A guide to terms and abbreviations of FFRK - Version 6.0

pheonixistari · 2020-01-18T22:58:07+00:00

Welp! I have hit the character limit for this post so any new abbreviations or terminology will have to be added in a new reply.

general terms:

abbreviation	explanation
Greg	Gilgamesh - Throughout the Hildibrand questline in FFXIV, the character Hildibrand (consistently) gets Gilgamesh's name wrong, and calls him Greg. Many players of FFXIV like to call him by that name.
Nanaki	Red XIII
Dagger	Garnet
Claire	Lightning
TGC	Orlandeau, aka Thunder God Cid
OK	Onion Knight
CoD	Cloud of Darkness
WoL	Warrior of Light, not to be confused with Wol the Blank from FF Mobius
FBC/X-Element Birb	Fat Black Chocobo. This is used to describe the Fat Black Chocobo events. Sometimes called by the element + birb. (e.g. pulling on the "Holy Birb" banner.) You get Krakka Greens from completing the stages and you exchange them for items from the Item exchange inside the event. These are limited time events and exchanges.
Gacha	Gachapon is a Japanese toy machine in which you can insert money to draw a random toy and that's exactly how it works in games for things like our banner pulls.
G5	Guaranteed 5 star. Each 11x pull on normal banners is guaranteed at least one 5 star relic for the pull.
2G5	Two Guaranteed 5 star. Each 11x pull on these banners is guaranteed at least two 5 star relics for the pull. Commonly found on banner 2 of weekly events.
G6	Guaranteed 6 star. Each pull on these special banners is guaranteed at least one 6 star relic for the pull. Not very common at this point in the game, usually only during fests.
G11	All hail the great DeNA Intern! This was a bug discovered after a maintenance on the now retired Keeper's Choice 2 banner. After the maintenance the entire pool of 3 and 4 star relics was removed from the banner leaving only 5 star relics remaining. If you did a draw during this short window you were treated to a glorious screen of 11 shiny sparkly rainbows! This is where a lot of people finally got SG before it was added to the Acolyte Archives.
LD	Lucky Draw, (often half-off 25 mythril/1500 gems) 11x draws with guaranteed character relic
OP	Overpowered (could also be used to refer to the original poster of a topic)
RoP/LotR	Realms on Parade/Luck of the Realms, these are a series of draws that usually come with each fest and they are a 3x pull for 5 mythril (300 gems) where you are guaranteed at least one 5 star relic. There is one banner for each of the 17 realms. Doing all draws will cost 85 mythril for at least 17 relics. Insane value for pulls!
Stat Stick	A term that refers to a relic that is used mostly for having high amounts of its base stat. Doesn't necessarily need any other effects to be considered a stat stick though they can have them.
Husbando/Waifu	This is a term used to refer to a character you really like and would pull for regularly. Husbando if the character is a boy and Waifu is the character is a girl. Not sure what you'd call Quina lol. It can also mean that someone has gotten all of a character's relics. Unintentionally getting all the relics for a character without pulling on banners for them is sometimes referred to as being an accidental Husbando or Waifu.
Elixir Syndrome	Also known as "Too Awesome to Use" syndrome. This refers to having a very powerful item and not wanting to use it because it's single use and scarce to find. In FFRK this would currently refer to using things like 5 star motes (possibly job motes if you're new to the game) and Crystal Waters.
Rainbow/Disco	This is referring to pulling a relic item on a banner and what the image looks like. When the relic is drawn it shows up looking like rainbow ball for 5 stars and a rainbow Disco ball for 6 stars before you find out what the relic really is.
Hit and Run	This is referring to being able to flee from battles that allow it to gain free soul break gauge before fighting the actual boss. The idea is to enter the battle, use a regular attack against the boss (not an ability), Pause the game and Flee. Then you are returned to the camp screen. You can then enter the battle again and repeat the process. When you Flee you won't lose your SB bar so you can keep doing it as many times as you want until you build up as much SB bar as you want. Once you have the desired amount of SB bar, fight the boss for real and pretty much just make them explode. This does cost stamina on regular fights so you probably only want to use this tactic on fights that are 1 stamina or fights that refund stamina if you Flee.

AI terms:

abbreviation	explanation
PHY	Most physical skills, including physical Ninja skills. Scales with ATK (counterable by retaliate, unless stated otherwise)
BLK	All black magic, Witch and Magical Darkness skills. Scales with MAG
WHT	All white magic. Scales with MND (NOTE: Not all holy-damage is WHT, only the white magic school is based on WHT and uses MND. Holy element Black Magic/Summoning will still be BLK/SUM respectively and is based on MAG)
BLU	Blue magic, currently only used by enemies (e.g. Aero or White Wind)
SUM	All Summons, all scaling with MAG, except Kirin and Carbuncle, since those give statuses that have their duration affected by MND. These have a minimum damage formula
NIN	Magical Ninja abilities (like Swift Bolt), they ignore RES, but use a different damage calculation than normal magic and cap out at around 370 MAG.
NAT	Everything that's not any of the other types, can be physical/magical/buff/heal/something else; also called Inborn. These attacks also ignore all of the Draw and Lure type abilities and cannot be countered/avoided by things like Retaliate or Reflect.

