Acronyms, abbreviations, and common terms

Note: This page does not explain the meanings of specific encounter strategies commonly referenced in Party Finder, with the exception of general acronyms (e.g, TN = true north; BR = boss relative) that are used in many fights.

0-9

# Chest = A Party Finder description for current savage  raids that indicates how many treasure coffers the party leader would like to appear upon completing the duty. 2 chest = No one has cleared the duty for the week (Note this setting can be enforced with [Duty Complete](Weekly Reward Unclaimed)); 1 chest = 1-4 players have cleared for the week; 0 chest = 5 or more players have cleared for the week. Any chest = no preference for loot (see page run). Note that with savage rewards changes in patch 6.4, savage raids starting from  Anabaseios (Savage) only drop 1 treasure coffer containing rewards that would previously have been split into 2 coffers. However, the number of rewards will be decreased if one or more players have cleared for the week. Full chest may be used in place of 2 chest.

1-2-3 = A job's basic combo, e.g.   Heavy Swing >   Maim >   Storm's Path.

2 min = Usually refers to strong attacks and party buffs with a recast time of 2 minutes. Aligning usage of these actions will maximize party damage. The 2 minute meta refers to combat design since patch 6.0 (Endwalker), wherein all non-limited jobs were changed to have burst damage every 2 minutes.

A

A# = Alexander raids, with the number indicating the "floor".  Alexander: Gordias represents A1-A4,  Alexander: Midas represents A5-A8, and  Alexander: The Creator represents A9-A12. Also commonly used with N or S to indicate normal or Savage mode (e.g. A9S refers to  Alexander - The Eyes of the Creator (Savage)).

A2C = Aim to Clear, a Party Finder group created with the intention of clearing

AAI =  Another Aloalo Island, a level 90 criterion dungeon

AAIS =  Another Aloalo Island (Savage), a level 90 criterion dungeon

ABC = Always Be Casting, a general principle of combat that states that the most important factor to optimizing damage is to always have the global cooldown active ("rolling") when the enemy is targetable.

ACC = Accuracy became Direct Hit Rate

ACN = Arcanist

Adds = Additional enemies that spawn during boss fight

Adlo =   Adloquium

AF = Artifact Armor; The iconic armor of your job that is obtained by completing the level 45 and 50 job quests. (IL 50) Additional sets added every expansion at each new level cap.

AFK = Away From Keyboard

Aggro = Drawing the attention of enemies; may also refer to having attention from the game drawn by something else (e.g., IRL aggro = in real life aggro)

Anti-KB =   Arm's Length and   Surecast

AK =  Amdapor Keep; An entry-level level 50 dungeon that drops IL 60 gear.

Akh Morn = A multi-hit split damage AoE that requires the party to stack and heal through the damage.

ALC = Alchemist

Alt = Alternate, usually a player's character or job that is different from their primary character/job

AMR =  Another Mount Rokkon, a level 90 criterion dungeon

AMRS =  Another Mount Rokkon (Savage), a level 90 criterion dungeon

Anima = The Anima Weapons series of weapons, introduced in Heavensward.

Animation Lock = A time period in which a character is unable to move due to performing the animation of an action, e.g.   Stardiver.   Limit Breaks have the longest animation locks. The healer role skill   Rescue can be used on anyone in an animation lock to free them.

Animus = The second upgrade step in the Zodiac series of weapons. Animus weapons are IL 100.

AoE = Area of Effect: Abilities that do damage or inflict debuffs to multiple enemies

AP =   Army's Paeon

ARC = Archer

ARM = Armorer

ARR = A Realm Reborn

ASS =  Another Sil'dihn Subterrane, a level 90 criterion dungeon

ASSS =  Another Sil'dihn Subterrane (Savage), a level 90 criterion dungeon

AST = Astrologian

Atma = The first upgrade step in the Zodiac series of weapons. Atma weapons are nominally IL 100, but with stats between 90 and 100. Also refers to a set of items that are required to perform the upgrade.

Auto = Auto-attack

AV =  The Aurum Vale, the Lv. 47 dungeon.

B

BA =  The Baldesion Arsenal

Bait = To manipulate the location of an enemy AoE attack or target of a mechanic based on where the player is standing.

BCoB =  The Binding Coil of Bahamut; the game's first 8-man raid instance. The raid is split into 13 parts called "Turns", with turns 10 to 13 being the hardest instances in ARR and also known as  The Final Coil of Bahamut.

Bene =   Benediction

Bio = Bio break. In organized group content such as raids, when the leader calls a break to allow group members a few minutes to take care of real life biological needs, such as getting snacks, going to the bathroom, etc.

BiS = Best in Slot; The single best item for a specific job to use in a specific gear slot.

Blind = Entering a duty without having consulted a guide first. Not to be confused with fresh.

Blist = blacklist

BLM = Black Mage

BLU = Blue Mage

Body check = A mechanic type in high-end duties in which all players must be alive at the start of the mechanic and must perform their individual role in the mechanic correctly. Failing either will lead to a wipe.

Bolide =   Superbolide

Bonus = Shorthand for "first-time clear" since adventurers new to a duty grant the party a bonus for first-time completion. Often used to indicate "No bonus" - i.e. only players who have already cleared the duty are allowed.

Book run = To clear a current savage raid and obtain a book / page "token" without any treasure coffers appearing due to more than 4 people having cleared the duty for the week. Also referred to as a "0 chest" or "any chest" run (no preference for loot). Often used in the following contexts: trying to obtain a weekly reclear close to the weekly reset, a first-time clear, or gaining additional practice in the fight after one's weekly reclear.

Bot = A character that is controlled by a programmed script instead of a human player.

BR = Boss Relative. Refers to positioning for mechanics based on where the boss is facing.

Braindead = Usually refers to a strategy for certain mechanics that reduces or eliminates decision-making needed by players to increase ease of execution.

BRB = Be Right Back

BRD = Bard

Breakpoint = The numerical threshold at which certain stats result in meaningful stats or beneficial effects. (e.g., high-end gathering nodes have perception breakpoints for certain yield ranges)

Brink = Brink of Death

BSF =  The Bozjan Southern Front

BSM = Blacksmith

BTN = Botanist

Bunny FATE = A special FATE in  The Forbidden Land, Eureka that, when completed, spawns a Happy Bunny follower for every participant. These bunnies can lead players to hidden treasure chests that contain large amounts of gil and unique rewards.

