A Beginner’s Guide to World of Warcraft Terms and Acronyms
You emerge from the wilds, staking claim in your new city, a champion among champions. All those wolves you’ve had to kill and Kobolds you’ve stolen candles from, they have culminated in your ability to reach the final destination where you will hang your cloak and warm yourself by the hearth. The sprawling city lies before you, and you will make a name for yourself, given the time. You head to the nearest building, wondering where your adventure will take you when-
“LFM HEALS/TANKS, ToES, GS 480 REQUIRED. PST.”
“LF RESTO SHAMAN FOR 2V2 ARENAS.”
Huh?
“What does that mean?” you type frantically, trying in vain to figure out what these acronyms could represent.
“n00b,” someone types back, after the initial laughter has died down.
No, the WoW community isn’t always very helpful, and so you should go into your World of Warcraft adventures only after familiarizing yourself with the basic acronyms and terminology. That is where this guide will help you.
AB – (Arathi Basin) – a player-versus-player battleground featuring locations that must be taken and held in order to win.
Achiev – (Achievement) – an accomplishment given for various tasks performed in World of Warcraft. IE: falling from a great distance without being killed.
AFK – (Away From Computer)
Aggro – This is indicative of a monster’s aggression level towards you. The higher your ‘aggro’, the greater the chance the monster will stay attacking you and not your fellow adventurers.
Agi – (Agility) – an attribute that causes a greater chance of critical strikes, dodges, and overall attack power.
AH – (Auction House) – the building in which you are able to buy other peoples’ goods and also sell your own.
Alch – (Alchemist) – a profession made available by an alchemist trainer. Remember!: you only have a max of two primary professions on any one character.
Ally – (Alliance) – a member of the alliance faction
Alt – (Alternate character) – a sub-character that you will probably obtain should you enjoy and keep playing World of Warcraft.
AOE – (Area of Effect) abilities. They are spells which affect more than one target within a pre-determined radius set by the game’s mechanics.
AP – (Attack Power) – increases your base damage.
ATM – (At The Moment)
AV – (Alterac Valley) – a player-versus-player battleground that is won when one team has either killed a set number of player-characters or has defeated the commander of their respective stronghold.
Boomkin – Druid’s with the sub-class of Balance
BBL – (Be Back Later)
BBS – (Be Back Soon)
bc – (Burning Crusade) – the first expansion that was released for the World of Warcraft.
Belf – (Blood Elf) – a race available in the World of Warcraft
bg – (Battleground) – a player-versus-player area.
BOE – (Binds on Equip) – will be ‘soulbound’ to your character if equipped
BOP – (Binds on Pickup) – will be ‘soulbound’ as soon as you pick it up
BOA – (Binds on Account) -an item that is able to be sent to other characters on your account on the same realm.
BRB – (Be Right Back)
bres – (Battle Resurrection) – Several classes are able to resurrect a player while in combat with a monster.
bs – (Blacksmith) – a profession made available by an blacksmith trainer. Remember!: you only have a max of two primary professions on any one character.
BTW – (By The Way)
Buff – Beneficial spell
cata – (Cataclysm) – an expansion in the World of Warcraft.
CC – (Crowd Control) – Refers to spells and abilities which limit an opponent’s ability to fight. CC abilities are used to reduce the number of monsters that the group fight at once.
CD – (Cool Down) – A period of wait time before a spell or ability or item can be used again.
Char – (Character)
Crit – (Critical Hit) – An attack or spell that does additional damage.
DC – (Disconnect)
DE – (Disenchant) – items can be disenchanted to become essences or dust used in enchanting
Debuff – A harmful spell or ability that hampers the the target in some way.
Ding! – Level up!
Dmg – (Damage)
DPS – (Damage Per Second) – the amount of damage one can do over one second.
Efc – (Enemy Flag Carrier)
exp – (Experience Points) – A unit of measurement for a character to gain a level.
FP – (Flight Point)
ftw – (For The Win!)
G – (Gold)
Gank – A kill, usually done by surprise
gb – (Guild Bank)
gc – (Guild Chat)
gj – (Good Job)
gl – (Good Luck)
gm – (Game Master) – the support team of World of Warcraft
gs – (Gearscore) – a numerical value based on the statistics of a player’s gear.
