The distinction is drawn at if it has a “mind of its own” and is physically separate from you. Things that acquire targets themselves have their own stats and cast their own spells. The poison which is causing an enemy to die can’t pick a target. The one that’s a little odd is a totem but they can pick targets themselves and are physically separate from you.
They don’t target but you’re right, it’s a little odd.
Edit: maybe a better distinction is “things with their own health bar”.
The more specific a stat is, generally the less more powerful it is. I don’t have the numbers with me but as an example, increased damage might be +10% where increased fire damage might be 12%, increased fire melee damage could be +14% and then increased channeling fire melee damage could be +16% and then increased channeling fire melee damage while at low life is +18%.
I’m just making up numbers to illustrate the point.
Edit: fixed the typo less → more. Sorry, that kinda made it confusing.
Yes, not all tooltips are consistent, especially on older skills like this.
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