Burn = To focus attacks on a particular target while ignoring other tasks.

C

C4# = Clear for (number of people). Often advertised in party finder. Basically experienced players helping one or more individuals with beating encounter.

Camp = To idle in a specific area until a certain event occurs, e.g. a Notorious Monster spawn in  The Forbidden Land, Eureka

Caster = Magical Ranged DPS, may also include healers

Castrum =  Castrum Meridianum, or if inside Bozja, Castrum Lacus Litore

CBU3 = Creative Business Unit III, the former name of the specific development team under Square Enix that makes and maintains content for Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. Currently named Creative Studio III.

CC = Crowd Control - abilities that disable or immobile enemies such as   Sleep. OR Cassie and the Copycats aka "Copycat Cassie" if inside  The Forbidden Land, Eureka Pagos

CD = Cooldown of abilities; countdown

CE = Critical Engagement, a type of combat encounter found in Save the Queen areas

Chain = A mechanic where players are chained to each other and must break the chain by stretching it. OR   Chain Stratagem

Chariot = An enemy attack type consisting of a point-blank circular AoE, requiring players to be outside of the hitbox or further away from the enemy. Name originates from Iron Chariot in  The Second Coil of Bahamut - Turn 4.

Check = A combat situation that tests a party's capabilities in a certain area. For example, a DPS check is a limited time period where the boss or adds must be defeated, or they will enrage and kill the party. A heal check is a period of heavy sustained damage that requires significant healing. A mit check (mitigation check), which often overlaps with heal checks, require the party to use sufficient defensive actions to reduce incoming damage and prevent deaths.

Cheese = To greatly simplify or outright ignore an encounter mechanic using a specific strategy or action usage, often one unintended by the encounter's designers.

Christmas tether = A red and green tether that is resolved by the tethered players moving towards each other. Originated from  Alexander - The Soul of the Creator (Savage).

Clip = (1) A loss of effectiveness of a continuous process due to delays or other issues. Example: to delay the global cooldown (GCD), usually from "weaving" too many abilities or from not pressing the next GCD action in time. Example 2: To refresh a damage-over-time action (DoT) early, which will usually lead to a potency loss due to not obtaining the full effect of the DoT. (2) To be barely hit by an AoE attack that the player thought they were safe from.

Cleave = A conal attack that goes through a player. A 'cleave auto' means a boss's attack does not specifically hit the tank as much as the tank and everything behind them, enforcing proper party positioning.

Clock spots = A common position assignment in high-end duties in which each player is assigned a cardinal or intercardinal compass position (North, Northeast, East, Southeast, South, Southwest, West, Northwest) to handle certain mechanics.

CLL = Castrum Lacus Litore

CLog = Challenge Log

CM =  Castrum Meridianum; The penultimate dungeon of the 2.0 storyline quests.

CNJ = Conjurer

Coils =  The Binding Coil of Bahamut; The game's first 8-man raid instance. The raid is split into 13 parts called "Turns", with turns 6 to 9 known as  the Second Coil of Bahamut and 10 to 13 as  the Final Coil of Bahamut.

Color pairs / partners = A position assignment in which a tank/healer will partner with a DPS based on the color of the waymark at each player's clock spot, e.g., the players assigned to the red waymarks 1 and A will be partners for some mechanics.

Com / comm = Player Commendation, voice communication channel

Comp = Composition, the job makeup of a party.

Conga Line = A general strategy for some mechanics in which the group forms a line and uses that for mechanic positioning based on assigned debuffs.

Crab = Morte Arthro aka "King Arthro" if inside  The Forbidden Land, Eureka Pagos

Crit = Critical Hit (formerly Critical Hit Rate)

Critlo = A Critical Hit of   Adloquium. Useful for spreading with   Deployment Tactics.

CRP = Carpenter

CS = cutscene

CT =  Crystal Tower

CU =   Collective Unconscious

CUL = Culinarian

CCW = Counter Clockwise

CW = Clockwise

CWLS = Cross-world Linkshell

D

D1 / D2 / D3 / D4 = Designates the DPS roles in a full party and used for mechanic positioning assignments. Typically, D1 and D2 are melee, D3 is phys ranged, and D4 is a caster. D1-4 is more commonly used on the Japanese and Oceanic datacenters. See also: M1 / M2 and R1 / R2 for acting melee and acting ranged DPS roles.

DAL (also lower case) = The Dalriada

Darkness Damage = Unique Damage

DB =   Diamondback

DD = Damage Dealer, a job that focuses on dealing damage (see also DPS), or Damage Down, a debuff that is given in many savage and ultimate raids for failing mechanics

DE =   Double Edge L, a Logos Action

Dead / Locked Instance = In the context of field operations (i.e. exploration zones or adventuring forays), when an instance stops accepting new players from joining and slowly dies out, usually meaning that there is a new ("fresh") instance up.

DEF = Defense

Defamation = A debuff or mechanic type that will target the afflicted player with a massive circular AoE, requiring them to be far isolated from others. Name originates from  Alexander - The Soul of the Creator (Savage).

Desynth =   Desynthesis

DET = Determination

DEX = Dexterity

DF = Duty Finder; A system implemented to automatically create parties of players that are wishing to enter a specific duty or instance.

DH, DIR = Direct Hit Rate; Replaced Accuracy as a stat. All gear that had Accuracy now has Direct Hit Rate in the same amount. Affects the rate of slightly higher damage hits. In the context of fishing,   Double Hook

Div =   Divination

Divebomb = A mechanic type in which an enemy on the outside of the arena will use a wide line AoE through the arena. The AoE location may be fixed or may be baited by players.

DL = Darklight Armor; An IL 70 gear set obtained from some level 50  dungeons. Was the first set of uncapped tome gear.

DNC = Dancer

DoH = Disciples of Hand; Classes that utilize crafting materials to create various items and gear ( CRP, ARM, BSM, GSM, LTW, WVR, ALC, CUL).

DoL = Disciples of Land; Classes that gather raw materials from the Eorzea ( MIN, BTN, FSH).

DoM = Disciples of Magic; Combat Classes and Jobs that output primarily magic damage ( THM / BLM, RDM, ACN / SMN and SCH, CNJ / WHM, AST, SGE).

Door boss = A boss in a  trial or  raid that is the first of two boss encounters. Defeating the first boss will not reward loot but will give the party a checkpoint that they will restart from if they wipe to the second boss. Exiting the instance and re-entering will require defeating the door boss again.

