Thorns

Thorns damage is a kind of HitHit DamageAny damage that isn't damage over time is Hit damage. Damaging Ailments which result from a Hit will calculate their damage from that Hit, and will not subsequently have Damage modifiers applied directly to them. As a result of this, raising Hit Damage will result in more powerful Damaging Ailments innately. Damage you can deal. Thorns damage is not AttackAttacksAttacks are skills that directly damage enemies, usually using your equipped Martial Weapon. Spells are not Attacks. The base damage, attack speed and critical hit chance of an attack are determined using your Martial Weapon's stats unless the skill says otherwise. Attacks do not necessarily deal Physical damage — they can deal any damage type. damage or SpellSpellsSpells are skills that use raw magic to destroy your enemies. Attacks are not Spells. Spells have their own base damage, cast speed and Critical Hit chance determined by the skill. They do not benefit from a weapon's inherent damage, attack speed or Critical Hit chance. damage and is not affected by modifiers specific to those. If you have Thorns damage, you inherently RetaliateRetaliate with ThornsRetaliating specifically refers only to the inherent ability to deal Thorns damage to enemies when they Hit you. Some effects may cause you to deal Thorns damage in other ways, but those are not Retaliation, and effects which specifically care about when you Retaliate will ignore them. against MeleeMeleeMelee Attacks are those that directly hit with a melee Strike or a Slam, dealing Melee damage. Melee attacks usually scale from Weapon or Unarmed damage. Any Projectiles these attacks create do not count as Melee damage. AttackAttacksAttacks are skills that directly damage enemies, usually using your equipped Martial Weapon. Spells are not Attacks. The base damage, attack speed and critical hit chance of an attack are determined using your Martial Weapon's stats unless the skill says otherwise. Attacks do not necessarily deal Physical damage — they can deal any damage type. HitsHit DamageAny damage that isn't damage over time is Hit damage. Damaging Ailments which result from a Hit will calculate their damage from that Hit, and will not subsequently have Damage modifiers applied directly to them. As a result of this, raising Hit Damage will result in more powerful Damaging Ailments innately., dealing your Thorns damage to the enemy that HitHit DamageAny damage that isn't damage over time is Hit damage. Damaging Ailments which result from a Hit will calculate their damage from that Hit, and will not subsequently have Damage modifiers applied directly to them. As a result of this, raising Hit Damage will result in more powerful Damaging Ailments innately. you. Some skills and other effects may also deal your thorns damage to enemies at other times.