Damage-over-time abilities (also know as DoTs) refer to a class of god abilities in SMITE that, instead of dealing their damage in one instant burst, apply it over a certain duration instead. Each instance of damage during this time is referred to as a 'tick', and the frequency of ticks varies from ability to ability. These abilities are divided into two general categories: "Persistent DoTs", and "Area DoTs", depending on whether the effect is attached to its target or if it only affects units as long as they are in the target area. These abilities usually have low power scaling, because the power bonus is applied to each tick.