User:Tanaric/Glossary

The terms used in Guild Wars are often obscure. This article exists to index all terms that a player might encounter in-game. This is not a dictionary, nor is it a list of all articles on the GuildWiki. Only terms and slang should be placed in this list.

There is a separate list dedicated to common abbreviations, if you're looking for those.

If the term you're looking for isn't on this list, you might try the system-generated glossary category index, which is often more complete but less generally useful. If you see a term in the index that isn't in this article, please come back and add it!

Numeric

 * 1: Commonly used in party chat to indicate readiness.
 * 1.5k armor: Refers to armor that usually costs 1500 gold to craft that has the best possible stats.
 * 12v12: 12 vs. 12 player-vs.-player Alliance Battles in Factions.
 * 15k armor: Refers to Ascended Armor and Obsidian Armor that usually costs 15 platinum to craft.
 * 55: Refers to the Invincible Monk build, which is unique in that the monk has only 55 HP at level 20.

A

 * AI: Short for "artificial intelligence." Generally refers to the actions of henchmen and monsters.
 * Account: The account you use to connect to Guild Wars.
 * Active prot: A monk that uses Protection Prayers but not maintained enchantments.
 * Adept (NPC): NPCs involved with the Oracle of the Mists in Factions.
 * Adept (Staff): Staff upgrade.
 * Adjacent: Skill range that requires you to be right next to your target.
 * Aeromancer: Elementalist dedicated to Air Magic.
 * Aftercast delay: The time after using a skill in which your character cannot move or use skills.
 * Aggro: When monsters switch from passive to aggresive. Can be used as a noun or a verb.
 * Aggro circle: See Danger Zone.
 * Allegiance: Refers to joining either the Luxons or the Kurzicks.
 * Alliance: A group of guilds banded together, usually under a faction.
 * Alliance Faction: The amount of Kurzick or Luxon faction held by an alliance, used to control outposts.
 * Ally: Anything that isn't trying to kill you.
 * Alpha: An early stage of testing for upcoming Guild Wars chapters.
 * Annihilation: An arena and challenge game type, in which you must completely destroy the other team.
 * Archer: Ranger specializing in marksmanship.
 * Area boundary: "Portals" from one area to another.
 * Area of Effect: Skills that effect more than a single target. Abbreviated AoEs.
 * Arena Guard: NPCs that teleport you to arenas.
 * Armor penetration: The extent to which damage ignores an enemy's armor.
 * Artisan: Crafter that combines common crafting materials to make rare crafting materials.
 * Ascended Armor: Armor that looks better than standard level 20 armor. Generally considered a status symbol.
 * Ascension: Attaining legendary heroic status, which allows you to survive fights with certain enemies.
 * Attribute Point: Used to raise attributes.
 * Attribute quest: Quest that rewards 15 Attribute Points.
 * Attuned: Being under the effect of an attunement spell so as to lower your energy costs.
 * Avatar: Representative of the Gods of Tyria. Players only ever interact with avatars, never with the gods directly.

B

 * Backline: Refers to line of spellcasters behind the tanks in an attack formation.
 * Battery: A necromancer who uses Blood is Power.
 * Beta: The testing stage after alpha but before public, commercial release.
 * Beta Weekend Event: Events that allowed players to play before the release of Guild Wars. Replaced by World Preview Events.
 * Blessing: A temporary bonus, usually granted by an NPC for a price.
 * Block: Completely avoiding damage from an attack. Granted by certain skills.
 * Blue item: In terms of item rarity, the most common uncommon item.
 * Body block: The act of preventing other character from passing through your physical location.
 * Bonder: Monk that uses Life Bond and/or Life Barrier.
 * Bonus: In missions, refers to extra objectives that grant extra experience and (in Factions) skill points.
 * Boon prot: Monk that uses Divine Boon and Protection Prayers.
 * Bot: An automated program generally used to farm items. Bots are prohibited.
 * Buff: A skill that increases the abilities of a character.
 * Bug: A flaw in the game that prevents it from working as intended.
 * Build: A template of skills and ability allocation that fulfills a role needed in a party. See builds.
 * Build number: Essentially the version number of the Guild Wars release.
 * Bundle tank: A defunct strategy to outwit the enemy AI using carryable items.

