So I lost my game save while updating (had IE mods installed, tried to update, had to uninstall and accidentally said yes to delete everything) during character creation i noticed that if you lower Intelligence it lower duration for all effects.

Intelligence seems to just make spells last longer/shorter regardless of whether its a beneficial or harmful to the target. Which works perfectly fine if its longer time on harm and longer buff times for your allies. But shouldn't DoT's work differently?

Because of how current Might/Intelligence system works having more Intelligence means it just takes more time to apply the same amount of damage. So I made two Level 3 Wizards to test this out.

Wizard 1: Int - 3 (both Wizards have same other stats/race/background)
Wizard 2: Int - 18

Using Necrotic Lance (that's why they are Level 3)

Wizard 1: Target: 35-45 Corrode, 16.7 Corrode Damage over 3.3 sec (base 5.0 sec) vs. Fortitude (+10 Accuracy)

Wizard 2: Target: 35-45 Corrode, 16.7 Corrode Damage over 7.0 sec (base 5.0 sec) vs. Fortitude (+10 Accuracy)

Since DoT damage is calculated by X damage over Y sec and not X damage per Y sec, having more Intelligence on DoT spells simply lowers its damage per second.

and I also tested on a Heal over time effect for Druids.

Druid 1: Int - 3 (both Druids have same other stats/race/background)
Druid 2: Int - 18

Using Nature's Balm

Druid 1: Friendly AoE: +50 Endurance over 9.8 sec (base 15.0 sec)

Druid 2: Friendly AoE: +50 Endurance over 21.0 sec (base 15.0 sec)
 

A heal over time effect may be arguable that the user may want a slow steady heal for a long period of time even if it's effects are weaker per tick.

 

I'm guessing this is unintentional, low Int dealing DoT damage faster is like if lowering Might made recovery times faster.

 

*** I am not discussing any other effects of the Intelligence stat, I understand that bigger AoE's and increased duration on other effects are a good thing. ***

Someone pointed out this bug last week. The DoTs and HoTs should be changed so that their damage and heal per second is the same regardless of their durations. For example, if I have a DoT that deals 10 damage over 10 seconds (1 dps), and my Int boosts the duration to 12 seconds, it should deal 12 damage over 12 seconds (1 dps) instead of 10 damage over 12 seconds (0.83 dps).

It's a UI issue according to devs: https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/73785-bugs-damage-over-time-issues/?p=1621915

 

Damage is applied per tick, and with the longer duration you get more ticks. UI issue is scheduled to be fixed in 1.04.

 

I did see in another thread though that HoTs don't work this way (at least, they didn't in the first released version). Someone tested it with Lay on Hands. Same total amount of endurance healed, but over a longer time (so higher int made it slower to heal).. so there could be some issues with the actual mechanics as well.