Healing over time
A restorative effect that returns health gradually across a duration rather than instantly, common as a support-class tool that trades burst reliability for sustained, harder-to-interrupt recovery. World of Warcraft's Rejuvenation-style HoTs and Final Fantasy XIV's Regen let healers pre-apply healing ahead of incoming damage, rewarding anticipation over reaction. Designers use healing over time to differentiate healer playstyles (proactive HoT-weaving versus reactive burst healing), to smooth out damage intake without trivializing fights, and to create stacking/refresh management as its own skill (healers juggling multiple HoTs across a raid). Key decisions: whether HoTs can be dispelled or interrupted, stacking rules (do multiple applications add or refresh?), mana efficiency relative to burst heals, and snapshotting mechanics (does a HoT's healing lock in at cast time?). Pitfall: HoT-heavy healing that removes all urgency from damage taken flattens encounter tension — HoTs work best as a layer under, not a replacement for, reactive burst healing.
- Dev effort: Small
- Timing: Real-time or turn-based
- Common in: mmo, rpg