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WoW glossary: aggro, pull, wipe, CC and the words players use on WoW Forever
Yuki14 min read
In short
WoW players speak in short words: aggro is a monster's attention, a pull starts a fight, a wipe means the whole group died, CC takes an enemy out of the fight and BiS is the best item for a slot. This glossary explains about 80 words you will meet on WoW Forever, as English and French players write them, by theme: groups, roles, combat, loot, gold, chat abbreviations and Forever's own systems.
Key points
- Aggro (threat) decides who a monster attacks: the tank holds it, and everyone else stays below the tank.
- Pull, trash, add, pat and wipe describe how a dungeon fight goes, from the first enemy to the whole group's death.
- BoP items bind when you loot them, BoE items when you equip them; BiS is the best item for a slot.
- LFG means you look for a group, LFM that your group needs players; our LFG tool writes these messages in 16 languages.
- Forever adds its own words: ruleset, Legacy points, camping, Blueprints, Merchant's Favor, and Éolides, the French name of the Skyborne.
What do aggro, pull and wipe mean in WoW?
Aggro is a monster's attention: the player it attacks has its aggro, and threat is the hidden count behind it. A pull is the moment you start a fight on purpose, usually done by the tank. A wipe means the whole group died. French players use the same three words, as verbs too: puller, prendre l'aggro, on a wipe.
| Term (French chat) | What it means | On WoW Forever |
|---|---|---|
| Aggro, threat (aggro, menace) | A monster's attention. Every hit and heal adds threat, and the monster attacks whoever has the most. "Pulling aggro" means a monster turns on you. | Fade (Priest), Cower (Druid) and Disengage (Hunter) now drop twice as much threat (Blizzard, September 30, 2026). |
| Pull (pull, puller) | Starting a fight on purpose, usually the tank's job. "Don't pull" means wait for the tank; a bad pull brings more enemies than planned. | |
| Wipe (wipe) | The whole group dies. Everyone then releases their spirit and runs back from the graveyard. | |
| Trash (trash) | The ordinary enemies between bosses. | |
| Boss (boss) | The named enemy that ends a part of a dungeon or raid and drops its best loot. | The developers said you won't know the new raid bosses until you go in for the first time (Method, September 17, 2026). |
| Add (add) | An extra enemy that joins a fight, called by a boss or pulled by mistake. | |
| Pat (pat, patrouille) | A patrol: enemies walking a path that can join your fight if you don't wait for them. | |
| Taunt (taunt, provocation) | A tank ability that forces an enemy to attack the tank. | Paladins get Seal of Fury, which turns Judgment into a taunt (Blizzard). |
| Kite (kiter) | Moving away from an enemy while you hit it, often with slows, so it never reaches you. | Cone of Cold is shorter and Improved Blizzard slows by 40% instead of 65%, against farm kiting (Blizzard, October 7, 2026). |
| Rez, res (rez) | Bringing a dead player back with a spell. | Druids learn Revive, an out-of-combat resurrection, at level 12 (Blizzard). |
| ID, lockout (ID, être ID) | Being saved to a dungeon or raid: its bosses stay dead for you until the reset. | All three raids are "currently planned to reset each week"; the reset day is not published (Blizzard, October 20, 2026). |
| Summon (invoc) | Bringing a player to the group, with the Warlock's ritual in Classic. | No summoning stones on Forever: meeting stones open the Group Finder window but don't summon (Icy Veins, MassivelyOP). |
For each new dungeon, its bosses and its level range, see our dungeons guide and the dungeon pages.
What are tank, healer and DPS in WoW?
