Alright so I took a look at Shiki's DoT skill move with the posion skull. It looks like the only part of that move that does the DoT is the helper, so I made a helper that performed the same function as hers without using any variables.
;---------------------------------------------------------------------------
; Helm Splitter
[Statedef 1430]
type = S
movetype = A
physics = S
juggle = 0
poweradd = floor(4*fvar(8))
velset = 0,0
anim = 1430
ctrl = 0
sprpriority = 1
facep2 = 1
[State 0, Helper] ;this would summon a helper that would stick to P2 and deal damage;
type = Helper
trigger1 = animelem = 10
helpertype = normal ;player
name = "Bleeding"
ID = 11020
stateno = 11020
pos = 32,-52
postype = p2 ;p2,front,back,left,right
facing = 1
keyctrl = 0
ownpal = 1
supermovetime = 0
pausemovetime = 0
; rest of the state code ;
;---------------------------------------------------------------------------
;BleedHelper
[Statedef 11020]
type = A
movetype = A
physics = N
ctrl = 0
velset = 0, 0
ownpal = 1
anim = 6005
sprpriority = 4
[State 200, Punch Attempt Sound]
type = Playsnd
trigger1= time = 1
value = 1000,3
[state 0, ReversalDef]
type = ReversalDef
trigger1 = time = 0
reversal.attr = A,NA
sparkno = -1
sparkxy = 0,0
pausetime = 0,0
hitsound = -1
numhits = 0
[State 0, StateTypeSet]
type = StateTypeSet
trigger1 = time = 3
movetype = I
[State 0, HitAdd]
type = HitAdd
trigger1 = 1
value = -1
[State 0, TargetLifeAdd] ;this is supposed to deal damage to P2, but it is not;
type = TargetLifeAdd
trigger1 = time%2=0
value = -1
kill = 0
absolute = 1
[State 0, PosSet]
type = PosSet
trigger1 = 1
x = enemynear, pos x
y = enemynear, Const(size.head.pos.y)+(enemynear,pos y)
ignorehitpause = 1
[State 7001, Assert]
type = AssertSpecial
trigger1 = 1
flag = noshadow
ignorehitpause = 1
[State 10002, DestroySelf]
type = DestroySelf
trigger1 = Parent,Movetype = H && (parent, stateno != [120,160])
trigger2 = time = 350
trigger3 = enemynear, alive = 0
trigger4 = enemynear, life <= 20
The problem is, even though the helper is summoned, my opponent isn't taking any damage from the TargetLifeAdd. It summons properly, lasts for the set duration, and disappears when it is supposed to, but it is not actually dealing damage.
I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.