DoT = Damage over Time; An ability that deals consistent damage over a given amount of time to a target.

DoW = Disciples of War; Combat Classes and Jobs that output primarily physical damage ( GLA / PLD, MRD / WAR, DRK, GNB, PGL / MNK, LNC / DRG, RPR, SAM, ROG / NIN, ARC / BRD, MCH, DNC).

Downtime = Time during a fight in which the party or certain jobs cannot damage the boss due to mechanics. See also: Uptime.

DM =   Dark Missionary

DP =   Dance Partner

DPS = Damage Per Second or a job that focuses on dealing damage.

DR = Either  Duty Roulette or  Delubrum Reginae depending on context.

DRS =  Delubrum Reginae (Savage)

DRG = Dragoon

DRK = Dark Knight

DSR, DRU =  Dragonsong's Reprise (Ultimate), an ultimate-difficulty 8-player raid. DSR is much more commonly used.

DT = Dawntrail, the fifth expansion, considered version 7.0 of the game.

Dynamo = An enemy attack type consisting of a large circular AoE with a circular safe spot inside the hitbox of the enemy. Name originates from Lunar Dynamo in  The Second Coil of Bahamut - Turn 4.

E

E# = Eden raids, with the number indicating the "floor".  Eden's Gate represents E1-E4,  Eden's Verse represents E5-E8, and  Eden's Promise represents E9-E12. Also commonly used with N or S to indicate normal or Savage mode (e.g. E9S refers to  Eden's Promise: Umbra (Savage)).

ED =   Essential Dignity

Egg =   Cinder Surprise, a Legendary Fish from Shadowbringers.

EN = English: English speaking players

Enrage = An ability used by bosses in high-end duties (e.g. extreme trials, savage/ultimate raids) that will wipe the party, requiring the boss to be defeated within a certain time limit (not to be confused with the duty timer). A soft enrage is a period of gradually increasing damage that will eventually overwhelm the party. A hard enrage is an unavoidable attack at the end of the fight timeline that will instantly wipe the party. The vast majority of enrages in the game are hard enrages.

Enum = Enumeration, a mechanic type in which a specific number of players must stack with another player having a numerical marker.

EM/EX = Extreme Mode. A third difficulty tier for  trials, above NM (Normal Mode) and HM (Hard Mode).

EO =  Eureka Orthos

ESO = Elder Scrolls Online, a competing MMORPG

ET = Eorzea Time

Euk Prog =   Eukrasian Prognosis

EW = Endwalker, the fourth expansion, considered version 6.0 of the game.

EX# = To designate particular extreme-difficulty trials in the current expansion to avoid spoilers. They are numbered by their occurrence in the Main Scenario, followed by release order. i.e SB EX1 would refer to The Pool of Tribute (Extreme)

Exaflare = An enemy attack consisting of circular AoEs that will travel across the arena in the direction of the arrow telegraph. Name originates from  The Unending Coil of Bahamut (Ultimate).

Excog =   Excogitation

F

Face pull = Pulling a target by simply walking up to it. Generally considered poor practice, since aggro will switch the next time anyone does anything.

Fairy tether =   Aetherpact

Fake melee = A scenario in which a ranged DPS must assume positions/responsibilities for mechanics intended for melee DPS in a high-end duty, due to there being three ranged DPS in the party.

Farm = To repeatedly kill an enemy or complete a duty for a specific purpose, usually to obtain loot.

FATE = Full Active Time Event

FC = Free Company; The FFXIV iteration of a guild. A large collection of players that can communicate together. A Free Company can use company-wide bonuses such as EXP gain and reduced teleportation rates.

FE =   Fish Eyes

FFA = Free-for-all. Usually refers to player-created loot rules in which each member of the party may roll Need on each piece of loot.

FCoB =  Final Coil of Bahamut

FFXIV = Final Fantasy XIV

Fish = To repeat an action until it randomly activates a desired effect, e.g. a proc.

Flare = A player will be targeted by an enemy attack that will inflict proximity damage to those nearby, requiring others to move away from the target player. A flare marker consists of three outwards blue arrows.

Flash = To momentarily use a channelled ability such as   Collective Unconscious or   Passage of Arms, which will provide 3-5 seconds of the channelled effect.

FoF =   Fight or Flight,   Fountain of Fire

Fork =   Furcacauda, a Legendary Fish from Endwalker.

FPS = Frames per second

FR = French: French speaking players

Fresh = New. Examples: (1) "fresh prog" = progressing a high-end encounter with no prior experience in the fight. Not to be confused with blind (prog). (2) "fresh instance" = a newly-created field operation instance.

FRU =  Futures Rewritten (Ultimate), an ultimate-difficulty 8-player raid

FSH = Fisher

G

G1 / G2 = Light party groups within a full party, used for mechanic positioning assignments.

Gaol = A mechanic type in which one player is imprisoned and must be freed, usually by destroying the prison object. May also refer to the Mordion Gaol ("GM Gaol"). It is an older, alternate spelling of "jail."

Gapcloser / Gap closer = A movement action that reduces the distance between a user and a target (usually an enemy) to bring the user within melee range to the target.

Gaze = An enemy attack that requires players to turn their player characters away to avoid. Often telegraphed by a purple eye icon, but may be untelegraphed in high-end duties.

GC = Grand Company; The 3 main military forces of Eorzea (The Immortal Flames, The Maelstrom, and The Order of the Twin Adder). You may join one of these forces and climb the ranks of the company after defeating Ifrit in the main story arc (lvl 20).

GCD = Global Cooldown - cooldown shared by multiple actions, spells, or weaponskills.

GG = Good Game.

GH =  Guildhest

Ghost = When a player action is used on a target but does not register and therefore provides no effect.

GL = Guildleve, good luck

GM = Game Master, a moderator who enforces penalties against rules-breaking players.

GNB = Gunbreaker

GLA = Gladiator

Glam = Glamour

Golde = King Goldemar, a notorious monster spawned in  The Forbidden Land, Eureka Hydatos

Greed = To attempt to optimize damage dealt by performing a risky maneuver. Example: Moving out of an enemy AoE attack at the last possible moment as to finish a cast.

Grind = A long and tedious process with an end goal in mind.

GSM = Goldsmith

GW2 = Guild Wars 2, a competing MMORPG

H

H1 / H2 = Designates the healer roles in a full party and used for mechanic positioning assignments.

