[1.2.323] (2) Moar Skill Balancing

The concern I have with what Dusk proposed for DoT effects on bosses is the fact that DoT only deals damage as the timer DECREASES. As Paralyze casts faster than a second (80 casts a minute, currently), "resetting the timer" would keep the timer from ever counting down 1 second, and thus dealing DoT damage. I know that's how it works now, but my point is to help explain WHY that occurs. Think about it this way: the timer has to start counting down in order for damage to be dealt, because DoT will only kick in when the game recognizes that time on the timer has passed. If you keep refreshing the same timer, it will never actually make it to 1 second, and therefore will never actually do DoT damage.

So then what's a way to keep spamming Paralyze without interrupting the DoT timer? I think if the system worked similarly to how poisoning works with Poison Mist, it would work. In that system, the mob becomes poisoned by moving into the cloud and staying there long enough to gain the status ailment. This way, the poisoning occurs indirectly of the skill, as it's not the active cast of the skill that poisons the mob. Similarly, poisoning/burning/frostbite, whatever, could work in that the DoT damage occurs COMPLETELY indirectly of the skill used, operating on its own timer and "refreshing" only when the skill that induced the effect in the first place is used again, AFTER the timer has run out. In other words, spamming Paralyze or the Demons wouldn't "refresh" the timer, but would rather induce the effect solely if the effect wasn't already in place. In all other instances the active skill would be viewed by the game as a simple damage dealer.