Channeling

Channeling is a casting procedure where the Hero who is casting the spell must remain in a "channeling" state for a period of time, hence the name. Because of this, Heroes that are channeling spells are vulnerable to interrupts that will cause the spell to end prematurely (as in the case of Freezing Field) or not take place (e.g.Epicenter), effectively wasting the spell.

Channeling is very different from Casting Time even though both are used interchangeably. While spells with casting time will continue to cast even after being interrupted before the spell takes effect, channeling spells' cooldowns are activated the moment the spell starts casting and, in the event that the spell is interrupted while it is being cast, the channeling spell cannot be recast again until the cooldown ends.