C

 * Call: Broadcasting your actions over the team channel.
 * Campaign: E.g., the Prophecies or Factions campaigns. Also known as chapters.
 * Cancel stance: A stance used less for its intrinsic benefits and more to cancel another stance's downside.
 * Capture: Usually refers to skill capture or screen capture.
 * Capture the Relic: A "capture-the-flag" game mode in the Global Tournament.
 * Cast: To use a spell or skill.
 * Caster: Any character that relies more on spells than weapons.
 * Celestial: In Factions, an suffix indicating something of incredible power.
 * Challenge: A practice player-vs.-player-style mission against AI opponents.
 * Character: Generally refers to the in-game representation of other players. "John Doe" is the player, "Ragnar the Mighty" is the character.
 * Character level: A general indication of the might of a character, ranging from 1 to 20.
 * Character slot: Every character created on an account occupies one character slot.
 * Chest run: A form of farming in which characters run to chests in high-level areas without fighting.
 * Cinematic: The cutscenes before, during, and after missions.
 * Class: See profession.
 * Clean: A weapon with no weapon upgrades.
 * Collectable drop: Loot that can be traded in at a collector.
 * Collectors: NPCs that give items in exchange for collectable drops.
 * Command line: A method of changing the way Guild Wars runs.
 * Competitive online role playing game: What Guild Wars is. Not quite a MMORPG.
 * Condition: A negative status effect.
 * Container: Any inventory item that can hold other inventory items.
 * Continent: The separate regions that each campaign takes place in.
 * Cooperative Mission: The missions that make up the player-vs.-environment campaigns.
 * Core: Used to label any content that isn't specific to any one campaign.
 * Corpse denial: Corpse exploitation with the explicit purpose of preventing the enemy from exploiting corpses.
 * Corpse exploitation: Utilizing a corpse for a necromancer skill.
 * Counter: Using one skill or build to specifically oppose another.
 * Cover hex: A cheap hex placed immediately after a more expensive hex, to make removing the expensive hex more difficult.
 * Crafter: An NPC that converts crafting materials into something else.
 * Creature: Anything with a health bar that isn't dead.
 * Customize: Customized equipment can only be used by the character it was customized for.
 * Cutscene: See cinematic.

D

 * Damage dealer: A party member who concentrates solely on dealing damage, as opposed to a tank or a healer.
 * Damage over time: Any kind of damage that doesn't take effect immediately. Abbreviated DoT.
 * Danger Zone: The white circle on the compass that illustrates the range at which mobs will aggro.
 * Death penalty: A cumulative penalty to your maximum health and energy for dying.
 * Debuff: A negative condition, or health or energy degeneration.
 * Direct damage: Damage that comes in a single unit, as opposed to damage over time.
 * Disrupt: See interrupt.
 * District: An instance of a public area, to be used for trading, chatting, and forming parties.
 * Divine Aura: A visual effect that owners of the Collector's Edition get while dancing.
 * Drop: Usually refers to loot from mobs, but can also mean to lose connection to the game.
 * Dual Attack: A devastating type of assassin strike.

E

 * Echo chain: A strategy involving multiple uses of Echo and Arcane Echo to duplicate a spell many times.
 * Elite Mission: Missions in Factions that require alliance control to enter.
 * Elite skill: A skill more powerful than other skills. Only one elite skill can be equipped at a time.
 * Emblem: The graphic that appears on a guild cape.
 * Emote: A command that causes your character to animate an action.
 * Enchantment: A spell that causes a positive effect for a period of time. Opposite of hex.
 * Energy denial: A strategy that focuses on removing the energy of your enemy, preventing him from using skills.
 * Environment Effect: A spell or enchantment that takes effect upon entering a certain area.
 * EoE Bomb: A defunct PvP strategy that focused on the use of Edge of Extinction.
 * Err 7: The error code returned by Guild Wars after a server disconnect.
 * Exclusive area: In Factions, the portion of an outpost that only the controlling alliance's members can enter.
 * Experience: The mechanism by which characters gain character levels and skill points.
 * Exploit: A bug in the game that can be used to illegitimately benefit a character.
 * Explorable area: The areas between outposts and cities.

F

 * Faction (alliance): Kurzick or Luxon faction points used to gain alliance territory.
 * Faction (Balthazar): Points earned in PvP that can be used to unlock goodies on your account.
 * Faction Rewards: The NPC type used to exchange faction points.
 * Faction Transfer: The NPC type used to donate alliance faction points.
 * Faction farming: Methods by which to accrue faction points at an incredible rate.
 * Factions Campaign: The second chapter of Guild Wars. See Guild Wars Factions.
 * Fame: Points accrued upon victory at Heroes' Ascent that eventually increase your rank.
 * Farming: Repeatedly killing the same things to repeatedly gain the same reward, be it items or something else.
 * Favor of the Gods: Reward granted to the region holding the Hall of Heroes that allows access to avatars.
 * Ferry: A player that provides transport to Elite Missions, often for a fee.
 * Fissure Armor: See Obsidian Armor.
 * Flag runner: In GvG, a dedicated player that plants his team's flag in the flag stand.
 * Flag stand: In GvG, a point at the center of the map that can be controlled via a team's flag.
 * Flavor of the Month: Refers to a build that is extremely popular, but dies out as soon as a counter is made well-known.
 * Flawless victory: In PvP, a victory in which no members of the victorious party died.
 * Fleshy creature: A creature that leaves a corpse and that can be afflicted with all conditions.
 * Focus swap: A technique involving changing your equipment to avoid energy denial.
 * Frame rate: Simply speaking, the speed at which Guild Wars graphics appear to update.