A group has three roles. The tank keeps the enemies' aggro and takes the hits, the healer keeps everyone alive, and the DPS (damage per second) kill the enemies. A five-player dungeon group usually takes one tank, one healer and three DPS. On WoW Forever, Warriors, Druids and Paladins can tank, Priests, Druids, Shamans and Paladins can heal, and every class deals damage.
| Term (French chat) | What it means | On WoW Forever |
|---|---|---|
| Tank (tank, tanker) | The player who holds aggro and takes the hits, usually in plate with a shield, or a Druid in bear form. | Warrior, Druid and Paladin; Shaman and Warlock tanks are "not quite yet" (developers, September 16, 2026). |
| Healer (heal, soigneur) | The player who keeps the group alive. In French chat, "heal" also means the player: "cherche heal". | Priest, Druid, Shaman and Paladin (Blizzard). |
| DPS (DPS) | Damage per second, and by extension the players whose job is damage. | Every class; Hunters can also use their pet as a tank solo and in small groups (Blizzard). |
| MT, OT (MT, OT) | Main tank and off-tank: the raid's first tank, and the one who picks up adds or swaps on the boss. | |
| Hybrid (hybride) | A class that can fill more than one role, like the Druid, Paladin or Shaman. | Blizzard buffed hybrid damage, for example with the Paladin's Champion of the Light. |
| Spec (spé) | Specialization: the tree where you spend your talent points (Holy, Fury, Feral…). | Talents start at level 10, with milestone talents at 11, 16, 21 and 31 points (Blizzard). |
| Respec (respé) | Resetting your talents at a class trainer, for gold. | At a class trainer in a major city; the 1-silver respec was a beta-only price. |
| Dual spec (double spé) | Two saved talent builds you can switch between. | From level 40, at a class trainer (Blizzard). |
| Main, alt (main, reroll) | Your main character, and your other characters, called alts (rerolls in French). | Legacy points are shared by your characters, so alts count toward your progress (Blizzard). |
| Melee, caster, ranged (CaC, caster, distance) | Melee players hit in contact (CaC means corps à corps), casters cast spells, ranged players shoot from afar. | The Hunter keeps its 8-yard dead zone (Blizzard). |
What changes for each class is in our talents guide and the talent calculator; our six-question quiz suggests a class for the role you like.
What do CC, proc, GCD and OOM mean in WoW?
CC (crowd control) takes an enemy out of the fight for a while: a Mage's Polymorph, a Rogue's Sap, a Warlock's Fear. A proc is an effect that triggers by chance, the GCD is the short global cooldown after most abilities, and OOM (out of mana) means a caster can't cast anymore. On WoW Forever, many heals and damage over time effects can also crit.
| Term (French chat) | What it means | On WoW Forever |
|---|---|---|
| CC (CC, contrôle) | Crowd control: Polymorph (the sheep), Sap, Fear, Freezing Trap… any effect that stops an enemy from acting. Hitting a crowd-controlled target often breaks it. | A Rogue's Sap no longer breaks Stealth (Blizzard). |
| Stun (stun, étourdir) | An effect that stops the target from doing anything for a few seconds. | The Human's new Will to Survive removes stuns; the Orc's Hardiness cuts stun duration by 20% (Blizzard). |
| Interrupt, kick (interrompre, kick) | Stopping an enemy's spell while it is being cast; Kick is the Rogue's interrupt. | Hunters still "cannot Stun or Interrupt" (Blizzard). |
| CD (CD, temps de recharge) | Cooldown: the time before you can use an ability again. "Big CDs" are the strongest, longest ones. | The built-in Cooldown Manager shows them; it is off by default (beta, October 2026). |
| GCD (GCD) | Global cooldown: the short wait (usually 1.5 seconds) after most spells and abilities. | Shaman totems use a 1-second GCD (Blizzard). |
| Proc (proc) | An effect that triggers by chance, like Clearcasting from Omen of Clarity. | Talents that trigger free effects proc less from much lower-rank spells (Blizzard). |
| Crit (crit, critique) | A critical strike, for more damage or healing than a normal hit. | Many heals and damage over time effects can crit now, such as Renew and Rejuvenation (beta notes). |
| DoT, HoT (DoT, HoT) | Damage over time and heal over time: effects that tick every few seconds. | |
| AoE (AoE, zone) | Area of effect: an attack or heal that hits everything in an area. | |
| Buff, debuff (buff, débuff) | A buff helps its target (Arcane Intellect, Mark of the Wild); a debuff hurts it (curses, poisons). | Camp buffs don't stack with the class buffs they mirror (Blizzard). |
| OOM (oom) | Out of mana. A healer typing "oom" needs to drink before the next pull. | |
| Five-second rule (règle des 5 secondes) | Mana regeneration from Spirit stops for 5 seconds after you spend mana. Our guide explains it. |
What do BiS, BoP, BoE and need or greed mean?