Hand of Pain = A mechanic type, commonly found in  Ultimate Raids during phases with 2 targetable bosses, in which both boss's health must be within a certain percentage before a certain cast finishes, or the party will wipe. Name originates from  Alexander - The Arm of the Father (Savage).

Hardcast = To cast a spell with a cast bar normally, i.e. without   Swiftcast or another ability that eliminates cast times

HC / Hardcore = A group of players ("static") that participates in raid content expecting to clear as quickly as possible, usually requiring a significant time commitment. Has high expectations for player skill. Particularly ambitious hardcore groups may aim for "WP / World Progression" and be the first group in the world to clear.

HG =   Hallowed Ground or   Holmgang

HM = Hard Mode  Trials or  Dungeons; A variation of a duty that is attainable at a former level cap. Hard mode variations are, despite the name, simply remixes of lower level content and considered story-difficulty. See (Extreme) for entry-level challenge mode content.

HoC =   Heart of Corundum

HoH =  Heaven-on-High

HoL =   Heart of Light

Holm =   Holmgang

HoT = Heal over Time; An ability that consistently heals a target over a given amount of time.

Hot Tail / Hot Wing = One of two related attack types from a boss where it either performs a line AoE through its hitbox ("Hot Tail") or to the sides of its hitbox ("Hot Wing"). The attack may be telegraphed by the name of the cast or the boss's animation. Name originates from  The Final Steps of Faith.

HP = HP

HQ = High Quality ; A higher quality version of a craftable item or gear that will give higher stats than it's Normal Quality (NQ) counterpart. It is required that a crafter attain enough quality points in the crafting process to produce a High Quality item.

HW = Heavensward, the first expansion, considered version 3.0 of the game. May also refer to Hello World, a mechanic from  Alphascape V4.0 (Savage). In newer duties, Hello World may generally refer to mechanic types in which each party member is assigned one or more cryptic debuffs and must move and position based on those debuffs.

I

IC =   Identical Cast

IGN = In-game name (i.e., the name of a character)

IL, ilvl = Item Level; A property of a piece of gear that denotes the approximate effectiveness of the item. This is not the level required to equip the item. Higher item level gear is released in nearly every patch.

Improv =   Improvisation

INC = Incoming: warning for incoming enemies

Indom =   Indomitability

Insta = Instantly/immediately. For example, instakill means an attack that kills a player or enemy in one hit. Instapull means to engage an enemy immediately upon it being within range of the player.

Int = Fisher's Intuition

INT = Intelligence

Invuln = A tank action that provides some form of invulnerability or death prevention. These are   Hallowed Ground for Paladin,   Holmgang for Warrior,   Living Dead for Dark Knight, and   Superbolide for Gunbreaker.

IRL = In Real Life

J

Jobstone / Job Stone = Soul Crystal

JP = Japanese: Japanese speaking players.

K

KB = Knockback

KI = Knockback Immunity, for optional strategies that use knockback immunity.

Kera =   Kerachole

KFF = Kill For Friend. Often advertised in party finder. Basically experienced players helping single individual with beating encounter.

KF1 = Kill For One. Similar to KFF

Kick = To be removed from a party or other social group by another person.

Kitchen sink = When a tank uses most, or all personal mitigation abilities, except for their invulnerability cooldown, in anticipation of a heavy-hitting tankbuster.

Kite = To attack a monster while running away often done by ranged attackers to deal damage while avoiding taking damage though it makes it difficult for the tank to pull the monster off.

KT = Kill time, the time that it takes to defeat a boss in a given pull.

L

Lame = Lamebrix Strikebocks, a notorious monster spawned in  The Forbidden Land, Eureka Pyros

LB =   Limit Break; A powerful party ability in Final Fantasy that must be charged up prior to use and has varying effects depending on the job it is used by.

LC = Limit Cut, a mechanic in which each player is marked with a number of colored dots over their head (e.g. 1-8), indicating the order they will take an attack. First appeared in  Alexander - The Heart of the Creator (Savage) but related number mechanics in newer duties are generally referred to as "Limit Cut".

LD =   Living Dead

Leash = An automatic aggro loss from an enemy when it moves a certain distance away from its spawn point. When this occurs, the enemy will stop attacking the player, become invulnerable, and move back to its starting location. Enemies in the overworld and field operations will leash, so they cannot chase a player across the entire map. Dungeon enemies do not leash, with very few exceptions.

Left to Right / L2R / L>R = A player-enforced loot etiquette for current Savage raids in Japanese data centers and sometimes in the Oceanian data center, in which players roll on loot starting from the left-most item. The player who wins the item will then leave the instance and forfeit rolls for the remaining loot.

Level skip = Any of the Tales of Adventure: One Hero's Journey items, which raise a selected job to Level 80 and grant appropriate gear.

LF = Looking for; A common term used when searching for things or people. Variations include LFG, LFM and LFP being Looking For Group, Looking For More, and Looking For Party.

Life =   Life of the Dragon

Lilybell =   Liturgy of the Bell

LL =   Ley Lines. Sometimes refers to the ground-effect portion of   Starry Muse, which works similarly.

LNC = Lancer

Lockout = The timer of a duty. If it expires, the party will be removed from the instance. May also refer to loot that is limited weekly.

LoS = Line of Sight

LotA =  Labyrinth of the Ancients; the first raid in the Crystal Tower series.

LoV / LoVM = Lord of Verminion

LP = Light Party. Many high-end raid mechanics require splitting the party into two light parties of 1 tank, 1 healer, and 2 DPS each.

LS = Linkshell; A permanent chat channel in which a collection of players can communicate together. Often formed to find players of similar interests with which you can play with together.

LTW = Leatherworker

Lucid =   Lucid Dreaming

Luigi = Louhi, a notorious monster in The Forbidden Land, Eureka Pagos that drops relic weapon upgrade materials (  Louhi's Ice)

M

M#, R#, AR#, Arc# = The Arcadion raids, with the number indicating the "floor" of the raid.  AAC Light-heavyweight Tier represents M1-M4. Also commonly used with N or S to indicate normal or Savage mode.

M1 / M2 = Designates the acting melee DPS roles in a full party and used for mechanic positioning assignments. M1-2 is more commonly used on the North American and European datacenters. See also: D1 / D2 / D3 / D4 and R1 / R2 for overall DPS and acting ranged DPS roles.