Gtg – (Good to Go)
Guildies – Guild members
Heals – (Healer)
HoT – (Heal Over Time) – refers to a type of healing ability. A HoT does not immediately heal a target; a HoT instead heals the target for a certain amount over regular intervals.
HP – (Hit Points) – the amount of health your character has
idk – (I Don’t Know)
if – (Ironforge) – an alliance city
ilvl – (Item Level)
IMO – (In My Opinion)
inc – (Incoming)
int – (Intellect) – increases spell power, mana pool, and gives a greater chance to critical strike
inv – (Invite)
irl – (In Real Life)
JC – (Jewelcrafter) – a profession made available by an jewelcrafting trainer. Remember!: you only have a max of two primary professions on any one character.
Jk – (Just Kidding)
L2p – (Learn to Play)
l33t – (Elite) – typically used when referring to a stronger-than-normal monster.
lawl, lol – (Laughing out Loud)
LF1M – (Looking for 1 More)
LF2M – (Looking for 2 More)
Etc.
LFG – (Looking for Group)
LFM – (Looking for More)
LFR – (Looking for Raid)
LoS – (Line of Sight) – a strategy typically used to pull melee monsters from around corners.
Lvl – (Level)
lw – (Leatherworker) – a profession made available by an leatherworking trainer. Remember!: you only have a max of two primary professions on any one character.
Mats – (Materials) – an alternative term for any ingredient needed for a recipe
mc – (Mind Control) – Mind control serves as a unique form of crowd control in that not only is the target removed from the fight temporarily but the target’s powers can be directed against other enemies.
Mob – Enemy monster
mt – (Mistell) or (Main Tank)
noob – new, unskilled player
np – (No Problem)
nvm – (Nevermind)
omg – (Oh My God)
oom – (Out of Mana)
org – (Orgrimmar) – a horde city.
owned – Defeated easily.
pat – (Patrol) – term for mobs that wander through instances, following established routes.
Pm – (Private Message)
pc – (Player Character)
plz – (Please)
port – (Portal) – A gateway between areas of the game
pot – Potion – Items that restore health or mana or both
proc – an abbreviation that refers to a weapon, item or ability activating with the “Chance on Hit” or “Chance on Use” effect (an ability or a spell).
Prot – (Protection) – A sub-class of Warrior and Paladin that is used to tank.
Pst – (Please Send Tell)
QQ – Tears
r – Raid – a group of six to forty characters
rdy – (Ready)
rep – (Reputation)
Res – (Resurrection) – Abilities that will bring a character back to life
resto – (Restoration) – A sub-class of Shaman’s and Druid’s that focus on healing fellow players
ret – (Retribution) – A sub-class of Paladin’s that focuses on damage
rp – (Role Playing) – A play-style in which a person stays ‘in-character’ and acts like their avatar
s – (Silver)
shammy – Shaman
sp – (Spell Power) – Spell power is an attribute that increases the effect of spells.
Squishy – A cloth-wearer
SS – (Soulstone) – A warlock ability that allows the affected character to rise from the dead.
Stam – (Stamina) – An attribute that dictates the amount of health a character has
str – (Strength) – An attribute that increases attack power with melee weapons
sw – (Stormwind City) – An alliance city
Tag – The term used for the first hit on a monster.
Tap – To hit a monster before anyone else
tb – (Thunder Bluff) – a horde city
tbh – (To Be Honest)
thx – (Thanks)
toon – Character
uber – Very
uc – (Undercity) – A horde city
vent – (Ventrillo) – a program used to communicate verbally between players
w8 – (Wait)
Wipe – An occurrence of everyone in the party or raid dying.
Wotlk – (Wrath of the Lich King) – An expansion in the World of Warcraft
WSG – (Warsong Gulch) – A battleground that is similar to capture-the-flag.
WTB – (Want to Buy)
WTS – (Want to Sell)
yw – (You’re Welcome)
Zerg – To rush
The terminology may be difficult to remember, but you’ll get the hang of it soon enough. Now you’re equipped to translate the speech in the world of Azeroth. Go forth, player, and may your tongue be as sharp as your sword!
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