BiS (best in slot) is the best item for a slot. BoP (bind on pickup) items become yours when you loot them; BoE (bind on equip) items can be traded until you equip them. When a good item drops, the group rolls: need if you will use it, greed if you just want to sell it. Taking items others needed is called ninja looting.
| Term (French chat) | What it means | On WoW Forever |
|---|---|---|
| Loot, drop (loot, drop) | Loot is what enemies leave; an item "drops" from a boss. | Quest items drop in turn for grouped players (MassivelyOP, September 28, 2026). |
| Need, greed, pass (Besoin, Cupidité, Passer) | The three roll buttons when an item drops in a group: need if you will use it, greed to sell it, pass to leave it. | |
| Ninja (ninja) | A player who takes items others needed, or rolls need on everything. | |
| BoP (lié quand ramassé) | Bind on pickup: soulbound as soon as you loot it. | With transmog, dungeon BoP appearances go to every eligible looter (Blizzard). |
| BoE (lié quand équipé) | Bind on equip: tradeable and sellable until someone equips it. | Selling a BoE whose appearance you haven't collected to a vendor makes it soulbound (beta, October 1, 2026). |
| BiS (BiS) | Best in slot: the best item for a slot, for your spec and the content of the moment. | Over 12,500 Forever items shipped without stats in the beta files (Icy Veins, September 28, 2026); the developers said you won't see an item's stats until it drops. |
| Item level, ilvl (niveau d'objet) | A number that sums up an item's power. | |
| Quality colors (qualité) | Grey (poor), white (common), green (uncommon), blue (rare), purple (epic), orange (legendary). | Unique dungeon-boss items are blue, and the raids bring "a legendary reward" (Blizzard). |
| Set, tier (set, tier) | Armor pieces that give bonuses when worn together; tier sets come from raids. | The new raids bring new tier sets (Blizzard). |
| MS, OS (MS, OS) | Main spec and off spec: "MS > OS" means players who need an item for their main role roll first. | |
| Transmog (transmo) | Changing how gear looks without changing its stats. | Opt-in at a transmogrifier in some cities; "Classic Mode" turns it off (Blizzard). |
What do AH, mats, farm and undercut mean?
The AH is the auction house (HV, hôtel des ventes, in French). Mats are crafting materials, farming means repeating an activity to collect gold or items, and undercutting means listing just below the lowest price. Gold is written g, s and c in English and po, pa and pc in the French client. On WoW Forever, buying gold for real money is sanctioned, and no WoW Token is planned.
| Term (French chat) | What it means | On WoW Forever |
|---|---|---|
| AH (HV) | Auction house: where players buy and sell items. Hôtel des ventes in French. | Prices seen on the beta are on our prices page. |
| Mats (compos) | Crafting materials: ores, herbs, cloth, leather. | Over 600 new recipes use them (Blizzard). |
| Farm (farmer) | Repeating an activity, like killing or gathering, to collect gold, items or reputation. | |
| Undercut (casser les prix) | Listing an item just below the cheapest one at the auction house. | On the beta, listings below the lowest price failed with an internal error (October 2026, no Blizzard rule published). |
| Flip (flip) | Buying cheap at the auction house to sell higher. | |
| g, s, c (po, pa, pc) | Gold, silver and copper: 1 gold is 100 silver, 1 silver is 100 copper. The French client writes po, pa and pc. | |
| Vendor (vendre au PNJ) | Selling to an NPC merchant; "vendor trash" is grey loot only worth selling there. | |
| RMT (achat d'or) | Real-money trading: buying or selling gold, items or services for real money. | Sanctions also target buyers, and the Temporary Economy Hold can restrict trade, mail, guild banks and the auction house during checks (Blizzard, October 2026). |
| GDKP (GDKP) | A raid where players bid gold on the loot and share the pot at the end. | Reported as not allowed on Forever (MassivelyOP, September 19, 2026). |
| WoW Token (jeton WoW) | In modern WoW, an item bought with gold that gives 30 days of game time. | None planned in Forever (developers); a token bought in modern WoW can still pay your subscription. |
How to make gold within the rules is in our gold guide, and what gets you sanctioned is in our gold rules guide.
