# Damage over time **Damage over time** (often refered to as **DoT**) is a damage inflicted continuously over a period of time. Unlike the other three [[damage]] sources, damage over time does not [[hit]]. ## Mechanics All damage over time effects are a kind of debuff. A creature can have multiple applications of these debuffs of the same type but usually only the one with the highest damage per second works at any given time (except for [[poison]] where all applications stack cumulatively); this is true even in the case of effects applied by different players or sources. For example, if two players each apply the [[ignite]] status [[ailment]] to the same target, only the higher damage per second of the two ignites will affect the target, at least until the higher fades and leaves the second ignite to become the new highest. In this context, two damage over time effects are to be considered the same only if they have the same name; a target may be affected by multiple effects that deal [[burning]] damage (such as [[Righteous Fire]], ignite and burning ground). ### On kill effects In case of an enemy being killed by damage over time while being affected by multiple DoT effects, the kill is attributed to the owner of the effect that was inflicted first. Damage over time kills from non-character sources like minions and totems will give the kill and any on kill effects to the owner of the totem or minion. This is a limitation of the game and not an intended game mechanic. ### Damage scaling The following modifiers will directly affect the damage over time; note that some of these modifiers apply only to the DoTs whereas some may also apply to the skill that triggered it: Damage over Time Damage [Damage Type] Damage (e.g. Physical Damage or Cold Damage) [Effect] Damage (e.g. Poison Damage or Ignite Damage) Trap Damage if applied by a trap Mine Damage if applied by a mine Totem Damage if applied by a totem Minion Damage if applied by a minion Natively modifiers to attack damage (i.e. weapon damage, melee damage, etc.) and spell damage do not apply to damage over time effects unless specifically stated so, as observed on skills like Contagion , Essence Drain or Vortex . Damage conversion does not apply to damage over time. Flat damage from things like Added Chaos Damage Support does not apply to damage over time. Modifiers that increase damage over time will not affect the damage a character deals to himself with skills like Blood Rage or Righteous Fire , as that particular effect is considered a part of the buff and not a part of player's damage output. However, modifiers that increase/reduce damage taken will affect it. Duration Tampering with the duration of a damage over time effect will affect the total amount of damage dealt by it but not its damage per second. The exception to this is the Ignited Enemies Burn faster modifier (as seen on Dyadian Dawn and The Goddess Scorned ), which will 'speed up' ignites inflicted by the player, increasing their damage per second at the cost of duration, leaving the total amount of damage unchanged. Conditional modifiers There are modifiers that can apply their effects only when a certain condition is met. Modifiers that are conditional on properties of the target do not affect damage over time because only hits are able to check someone else properties. Some examples: more Damage against Chilled Enemies from Hypothermia Support increased Damage against Hindered Enemies from Singularity Graphic Clarification Visual clarification by Mark (a developer at GGG) for the changes coming with 3.0. https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1897612/page/4#p14474050 Math Modifiers that say increased damage over time multiplier are not additive with increased damage over time modifiers that do no include the word "multiplier".[9] Interactions "% Chance to deal double damage" will not affect damage over time, because it does not hit. Most damage over time snapshots. ## Comparison of common damage over time effects Name Inflicting hit damage as DPS Default duration Total bonus damage per stack Max. stacks DPS at max. stacks Total bonus damage from max. stacks Default DoT damage type Bleed 70% of Physical 5 s 350% 1 70% 350% Physical Bleed, target moving 210% of Physical 5 s 1050% 1 210% 1050% Physical Bleed, with Crimson Dance 35% of Physical 5 s 175% 8 280% 1400% Physical Ignite 50% of Fire 4 s 200% 1 50% 200% Fire Ignite, 1 Emberwake [10] 30.30%–33.3% of Fire 6–6.6 s 200% 2 60.6%–66.7% 400% Fire Ignite, 2 Emberwakes[10] 21.7%–25% of Fire 8–9.2 s 200% 3 65.2–75% 600% Fire Ignite, 1 Replica Emberwake [10][11] 67.5%–72.5% of Fire 2.7–2.9 s 200% 1 67.5–72.5% 200% Fire Ignite, 2 Replica Emberwakes[10][11] 85%–95% of Fire 2.1–2.4 s 200% 1 85%–95% 200% Fire Ignite, 1 Emberwake, 1 Replica Emberwake[10][11] 40.9%–48.3% of Fire 4.1–4.8 s 200% 2 81.8%–96.7% 400% Fire Poison 30% of (Physical + Chaos) 2 s 60% ∞ ∞ ∞ Chaos Poison from Viper Strike 30% of (Physical + Chaos) 4 s 120% ∞ ∞ ∞ Chaos