Dota 2 can be an overwhelming game to new and season players alike. To help you with understanding the extensive terminology, we have created this glossary which looks at the most commonly used phrases and abbreviations used in the MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena). This way, you can walk the walk while talking the talk!
AA: Auto Attack
Aegis of the Immortal: Powerful item that revives the owner once when he dies in combat. Drops from Roshan*.
Aggro: When a creep or tower selects you as the highest priority target and starts attacking you.
AGI: Agility. One of Dota 2’s main stats. It increases Attack Speed and Armor and the power of agility based heroes.
Ancient: Core of the enemy base. The enemy Ancient needs to be destroyed to win the game.
AoE: Area of Effect. When an ability damages everything in a certain region.
B: Back. Indicator that someone is wanting to go back to base or that it is advisable to back off from a team fight.
Backdoor: When you attack a structure without the assistance of creeps. This often requires sneaking behind the enemy team as well.
BoT: Boots of Travel. Item that lets you travel to non-hero structures and even to allied heroes when upgraded.
BRB: Be Right Back.
Buff: An aura that increases certain stats.
Care: Be careful
Carry: Champions with high amounts of damage are considered carries. When left alive they will often singlehandedly kill the enemy team.
CC: Crowd Control. An ability that prevents a champion from doing anything for a short period of time.
Cd: Cooldown.
Courier: Creature that can be sent back and forth across the map to pick up items and transport them.
Creep: Creature that can be killed for gold.
Crow: Flying courier.
CS: Creep Score. The amount of creeps you have successfully killed.
Debuff: An aura that reduces certain stats.
Def: Short for “Defend”. Most often used when a teammate wants you to stop attacking and play defensively instead.
Deny: To kill your own minion before the enemy player can. This way he gets no gold for the kill as he did not deal the killing blow*.
Dire: The faction on the northern part of the map.
Dive: To go for a kill under the enemy tower, at the risk of taking a lot of damage from the tower.
DOTA: Short for Defense of the Ancients
DPS: Damage Per Second. How much damage a champion can deal per second.
Farming: Focusing on killing creeps to save up gold.
Fog of War: Area of the map that is only visible to the enemy team. Fog of war disappears when an allied champion or creep comes near.
Ganking: Showing up in a lane to create a player advantage and hopefully pick up a kill on an enemy player by surprising him.
GGWP: Good Game, Well Played. Often said at the end of an even game or used sarcastically.
GLHF: Good Luck, Have Fun. Often said at the start of a game.
Gold: Currency used in game to buy powerful items.
HP: Health Points
INT: Intelligence. One of Dota 2’s main stats. It increases Mana and Mana regeneration and the power of Intelligence based heroes.
Jungle: Area in between lanes where you can find jungle creeps.
Killing Blow: The final, deadly hit to a creep or building.
Kite: To get an enemy to chase you while you keep him at range.
KS: Kill steal. When one player puts in the effort to get an opponent to low health and another player comes in to finish him off.
Melee: An attack performed with a weapon. A melee champion uses mainly physical attacks.
Mia: Missing in action: When an enemy champion disappears from lane.
Mid: Lane that runs through the middle of the map
MP: Mana Points
Offlane: Going up against 1 or 2 enemy laners by yourself. This way your team has an easier time in their lanes.
Oom: Out of Mana. Said in chat when a player can no longer casts any spells.
QQ: Used to represent two eyes crying. Mostly used to express sadness.
Radiant: The faction on the southern part of the map
RNG: Random Number Generator. When a chance for something to happen is randomly selected. RNG is often blamed when things go wrong, even if it wasn’t the reason.
Roshan: A strong creep “Boss” who drops Aegis of the Immortal* when killed.
Rune: Runes spawn at two points in the river every two minutes. One rune will be one of the following: Double Damage Rune,Regeneration Rune, Illusion Rune, Haste Rune, or Invisibility Rune. The other rune will always be a Bounty Rune.
Solo: By yourself.
Squishy: When a champion is very easily killed he is often referred to as squishy.
SS: Short for “Missing”. Announced in chat when an enemy player is no longer visible in lane.
STR: Strength. One of Dota 2’s main stats. It increases Health and Health Regen and the power of strength based heroes.
Suicide: To kill yourself so the enemy does not earn any rewards for killing you.
Support: Utility champion who provides buffs and other benefits to the team such as vision, increased movement speed, slows,..
Throw: When a team has everything they need to win but still manage to lose a game somehow.
Top: Lane in the top part of the map.
Tower: A tower that fires at enemy champions who come near.
TP: Teleport.
Ult: The most powerful ability a champion has. It becomes available at level 6 and has a much longer cooldown than regular spells.
Warding: Placing wards to provide vision to your team. Warding is another way to deal with Fog of War*.
Zoning: Using your presence to keep an enemy champion away from his creeps so he can’t collect gold.
Do you feel like you understand Dota 2 a little bit better after this glossary? Great!
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