What do LFG, LFM, WTS and other chat abbreviations mean?
LFG (looking for group) means you want to join a group, and LFM (looking for more) means your group needs players. WTS, WTB and WTT mean want to sell, buy or trade. French players use the same English abbreviations, with a few of their own: mp for a whisper, dispo for available and cc, which in chat usually means coucou (hi). Our LFG tool writes these messages for you.
| Term (French chat) | What it means | On WoW Forever |
|---|---|---|
| LFG (LFG, cherche groupe) | Looking for group: you want to join one, as in "LFG Deadmines heal". | Our LFG tool writes the message in 16 languages. |
| LFM, LF1M, LF2M (LFM) | Looking for more: your group needs players; LF1M means one more. | |
| WTS, WTB, WTT (WTS, WTB, WTT) | Want to sell, want to buy, want to trade. | |
| PST, /w (mp, /w) | Please send tell: whisper me. French players write mp, for message privé. | |
| Inv (inv) | Invite me to the group. | |
| Ty, np (merci, de rien) | Thank you; no problem. | |
| Gz, grats, gg (gz, gg) | Congratulations, after a level or a nice item; gg (good game) after a fight. | |
| Brb, afk (brb, afk) | Be right back; away from keyboard. | |
| Ding (ding) | I just gained a level. | |
| Rdy (prêt, go) | Ready. French groups often just answer go. | |
| Inc (inc) | Incoming: enemies are coming, often in PvP. | |
| cc (French chat) | In French chat, cc usually means coucou, a friendly hi; in a fight it can still mean crowd control. | |
| Dispo, re, svp (French chat) | Dispo means available, re means I'm back (or hi again), svp means please. |
Which words are new with WoW Forever?
WoW Forever brings words of its own. A ruleset (ensemble de règles) replaces the realm, layers split each ruleset into copies of the world, and Legacy points are account-wide points spent on perks. Camping, Blueprints and Merchant's Favor come with the new professions, and the Skyborne are called Éolides in French. Here they are with their official French names.
| Term (French name) | What it means | On WoW Forever |
|---|---|---|
| Ruleset (ensemble de règles) | What you pick instead of a realm: Normal, PvP, Roleplaying or Roleplay-PvP at launch, Hardcore later. Forever is realmless (sans royaumes). | A character's ruleset can't be changed (Blizzard, September 21, 2026); Roleplay-PvP was added for launch on October 22, 2026. |
| Layer (layer, couche) | A copy of the world that splits players to avoid crowds; the game moves you between layers. | Players you grouped with are pushed into your layer (MassivelyOP, September 28, 2026). |
| Secondary name (nom secondaire) | The second part of a Forever character's name; the full name is unique per region. | You can hide yours at Options > Nameplates (Blizzard). |
| Skyborne (Éolides) | Forever's new race: Windshaper (Sculpte-vents) for the Horde, High Order (Ordre suprême) for the Alliance. | Needs the Heroic pack or higher; see our Skyborne guide. |
| Legacy points (points d'héritage) | Account-wide points from 65 challenges, spent on perks in three trees; the Legacy window opens with Y. | Up to 16 points per character at launch; try the Legacy planner. |
| 16-point milestone (jalon à 16 points) | A new milestone talent, reached with 16 points in a tree, between the 11- and 21-point ones. | |
| Camping, campfire (campement, feu de camp) | Campsites with profession objects and 1-hour buffs; the Basic Campfire replaces the Cooking Fire. | See our camping guide. |
| Blueprint (plan) | A recipe for an advanced camp object, dropped by dungeon bosses. | |
| Merchant's Favor (faveur marchande) | The currency of the two trade factions, Azeroth Commerce Authority (Alliance) and Durotar Supply and Logistics (Horde). | See our Merchant's Favor guide. |
| Waylaid Crate (caisse détournée) | A crate found from level 10, filled with materials and turned in for Merchant's Favor (Mamytwink, beta). | |
| Cooldown Manager (gestionnaire de temps de recharge) | A built-in display of your cooldowns, off by default. | No French name in Blizzard's French news; the French press calls it gestionnaire de temps de recharge (JudgeHype, October 8, 2026). |
| Classic Mode (mode Classic) | The option that turns transmog off; appearances still get collected. | |
| Temporary Economy Hold (blocage économique temporaire) | A temporary limit on trade, mail, guild banks and the auction house while Blizzard checks a suspicion of real-money trading; lifted automatically if false. | Announced October 13, 2026; see our gold rules. |
| Hardcore (mode Extrême) | The permadeath ruleset; its official French name is Extrême. | Planned for the winter, after launch (Blizzard); see our Hardcore guide. |
How Forever differs from Classic Era and Retail overall is in our comparison guide.