Mario Kart = A general strategy for some mechanics in which the group collectively runs around the arena in a clockwise or counterclockwise fashion.

Mats = Materials required for crafting

MB =

Market Board, or   Mage's Ballad; "My bad" (usually said when a player makes a mistake)

MC / Midcore = A group of players ("static") that participates in raid content expecting to clear in a reasonable timeframe. Has higher expectations for time commitment and player skill than a casual group, but less than a hardcore group.

MCH = Machinist

Meme = Excessive deaths or wipes to a mechanic that is usually before the advertised progression point of a party for the encounter.

Merc = Mercenary, a player who provides another with an in-game combat-related service (e.g., helping clear a high-end raid) in exchange for gil or other compensation. Note that advertising one's mercenary services in Party Finder is prohibited (e.g. "Selling P8S healing services, 1M/hour"), but soliciting for mercenary services (e.g., "Offering 2M per player if we clear P8S") is allowed.

MG =   Mighty Guard

MGP = Manderville Gold Saucer Points

Midare =   Midare Setsugekka

MIN = Miner

MINE = Minimum Item Level No Echo, also MILNE = Minimum Item Level No Ech These are Duty Finder settings for enabling the maximum challenge out of an older duty; by silencing The Echo buff and reducing gear Item Level to the minimum allowed. Note that this isn't an "original" or "intended" difficulty setting due to years of Job changes and the availability of better-than-minimum gear even at content release.

Mit = mitigation action, i.e. actions that reduce damage taken

MMORPG = Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game, the genre that Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn falls under.

MND = Mind

MNK = Monk

Mob = Monster

Money NM = A Notorious Monster (NM) in  The Forbidden Land, Eureka that has a rare chance to drop items that can be sold for a premium on the Market Board. Players tend to prioritize spawning these over other NMs in the instance.

Moogle tomes = Irregular Tomestones, which are associated with Moogle Treasure Trove Events

MP = Magic Points, or Mana Points

MRD = Marauder

MSQ = Main Scenario Quests

MT = 1) Miss Tell, sending a whisper/tell to the wrong person. A previously sent message was sent to the wrong recipient or chat room. 2) Main Tank, the tank responsible for handling the main/hardest hitting enemy in a fight.

Myth = Obsolete. Allagan Tomestones of Mythology; A currency used to purchase end-game gear and crafting materials. This currency is no longer obtainable.

N

Nexus = The fourth upgrade step in the Zodiac series of weapons. Nexus weapons are IL 115.

NIN = Ninja

NM = Normal mode trial/raid; Notorious Monsters (a FATE-like type of combat encounter found in  Eureka zones);   No Mercy

NN = Novice Network

Novus = the third upgrade step in the Zodiac series of weapons. Novus weapons are IL 110.

NPC = Non-Player Character

NQ = Normal Quality

O

O# = Omega raids, with the number indicating the "floor".  Omega: Deltascape represents O1-O4. Also commonly used with N or S to indicate normal or Savage mode (e.g. O4S refers to  Deltascape V4.0 (Savage)). Also denoted as V#.

o/ = Used as a greeting or farewell. Supposed to represent a person with their arm raised. Can be reversed: \o and sometimes a "salute" variant using the number seven is seen: o7

OCE = Oceanian. Usually refers to the Oceanian data center, Materia.

oGCD = "Off Global Cooldown" - An ability which has its own cooldown timer and can generally be used in-between global cooldown (GCD) abilities, spells or weapon skills.

OHKO = One Hit Knock Out

OMW = On My Way

OOM = Out of Mana/MP; Used to announce to allies that you are very low or completely out of MP. This is generally because of excessive deaths and the subsequent need to Resurrect too often.

Opener = A sequence of actions used at the start of an encounter designed to maximize damage and set up the job's rotation for the rest of the encounter. See also: rotation

OT = Off-tank, referring to the second tank in 8-player content whose main responsibility does not include being the enemy's primary aggro target from the start. See also: MT, ST.

OTW = On the way

Overcap = To waste a numerical resource due to using an action that generates it when it is already at maximum.

Owner needs = A player-enforced loot etiquette for  Treasure Hunt activities in which only the owner of the active Treasure Map may roll Need on each item. Contrast to free-for-all (FFA) loot.

P

Pad = To inflate one's DPS using certain fight-dependent methods, such as maximizing AoE damage on targetable adds. These methods may also be counter-intuitive, such as prolonging a multi-target adds phase as to maximize AoE damage.

Page run = To clear a current savage raid and obtain a book / page "token" without any treasure coffers appearing due to more than 4 people having cleared the duty for the week. Also referred to as a "0 chest" or "any chest" run (no preference for loot). Often used in the following contexts: trying to obtain a weekly reclear close to the weekly reset, a first-time clear, or gaining additional practice in the fight after one's weekly reclear.

Pazu/Zuzu/Paz = Pazuzu, a notorious monster in The Forbidden Land, Eureka Anemos that drops relic weapon upgrade materials (  Pazuzu's Feather).

P#, Panda = Pandaemonium raids, with the number indicating the "floor" of the raid.  Asphodelos represents P1-P4.  Abyssos represents P5-P8.  Anabaseios represents P9-P12. Also commonly used with N or S to indicate normal or Savage mode (e.g. P8S refers to  Abyssos: The Eighth Circle (Savage)). May also indicate the phase of an encounter, e.g., P2 = phase 2.

PC = Player Character

PCT = Pictomancer

Penny = Penthesilea, a notorious monster in The Forbidden Land, Eureka Pyros that drops relic weapon upgrade materials (  Penthesilea's Flame)

Pentameld = To fully affix a piece of equipment with five materia. Can be a costly process. Equipment designated with "Advanced Melding Forbidden" cannot be pentamelded.

PF = Party Finder

PGL = Pugilist

PIE = Piety; A healer-only stat that increases MP regeneration rate. Only 'enough' is desirable, too much hurts damage output.

Pike = To stand and do nothing while in a dungeon. Very rarely used. AFK is the more common term.

Philo = Obsolete. Allagan Tomestones of Philosophy; A currency once used to purchase end-game gear and crafting materials. This currency is no longer obtainable.

Playstation = Colored overhead markers introduced in some high-end duties since  Dragonsong's Reprise (Ultimate) consisting of red circles, blue crosses, green triangle, and purple squares, identifying pairs of players for certain mechanics. Named after buttons in a Playstation controller.

