Do you want to beat your enemies without having to wield a Doomhammer or strike a blade? If you aren’t too keen on hand-to-hand combat or maybe you want to accomplish fighting without weapons, then you should look into DoT.
What is DoT in World of Warcraft, you might ask? This is Damage over Time. Unlike direct attacks which yield instant damage, DoT will chip away at your opponent at a limited amount of time at regular intervals, depending on the spell that you cast. To deal the greatest damage using DoT, it’s best to use Priest or Warlock classes.
How it Works: Damage Over Time
So, what is DoT in World of Warcraft exactly and how does it work? When a player casts a spell, a certain amount of damage will be inflicted on the opponent every few seconds at a certain amount of time. The tick or amount of time will depend on the spell. Meanwhile, the amount of damage dealt will depend on the level of the player who casts the spell.
For example, the DoT that a level 80 hunter that casts a Serpent Sting will be able to inflict approximately 1,188 nature damage with a 3-second interval over a 15-second duration.
You can cast multiple DoT on an enemy but the best way to do it is to time it correctly. Make sure the entire duration of the DoT is done before casting another spell or else your new spell will overlap with the old spells DoT—effectively shortening the entire duration of one DoT. With the right timing, you can maximize the amount of damage to your opponent.
Advantages
DoT is a good strategy for dealing with enemies with long lives or when you go on lengthy fights or battles. Think Lady Vash in the Serpentshrine Cavern or Kael’thas Sunstrider’s fortress in the Burning Crusades: Overlords of Outland. With DoT, you can interrupt your enemies who are in the middle of healing or First Aid or Rogues who are under Stealth.
Disadvantages
There are, of course, disadvantages to Damage over Time. For starters, there is a cooldown. This just means you can’t continuously cast spells one after another or simultaneously, there will be a period of time for waiting before you can cast again. Knowing that there is a cooldown, you need to be smart when using the DoT. That means you should be casting spells on weaker enemies.
Another disadvantage of DoT is that poison- or spell-based ones can be cured by potions and spells, too. So, choose the right target with your spells, preferably enemies that have magic lower abilities. Also, don’t forget that HoT—Healing over Time—exists.
Best Classes for Damage Over Time
If you decide on focusing your talents on DoT, know that there are classes that are meant for this. Although specializations are shared by other classes, these two are the best when it comes to priest and warlock DoT abilities:
Affliction Warlock
Known as the drain damage specialization, Affliction Warlocks can apply DoT abilities that include corruption and agony. You can drain the life of one or more opponents with drain soul or malefic rupture.
Shadow Priest
What the Shadow Priest lacks in mobility, it makes up in quick cast spells. Its DoT abilities include vampiric touch, mind blast, and devouring plague. Under the priest class, it has the unique mind control spell that isn’t available to other classes.
Conclusion
Now that you know what DoT is in World of Warcraft, you can decide if this ability is something you want to focus on for your player. DoT is something that can possibly work for you and can make you successful, depending on your playing style. If you are more of a close-range fighter, then DoT might not be something you should focus on. But it is still an ability that you may want to improve on for other uses.
Make sure you have the best laptop for World of Warcraft when you play the game. You wouldn’t want to be in the middle of an attack only to experience monitor-freezing or lags. The best laptop shouldn’t just meet the minimum requirements of WoW but the best specs. It’ll be easier to improve your DoT abilities with smooth gameplays.