Sources
- Blizzard: Deep Dive panel recap (September 13, 2026)
- Blizzard: Choose Your Ruleset (September 21, 2026, updated October 22: Roleplay-PvP)
- Blizzard forums (Aggrend): the Roleplay-PvP ruleset is coming to WoW Forever (October 22, 2026)
- Blizzard: World of Warcraft: Forever Raid Overview, weekly reset (October 20, 2026)
- Blizzard: Create a Name of Your Own in WoW: Forever (September 21, 2026)
- Blizzard: Create the Hero, races and racials (September 22, 2026)
- Blizzard: The Legacy System (September 23, 2026)
- Blizzard: Class Deep Dive, Priest and Warrior (September 30, 2026)
- Blizzard: Class Deep Dive, Hunter and Druid (September 30, 2026)
- Blizzard: Class Deep Dive, Mage and Shaman (October 7, 2026)
- Blizzard: Class Deep Dive, Rogue and Warlock (October 7, 2026)
- Blizzard (Kaivax): WoW Forever beta change log (September 24 to October 8, 2026)
- Blizzard (Kaivax): Temporary Economy Hold (October 13, 2026)
- Method: No PTRs and new datamining restrictions in WoW Forever (September 17, 2026)
- PC Gamer: no Shaman tanks in WoW Forever, "just yet" (September 16, 2026)
- MassivelyOP: WoW Forever says "no plans" for WoW Tokens (September 14, 2026)
- MassivelyOP: WoW Forever discusses party forming and meeting stones (September 15, 2026)
- MassivelyOP: BlizzCon follow-up Q&A, GDKP (September 19, 2026)
- MassivelyOP: quest drops and recent allies (September 28, 2026)
- Icy Veins: why summoning stones won't be added (October 13, 2026)
- Icy Veins: over 12,500 items hidden from dataminers (September 28, 2026)
- Mamytwink: Durotar Supply and Logistics reputation guide, Waylaid Crates (October 5, 2026, in French)
- JudgeHype: Forever beta, Cooldown Manager in French (October 8, 2026, in French)
Frequently asked questions
What does aggro mean in WoW?
Aggro is a monster's attention: it attacks the player with the most threat. The tank's job is to hold aggro so enemies don't attack the healer or the damage dealers.
What does pull mean in WoW?
To pull is to start a fight on purpose, usually when the tank hits or approaches an enemy. A bad pull brings more enemies than the group planned.
What does wipe mean in WoW?
A wipe is when the whole group dies. Players then release their spirit and run back to try again.
What does CC mean in WoW?
CC means crowd control: an effect such as Polymorph, Sap or Fear that takes an enemy out of the fight for a while. In French chat, cc can also mean coucou, a friendly hi.
What do LFG and LFM mean?
LFG means looking for group: you want to join one. LFM means looking for more: your group needs more players.
What does BiS mean?
BiS means best in slot: the best item you can get for a gear slot, for your spec and the content of the moment.
What do BoP and BoE mean?
BoP (bind on pickup) items become soulbound when you loot them. BoE (bind on equip) items can be traded or sold until someone equips them.
What does OOM mean?
OOM means out of mana: the healer or caster has no mana left and needs to drink before the next fight.
What is a ruleset in WoW Forever?
WoW Forever has no realms: you choose a ruleset instead, Normal, PvP, Roleplaying or Roleplay-PvP at launch, with Hardcore later. You can't change a character's ruleset.
More guides
On the same theme, then the newest:
Getting started
WoW Forever vs Classic Era vs Retail: the differences
