Acronyms in Guild Wars 2

This guide is a comprehensive list of various acronyms, abbreviations, and terms that players will encounter in Guild Wars 2. If an acronym is missing from the list, feel free to leave a comment down below and I will add it.

Guild Wars 2 Acronyms

Using the Finder Function (such as CTRL + F on Windows) will be your friend with this guide.

General Game

• GW2 – Guild Wars 2
• GW – Sometimes GW1. Guild Wars, the original game.
• HoT – The Heart of Thorns expansion
• PoF – The Path of Fire expansion
• EoD – The End of Dragons expansion
• LWS – Living World Season
• IBS – Icebrood Saga
• ANet – ArenaNet, the developers of Guild Wars 2
• AP – Achievement points
• DR – Diminishing returns, an anti-farming and botting measure
• GPH – Gold per hour
• IP – Internet Protocol, each instance of a map
• MO – Mike O’Brien, an ArenaNet employee. Not to be confused with Mursaat Overseer.
• PvE – Player vs Environment
• PvX – Player versus Anything. Someone who does PvE, PvP, and WvW.
• Pug – Pick up group, a group of random players
• r – Sometimes rdy. Stands for ready.
• Rep – Representing a guild
• RP – Roleplay
• TP – Trading post
• Train – Players continuously completing a variety of objectives together as a group
• Taxi – Joining another instance of a map

Open World

• PoI – Point if Interest map completion objectives
• HP – Hero Points map completion objectives
• Heart – Renown Hearts, or Tasks, map completion objectives
• WP – Waypoint map completion objectives
• Meta – A series of events that are connected together, generally reward a lot of items
• VB – Verdant Brink map
• AB – Auric Basin map
• TD – Tangled Depths map
• EotN – The Eye of the North hub
• LA – Lion’s Arch map
• BC – Black Citadel map
• DR – Divinity’s Reach map
• GH – Guild Hall
• Lab – Sometimes Laby, the Mad King’s Labyrinth
• Akili – An event in the Domain of Istan
• Pala – Palawadan, the meta event in the Domain of Istan
• DBS – Death Branded Shatterer world boss in Jahai Bluffs
• Gerent – The Chak Gerent meta event in Tangled Depths
• Octo – The Octovine meta event in Auric Basin
• Mat – The Wyvern Matriarch boss in Verdant Brink
• Pat – The Wyvern Patriarch boss in Verdant Brink
• Frogs – The Kill Cotoni and Huetzi boss event in Verdant Brink
• Tetrad – A boss event in Verdant Brink
• SI – Serpent’s Ire meta event
• TT – Triple Trouble world boss
• Teq – Occasionally Taco, Tequatl the Sunless world boss
• RIBA – Red, Indigo, Blue, Amber. A gold farm train in the Silverwastes.
• SAB – Super Adventure Box
• ASS – Antique Summoning Stones, an item from End of Dragons
• Ecto – Globs of Ectoplasm, a crafting material
• MC – Mystic Coins, a crafting material
• Pre – An event before a popular event
• Champ – Champion level mobs
• Vet – Veteran level mobs
• DRM – Dragon Response Missions from the Icebrood Saga
• DSD – Refers to the Deep Sea Dragon
• JP – Jumping Puzzle
• MF – Magic Find
• MF – Sometimes Forge, the Mystic Forge
• Node – A resource node, like an Ore Vein

Dungeons

• AC – Ascalonian Catacombs, the first dungeon in Plains of Ashford
• CM – Caudecus’s Manor, the second dungeon in Queensdale (not to be confused with CM – Challenge mote (below)
• TA, occasionally Arbor – Twilight Arbor, the third dungeon in Caledon Forest
• SE – Sorrow’s Embrace, the fourth dungeon in Dredgehaunt Cliffs
• CoF – Citadel of Flame, the fifth dungeon in Fireheart Rise
• HotW – Honor of the Waves, the sixth dungeon in Frostforge Sound
• CoE – Crucible of Eternity, the seventh dungeon in Mount Maelstrom
• Arah – The Ruined City of Arah, the eighth dungeon in Cursed Shore
• p, commonly seen as p1, p2, p3, or p4 – Path, refers to specific versions of dungeons in explorable mode
• Story – The story mode version of the dungeon, done to unlock explorable paths
• U, sometimes upward, forward/upward, or u/f – the first path in Twilight Arbor
• F, sometimes forward, forward/forward, f/f – the second path in Twilight Arbor
• Aetherpath, sometimes Aether or AP – the third path in Twilight Arbor
• Quick, sometimes speed or fast – Going through a dungeon quickly, generally done by experienced players

