- add
A monster that joins a battle after it has started. Multiple adds drag a battle out and make it much more difficult, as it gives players no chance to rest and prepare between fights. Often, adds come from patrols.
- aggro: aggravation
Called “threat” by Blizzard. Every monster has what players call an “aggro radius,” an area within which monsters will attack players. The higher the level of the player compared to the monster, the smaller the radius. In addition, players can “draw aggro” with a monster by dealing more damage than other players or healing players particularly well. Drawing aggro will result in the monster attacking the player. Tanks are expected to draw aggro very well.
- AoE: Area of Effect
A spell that affects targets in an area around the caster, rather than a single target chosen by the caster. Area of Effect spells are most useful when a caster has to deal with multiple monsters: a mage could use an area of effect freeze spell to prevent monsters from moving, and then retreat and hit them all with a series of area of effect spells, killing them while remaining safe himself.
- buff
A positive spell or effect on a player. Buffs appear to the left of the minimap, and can be dismissed from the player with a right-click on the buff’s icon.
- creep
Any enemy. This term is preferred over “mob” by Blizzard.
- DPS: Damage Per Second
The average amount of damage that a player deals. Because certain classes are particularly good at having a high rate of DPS, players specialized in this are often referred to as DPSs by players putting together groups.
- kiting
The act of attacking an enemy with projectiles, while slowing it and remaining out of its reach in order to prevent it from attacking the player. Proper kiting can allow players to kill powerful monsters without taking any damage.
- mob: mobile
Any enemy. This term is preferred over “creep” by players.
- pat: patrol
A patrol is a monster or group of monsters wandering back and forth along a set path. Because the majority of monsters do not wander much (if at all), a patrol can catch a player or group unawares. A difficult fight in a dungeon can turn impossible if it is joined by another group of monsters.
- proc: procedure
Many high-quality weapons and armor have special abilities that are randomly activated under the right circumstances; for example, a sword that occasionally engulfs enemies in flames. When this effect occurs, it is said that the item has “procced.” Items which do so often are said to have high “proc rates.”
- pull
Pulling a monster involves attracting its attention and drawing it away from its normal location. This may be done so that a player or group can eliminate one enemy at a time, so that enemies can be drawn out of the threat radius of an incoming patrol, so that a particularly strong monster can be singled out, or many other reasons.
- repop: repopulate
Identical to respawn, except that this term is most frequently used by former Everquest players. As such, its use is looked down upon by many Warcraft players.
- respawn
Monsters are on timers that cause them to reappear a set time after they die. This can range from minutes to days, depending on the monster. One of the most frustrating things that can happen to a group is if it must reënter a dungeon, and finds that monsters have begun to reappear at the beginning.
- rez (res): resurrect
Players who are killed can come back to life in several ways, including finding their corpse, speaking to a Spirit Healer, or being resurrected by another player. Only priests, druids, shamans, paladins, and engineers (using Goblin Jumper Cables) can resurrect other players.
- sap
A rogue ability that stuns a humanoid enemy for an extended period of time (30 seconds or more, depending on the rogue’s skill). Because this can only be used on enemies who aren’t in battle, and it will attract the attention of nearby monsters, sapping is used as an opening in many group fights with multiple monsters.
- sheep
A mage ability (technically called “polymorph”) that turns an enemy into a sheep, preventing them from using any abilities, but greatly increasing their health regeneration. Used to remove foes from battle and control the difficulty of fights.
- squishy
A priest, mage, or warlock. These classes can only wear cloth armor, which provides minimal protection from physical damage. In a group, it is the job of the tank to protect the cloth-wearers.
- SS: Soul Shard or Soulstone
Soul shards are created by warlocks from the souls of defeated enemies by using an ability as the target dies. They are then used as reagents in spells that the warlock casts. A warlock ability called "soulstoning" allows a player in the group to resurrect themselves after dying.
- tank
A tank is a character or pet who can take a lot of damage. Tanks are most frequently warriors, paladins, or Voidwalkers. In a group, it is the tank’s job to keep monsters’ attention focused on herself, to quickly distract monsters attacking weaker party members (especially healers) and, if need be, to sacrifice herself to save the healer’s life.