What does DPS mean in Vampires vs. Werewolves?

DPS stands for Damage Per Second. It measures how much sustained damage a build deals over time, and is also used as shorthand for a damage-focused role in a group, as opposed to a tank or healer.

What is the difference between a buff and a debuff?

A buff is a temporary positive effect that raises one of your stats, such as attack or speed. A debuff is the opposite: a temporary negative effect placed on a target that lowers its stats or deals damage over time.

What does it mean to respec my character?

Respec means reallocating your skill or talent points to change your build without creating a new character. It lets you adapt to new content or the current meta at the cost of an in-game respec fee.

A rune word is a specific ordered sequence of runes socketed into a piece of gear. When the exact combination is placed in the correct order, it unlocks a powerful named effect greater than the sum of the individual runes.

What is prestige and should I use it?

Prestige resets a maxed-level character in exchange for permanent account-wide bonuses and exclusive cosmetics. It is optional and aimed at long-term players who have already cleared endgame content and want lasting rewards.

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Reference · Terminology

VvW Glossary — Terms, Slang & Mechanics

Every acronym, mechanic and piece of slang used across Aeternum, defined in plain English. From DPS and aggro to bloodline, lunar rage and rune words — jump to a letter, learn the language, then take it into the field.

Aggro: Enemy threat directed at a player. When a mob "has aggro" on you it has chosen you as its target — tanks build aggro on purpose so damage dealers stay safe.
AoE: Area of Effect. An attack or spell that hits every target within a zone rather than a single foe — essential for clearing packs and controlling arena fights.

Bloodline: A vampire's inherited ancestry, unlocking passive traits and clan-specific bonuses. Your bloodline shapes which builds and rune words play to your strengths.
Buff: A temporary positive effect that raises a stat such as attack, defence or movement speed. Opposite of a debuff.
Build: A chosen combination of class, skills, runes and gear tuned for a playstyle. Plan yours in the Skill Simulator.

Clan War: A scheduled large-scale PvP conflict between two clans over territory and rewards. The centrepiece of endgame social play.
Cooldown: The recharge time before a skill or item can be used again. Managing cooldowns — "CDs" — is the core of rotation play.
Crit: A critical hit that deals bonus damage, usually a multiple of the normal roll. Crit chance and crit damage are two separate stats to balance.

Debuff: A temporary negative effect that lowers a target's stats or applies damage over time. The counterpart to a buff.
DPS: Damage Per Second — a measure of sustained output, and shorthand for a damage-focused role in a group. Compare classes on the Class Tier List.

Enchant: Applying a magical property to gear to boost stats or add elemental effects. Stacks with rune words for specialised builds.

Farm: Repeatedly defeating enemies or running content to gather gold, XP or specific drops. See the Drop Tables for what's worth farming.

Gank: Ambushing an outnumbered or unaware player, usually in open-world PvP. To be "ganked" is to be jumped without warning.
Gear Score: A single number summarising the combined power level of your equipped items — a quick shorthand for how geared a player is.
Grind: Long, repetitive play to reach a level, reputation or currency goal. The steady path to prestige.

Kite: Attacking while retreating so a slower enemy can never close the distance. A staple of ranged and hit-and-run builds.

Loot Table: The list of possible drops and their chances for a given enemy, boss or chest. Ours are published on the Drop Tables page.
Lunar Rage: A werewolf resource that builds in combat and unleashes empowered abilities at full moon — the signature mechanic of the wolf race.

Meta: The Most Effective Tactics Available — the builds and strategies currently dominating play. The meta shifts with every balance patch.

Nerf: A balance change that weakens a class, skill or item. The opposite of a buff in the patch-notes sense.

Prestige: Resetting a maxed character for permanent account-wide bonuses and exclusive cosmetics. Aimed at long-term endgame players.
Proc: A chance-based effect triggering — such as a rune's bonus firing on hit. Short for "programmed random occurrence".
Pull: Deliberately drawing enemies toward your group to begin a controlled fight. A clean pull avoids waking extra packs.
PvE: Player versus Environment — combat against AI-controlled monsters and bosses.
PvP: Player versus Player — combat between human-controlled characters, from duels to full clan wars.

Respec: Reallocating your skill or talent points to change a build without rerolling. Test alternatives first in the Skill Simulator.
Rune Word: A specific ordered sequence of runes socketed into gear to unlock a powerful named effect greater than the runes alone.

Sustain: The ability to keep fighting through healing, lifesteal or resource regeneration. High sustain wins long fights of attrition.

Tank: A durable role built to absorb damage and hold enemy aggro off the group — the front line of any party.
Tier List: A ranking of classes or builds by relative strength, usually S through F. See our current Class Tier List.

Uptime: The share of a fight during which a buff, debuff or ability effect is active. Maximising uptime is key to top-tier DPS.

Vampiric Thirst: A vampire resource gained by dealing damage and spent to power blood-magic abilities — the mirror of werewolf lunar rage.

World Boss: A powerful open-world enemy meant for many players at once, with rich shared loot. Check its drop table before you commit.

XP: Experience Points earned from combat and quests that raise your character level toward the prestige threshold.

Zerg: Overwhelming an objective or foe through sheer numbers rather than tactics — common in unorganised clan wars.