5 tips to maximize DOT spell damage in WoW and get more DPS

There's nothing that epitomizes playing World of Warcraft more than the damage-over-time spell. There's a type of zen involved with setting up your spells before a pull. A mental math of sorts goes on as you have to think about expiring spells, procs, and more. Oh, and you also need to not stand in fire while all of this is going on. This is why learning how to manage DOT spells in WoW is crucial to squeezing every ounce of power out of your class.

So no matter if you're a Priest, Warlock, or filthy Hunter, we've got five tips for getting the most out of your DOT spells in WoW.

MANY WELPS DOTS.

We're all here to play the video game and have fun. So, don't take this the wrong way. The best way to maximize your damage over time spells is to not die. DOT spells in WoW--and every MMO, I guess--don't tick if you're waiting to hit the 'release spirit' button. This goes along with the tips in the Dragonflight Endgame series about Mythic+ dungeons.

Be responsible for your own life and find ways to minimize dying. You'll find that it not only gives you more juice out of that DOT, but it's also a failsafe on movement-intensive fights.

Encounters like Kurog Grimtotem will have you boot-scootin' all over his dance floor, leaving little time for full rotations. Make sure your DOTs are topped off, avoid fire, and win.

Some classes such as the Warlock and Shadow Priest have "exploding" DOT spells. This means you can either cash in your DOT to trigger an ability or that once a spell reaches a certain number of stacks you can cash it in for big damage.

Talents like the Hunter's Latent Poison technique mean you need to manage Serpent Sting poison stacks. You do this by babying those stacks of Latent Poison and not firing off a Barbed Shot too soon.

The idea is to capitalize on the maximum amount of damage, preferably during a rotation sequence where you can boost that damage further. For Hunters this would include a Death Chakram/Beastial Wrath combination just before spending those 10 stacks of Latent Poison.

Not getting all the DPS out of your class that you'd like to in a raid or Mythic? This is how you do reach those big numbers.

If you're a tank I need you to go do something else for the next paragraph or so. Don't worry, nobody's going to steal that DPS gear that isn't for your spec but you were totally going to roll 'need' on.

Okay? Are they gone?

Cool. For everyone else: Forget the tank! Sometimes it's fine to pull aggro so you can set up your DOT spells rotation early. We're at a point in World of Warcraft where a tank can set up and take aggro from the DPS in an instant.

Spells such as a Death Knight's Death and Decay were literally designed to be aggro black holes. Use that to your advantage and start up those DOTs early. The sooner you do the sooner you can start your rotation when abilities such as Bloodlust go off.

Alright, tell the tank to come back. I'd say to make sure they don't read what's above this, but...

Tanks can't read. It's fine.

This may once again seem like a 'well, duh' kind of hint, but it goes without saying: Training dummies are a vital resource. Not sure what kind of damage change happens between specs and abilities? Looking to figure out a rotation? Too dumb to use a raidbot simulation? Try out your DOT spells on the dummy.

The dummies have you covered, friends. he never judges. The dummy never doubts your abilities. He just stands by, silently. Awaiting your pain and taking no pleasure in return. Take as much time as you need. Training dummy will always be there for you.

Until the time for the revolution begins. And then we're all in trouble.

One underrated aspect of living the endgame grind life is the gear. Sure, getting that item level score higher is nice, but what really kicks your game into high-gear is the tier gear armor set bonuses. Given for having two and four sets of your classes armor equipped, the abilities range from nice bonuses to absolutely necessary.

And the best part? That tier bonus changes depending on what spec you're on. In the past this meant collecting multiple pieces of gear. No more! Now players can switch between armor sets and try out all of their tier set bonuses.

Just remember: If you didn't get that tier gear from a Mythic raid then you're just a tryhard casual! Or so I was told during a raid last night. Before they kicked me. And I went and told my cats about it while crying.

Note to the editor: Hey, can we cut this last part out? I didn't mean to get so personal and embarrassing.

Editor's note: But... You are the editor.

Oh no. Pardon me, I need to be somewhere else.

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