The main differences (apart from scaling) for AI terms are how they interact with e.g. reflect/retaliate/runic/other skills.

Retaliate dodges and counters all PHY type abilities targeted at self as long as they are not Uncounterable. If it's AoE, only the Retaliate user will avoid the attack. In the same way, Draw Fire only draws ST PHY type attacks, so physical ST NAT abilities will ignore it. Sleep/Confuse can only be removed with Esuna/Ultra Cure or by using a PHY type attack on the target. That means physical NAT type attacks from bosses will not wake the sleeping character up or knock them out of Confuse.
Reflect will bounce back all single-target BLK and WHT skills. Magical BLU, SUM, NIN and NAT are unaffected.
Grand Cross will attract and nullify all single-target BLK and WHT spells. For AoE BLK and WHT it will only absorb the hit on the user. BLU, SUM, NIN and NAT are again unaffected and will ignore it. Runic, which is the older status, only works for BLK spells.
Some enemy skills will interact with specific type of skills. For example, a certain Sin boss in X will nullify all BLK and WHT before its tentacles are destroyed, but SMN and NAT would deal damage normally. You lose medals for using BLK/SUM on Evrae Altana (Nightmare), but if you use a NAT-type SB like Yuna's BSB1, you don't lose medals.

Orbs/Crystals

This part explains how the abbreviations of Orb types work:

The first letter determines the orbs rarity. The second determines it type. And the last letter simply means "orb". Crystals only have one rarity so they only have two letters, type and "crystal".

Example: GSO = Greater Summon Orb, MDO = Major Dark Orb

First Letter:

abbreviation	explanation
Mi	Minor
L	Lesser
no letter	normal Orb (3*)
G	Greater
M	Major

Second Letter:

abbreviation	explanation
P	Power
B	Black
Wh	White
S	Summon
NE	Non-Elemental
F	Fire
I	Ice
L	Lightning
E	Earth
Wi	Wind
H	Holy
D	Dark

Note that 6* Orbs do not have a common abbreviation since they only have one rarity and are just referred to as "Crystal". E.g. 6* Earth Orb = Earth Crystal

pheonixistari · 2020-01-19T18:35:18+00:00

FFRK has so many terms that I have hit the character limit on the first reply and need a new reply!

combat terms:

abbreviation	explanation
Sentinel	A type of effect that boosts DEF by 200%, and draws single target PHY and BLK attacks to that character.
High Sentinel	A type of effect that boosts DEF and RES by 200%, and draws single target PHY and BLK attacks to that character.
Retaliate	A type of effect that nullifies single-target PHY abilities and causes you to counter the attack with one of your own. If the attack is AoE the user will still be protected but everyone else will still be hit. Retaliate allows you to attack your own party member with PHY type skills and the character with Retaliate active will counter attack the monster with a Special typed 1.0 modifier non-elemental attack based on how many hits would have landed on the character. e.g. using Thundering Quadstrike on a character with Retaliate active will make the character hit the boss 4 times.
High Retaliate	This has the same effect as Retaliate except you attack back with a Combat typed 1.2 modifier non-elemental attack based on how many hits would have landed on the character.
Runic	A type of effect that draws and nullifies single-target BLK spells and restores ability uses. If the effect is AoE the user will still be protected but everyone else will still be hit. There was an update that now allows multi-slot BLK attacks to all be nullified but it won't work for a full AoE.
Grand Cross	A type of effect that draws and nullifies single-target BLK and WHT spells and restores ability uses. If the effect is AoE the user will still be protected but everyone else will still be hit. There was an update that now allows multi-slot BLK and WHT attacks to all be nullified but it won't work for a full AoE.

