The following is a list of important in-game terms and abbreviations. Not all of these are official terms used by Blizzard, but there’s a good chance you’ll see them used by other players fairly often. You don’t need to memorize this list, but it’s a handy reference in case you encounter an unfamiliar word or phrase
A
Add
An extra monster that has joined an existing battle.
Alt
A character on your account other than your main character. A secondary character.
AE or AoE
Area of Effect. Often used to talk about abilities that damage enemies in groups.
AFK
Away From Keyboard. Used to show that the player isn’t at their computer. When you see a character’s name preceded by <Away>, that person is not actively playing the game.
Aggro
A monster’s aggressive attention. “That Orc is aggroing on you. Look out!”
Aggro Radius
The radius around monsters that determines their aggression. You will be attacked if you step within their aggro radius.
AGI
Agility. A character statistic that controls defensive aspects of play and damage for some classes.
AH
Auction House. A place where items are bought and sold between players.
Avatar
Your character and, thus, your representation in the game.
B
BG
Battleground. This is a place for organized PvP combat.
Buff
A beneficial spell cast on a player or monster.
C
Caster
A character or monster that uses spells, often at range.
Cheese
To exploit an imbalance in the game.
Combat Pets
A creature controlled by a player that assists during combat.
Creep
An older gaming term for a monster.
Critters
Creatures that aren’t a threat to a player. These include deer, bunnies, and other fauna that won’t aggro on anyone.
Crowd Control (CC)
Any ability that temporarily removes an enemy from a battle. Examples are Sap, Polymorph, and Hex.
D
DD
Direct Damage. This is a spell that does all of its damage in one hit rather than spreading its damage over time.
Debuff
A negative spell cast on a unit that makes it less powerful.
Detaunt
Related to aggro. Abilities of this type throw aggro off of a character and force it onto someone/something else.
DMG
Short for damage.
DoT
Damage Over Time. This often refers to an effect that “ticks” every few seconds, applying damage each time there is a tick.
DPS
Damage Per Second. This is a concept that is used to universally evaluate weapons and spells of different speeds.
E
Elite
Monsters with a gold dragon around their icons are elite; they have more health, greater damage output, and sometimes have special abilities.
Experience (XP/EXP)
A stat that rises from exploring, killing monsters, and completing quests. Each tier of experience grants characters a higher level and, thus, more power.
F
FH
Full Health.
FM
Full Mana.
FTL
For The Lose or For The Loss. An Internet or sports term that implies that a strategy, concept, or action is weak.
FTW
For The Win. This means that something is powerful or useful.
G
Gank
To grossly overpower a target and exploit (or decimate) it. “I was fighting a monster and a level 85 Rogue ganked me.”
GG
Good Game. Most often used after a battleground or arena match to thank other players for contributing or when someone is about to log off.
GM
Game Master. Someone employed by Blizzard Entertainment to assist and help players.
Griefer
A person who purposely tries to annoy or anger other players.
Grinding
To repeat any activity to achieve a conclusion through sheer investment of time. “I’ll keep fighting these Boars to grind out this level,” or “I’m grinding reputation with Orgrimmar.”
Group
A team of up to five characters that join together to take on a dungeon or a particularly tricky quest.
H
HP
Hit Points or Health. This is a measure of a character’s survivability.
I
Incoming (INC)
This means an attack is imminent.
Instancing
A copy of an area that is only shared by a specific group. The world is not instanced. Dungeons, raids, scenarios, and battlegrounds have many copies. These are instances.
INT
Intellect. A character statistic that controls the amount of mana and efficacy of spells.
K
Kiting
A style of combat in which a player continually stays out of the combat range of an enemy, usually by running away from it, while simultaneously causing damage to it.
KOS
Kill on Sight. Some NPCs rush forward and attack players of a different faction the moment they see them. Example: Alliance guards toward Horde players.
KS
Kill Steal. Attempting to hit a monster and thus ensure that you or your group gets to loot it even though another person/group is about to attack the same target or is already attacking the same target.
L
LFG
Looking For a Group.
LFM
Looking For More. This implies that an existing group has open slots and wants to get more people before starting a quest/dungeon run.
Log
When you log off; disconnect from the game.
LOL
Laughing Out Loud. An Internet term expressing humor.
LOM
Low on Mana. This is a warning from casters that they don’t have much healing or damage left to contribute to a fight.
Loot
To take the treasure from a monster that has been killed or from a chest. The term also refers to the treasure gained in this action.
LOS
Line of Sight. Often used as a warning. “Break LOS” means that you should get your character behind cover to avoid a target’s attention or attacks.
LVL
Level. A measure of a character’s power.
M
MA
Main Assist. A member of a group assigned to select the target for the damage dealers in a group to attack at the same time.
