Damage-over-time (DoT) champions and items are inseparable parts of League of Legends.
There are simply so many champions in LoL with at least one burn effect in their kits. Take Gangplank’s passive or Fizz’s W, for example.
On top of that, there are items that add burn effect to your abilities. But what does damage-over-time/DoT actually mean in LoL?
Rather than dealing their total damage at once, damage-over-time/DoT abilities and items deal a bit of damage each second. Once applied, they’re slowly draining the target’s HP.
There are different kinds of DoTs in LoL, ranging from single-target to AoE burns and ground-targeted poisons.
Each DoT champion in LoL has a unique way of applying his burns, bleeds, or poisons.
The amount of damage the DoT does usually depends on whether the ability is AP or AD-based. But the champion’s build also plays a vital role in the DoT’s potency.
In any case, here are the top 5 strongest champions in LoL with DoTs. Their damage-over-time effects are infamous within the community for being obnoxiously hard to deal with.
Take a look!
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Top 5 Best Champions with DoTs in LoL
1. Malzahar
Malzahar is easily the best champion in LoL when it comes to spreading DoTs. He’s able to slowly drain the health of the entire enemy team if he sets up his curses right.
The only damage-over-time effect that Malzahar has in LoL is his E – Malefic Visions. This is a simple point-click ability that damages the target every 0.5 seconds over 4 seconds.
However, if Malzahar’s E kills an enemy, it automatically spreads to the nearest enemy, starting its duration anew.
Of course, there’s a limited radius of range here, so Malefic Visions can’t spread if the nearest target is miles away.
On top of that, each time Malzahar uses his Q or R on an enemy that’s already affected with his E, Malefic Visions refreshes the duration.
This means that Malzahar can sometimes double and triple the duration of his DoT on the same target.
Since League of Legends has many Ability Haste items, Malzahar’s E reaches a 2-3 seconds cooldown in the late game. He can sometimes have up to 3 or 4 active DoTs in a team fight. And that makes him the master of DoTs in LoL!
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2. Brand
Even though all of Brand’s abilities apply a burn effect, his DoTs don’t do much until late. This champion has an insane scaling, making him one of the most powerful AP supports in the game.
The source of Brand’s DoTs is his passive – Blaze. When Brand damages an enemy champion, he also burns them for 4 seconds.
This burn is magic damage but scales with the target’s maximum health. And that’s why Brand can shred tanks with his DoTs so easily in the late game.
On top of this, Brand’s passive stacks. After Brand uses 3 abilities on the same target, his Blaze is unstable. And after 2 seconds, the target explodes, dealing massive amounts of magic all around him.
The detonation also spreads to nearby enemies, causing them to explode after 2 seconds as well.
Like Malzahar, Brand’s go-to mythic item in LoL is Liandry’s Anguish. Combined with his passive, Brand DoTs can easily get out of control.
In a team fight, he can easily spread his burns just by using his R.
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3. Cassiopeia
Cassiopeia is another famous DoTs champion in League of Legends. But instead of curses and burns, she specializes in lethal poisons that can slowly drain her target’s health.
Cassiopeia has two different poisons on two of her abilities, namely Q – Noxious Blast and W – Miasma.
When Cass activates Noxious Blast, she poisons all enemies in a targeted area for 3 seconds. The poison ticks every second, dealing magic damage that scales with AP.
Miasma is a purple poison that lingers on the ground for 5 seconds. Aside from dealing magic damage every second, the ability slows all enemies down and disables their movement abilities (dash, jump, Flash, etc.).
Both of these poisons synergize with Cassiopeia’s E – Twin Fang, increasing its overall damage. But since Cass also builds items like Liandry’s Anguish and Demonic Embrace, her DoTs are often the biggest damage dealers in her kit.
Does Cassiopeia R apply poison?
Cassiopeia’s R – Petrifying Gaze doesn’t apply poison. It only stuns the target if they’re facing Cass. Otherwise, it only slows the enemies in range.
This ability also deals magic damage and scales with AP.
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4. Teemo
Teemo is everyone’s favorite champion with DoTs in League, right? Okay, not, but he is one of the most powerful champions when it comes to dealing damage over time in LoL. Here’s how he does it.
Teemo also has two abilities for applying DoTs on his enemies, his E – Toxic Shot and his R – Noxious Trap.
Toxic Shot is a passive effect that makes Teemo’s basic attack apply poison on the target. This poison lasts for 4 seconds and deals damage each second.
Noxious Trap is a mushroom that Teemo can plant anywhere on the map. Each mushroom lasts for up to 5 minutes.
And when enemies step on it, it burst, dealing heavy AoE magic damage while also slowing all affected enemies for 4 seconds.
Teemo’s Noxious Traps are perhaps the strongest DoTs in League of Legends. In the late game, Teemo can slay squishy enemies with 2 to 3 traps even if he is on the opposite side of Summoner’s Rift.
And the items that apply burns definitely help him!
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5. Singed
In fifth place, we have Singed. Singed has only one damage-over-time ability in his kit, but it’s potent that he can easily carry games with it.
Singed’s Q – Poison Trail is a simple toggle on/off ability. When it’s on, it leaves a poisonous trail behind Singed. If enemy champions are caught in this trail, they’re damaged every 0.25 seconds for 2 seconds.
But if they continue to stay in the poison, the duration is prolonged.
Since Singed’s ability kit is designed for him to run around his enemies and poison them, it’s easy for him to spread his DoT. All he has to do is fling someone back, circle around them to spread his Q, and then watch them slowly die.
One of the most popular tips experienced League players give beginners is “Never chase Singed.” And it’s true – he’s usually faster, tankier, and he benefits from you being behind him.
So, that’s why he is one of the best champions in LoL with DoTs!
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Champions with Poisons
Poisons are a common category of damage-over-time effects in video games. But strangely enough, there aren’t too many poison-based champions in League.
Do you want to know who has poison in LoL?
Sadly, only 4 champions have poison DoTs in League of Legends:
| Champion | Ability |
| Cassiopeia | Q – Noxious Blast, W – Miasma |
| Teemo | E – Toxic Shot, R – Noxious Trap |
| Twitch | Passive – Deadly Venom |
| Singed | Q – Poison Trail |
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Champions with Bleeds
What is a bleed effect in LoL?
Bleed is another damage-over-time effect in League of Legends. But unlike poison, bleed abilities always deal physical damage instead of magic damage.
Bleed only scales with Attack Damage and scales with your champion’s AD. The only 2 champions with bleed in LoL are Darius and Talon.
Unfortunately, bleed is another underrepresented category of DoTs in LoL. The fact that only 2 champions out of 150+ can apply bleed effects proves that we need more diversity in this direction.
So, I hope Riot Games gives us more of these damage-over-time effects!