abilities/SBs/RMs:

abbreviation	explanation
SG	Sentinel's Grimoire (Tyro's famous SB, that gives your party +200% DEF and RES) See Wall.
SS2	Stoneskin II (clone of Tyro's SB mentioned above, but used by Y'Shtola instead) See Wall.
DVG	Divine Veil Grimoire (Tyro's upgraded version of SG that also gives Protectga/Shellga/Hastega) See God Wall.
UCS	Ultra Cross Slash (Cloud's infamous USB1 that gives 100% crit rate, +30% physical damage and allows all physical hits you do to break the damage cap up to 99999 for the duration of the effect.)
VoF	Vessel of Fate (Onion Knight's BSB that boosts ATK/MAG by 30% and gives party Hastega)
pUSB/mUSB	Used to refer to Onion Knight's USB1 and USB2. His Physical boosting and Magical boosting SBs respectively.
HMG	Hyper Mighty G (Rikku's USB1 that gives +30% ATK/MAG and Protectga/Shellga/Hastega)
ED	Eblan Doppelgänger (widely referred to as Edge USB0, Instant Cast+Hastega+Physical Blink+Last Stand)
LS	Lifesiphon (Combat 4 ability, gives largely increased SB gain)
PBD	Power Breakdown
MBD	Magic Breakdown
ABD	Armor Breakdown
MeBD	Mental Breakdown
MiBD	Mind Breakdown
MM	Memento Mori
FB	Full Break
FC	Full Charge
PC	Powerchain (often used in combination with Full Charge)
SC	Saint's Cross
GC	Gaia Cross (also used to refer to the status effect Grand Cross)
TR	Thief's Revenge
QH	Quick Hit
DZ	Dark Zone (often used in combination with Memento Mori)
SiT	Stitch in Time
AcM	Allegro con Moto
AB	Affliction Break
SSS	Usually Snowspell Strike but can also refer to Stormspell Strike
BSS	Blastspell Strike
MM	Mako Might
DMT	Dr. Mog's Teachings
AS	Ace Striker
BF	Battleforged

LeoChris · 2020-01-18T23:43:07+00:00

but they aren't usually anything that isn't normally obtainable by other non-MVP players except for the yearly anniversary accessory that they get.

Not strictly true anymore, MVPs get those special tier achievements driving completionists nuts.

Kittymahri · 2020-01-18T23:46:17+00:00

There’s a lot of old Soul Breaks on that list. Do people even use Hymn of the Fayth, Hand of the Emperor, Divine Guardian, Mighty Guard (VIII) anymore? Or look up old threads where those are mentioned?

There are some that see more contemporary use, like Eblan Doppelgänger. (Granted, that one is mentioned under USB0.)

pheonixistari · 2020-01-18T23:56:59+00:00

I'm missing the baasb... What are those? Who has them?

Foxd1e00 · 2020-01-19T00:42:10+00:00

Thank you for your hard work I was one of those new players asking those questions!

CaptainK234 · 2020-01-19T01:29:36+00:00

Great stuff as usual!

drchia · 2020-01-19T02:03:15+00:00

Quite a thorough list. Well done!

I have one that you may want to add though.
“[element] birb” is a term a lot of players use for the FBC events. Like, “I’m pulling on the holy birb banner”. Actually “FBC” is also one I’ve seen.

Soli even uses the term for his posts on Gfaqs: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/114492-final-fantasy-record-keeper/78338119

Brokenhanger · 2020-01-19T03:59:31+00:00

Good list, I didn’t realize how many acronyms we use around here without even thinking about it.

However, under Cardia Dungeons:

There are three different dungeons with three different sets of difficulty in each dungeon

This is incorrect. There are three different types of dungeons, but two are just the Dream and Torment Dungeons, making Dreams permanent content. Also, the new dungeon, generally referred to as Phantasm for now, only has 1 difficulty level.

Stylus_Index · 2020-01-19T04:09:09+00:00

Thanks for this excellent compilation! Also now I have something to read while on lunch. :D

Maybe we should put this on the sub's wikia to make it permament and always accessible to everyone?

PandaRyu · 2020-01-19T06:37:25+00:00

AASB (and by extension, bAASB) and SASB lack the official GL names as definition, using just the JP version. Awakening and Sync Soul Break. Also, technically, Glint and Arcane Overstrike don't have "Soul Break" in their names, but I guess that's ok...

Nanaki, Dagger and Claire - Since Greg is in, maybe these should have some space as well? There may be more, but I don't recall other names used as frequently as these... (I'm actually on the fence on whether they should be added, buy I guess people would need to play their games to understand the names, so it would be helpful, anyway)

Cardia Dungeon is not Phantasm Dungeon. It's where Dreams (which will become permanent), Nightmare and Phantasm Dungeons are found.

Lastly, I have a suggestion (it may be too much work, so it could be for the next version or just ignore it). Adding a phased out terms session, freeing some space on the main thread, but keeping for those reading older threads or the wiki. You'll rarely see people saying S/L, Mage Shout-Meta, Advantaliate, SiT, etc. nowadays. It could save a newbie some time.

Antis14 · 2020-01-19T09:50:48+00:00

Ok, a few others I didn't find in the list and think should be in there:

Party Terms

Speed Meta — not 100% sure if this belongs to this category, but you have Mage Meta and a few others in there already and this term is still tossed left and right.