Fractals of the Mist

• FotM, sometimes frac or fractals – Short for Fractals of the Mist
• Fractal – Refers to individual levels, such as Urban Battleground
• Scale – Refers to the difficulty level in FotM
• T – seen as T1, T2, T3, or T4 – FotM Tiers of difficulty
• rec – recommended, the daily recommended fractals
• CM – Challenge Mode or Mote, commonly seen as CM 98, 99, or 100 for the CM of those specific fractals
• AR – Agony Resistance, armor upgrades necessary for high level fractals
• F&P, sometimes P+F – Potions and Food
• UF, sometimes UFE – Unstable Fractal Essence, rewarded from CM 98, 99, and 100
• ess – Unstable Cosmic Essence, reward from CM 100, used as kill proof
• DoD – Defier of Doubt, title earned from completing CM 100, used as kill proof
• DwD – Dance with Demons, title from an achievement in CM 100, used as kill proof
• LNHB – Leaves No Heroes Behind, title for completing CM 99, used as kill proof

Raids

• W, commonly seen as W1, W2… W7 – Wing, specific raid maps including certain bosses
• Wing 1, W1 – Spirit Vale
• Wing 2, W2 – Salvation Pass
• Wing 3, W3 – Stronghold of the Faithful
• Wing 4, W4 – Bastion of the Penitent
• Wing 5, W5 – Hall of Chains
• Wing 6, W6 – Mythwright Gambit
• Wing 7, W7 – The Key of Ahdashim
• VG – Vale Guardian, first boss of Wing 1
• Gors – Gorseval, second boss of Wing 1
• Sab – Sabetha the Saboteur, third boss of Wing 1
• Sloth – Slothasor, sometimes referred to as Cave Monster, the first boss of Wing 2
• Trio – Bandit Trio, referred to officially as Protect the caged prisoners, prisoner camp, and occasionally “Berg, Zane, and Narell.” The second boss of Wing 2
• Matt – Matthias Gabriel, the third boss of Wing 2
• Escort – Sometimes keep escort, Glenna escort, Siege the Stronghold, or McLeod. The first boss of Wing 3
• KC – Keep Construct, the second boss of Wing 3
• TC – Sometimes castle, an encounter in Wing 3
• Xera – The third boss of Wing 3
• Cairn – Cairn the Indomitable, the first boss of Wing 4
• MO – Mursaat Overseer, the second boss of Wing 4
• Sam – Samarog, the third boss of Wing 4
• Deimos – Occasionally referred to as Saul, the fourth boss of Wing 4
• SH, Desmina – Soulless Horror, the first boss of Wing 5
• River, RoS – River of Souls, the first encounter of Wing 5
• Statues – Statues of Grenth, the second encounter of Wing 5
• Dhuum – The Voice in the Void, VoiV, the second boss of Wing 5
• CA – Conjured Amalgamate, the first boss of Wing 6
• Largos – Twin Largos, Nikare and Kenut, the second boss of Wing 6
• Q1 – Qadim, the third boss of Wing 6
• Adina – Cardinal Adina, the first or second boss of Wing 7
• Sabir – Cardinal Sabir, the first or second boss of Wing 7
• Q2 – Also referred to as Qadim 2, QtP, or QTPie – Qadim the Peerless, the third boss of Wing 7
• LI, occasionally LD – Legendary Insights or Legendary Divinations, rewards from killing raid bosses. Not to be confused with Low Intensity.
• FC – Full clear, killing every boss in a wing

Strike Missions

• Strike – Shorthand for strike mission
• EZ3 – Easy 3, referring to the three easy Icebrood Saga strike missions: Fraenir of Jormag, Voice of the Fallen and Claw of the Fallen, and Shiverpeaks Pass
• Pass – The Shiverpeaks Pass strike mission
• Bears – Sometimes Koda, Claw, Voice: The Voice of the Fallen and Claw of the Fallen strike mission
• Fraenir – Fraenir of Jormag strike mission
• WoJ – Sometimes whisper, the Whisper of Jormag strike missions
• Aetherblade – Sometimes Aether, the Aetherblade Hideout strike mission
• Junkyard – Sometimes Annka, the Xunlai Jade Junkyard strike mission
• KO – The Kaineng Overlook strike mission
• HT – The Harvest Temple strike mission