PLD = Paladin

Poetics = Allagan Tomestones of Poetics; A currency used to purchase former end-game gear and crafting materials. Poetics are the catch-all for obsolete Allagan Tomestones.

Pom = Pomander, special items acquired and used within Deep Dungeons.

Positional = An attack action from Melee DPS that will receive a damage increase if used from the rear (behind) or flank (sides) of an enemy target, depending on the action.

Pot = Potion OR any attribute-enhancing consumable used for quick burst damage (during high-end raids) OR Potency: the abstracted power of an attack, ability, or spell. Where the distinction is necessary, potency may be denoted with a lower-case P next to the number.

Prae =  The Praetorium; The final dungeon of the 2.0 storyline quests featuring several boss battles and unskippable cutscenes.

Prange / Phys range = Physical Ranged DPS

Prep = In the context of FATEs such as Notorious Monsters in The Forbidden Land, Eureka, to kill the required enemies needed to spawn the encounter.

Proc = Originally short for procedure. Usually an effect that has a random, non-guaranteed chance of activating upon using a certain action. Ex: Using   Burst Shot has a 35% chance of obtaining Hawk’s Eye, allowing for use of   Refulgent Arrow.

Prog = progression, most commonly in higher-end duties (e.g., prog from X mechanic onwards)

Protean = A mechanic type that involves handling multiple conal or line AoEs originating from a boss or other actor. Name originates from  Alexander - The Arm of the Father.

PotD =  Palace of the Dead

PST = Please Send Tell; Used when asking replying parties to send a message via tell. Also onomatopoeia for a whisper; whispering is another terminology for sending a private in-game message used commonly in games.

PT = Party; Pull Time (most commonly used in S-rank hunts)

Puddle = Telegraphed circular ground AoEs, typically baited by players.

PUG = Pick Up Group; Used to refer to a group of players that are found via /shout chat, Duty Finder, or Party Finder. Generally any group that wasn't already previously associated with each other. Often confused as Pugilist (PGL).

Pull = To acquire the aggro of a specified monster to attract it to the party or on to the tank and off of a party member.

PvE = Player vs. Environment - PvE activities are  dungeons,  trials, FATEs etc.

PvP = Player vs. Player -  PvP activities are Crystalline Conflict, Frontline, and Rival Wings. The PvP hub zone is the Wolves' Den Pier.

PW = Provenance Watcher, a notorious monster in The Forbidden Land, Eureka Hydatos that drops relic weapon upgrade materials (  Crystalline Scale)

Q

Queen =   Automaton Queen

R

R = Ready.

R1 / R2 = Designates the acting ranged DPS roles in a full party and used for mechanic positioning assignments. R1-2 is more commonly used on the North American and European datacenters. See also: D1 / D2 / D3 / D4 and M1 / M2 for overall DPS and acting melee DPS roles.

Raidwide = An enemy attack that damages the entire party and cannot be avoided.

Raubahn EX = A running joke in the community that referred to a bottleneck quest battle at the release of Stormblood that was started by talking to Raubahn. Due to high population and limited server capabilities, queue times for the solo instance were extremely long. Attaching "EX / extreme", "savage", or "ultimate" to another non-combat related term is generally used to emphasize the difficulty or unpleasantness of an aspect of the game. For example, "Login Server EX" could refer to very long login queue times during an expansion release. "Housing (Savage)" refers to the difficulty of obtaining a player house due to high demand and limited supply.

RC = A /readycheck, used before queuing in party finder or before pulling bosses if ettiquette is required.

RDM = Red Mage

Relic = Relic Weapon; A powerful, iconic weapon that is attained through a considerably long quest chain that takes you through end-game dungeons and boss fights. A Zodiac weapon can be upgraded, first to a Zodiac Zenith and then to a Zodiac Atma, Animus, Novus and Nexus (see Zodiac Weapons). Each expansion has its own, separate relic quest line.

Rep =   Reprisal, replace, or Reputation See also: Allied Society Quests

Res/Rez = Resurrect

Res/Rez Sickness = Weakness or Brink of Death

Resource = Job-specific assets (e.g. Job Gauges) that are usually associated with damage. For example, to build resources during a section of an encounter means to avoid using actions that expend Job Gauge so that they can be stockpiled for the next section when it is more beneficial to use them.

RF = Raid Finder; Merged with Duty Finder, a system implemented to automatically create parties of players that are wishing to enter a specific duty or instance, but used exclusively for the most recent (and most difficult) content, such as Ex Trials and Savage raids.

RNG = Random Number Generator; a process that is determined by random event

ROG = Rogue

Rot / Nisi = Refers to some debuffs that can be passed between players with contact. Originates from Allagan Rot in  The Binding Coil of Bahamut - Turn 2 or Judgment Nisi in  Alexander - The Burden of the Father.

Rotation = A sequence of actions that optimizes a job's damage output. Can also refer to defensive and healing action usage orders.

RPR = Reaper

S

Sac = Sacrificing party member/s in order to resolve a specific mechanic.

Salad =   Ealad Skaan, a Legendary Fish from Shadowbringers.

SAM = Samurai

Samba =   Shield Samba

Sandbag = To deliberately limit one's performance in a given setting, sometimes for the benefit of another person. Example: I sandbagged my knowledge of the mechanics of the fight because I was helping some friends who wanted to run it without guides or assistance.

SCH = Scholar

SB = Stormblood, the second expansion, considered version 4.0 of the game. OR Spirit Bond, depending on context.

SC / Softcore / Casual = A group of players ("static") that participates in raid content with no expectation of clearing quickly or committing much time.

SCoB =  The Second Coil of Bahamut; also known as Binding Coil of Bahamut turns 6 to 9.

SE = Square Enix; The company that makes and supports Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn.

Selfish = A job that deals higher personal damage than others in the same role due to lack of party utility (e.g., raid buffs). Examples: White Mage, Sage, Samurai, Viper, Black Mage, and Machinist

SGE = Sage

Shake =   Shake It Off

Shakies = Nervousness or anxiety towards the end of a lengthy encounter (usually in ultimate raids) that may contribute to mistakes.

ShB = Shadowbringers, the third expansion, considered version 5.0 of the game.

sHC = Semi-hardcore. A group of players ("static") that considers itself between a midcore and hardcore group in terms of expectations.