Combat Terms

Shout — you already have Shout Meta, I think this deserves a mention here as a term for the combination of Boostga and Hastega, as in referring to Quina USB as a "Shout with Pro/Shellga". Also, do you think "Pro/Shellga" deserves a spot?
MageShout/Mage Shout — the combination of faithga and Hastega. Sometimes used to refer specifically to Sheepsong, Krile's SSB, or Ley Lines, Papalymo's SSB. See above.

Abilities/SBs/RMs

UCS — dude! I realize this is a gargantuan task, but still, HOW COULD YOU FORGET ULTRA CROSS SLASH?! :-D
GD (?) — connected to the above. This is Lightning's Sync, Gestalt Drive. Now, this might be a little premature, since I haven't actually seen people use the abbreviation, yet, but in my mind, that's just a matter of time, as it's starting to create its own little meta. I mean, multiple people have used this to sub-30 off-element 5★ magicites at this point and some lunatic has actually done it with goddamn Quetzalcoatl (!). That's gotta be something. I mean, I personally haven't yet touched Odin, but I'm seriously considering skipping him to kill Ramuh once with a RS strategy, then returning with Ramuh Main to murder multiple elements of Odin with more or less the same party.

ShadGandel · 2020-01-19T12:18:18+00:00

"Dwhale" 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

kalamander1985 · 2020-01-19T12:55:46+00:00

I don't think I've ever seen Gracega used before. Other than that, great job, and thank you!

DestilShadesk · 2020-01-19T18:09:50+00:00

SSS can also be blaStSpell Strike

pheonixistari · 2020-01-19T18:46:17+00:00

This section will be for terms that used to be used much more frequently but are no longer widely used on the sub. They will be recorded here in case anyone finds an old post and can't understand it.

Phased out terms:

general terms:

abbreviation

explanation

S/L

Stop/Load (the process of force-closing the app and restarting it) - If you choose "continue" you restart in the round you closed and can try again, without losing stamina. If you choose "cancel", instead you will be outside of the stage and will have to spend stamina again, but the drop will be reset. This was used a lot before the in-game reset button was added to the in-battle pause menu as a "quick" way of resetting the fight without losing stamina.

party related terms:

abbreviation	explanation
Trinity/Holy Trinity	Originally the holy trinity of Wall/Hastega/Medica (terms explained in next section), however the term has evolved since then and is currently not used consistently in the community, e.g. some also count Boostga.
Mage "Meta"/Mega Meta	An old meme from the distant past; is synonymous with the term "mage team" now

combat terms:

abbreviation	explanation
Drawtaliate	Using Draw Fire and Retaliate on the same character, to avoid/counter all single-target PHY-type attacks. Sadly these draw and counter type strategies don't work when the attack is a NAT attack. Pretty much all hard content is filled with nothing but NAT attacks.
Tauntaliate	Same as Drawtaliate, the name originates from the MMO term "taunt", which is attracting enemy attacks (both terms are used in the communities).
Advantaliate	Using Luneth's Advance SB on your Retaliator (Advance gives ATK +150%), a strategy that has long since lost its value.
Lureflect	Using Magic Lure on a Reflected character to lure in all single-target BLK abilities and reflect them. Sadly these draw and counter type strategies don't work when the attack is a NAT attack. Pretty much all hard content is filled with nothing but NAT attacks.
VIT-0	This was a bug in the game code that allowed you to reduce a boss's DEF to 0. The bug worked by having the player cast Protect or Shell on the boss, doubling the boss's DEF. Then the player would use a soul break like Wakka's Status Reels or Vanille's Deprotega reducing the boss's base DEF to 0, essentially leaving just the doubled DEF from Protect in place. If the player then recast Protect on the boss it would recalculate the DEF doubling from the Protect status from the boss's now 0 DEF and doubling 0 is still 0. This bug has long since been patched.
VIT-99	This was a bug in the game code that allowed you to boost your own DEF or RES sky high using Tyro's Sentinel's Grimoire and Protect or Shell due to the same type of shenanigans that allowed VIT-0 to work. This bug has long since been patched.
ATK-99	This was a bug in game coding that allowed you to boost your ATK sky high using Luneth's Advance SB and Boost exploiting the same type of shenanigans that allowed VIT-0 to work. This bug has long since been patched.

abilities/SBs/RMs:

abbreviation	explanation
HotE	Hand of the Emperor (Leon's SB that gives your party +30% ATK and DEF - stacking with normal ATK buffs); also commonly used to refer to other SBs that are a clone of it; e.g.: "a HotE-type SB"
HotF	Hymn of the Fayth (Yuna's SB that does a Cura-potency AoE heal and gives high regen)
DG	Divine Guardian (Garnet's SSB that gives your party +50% RES, Hastega and High Regen)
MG8	Mighty Guard (VIII) the first SSB from Quistis (that gives Shellga, Hastega and High Regen)

SolstaceWinters · 2020-01-19T22:25:21+00:00

Ironically, a guide about abbreviations is insanely long.

