Uhm... How in the world does that not work?
Should be as simple as apply buff to self (Or to target) and a buff with the over time repair.
Perhaps I should of mentioned that this particular ability is on a strikecraft squadron, so "ApplyBuffToSelf" isn't an option sadly. And yes that's what I thought to0, but despite clearly getting the buff applied to them, no repair is actually done with buffOverTimeActionType restore hull. I tested it by setting natural repair to zero and it healing 100 hull per second, and while it said Repairng 100 hull/sec on the info card, any damage they took was permanent. That is until they were effected by repair cloud, which worked just fine.
@Ead: I don't think that's the reason. Repair abilities should continue even after you reach 100%, and if you are damaged again while the buff is still being applied you'll still get healed.
Make a self buff that inflicts one point of damage and then the damage can be the trigger for the repair?
Well that might work, though it will make the info card even more confusing. "Damage Taken: 1" "Hull Repair 2/sec".