Cross Content

• CM – Challenge Mode or Mote, a harder version of a fight
• KP – Kill proof, an item or title that proves you have completed a boss before
• Daily – Daily achievements that change every day that will reward bonus loot for completing specific objectives
• EXP – Experienced
• LFG – Looking for group
• LFM – Looking for more
• LFT – Looking for team
• LFR – Looking for raid

Skills and Traits

• DPS – Damage per second
• CDPS – Condition damage per section
• Boons – Sometimes buffs. Temporary, beneficial, positive effects
• Conditions – Sometimes DoTs. Temporary, harmful, negative effects
• Condi – Shorthand for conditions
• Quick – Quickness, a boon that increases ability speed
• Alac – Alacrity, a boon that decreases ability cooldowns
• Stab – Stability, a boon that prevents crowd control abilities
• CC – Crowd control. Abilities that slow, knockdown, etc
• Res – Sometimes rez, resurrect
• Precast – Casting abilities and skills in advance, normally to stack boons
• CD – Cooldown, the recharge time for a skill
• AA – Autoattack
• ICD – Internal cooldown, the time between attacks of an ability that attacks multiple times
• Boonstrip – Skills that remove boons from enemies
• Veil – Mesmer’s Veil ability that grants stealth
• AoE – Area of Effect
• AotJ – Ashes of the Just Firebrand skill
• AP – Assassin’s Presence (not to be confused with Achievement Points)
• CA – Celestial Avatar, a Druid mechanic
• EA – Empower Allies, a Warrior trait
• Epi – Epidemic, a Necromancer ability
• FA – Fresh air, an Elementalist trait
• FGS – Fiery Greatsword, an elementliast elite skill
• GotL – Grace of the Land, a Druid trait
• Port – Portal Entre, a Mesmer ability
• PS – Phalanx Strength, a Warrior trait
• RI – Righteous Instincts, a Guardian trait
• RR – Righteous Rebel, a Renegade trait

Specializations

• Spec – Specializations for specific professions
• Professions – The official Guild Wars 2 name for class
• dh – Dragonhunter
• fb – Firebrand
• wb – Willbender
• slb – Soulbeast
• vindi – Vindicator
• holo – Holosmith
• dd – Daredevil
• de – Deadeye
• chrono – Chronomacer
• virt – Virtuoso
• harb – Harbinger
• bsw – Bladesworn

Builds

• LI – Low Intensity, not to be confused with Legendary Insight
• Alacrage – Alacrity Mirage
• Alacrigade – Sometimes AlacRen, Alacrity Renegade
• BS – Banner Slave
• CFB – Condition Firebrand
• CQB – Condition Quickbrand
• HB – Sometimes HFB, Healbrand
• CFB – Condition Firebrand
• Chronotank – Chronomancer tanking build
• HK – Hand Kiter
• HS – Sometimes HSc, Heal Scourge
• Hmech, sometimes hm – Heal Mechanist
• ham – Heal Alacrity Mechanist
• hcata – Heal Catalyst
• hat – Heal Alacrity Tempest
• qharb – Quickness Harbinger
• qcata – Quickness Catalyst
• alacmech – Alacrity Mechanist
• miralac – Alacrity Mirage
• alacren – Alacrity Renegade
• psb – Power Soulbeast
• charb – Condition Harbinger

Player vs Player

• PvP – Player vs Player
• SPvP – Structured Player vs Player
• HotM – Heart of the Mists, the PvP lobby
• Spawn – Where your team starts in a map
• Conquest – 5v5 with 3 capture points
• Node – The capture points in Conquest maps
• Home – The closest node to your team’s spawn
• Far – The farthest node to your team’s spawn
• Mid – The middle node in a map
• Beast – Svanir or Chieftain Utahein in the Forest of Niflhel map
• Lord – The Red or Blue lord in the Legacy of the Foefire map
• Orb – The orb you capture in the Spirit Watch map
• Meditation – The Meditation of Stillness and Meditation of Tranquility channeling objectives in the Temple of the Silent Storm map
• Treb – The trebuchet in the Battle of Khylo map
• Laser – Sometimes cannon or Skyhammer, the special capture point in the Skyhammer map
• Bell – Sometimes cannons, the special capture point in the Revenge of the Capricorn map
• Sword – The Sword of Reaping special item in the Eternal Coliseum map
• Shield – The Shield of Life special item in the Eternal Coliseum map
• Champ – The Mist Champions in the Battle of Champion’s Dusk map
• Ninja – Capturing a point without the other team noticing
• Group – The entire team coming together
• Rotate – Moving from one capture point to another
• Defend – Sometimes bunker, sitting on one capture point to hold it
• Cap – Capture a capture point
• AT – Automated tournaments
• Decap – Remove a capture point from enemy control without full capturing it for yourself