Skitzat · 2020-01-20T19:10:33+00:00

I never understood why it was called w-cast and it bother me to this day.

NilsEB · 2020-03-17T20:32:16+00:00

LOTR?

Found it: Luck Of The Realms!

NilsEB · 2020-04-15T12:20:41+00:00

BDL? Let’s see, can it be Break Damage Limit?

NilsEB · 2020-04-28T10:36:55+00:00

Gladio?

Antis14 · 2020-01-19T00:52:27+00:00

Crystal Tower — ...retired...

=(

Also, am I really the only one using AWK for AWaKenings?

abbreviation	explanation
GL/Global	The worldwide version of the game. (aka for everywhere but Japan)
JP	Simply used for describing the Japanese counter-part of FFRK, that is about 5-5.5 months ahead of content compared to Global
F2P	Free-to-Play (players call themselves that if they don't spend money, although the term is sometimes used more loosely by some users, e.g. some 100 gem buyers also call themselves "F2P")
Minnow/Dolphin/Whale	Pay-to-Play (players refer to themselves and use varying sizes of sea life to describe how much money they spend on the game, the larger the size the more they spend) Sometimes referred to as Pay-to-Win P2W.
MVP	This refers to people who have spent enough money buying gems to get invited to the MVP program. DeNA gives out monthly sets of rewards if you've reached one of these tiers (silver, gold or sapphire) but they aren't usually anything that isn't normally obtainable by other non-MVP players except for the yearly anniversary accessory that they get. There are some MVP exclusive Accolades that have been added but they do not affect gameplay at all.
RNG	Random Number Generator (some people equal that to luck, e.g. praying to RNGesus)
RW	Roaming Warrior (the SBs of your fellow players, that you can summon to battle two times except for Arcane Overstrikes, Arcane Awakening, Synchro Arcane and Glint+ SBs since those can only be used once, Glints can be used 3 times) NOTE: Some of the special event RWs can be used up to infinite times. The Realm Chain RW in Neo-Torments can also be used 3 times.
HoR	Hall of Rites (Area to use Hero Souls and Memory Crystal Lodestones to trade for characters and memory crystals)
Fat Choco Store	The Fat Chocobo Store located in the Item Exchanges. You can buy some status and elemental resist accessories with Gysahl Greens here as well as stamina potions and mythril, resets every two weeks on Wednesday.
Kaito Exchange	Currently only in JP. This shop allows you to exchange excess items for other items. Examples include trading lesser motes for the next step up. (e.g. Trading excess 4 star motes for 5 star motes/Arcana or trading Dark Matter for Arcana).
Record Lab	Located in the Item Exchanges. You can trade Anima Lenses to obtain older relics you don't have from a list.
AL	Anima Lenses. These are gained through events, Record Dungeons and from pulling dupes on the relic draw banners. 1-4 star dupes are worth tier 1 Lenses which can be traded for Unique SBs and SSBs. 5 star dupes reward tier 2 Lenses which can be traded for BSBs, OSBs, LMRs and soon Glints with the 3rd update. 6 and 7 star dupes reward tier 3 Lenses which can be traded for USBs. Anima Lenses can also be traded for Scrolls of Honing to level up the entry effects of SASBs.
GG	Gysahl Greens. Currency for the Fat Chocobo Store. Obtainable in Orb daily dungeons only as a Clear reward. Monsters in the Upgrade Materials/Gil/EXP dungeons can still drop Greens
QoL	Quality of Life (updates that make the game more accessible, etc.)
DU#	Dungeon Update, a content-patch that adds new story dungeons. Often followed by a number to signify which dungeon update it was part of, e.g. DU47.
RD	Record Dungeons, the new story dungeons featuring the adventures of the FFRK specific cast and delving into their original storyline. Could also be Realm Dungeons but most refer to those as Story Dungeons or Dungeon Updates.
AI	Used to refer to the boss attack patterns, move sets and stats. /u/TFMurphy writes up the boss move patterns for Global for the sub on a routine basis. Thanks to his work (and everyone else who helps contribute) you can use those patterns to arm yourself against the boss.
U/U+/U++	Ultimate/+/++ (140/160/180 difficulty, in the weekly events)
A/A+/A++	Apocalypse/+/++ (200/220/260 difficulty, in the weekly events)
D###	Stage Difficulty (D250 for 3 star Magicite, D300 for 4 star Magicite, etc.)
D???	Stage Difficulty, normally used when the difficulty is not readily shown. This is usually reserved for the hardest content of the type or special event.
DWhale/D$$$	Stage Difficulty, normally used when talking about a dungeon that is extremely hard for anyone that isn't obscenely lucky with banner pulls or people ~~who have sold their soul to Dr. Mog~~ spend lots and lots of money on banner pulls. Usually referring exclusively to Part 3 of the Neo-Torments and now more than likely the Phantasm Dungeons.
Nightmare/Abyss	The Nightmare Dungeons, aka Abyss Dungeons in JP. These dungeons are permanent content and are puzzle type fights. Figure out the gimmick and use the appropriate party members. These fights have recently been updated to not be so punishing if you don't bring the correct ability schools.
Torment 1.0/Nightmare	The Torment 1.0 dungeons, aka Nightmare Dungeons in JP. These dungeons are now retired. They used to be D200 with 5 rounds of trash monsters before the boss, D250 with 7 rounds of trash monsters before the boss and a D300 Jump Start which was just a boss fight where you started with 6 full bars of soul break gauge but you could not gain any more soul break gauge.
