Flat damage absorbtion and DOTs

[Sotnik]

Hi! As far as I noticed, whenever I have flat damage absorbtion, for example from overguard, I am immune to DOTs. I even ignore bleed resistance for that reason. Therefore, 2 questions:
1) Is it by design?
2) Does it mean DOTS have a VERY big number of ticks per second with damage less then 100 and each is absorbed? Then why don't they instantly trigger "on attack" procs when I use them?

[KG]

1) Almost certainly.

2a) 1 or 2. Most individual enemy DoTs are pretty small when you have decent resists. They only tend to get dangerous when multiple enemies have each applied their own DoT and they all start to stack up - which absorption will continue to handle just fine.

2b) DoT ticks are not "attacks." The initial application is the "attack." (Though some skills look like the DoT ticks are activating procs - but that's actually because the ability has a debuff rolled into it, or the initial application is being renewed every second like with Blackwater Cocktail.) This also means that if you crit on the initial hit all the ticks will deal critical damage too.

[Sotnik]

Originally posted by KG:

1) Almost certainly.

2a) 1 or 2. Most individual enemy DoTs are pretty small when you have decent resists. They only tend to get dangerous when multiple enemies have each applied their own DoT and they all start to stack up - which absorption will continue to handle just fine.

2b) DoT ticks are not "attacks." The initial application is the "attack." (Though some skills look like the DoT ticks are activating procs - but that's actually because the ability has a debuff rolled into it, or the initial application is being renewed every second like with Blackwater Cocktail.) This also means that if you crit on the initial hit all the ticks will deal critical damage too.

Thanks, it was very helpful. I wonder how little absorbtion is required for dot immunity. I have just killed the beast nemesis in Ugdenbog and my 90 absorbtion points with 40% bleeding resist made me immune to his skills.

[KG]

Oh and don't forget that Overguard gives a big % health regeneration boost - that would hide DoT damage pretty well too.

[Sotnik]

Originally posted by KG:

Oh and don't forget that Overguard gives a big % health regeneration boost - that would hide DoT damage pretty well too.

Sure, it contributes, but I don't think that my 81 regen with overguard are really game changing).

Returning to the question 1. Whenever I see a dot damage, the health bar changes in a smooth way, not like 1 or 2 times per second. Is it just a visual representation? I am not sure. I believe 1 tick per second we see in figures is only for procs.
Also, just to be sure: flat absorbtion affects every incoming attack, it is not like maximum absorbtion per second, right? I read the opposite somewhere.

[Unicarn]

I think it deals damage smoothly, but only shows the damage dealt every second, but that's only a guess.
Flat absorption affects every incoming attack, that's why Inquisitor Seal and Blast Shield are so good for reducing damage from large groups of weak enemies. Overguard is the same way.

However, there's a different type of damage absorption with the same wording, where it's like an extra health bar. One example is the Tortoise devotion. Yes, it's confusing, and yes, I had to double-check online whether what I was saying was correct.