In video games


Kiting is the action of keeping a video game monster or other enemy chasing the player, while the enemy receives damage from ranged attacks delivered at a safe distance.

In single player games, the person kiting is also the person attacking the enemy, without assistance. In multiplayer games, the kite may perform other actions, such as healing allies (which can raise aggression against them from enemies) while allies attack the enemies from behind or from other advantageous positions.

Kiting is a staple form of crowd control in video games, the practice of limiting how many enemies can simultaneously engage any one player, and the prevention of a player getting overwhelmed by enemies. A kiting player can carefully get within range to pick off just a few of a large number of enemies, to bait them into combat, without getting an entire swarm of enemies on them at the same time.

A player may use speed modifiers (such as snare traps on the enemies to slow them, or speed boosts on themselves) to enhance their ability to kite. Multiple players working together may also take turn kiting generated enemies between two conveniently adjacent spawn points for those enemies, in order to better distribute the experience and loot gained by each. Kiting may prioritise the use of damage over time attacks, which continue harming enemies for some time after the attack itself is delivered.

There is also "reverse kiting" or "fear kiting," in which a player inflicts a status condition on enemies which cause them to run away from the player. The player can then boost their own speed, inflict damage over time attacks, and continue giving chase until the enemies are dead: persistence hunting.


In falconry


Raptors - especially buteos and kites - sometimes hunt using a flight technique which minimises energy expenditure. They fly facing into a strong headwind, making very small adjustments to their wing and tail feathers, in order to stay functionally stationary in midair, in a manner similar to hovering but demanding far less effort.

When kiting takes place in a location where an extremely strong headwind (sometimes up to 80 km/h) is caused by aerodynamic effects of steep hills and valleys, it is called "hill soaring," and hawks have been observed hill soaring on a full stomach, for no apparent purpose other than fun on a windy day.


In finance


Kiting a check is a form of check fraud used to produce artificial credit by falsely inflating the apparent funds in a checking account. The owner of two or more checking accounts will first write a check in an amount exceeding what is stored in their account. Then, to cover the insufficient funds of that check, they will deposit a check into that account from another account, also with insufficient funds.

This method has been used to postpone repayment of loans, but not all countries have financial systems which allow a check to deposit without first verifying the actual availability of funds, so kiting a check is simply not possible in many places.

Kiting credit cards is generally legal, and entails using one credit card to pay off the balance on another credit card. Since the credit is authorised by the creditor, rather than artificially created without legal permission from the creditor, credit card kiting does not constitute an illegal action unless the creditor is able to prove the borrower kited with the intent to deceive the creditor.

Iron Noder 2018, 9/30

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