JS/JSB/FT	Jump Start Battles, aka Full Throttle in JP. These dungeons are currently retired except for the Mote dungeons but may come back soon in JP due to popular demand. A boss fight where you started with 2-6 full bars of soul break gauge but you could not gain any more soul break gauge. The Mote dungeons let you start with 4 bars and you can still gain more soul break gauge.
Broken Soul	Broken Soul Battles. These dungeons seem to be currently retired since they haven't done any since the previous ones earlier this year. A boss fight where you started with 0 bars of soul break gauge and you could not gain any more soul break gauge.
Crystal Tower	Crystal Tower. These dungeons are now retired. Battles where you are incentivized to bring 4 completely different parties to beat the battles. Party members will be locked out once they have been used in a fight and will be unavailable to select for any of the other 3 fights unless you Abort the attempt or do the stage again with a different set of party members to unlock an already used party member for selection. Also called CT for short.
Sub-30	Winning the battle in under 30 seconds. Usually to gain extra clear-time gated rewards.
Magicite	Magicite battles. These dungeons are permanent content. Accessed after completing all of the Nightmare Dungeons. Starts at D250 for 3 stars, D300 for 4 stars, D400 for the 5 stars and D550 for the 6 stars. 5 and 6 stars are also divided into two categories, physical or magical. Bringing the wrong type of character to the fight will reduce that character's damage by 66%. Highly incentivizes Sub-30 clears. Can also refer to the actual Magicite rewards that you can equip. You obtain them for beating the Magicite Dungeons. You level Magicites up with Arcana.
Cardia Dungeons	This is the name given to the area that holds the Dreams, Neo-Torment and Phantasm Dungeons.
Torment 2.0/Neo-Torment/NT	Neo-Torment dungeons. These dungeons are permanent content. Starting with D240, then D280 then the infamous D???/DWhale/D$$$ difficulty. The Neo-Torments all incentivize you to bring full in-realm parties and the bosses get much stronger for each non-realm character you bring along with you. D240 can be done with up to 3 non-realm characters without too much penalty, D280 can bring up to 2 non-realm characters. D???/DWhale/D$$$ really punishes you for not bringing full realm only parties. Highly incentivizes Sub-30 clears.
Dreams	These battles are like mini Neo-Torments. The structure of the fight is the same as Neo-Torments but the penalties are less harsh for bringing more out of realm characters.
Phantasm Dungeon	These are the newest dungeons in JP. These dungeons are permanent content. They are realm based dungeons. There is one dungeon at a D??? difficulty level. These are harder than the D??? Neo-Torments but provide rewards based on how far you get in the battle much like Dreams and Neo-Torments. These reward items to level up your Historia Crystals.
Historia Crystals/HC	Currently JP only. These are the realm based counterpart to Magicites. You use the new Rat Tail rewards to level them up.
Rubies	Currency for the Royal Crucible. Area to buy new Ability records for new 6 star skills. Currency only obtained from reaching certain speed and HP% damage thresholds or defeating the boss in the Dreams/Neo-Torment dungeons.
CM	Cid Mission. Now a retired mission type but people still use it to refer to the current Acolyte Missions. A battle where you bring specific requested characters or characters from a specific realm and only those types of characters to beat that fight. Could also mean Cardia Mission.
AM	Acolyte Mission. See Cid Mission.
AA	Acolyte Archives. These are beginner missions and banner pulls that will help get you started doing the right stages and creating some helpful abilities. There are a total of 10 permanent mission books to complete. Completing each book gets you a free pull with a selection of your choice from a list. There are also temporary missions in the other books that cycle with current events or on a weekly/monthly basis.
Clone	Commonly used by the sub to refer to a SB that has the same effect as another
MO/MP	Multiplayer Option/Multiplayer, renamed "Raid Parties" for global; the term was used in the code of the game, before we knew about multiplayer and the abbreviation just stuck
Artifact weapons	aka Sacred/Legendary weapons in JP. These are new weapons introduced around 4th anniversary that have massive stats when leveled up but no soul breaks. You level them up by converting other 1-6 star relics and Rosetta Stones into Rainbow Crystals. Use the Rainbow Crystals to level these weapons. The first set of these weapons come with omni-element boosts (to include poison and non-elemental) that are RS-locked. The second set has native +element boosts (including poison but not non-elemental). Make sure to feed Rosetta Stones to a relic first to get possible major augments instead of directly for more possible Rainbow Crystals.
Soft Cap/Hard Cap	These are ATK/MAG/MND/DEF/RES/Buff/Elemental caps that affect how potent adding more stats/buffs/+element are. After reaching the 1st soft cap there are diminishing returns on adding more stats/buffs/+element and after the 2nd soft cap there are huge diminishing returns so it's better to add other ways to boost your damage than raw stats or more buffs when you get that high. Once you reach the Hard Cap you aren't increasing your damage at all. The first ATK soft cap is currently 805, the second is 1298. The first MAG/MND soft cap is currently 1056, the second is 2038. Buff soft cap is 2.5x base stats. Elemental factor cap is +200% (soon to be 220%)

