The glossary

29 of 304 words for “Tank”

1. Tank

   WoW

   The role that holds the enemy's attention and takes the hits, so everyone else can do their job. Warriors, druids in bear form and paladins in vanilla-style games.

   “We still need a tank for Scholo.”

   “Tank pulls, DPS waits three seconds, healers keep the tank up.”

   See also: Healer, DPS, Aggro

2. Tank swap

   Raiding & dungeons

   Trading who tanks a boss mid-fight because of a stacking debuff.

   “Tank swap at three stacks.”

   See also: Off tank, Mechanic

3. Tanky

   Gaming slang

   Hard to kill. The opposite of squishy.

   “A stamina-stacked warrior in AV is properly tanky.”

   See also: Squishy, Tank

4. Main tank

   Raiding & dungeons

   Also: MT

   The tank on the boss. The most geared, most trusted warrior in the guild, usually.

   “Main tank has the highest priority on Thunderfury.”

   See also: Off tank, Tank

5. Off tank

   Raiding & dungeons

   Also: OT

   A second tank for adds, tank swaps or whatever the main tank isn't holding.

   “Off tank takes the adds on Garr.”

   See also: Main tank, Add

6. Aggro

   WoW

   The attention of an enemy: whoever it is attacking. Built up as threat; tanks want it, everyone else wants to lose it.

   “Watch your aggro, the healer just pulled it off me.”

   “Wait for the tank to get aggro before you open.”

   See also: Threat, Tank, Taunt

7. Healer

   WoW

   The role that keeps the group alive. Priests, druids, shamans and paladins. Healing generates threat too, which is why healers get eaten when a tank loses aggro.

   “Two healers is enough for Stratholme.”

   “Healer is OOM, stop pulling.”

   See also: Tank, DPS, OOM

8. Kite

   PvP

   To keep an enemy at range while damaging them, usually with snares: hunters, frost mages and any tank dragging a boss around.

   “Frost mage kiting a warrior across the whole zone.”

   “Kite the adds through the fire.”

   See also: Snare, Root

9. Mechanic

   Raiding & dungeons

   A specific thing a boss does that you must respond to: move out of fire, spread, stack, swap tanks.

   “The mechanic is simple: don't stand in the shadow bolt volley.”

   See also: Boss, Enrage

10. Taunt

    WoW

    An ability that forces an enemy to attack the tank for a few seconds and sets their threat to the top: Taunt, Growl, Hand of Reckoning. The tank's emergency brake.

    “Taunt it off the mage!”

    “Taunt is on cooldown, that's why the priest is dead.”

    See also: Aggro, Threat, Tank

11. Threat

    WoW

    The invisible number every enemy keeps for each player. Damage and healing raise it; the highest threat gets attacked. Tanks generate it on purpose.

    “I'm at 90% of the tank's threat, holding back.”

    “Sunder Armor is more threat per rage than Heroic Strike early on.”

    See also: Aggro, Taunt, Tank

12. Add

    Raiding & dungeons

    An extra enemy that joins a fight — a spawn during a boss or a patrol you didn't see.

    “Adds at 50%, off-tank picks them up.”

    See also: Boss, Off tank

13. Battleground

    PvP

    Also: BG

    An instanced PvP map with objectives: Warsong Gulch (capture the flag), Arathi Basin (hold bases), Alterac Valley (kill the boss).

    “Queue for a battleground while we wait for the tank.”

    See also: WSG, AB, AV, Honor

14. Cleave

    WoW

    Damage that hits a few targets near your main one, as opposed to a full AoE. Also the warrior ability.

    “Cleave the two adds while tanking the boss.”

    See also: AoE, Single target

15. DPS

    WoW

    Damage per second, and by extension the damage-dealing role and the people playing it.

    “We're at 3 DPS, need a tank and a healer.”

    “His DPS is fine, his positioning is the problem.”

    See also: HPS, Parse, Rotation

16. Flame

    Gaming slang

    To insult people in chat.

    “Don't flame the new tank, teach him.”

    See also: Toxic, Salty

17. HoT

    WoW

    Heal over time: Rejuvenation, Renew. Cheap healing that works while you cast other things.

    “HoT the tank before the pull.”

    See also: DoT, Tick

18. Hybrid

    WoW

    A class (or build) that can fill more than one role: paladins, druids, shamans, priests. Also a build split across trees.

    “Hybrid tax: druids heal fine and tank fine but do less damage than a rogue.”

    “That's a hybrid build — 20 points in each tree and no 31-pointer.”

    See also: Spec, Talent

19. Legendary

    WoW

    Orange-quality item: Thunderfury, Sulfuras, Atiesh. Long quest chains and raid drops, one per guild for months.

    “Guild's second Thunderfury goes to the off tank.”

    See also: Epic

20. LFM

    MMO

    Looking for more: a group with open slots.

    “LFM Strat live, need tank and 1 DPS.”

    See also: LFG, PUG

21. Loot council

    Raiding & dungeons

    Loot handed out by a small group of officers deciding who benefits most. Fair when it's fair.

    “Loot council gave the sword to the tank, obviously.”

    See also: Master looter, DKP

22. Noob

    Gaming slang

    Also: N00b

    A new player who doesn't know what they're doing — or an insult for anyone who just made a mistake. 'Newb' is the kinder version.

    “Don't pull without the tank, noob.”

    “We were all noobs once.”

    See also: Newb, Scrub

23. PUG

    Raiding & dungeons

    Also: Pickup group

    Pickup group: strangers found in chat rather than a guild. Pug a dungeon, pug a raid.

    “Pugging Stratholme was a mistake.”

    “Pug tanks are the hardest to find.”

    See also: LFG, LFM, Guild

24. Pull

    Raiding & dungeons

    To start a fight by getting the enemy's attention. Also the group of enemies you pull.

    “Tank pulls, nobody else.”

    “That's a big pull, sheep the mage.”

    See also: Body pull, Aggro, Trash

25. Respec

    WoW

    Paying the trainer to reset your talents. The price rises each time, up to 50 gold in vanilla.

    “Respec cost is 50g now, I'm staying fury.”

    “I respec'd to tank for the raid.”

    See also: Talent, Spec, Dual spec

26. Rez

    WoW

    Also: Res, Resurrect

    Resurrection: bringing a dead player back with a spell. Priests, paladins, shamans; druids once every 30 minutes in combat.

    “Rez the tank first.”

    “Mass rez isn't a thing here, walk.”

    See also: Spirit healer, Corpse run

27. Sheep

    WoW

    Polymorph, the mage's crowd control that turns a target into a sheep (or a pig, or a turtle). Damage breaks it.

    “Sheep the caster, tank the rest.”

    “Don't hit the sheep!”

    See also: CC, Sap

28. Uncommon

    WoW

    Green-quality item: random world drops and quest rewards with a stat suffix — 'of the Monkey', 'of the Eagle'.

    “Greens of the Bear are fine tank gear while levelling.”

    See also: Rare

29. Wipe

    Raiding & dungeons

    Everyone dies. Then the corpse run, the buffs, and the second attempt.

    “We wiped at 2%.”

    “Wipe it, the tank's dead and the healers are OOM.”

    See also: Corpse run, Progression