World vs World

• WvW – World vs World
• Bomb – The squad using every skill on the enemy
• Bait – Tricking enemy group into using bomb
• Juke – Quickly moving in a direction and going back to original location
• Water – Putting down water fields and bursting them with abilities
• Smoke – Thieves blasting smoke fields to grant stealth
• Stealth – Cast stealth abilities on the squad, such as Mesmer Veil
• Pull – Using pull abilities to grab enemy players
• Lines – Guardians using Staff skill 5
• Stack – The entire group forming tightly on top of each other
• Pirate ship – The group using entirely ranged characters
• Flip – Capturing an objective
• PvD – Player versus door, players attacking gates
• Outer – The outermost or first set of walls in a keep
• Inner – The innermost or second set of walls in a keep
• Bay – Sometimes fire. The westernmost keep on WvW maps.
• Hills – Sometimes air. The easternmost keep on WvW maps.
• Garri – Garrison, the northernmost keep on WvW maps
• Camp – Supply Camps
• Yak – Supply Dolyaks
• NWT – Northwest Tower
• NET – Northeast Tower
• SWT – Southwest Tower
• SET – Southeast Tower
• NWC – Northwest Camp
• NEC – Northeast Camp
• SWC – Southwest Camp
• SEC – Southeast Camp
• SMC – Stone Mist Castle in the Eternal Battlegrounds
• EBG – Eternal Battlegrounds
• BL – Borderlands
• DBL – Desert Borderlands
• ABL – Alpine Borderlands
• EotM – Edge of the Mists
• GBL – Green Borderlands
• BBL – Blue Borderlands
• RBL – Red Boderlands
• OS – Obsidian Sanctum
• Fog – The fog tactivator that applies chill to enemies in an objective
• Airship – The airship tactivator that bombards enemies in SMC
• EWP – The emergency waypoint tactivator that spawns a temporary waypoint
• AC – Arrow Cart siege equipment
• Ram – Flame Ram siege equipment
• Cata – Catapult siege equipment
• Treb – Trebuchet siege equipment
• Bal – Ballista siege equipment
• Golem – Siege Golem siege equipment
• Sup – Supply, used to build and repair
• Zerg – Groups of players usually 20+ and unorgained
• Blob – Groups of players usually 20+ and organized
• Havoc – Smaller group of players that focus on capturing smaller objectives
• Roamer – A single player roaming around the map
• Duel – Two players fighting eachother
• RI – Righteous Indignation, invulnerability that an objective boss has after recently being captured
• CT – Contested
• OJ – Orange swords
• CD – Cool down
• Tag – The commander
• Rally – Regroup at a specific location
• Push – Attack a specific location
• Wipe – Completely killing an entire enemy group
• Rush – Running to a specific location without stopping
• Snipe – Target an enemy and burst them down by range, usually done be rangers focusing longbow attacks on an enemy commander (looked down upon)
• Inc – Incoming, an enemy group is running towards your group
• GvG – Guild vs guild, usually organized and planned fights
• Bag – Bags of loot that drop from killing enemies
• PPT – Points per tick
• PPK – Points per kill

Gaming Culture

• afk – Away from keyboard
• brb – Be right back
• gtg – Sometimes g2g, got to go
• wb – Welcome back
• bio – Leaving the computer to go to the bathroom
• Disc – Discord, a popular VoIP program
• Mat – Materials, used for crafting
• FPS – Frames per second
• DLC – Downloadable Content
• HUD – Heads up display
• UI – User Interface
• NPC – Non-Playable Character

Conclusion

If you have any questions about acronyms or an acronym is missing from this list, let me know and I can help you and add it!

Feel free to check out my YouTube channel that has a lot of Guild Wars 2 content on it: youtube.com/Athis

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