Shiva circles= Several circular AoE telegraphs will sequentially spawn, which also indicates the order they will go off. Players should go to the last one that spawns and dodge into the first circle. Mechanic originates from  The Akh Afah Amphitheatre (Hard).

Single pull = Pulling one group of enemies at a time in a  dungeon instead of multiple groups. Contrast to "wall-to-wall/W2W" pull.

SkS = Skill Speed

Slidecast = Moving just before a cast bar fully fills. If timed properly, the cast will complete without interruption due to server latency. This is used to improve the movement of jobs with casting times during fights.

sMC = Semi-midcore. A group of players ("static") that considers itself between a casual and a midcore group in terms of expectations.

SMN = Summoner

Snake Prio = "Snake Priority", a general solution for some mechanics in which the party of 8 players divides into two groups of four to identify locations where players need to stand. The groups may be light parties (1 tank, 1 healer, 2 DPS) or 4 of one role (supports or DPS) depending on the mechanic. Group 1 looks northwest and scans counterclockwise to find the locations to position, while group 2 looks north and scans clockwise. In some scenarios, players may need to "flex" and use the priority of the other group's. Name originates from a solution to the Gorgomanteia (snakes) mechanic in  Abyssos: The Eighth Circle (Savage), wherein players need to drop AoEs on adds that spawned in semi-random locations.

Snapshot = The time point when a player or enemy is determined to have been hit by an enemy attack or player action. Snapshots for enemy attacks often register upon when the attack cast bar fills and not with the attack animation. May be affected by server latency. Snapshotting is also commonly used to describe the interaction of player actions with party damage buffs. For example, using a damage-over-time (DoT) action such as   Dia under buffs will increase damage done for its entire duration, even when the buffs wear off. On the other hand, "pets" such as   Automaton Queen are only affected by currently active buffs, e.g. if a buff is active for only half the time they are summoned, their damage will be boosted during that half only. Similar interactions exist with enemy attacks and damage mitigation actions. For example, if an enemy applies a DoT effect, any mitigation active during the initial application will last for the entire DoT duration. Conversely, any mitigation used when the DoT is still active will not reduce DoT damage.

Soak = To deliberately stand in an enemy AoE, often required for certain boss attacks where failure to do so will cause massive group-wide damage.

Soil =   Sacred Soil

Sol / Sold = Allagan Tomestones of Soldiery; A obsolete currency that was used to purchase Item Level 100 equipment and crafting materials.

SoS =  The Seat of Sacrifice

Spam = To repeat an action many times, back-to-back.

Spreadlo = The act of spreading   Adloquium with   Deployment Tactics.

Sprout = A player with a New Adventurer icon.

SpS = Spell Speed

SR = Speed Run; Appended to advertisements when arranging parties for instances, to indicate that you are looking to finish the dungeon as quickly as possible by taking shortcuts and skipping all possible enemies. Speed run groups often look for well-geared and experienced players to run through the dungeon even faster to maximize their gains by getting more dungeons completed.

SS =   Shield Samba, or   Surface Slap

ST =  Syrcus Tower; the second raid in the Crystal Tower series. May also refer to off-tank (see OT) as "secondary tank", or Server Time.

Stab = Using an   Aetheric Stabilizer on an Unstable Aetheric Node (blue portal) in  The Forbidden Land, Eureka Hydatos. One of two ways to enter the  The Baldesion Arsenal, and usually the less common.

Stack(s) (Noun) = The number of simultaneous applications of a given buff or debuff, indicated by a number on the icon.

Stack (Verb) = For multiple players to stand very close together, often required for boss fight mechanics.

Stackbuster = A stack tankbuster - A red stack marker with floating orbs denoting the number of tanks that should stack within its radius. Failure to stack will cause heavy damage to the tank. Non-tanks may take increased or fatal damage.

Stance Dance = An obsolete combat term wherein support jobs must toggle certain stance-based actions to choose between dealing more damage versus healing or tanking more effectively. For example, prior to patch 4.0, healers toggled   Cleric Stance to maximize their damage at the cost of inhibiting their healing. Prior to patch 5.0, tanks had a "tank stance" that increased enmity generation and a "DPS stance" that increased damage dealt.

Static = A group of players that meets at pre-scheduled times, usually to do high-end duties.

StB = Stormblood, to be less ambiguous than SB

Sting =   Final Sting

Story skip = Any of the Tales of Adventure: (Expansion) items, which will skip a character through the story for the chosen expansion and any earlier ones, including patch content.

STR = Strength

Strat = strategy

Supp, Supports = Tanks and Healers as a group, as opposed to DPS

Swift =   Swiftcast

SWTOR = Star Wars: The Old Republic, a competing MMORPG

T

T# = Bahamut raids, with the number indicating the "floor" of the raid.  The Binding Coil of Bahamut represents T1-T5,  The Second Coil of Bahamut represents T6-T9, and  The Final Coil of Bahamut represents T10-T13.

Tact =   Tactician

Tankbuster = A strong attack that is intended to be taken by a tank with mitigation actions. May be telegraphed with a red marker, but often has no indicator in high-end duties.

Tank stance = Tank actions that can be toggled on/off and significantly increase enmity gained. These include   Iron Will for Gladiator / Paladin,   Defiance for Marauder / Warrior,   Grit for Dark Knight, and   Royal Guard for Gunbreaker.

Tank swap = In duties with two tanks, tankbusters and other mechanics can require swapping which tank is currently holding enmity on the boss. To do this, the current off-tank will use   Provoke followed by the former main tank using   Shirk on the provoking player. This ensures the new tank has a strong enmity lead on the boss.

Taunt =   Provoke

Tax = A reduction in the damage dealt from a job compared to others of the same role that is perceived to exist due to an advantage in other areas (e.g., ability to buff the party, attacking from range, no cast times, ability to resurrect allies in combat).

TBN =   The Blackest Night

TCJ =   Ten Chi Jin

TEA =  The Epic of Alexander (Ultimate), an ultimate-difficulty 8-player raid

TEN = Tenacity; a tank-only stat that replaced Parry. Reduces damage taken and increases amount healed by a small amount. Generally considered a dump stat.

Tether = A common fight mechanic in which a character is connected to another entity with a visible line, representing a certain interaction (e.g. the target of an upcoming attack). Some tethers can be broken or passed to another player. Others will change appearance based on proximity.