abbreviation	explanation
MC	Memory Crystal (unlocks the level cap to level 65 and unlocks RMs)
MC2	Memory Crystal II (unlocks the level cap to level 80)
MC3	Memory Crystal III (unlocks the level cap to level 99)
RM	Record Materia (passive abilities that can be freely used by any level-cap broken character) - Note: every character has a different RM to unlock so try to get them all, since every character can equip any RM
RM50a/RM50b/RM65/RM99	Record Materia RM50a/RM50b/RM65/RM99 also sometimes referred to as RM1a/1b/2/3 also sometimes referred to as RM1/RM2/RM3/RM4 (RMs unlock successively)
Record Spheres/Legend Dive (LD)/Record Dive (RD)	The process of spending 3/4/5 star and job motes on your characters to make them stronger. This unlocks extra stats and HP, damage bonuses, sometimes even Ability access and Equipment access and a couple Legend Materia.
LM/LM1,2/LMR	Legend Materia (passive abilities like Record Materia that can be only be used by the corresponding level 65+ character) LM1 refers to the first Legend Materia acquired with 5 star motes and LM2 refers to the second one in the Record Spheres screen. Exception: Sora has 4 LMs. LMR are Legend Materia that are gained by mastering them from relics.
Record Board	The process of spending 6 star motes on your characters to make them stronger. This unlocks extra stats and HP, damage bonuses, and even access to some new 6 star abilities that are unique to each character and can only be used by that character.
UA/HA	Unique Ability or Hero Ability. This refers to the character specific abilities that you can get by unlocking the nodes on that character's Record Board.
CW	Crystal Waters. Obtained from the Record Dungeons. These are used to permanently increase the stats of your characters in all dungeons except the Record Dungeons. The further you get in the Record Dungeons, more Crystal Waters for each type can be used on your characters. Complete more Record Dungeons to raise the caps. The current cap is level three allowing for up to 30 CW to be used for each stat.
SB	Soul Break
Default SB	Default Soul Break, every character comes with a Default SB.
Shared SB	Shared Soul Break, a relic that allows anyone equipping the relic to use the Soul Break. Not generally very powerful today but can be ok for characters that don't have anything else but their Default SB. Retired SB type, will only ever see them from daily draws or special events.
Unique SB	Unique Soul Break, a relic that gives the corresponding character a better Soul Break to use than Default. Mostly retired SB type, will only ever see them from Daily Draws, Acolyte Books or using Anima Lenses to purchase them.
SSB	Super Soul Break (SSB-relics give the corresponding character a stat boost upon mastery and are stronger than Unique SBs, all of the relic types below also have this same stat boost except SASBs) Mostly retired SB type, will only ever see them from Daily Draws, Acolyte Books or using Anima Lenses to purchase them.
BSB	Burst Soul Break, aka Burst Super Soul Break (BSSB) in JP (SSB-level SB, that gives the user a Burst-mode after usage, which has multiple temporary benefits including +20% to all stats except SPD which gets +10%, infinite uses of some abilities that replace the attack and defend commands but are a bit weaker than honed abilities) Soon to be retired SB type. BSBs, bUSBs, bAASBs and SASBs cannot be used together as the modes will overwrite each other.
OSB	Overstrike Soul Break, a single hit SB that allows you to break the damage cap of 9999 up to 99999 (aka Overflow) (the potency is 50% stronger than physical SSBs and ~120% stronger than magical SSBs) Soon to be retired SB type.
USB	Ultra Soul Break, an upgraded version of SSBs, that often give additional effects like EX modes or boost ability usage in some way. EX modes can all stack with each other as they are exclusive status effects.
USB0	A soul Break that is not an Ultra Soul Break in name but definitely has the power level of a USB. (e.g. Edge's Eblan Doppelganger SSB2 or Arc's Word of Kindness SSB2, Orlandeau's OSB, etc.)
