Spike damage

Spike Damage is the type of damage that is instantaneous, as opposed to Damage over time skills such as Conjure Phantasm and Fire Storm. Examples of spike damage skills are Chain Lightning and Aftershock, both of which deal a very large amount of damage in one hit.

Spike damage is used to take out a single enemy quickly (such as an enemy healer, an annoying Mesmer or a devastating Elementalist). A combination of spike damage attacks can put an enemy's health in a hole too deep for healers to fix.

Spike Damage is very effective against enemies that use health regeneration skills (like rangers who heal with Troll Unguent), since the foe takes damage more quickly then they are healing it back. Spike Healing counters spike damage by healing the amount of health that was lost or more instantly.