Telegraph = A visual indicator to portray an upcoming attack and its' effective damage AoE/radius. This can be done through, but not limited to, AoE markers, the casted attack name, general mob animation, and those duties' relative mechanics. An "Untelegraphed" attack is one of which has little to no directed indication.

Tetra =   Tetragrammaton

TH =   Triple Hook

THM = Thaumaturge

THMR (or other combinations of T, H, M, R) = Refers to the order in which tanks (T), healers (H), acting melee DPS (M), and acting ranged DPS (R) resolve a specific mechanic.

TN =   True North. Also may refer to true north positioning, which is positioning for mechanics based on absolute compass directions, regardless of where the boss is facing.

Tomes = Allagan Tomestones

TOP =  The Omega Protocol (Ultimate), an ultimate-difficulty 8-player raid

ToS = Terms of Service

Tower = An AoE a player must stand in, or will deal high partywide damage if not taken in time, referring to the tower-like appearance of the markers.

TP = TP; Old resource similar to MP. Completely deprecated. TP can also stand for   Teleport.

Train = A large group of players moving together with a specific goal. Most common is a hunt train, which will kill a series of Rank A Elite Marks hunts across multiple overworld zones from an expansion. Usually led by a player called a conductor, who will announce the coordinates of the next mark.

Trap = A premade party that is failing to reach the advertised progression point in an encounter.

Trash = Enemies found in dungeons and some older raids that comprise the majority of the enemies in the instance and are weaker than bosses. They do not reward any notable loot and as of the release of Patch 6.0 no longer give XP, instead such rewards were shifted to the dungeon bosses.

Trick =   Trick Attack

Trio = A mechanic type, usually present in ultimate raids, that involves the boss and multiple untargetable enemies performing a complicated sequence of mechanics. The boss is usually untargetable for the entirety or a part of the mechanic, although there are some exceptions. Name originates from mechanics from  The Unending Coil of Bahamut (Ultimate).

Troub =   Troubadour

TT = Triple Triad

Twister = A mechanic originating from  The Binding Coil of Bahamut - Turn 5 in which players must move at the end of a cast bar to dodge instant-kill AoEs that will spawn under their location. In newer duties, this more generally refers to mechanics in which players must bait invisible AoEs and then dodge them.

TYFP = Thank you for (the) party. Usually said when a player is about to leave a party.

U

UCoB =  The Unending Coil of Bahamut (Ultimate), an ultimate-difficulty 8-player raid

Unsynced = Unrestricted Party

Uptime = Time during a fight that is spent damaging the boss. An uptime strat is a strategy for a mechanic that allows the party to handle mechanics while allowing more jobs to damage the boss during the mechanic (e.g., melees being within range or reduced movement for casters). See also: Downtime

UWU =  The Weapon's Refrain (Ultimate), an ultimate-difficulty 8-player raid. Stands for alternative name of Weapon's Refrain - Ultima Weapon (Ultimate).

V

V# = Omega raids, with the number indicating the "floor".  Omega: Deltascape represents V1-V4. Also commonly used with N or S to indicate normal or Savage mode (e.g. V4S refers to  Deltascape V4.0 (Savage)). Much more commonly denoted as O#.

VA =  The Void Ark

Veil =   Divine Veil

Venn diagram = To be hit by two or more overlapping AoEs at once that are not fully spread out. wikipedia:Venn diagram

Victory lap = A phase or mechanic at the end of a high-end encounter that is easier than the earlier parts of the fight.

VIT = Vitality

Voke =   Provoke

VPR = Viper

Vuln = Vulnerability Up, a debuff commonly given for failing mechanics

W

Wall = (noun) A persistent AoE at the edge of an arena that will instantly kill or inflict high damage-over-time to anyone who steps in it. (verb) To walk into the arena wall, usually as an intentional suicide method when a pull is deemed unrecoverable, or to cleanse a potent Damage Down debuff.

Wall boss = A large boss that is located outside of the arena. Cannot be moved around by the highest enmity player. Has a large hitbox and no positional requirements.

W2W / Wall-to-wall = A dungeon pull in which the party engages every enemy group in the path, until they reach a barrier that will prevent further progress until the enemies are defeated.

WAR = Warrior

WB = Welcome Back

Weave = To use an ability between uses of weaponskills or spells, during which the global cooldown is active. If done properly, this will execute the ability without delaying the global cooldown. Usually up to two abilities can be weaved ("double weaving"), although there are several exceptions, such as abilities with a long animation lock, or if the prior action has a short global cooldown or a cast time allowing room for only one weave.

WF = World First, usually referring the first group of players who clear a given encounter;   Wildfire

WHM = White Mage

Wild charge = A line AoE that will deal significantly higher damage to the first player hit, requiring a tank to stand in front of the targeted player(s) to mitigate damage. Originates from  The Final Coil of Bahamut - Turn 1.

Wings =   Passage of Arms or   Temperance

Wipe = A combat situation in which every member in a party is defeated. This causes the enemies/boss to regenerate all HP and the battle to restart.

WM =   The Wanderer's Minuet

WoD =  The World of Darkness OR Warrior of Darkness depending on context

WoL = Warrior of Light, the player character

WoW = World of Warcraft, a competing MMORPG

WP = (1)  The Wanderer's Palace, an entry-level level 50 dungeon that drops IL 55 gear; (2) World Progression: A highly skilled group of players who aim to be the first group in the world to clear new high-end content.

WR =  The Weapon's Refrain (Ultimate), an ultimate-difficulty 8-player raid. UwU (Ultima Weapon (Ultimate)) acronym is used more often

Wrench =   Dismantle

WS = Weaponskill. See also GCD.

WT = Wondrous Tails

WTB = Wants to buy; Used when advertising that you are buying specific items or services from other players.

WTS = Wants to sell; Used when advertising that you are selling specific items or services from other players.

WVR = Weaver

WW =   White Wind

WXHB = W Cross Hotbar, an optional expansion to the normal controller hotbar.

X

Xeno =   Xenoglossy

Y

Y = Yalm, an unit of distance in FFXIV

YPYT = "You pull (it), you tank (it)". The practice of intentionally refusing to obtain aggro on an enemy that a non-tank player pulled, or deliberately turning tank stance off (or refusing to turn it on) to try to kill other party members. Considered griefing and refusal to play your role under the Terms of Service, and can result in action being taken against your account.

YY = Ying-Yang, a notorious monster spawned in  The Forbidden Land, Eureka Pyros