervals and they completely ignore the base attack time, attack speed and attack rate of the unit. Although these abilities deal damage in between intervals, they are not considered as damage over time abilities.