MMORPG
Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game.
Mob
An old programming acronym of “Mobile Object Block.” Mobs are computer-controlled characters (usually monsters) in the game.
Mount
A summoned, rideable creature. Ground mounts are available early in the game and can be ridden around many areas. Flying mounts are gained at higher levels, and they allow players to soar above the world. All of these increase player speed.
MT
Main Tank. A member of a group that protects the others by holding the monster’s attention (their “aggro”).
N
Named
A special monster that is usually stronger than surrounding monsters, with possible special abilities and item drops.
NBG
Need Before Greed. This is a loot system. With this set, only people that need an item as an upgrade will roll dice to see who gets it.
Nerf
To downgrade, to be made softer, or make less effective.
Newbie
A new player.
Newb/Noob
Short for Newbie, but more often used as a pejorative.
Ninja
To try to loot an item without other players knowing or paying attention. Such actions are considered extremely rude.
NP
No Problem.
NPC
An in-game person that is controlled by the server, such as a quest giver.
O
OOM
Out of Mana. This marks the end of healing or damage output from a caster.
P
Pat
A patrolling monster. This may be issued as a warning that said creature is coming your way. “PAT!”
PC
Player-controlled Character.
Pet
A creature (NPC) controlled by a player such as a Wolf, Infernal, and so on. Non-combat pets, like kittens or penguins, do not affect combat but are instead summoned to add flavor to a character or used in Pet Battles.
PK
Player Kill or a Player Killer. More of a term for open-world PvP interactions.
POP/Repop
Contraction of “Repopulation.” This is a warning that monsters are returning to an area after being slain.
Proc
An effect that is randomly triggered from time to time based on another action taken by a character.
PST
Please Send Tell. Indicates that the person wants to hear back regarding a certain sale or issue.
Puller
A character that pulls monsters for the party, controlling the way a battle initiates.
Pulling
The act of heading out, getting aggro from a monster, and bringing the fight back to a party.
PvE
Player vs. Environment. Combat between players and computer-controlled opponents.
PvP
Player vs. Player. Competition between players that can be as small as a duel or as large as 80 or more players.
R
Raid
A congregation of player groups that bands together for extremely challenging content or PvP situations.
Res/Rez
Short for “Resurrect.” This refers to any spell or ability that can bring a character back to life. “I need a rez. I went AFK and something killed me.”
Respawn
The same as “Pop/Repop.” A monster can return to the world after being killed. The act of returning is called respawning. The creature itself may also be referred to as a respawn.
Rest
Characters accrue rested bonus while their player is out of the game. This happens when someone logs their character out while inside an inn or within the boundaries of a city. This adds bonus experience during subsequent play.
Roll
This means that you should roll a random number to determine who has the right to get an item. /roll generates a number between 1 and 100. The highest roll wins something.
Root
To trap a target in place using a spell or ability.
RP
Role Play. To interact with the game and players as though you are your character, as though you are in a theatre performance.
RPing
Role Playing. See “RP.”
S
Shard
Disenchant an item, often while in a group. Rare quality items (which most dungeon bosses drop) are turned into shards of different types when disenchanted. Thus, instead of saying, “I’ll disenchant this item,” players began saying, “If no one wants this item, I can shard it.”
SPI
Spirit. A character statistic that influences mana regeneration.
STA
Stamina. A character statstic that determines the health (HP) of a character.
Stack
Stack has a few meanings. In your bags, some identical items can be placed (stacked) in a single inventory slot to conserve space. In boss encounters, players often group up (stack) on a single spot during a special attack from a boss.
STR
Strength. A character statistic that influences damage for many melee characters.
T
Tank
A character that takes damage and holds monsters’ attention to protect others.
Tap
The first point of damage a monster takes locks its future loot to the character that dealt said damage. This act is called tapping. Creatures that are tapped have their bars go gray so other people know not to mess with them.
Taunt
Related to aggro. Abilities of this type pull aggro off of a target and bring it back to a tank.
Threat
This measures how much a monster wants to kill each member of a group engaged in a fight. The person with the highest threat usually keeps the monster’s aggro.
Train
Visiting your class trainer to learn new abilities.
Twink
A low-level character with the absolutely best gear, often because of guild assistance or money/gear sent down by a higher-level character played by the same person.
TY
Thank You.
U
Uber
German slang for “super.” This is a common gamer term for something that is impressive.
V
Vendor Trash
An item that only a vendor/merchant would buy.
W
WoW
World of Warcraft.
WTB
Want to Buy. Shorthand for saying that someone is looking to purchase something, often listing their intentions afterward.
WTS
Want to Sell. Shorthand for saying that someone has something to sell, often listing their goods afterward.
Y
YW
You’re Welcome.