instantaneousDamage

Instantaneous damage refers to the amount of health points removed from a target at a single moment, rather than spread over time. It is commonly used in video games, simulations, and game logic to describe the immediate impact of hits, explosions, or ability activations. This contrasts with damage over time (DoT), which applies a fixed amount of damage across multiple frames or seconds.

In practice, instantaneous damage is calculated from a base value—such as weapon or spell damage—modified by attacker and defender factors. Modifiers include critical hits, armor or resistance reductions, shields, and situational bonuses. Depending on the system, damage can be further adjusted by randomness, elemental multipliers, or status effects that influence the instantaneous payoff.

An example: a sword dealing 50 base damage with 20% armor mitigation yields 40 damage at impact. If a critical hit applies a 2× multiplier, the instantaneous damage becomes 80 before any shield absorption or resist reductions. The rest of the damage chain—like shield depletion or DoT application—occurs after this instantaneous value is computed.

In code and data models, instantaneous damage is often represented as a variable such as instantaneousDamage or damageInstant, used together with functions or fields describing mitigation, shielding, and post-hit effects. It is distinct from sustained or periodic damage and is a core concept in combat systems.