Guild Wars 2 Glossary

A beneficial effect on a character. There are 12 types, including Might, Quickness, and Alacrity. Repeated applications add duration or stacks. In groups, support players maintain their assigned boons.

A harmful effect on a character. Includes damaging conditions such as Bleeding and Burning, control conditions such as Chilled and Immobilized, and Vulnerability, which increases damage taken. You and your allies can also receive conditions.

Effects that disrupt enemies’ actions. Stun, Daze, and Knockback deal instant damage to an active defiance bar; conditions such as Chilled, Crippled, and Slow damage it over time. Fear and Taunt force ordinary enemies to move, but damage defiance bars over time. Coordinate CC while the bar is teal.

A bar below the target’s health. Teal means CC can reduce it, gray means locked, and brown means recharging. Breaking it can interrupt, stun, or increase damage taken, depending on the enemy. When normal Exposed is applied, it increases strike damage taken by 10% and condition damage taken by 20% for 10 seconds.

Direct damage based on Power, distinct from condition damage. Protection reduces incoming strike damage by 33%, but does not reduce condition damage.

Press V by default to dodge roll. Double-tapping a movement key also works if enabled in settings. Dodging briefly evades applicable attacks, but does not stop existing condition damage. Base endurance is 100, a dodge costs 50, and regeneration is 5 per second. With Vigor alone, regeneration becomes 7.5 per second.

An attack or support effect that affects an area. Do not judge whether an effect is friendly or hostile from color alone; watch enemy animations and mechanics too. Target limits vary, so check Number of Targets in the skill tooltip.

A system that produces extra effects by combining a field created by one skill with a finisher. For example, a projectile finisher through a fire field produces a burning projectile.

A state entered when health reaches zero, before being fully defeated. You fall down and have a limited skill set. Downed health is three times base health, but drains by about 2.5% per second and is further reduced by attacks. At zero downed health, you are defeated. Allies can revive you, or you can recover by meeting rally conditions.

Recovering when an enemy you earned kill credit on dies while you are downed. You do not need to land the final hit. Rally normally restores 25% of maximum health; ordinary revival by an ally restores 50%. Ambient creatures do not count. In WvW, one defeated enemy player can rally only one player.

A combination of traits, skills, and equipment attributes. One profession can fill roles such as strike damage, condition damage, boon damage, or healing. You can normally change builds out of combat, with additional restrictions in some situations such as PvP matches.

Level 80 Exotic gear can get you started in most content. Ascended attributes are about 5% higher; Legendary gear has the same attributes as Ascended with conveniences such as changing stats freely. From fractal scale 20, prepare Agony Resistance using equipment with infusion slots.

Runes upgrade armor; sigils upgrade weapons. Six matching superior runes grant six tiers of attribute bonuses. From level 60, one relic can be equipped in a separate slot to provide a special effect, independently of your rune set.

Infusions go into equipment with infusion slots, including Ascended and Legendary items. Agony Resistance, or AR, reduces agony damage in fractals and should be prepared from scale 20. Suggested values are 107 AR at scale 76 and 150 AR at scale 100.

Soulbound items belong to one character and cannot be used by another. Account Bound items can be shared within your account. Many Exotics become Soulbound when equipped, but there are exceptions; check the tooltip. Ascended and Legendary equipment is account-bound.

A strike damage build focused on Power, Precision, and Ferocity. Berserker’s gear is readily available, making it an option for your first set. Actual difficulty and performance depend on the profession and skills, so check how a beginner build plays.

A build focused on Condition Damage and Expertise that applies and maintains damaging conditions. Suitability depends on the profession, fight length, and encounter mechanics.

A linked sequence of open-world events. Some start on a fixed schedule; others depend on earlier event progress. To check timed events, enter /wiki et in game chat.

Account-wide PvE progression after level 80. The system unlocks when you reach level 80 and own a released expansion. Fill a track with experience earned in its region, then spend mastery points from that region to unlock it. Acquired abilities are shared across the account.

Instanced PvE for five-player parties. Normal difficulty scales run from 1 to 100 in four tiers, T1–T4. Agony appears from scale 20. Suggested Agony Resistance is 107 at scale 76 and 150 at scale 100; prepare it gradually as you advance.

An individual raid fight for a ten-player squad. Strike Missions were merged into raids and renamed on February 3, 2026. Beginners can use training listings or Quickplay under Raids (Training).

Level 80 PvE for ten-player squads. There are eight multi-encounter wings; Mount Balrior is wing 8. Individual encounters also include the former Strike Missions. Legendary armor is available through raids and other paths, including WvW, PvP, and Secrets of the Obscure open-world content.

Large-scale PvP where three teams fight across four main battleground maps, capturing camps, towers, and keeps. It offers a path to Legendary armor without PvE raiding.

Press Y to open Contacts and LFG, then select the LFG tab. Browse or post listings in categories such as open world, dungeons, fractals, and raids.

A party or squad that follows a route through hero challenges. Look for HP Train listings in the relevant region’s LFG category. Fully training one elite specialization costs 250 hero points. Time depends on the route, movement tools, and group pace.

A crafting facility with four input slots for specified recipes, including item creation and stat changes for Ascended weapons and armor. Also used in Legendary crafting. Start at Mystic Plaza in Lion’s Arch. Arborstone’s forge requires Commercial Hub mastery; some lounges require a pass.

Discovering or completing a map’s Waypoint · Point of Interest · Vista · Hero Challenge · Heart(Renown Heart). Completion awards rewards such as coins and materials. Central Tyria world completion grants Gifts of Exploration used in first-generation Legendary weapons.

Damage Per Second. Also used as a role label for damage dealers, such as power DPS and condition DPS.

Best in Slot: the equipment and attributes best suited to a slot in a particular build. Compare both rarity and attribute combinations.

Items, achievements, or other records used to show boss kill experience. Group leaders may request KP to check participants’ experience. killproof.me is an external service for sharing records from registered accounts.

A squad leader shown by a colored map icon. “Follow the tag” is common in WvW and meta events. A Commander’s Compendium costs 300 gold and 250 Badges of Honor.

A large group moving and fighting together, often in WvW or PvE events. Roaming usually means playing alone or in a small group.