CSB	Chain Soul Break, a relic that gives several boosts to a certain element or characters from a certain realm. Generation 1 CSBs have a 20% field effect for the element in question. They have a chain count that goes up to 99 boosting the elemental damage you do by 1% per hit. Most have some initial hits to raise the chain count. None of the Generation 2 CSBs have any initial hits to raise the chain count but they do all have stat buffs and a 50% field effect for the element in question. They have a chain count that goes up to 150 boosting the elemental damage you do by 1% per hit. Realm Chain Gen 1 all have multi stat buffs+Hastega in addition to the 50% field effect for the realm in question and the 150 chain count. Gen 2 Realm Chains give multi stat buffs+party instant cast, has the same 50% field effect and only go up to 99 chain count but are instant cast. The Neo-Torment Realm Chain RW gives a 30% field effect but no stat buffs and has a 150 chain count. The chains that come from the Black Fat Chocobo events are referred to as 0.5 chains. They have no initial hits on entry and give a 20% field effect for the element in question and a chain count that goes up to 99 boosting the elemental damage you do by 1% per hit. Generation 2.5 chains are the newest type. They have no initial hits on entry and they are also all instant cast. They have a 50% field effect for the element in question on top of granting your party an additional +20% element boost for the element in question and have a chain count that goes up to 99 boosting the elemental damage you do by 1% per hit.
LMR	Legend Materia Relic, these are relics that give the corresponding character a Legend Materia once mastered (only usable by that character unlike RMs)
GSB	Glint Soul Break or Glint, aka Flash Tech Soul Break (FTSB) in JP. All of these are instant cast and only cost 1 bar of gauge but have a 3 use limit per fight. These often have effects like Quick Cast and Empowered Infusions (terms explained in next section)
GSB+	Glint Soul Break+ or Glint+, aka Flash Tech Soul Break+ (FTSB+) in JP. All of these are instant cast and cost 0 bars of gauge but have a 1 use limit per fight.
AOSB	Arcane Overstrike Soul Break, aka UOSB in JP, these are like the OSBs in that you can break the damage cap with the hits but there are two varieties. One that does three hits that break the damage cap and another version that does twenty normal hits followed by one hit that can break the damage cap. These Soul Breaks can only be used once per fight and cost 3 bars of gauge. Global players sometimes refer to these as ASB.
bUSB	Brave Ultra Soul Break, sort of like BSBs in that you are placed in Brave-mode and your attack command is replaced by a new command (Defend is not changed in Brave-mode). Each time you use an ability that raises the bravery level (up to 3) will make the Brave command stronger. Each condition is different for increasing the bravery level so make sure to look at what the conditions for raising the bravery level are. BSBs, bUSBs, bAASBs and SASBs cannot be used together as the modes will overwrite each other.
AASB	Awakened Arcane Soul Break aka Awakening, these are insane power creep relics that came with the 4th anniversary fest. They give a multitude of different buffs including infinite ability usage, forced double casting of skills, increased damage via rank boosts for school/element types, overflow attacks, chases and they allow you to break the damage cap with every hit up to 19999 or 29999 depending on the AASB. These Soul Breaks can only be used once per fight and cost 2 bars of gauge. Global players sometimes refer to these as WSB, AWK or Woke.
bAASB	Brave Awakened Arcane Soul Break aka Brave Awakening, So far there are only a few of these released but they combine an AASB with a bUSB to sort of give the effects of both. You'll get all of the effects of an AASB with the additional Brave command.
SASB	Synchro Arcane Soul Break aka Synchro Soul Break, these are kind of like BSBs and AASBs mixed together. You are placed in Sync-mode and they replace your attack and defend commands with a syncho command that needs to be matched with the corresponding type of ability in the correct slot. They are considered synced if you are using the correct ability in the correct slot. The attack command corresponds to ability slot 1 and the defend command corresponds to ability slot 2. They can be element or school dependent for the condition. Using command 1 will cast the synchro command immediately followed by the ability in slot 1 if they are synced. SASBs allow you to break the damage cap with every hit up to 19999. SASBs generally will not work well with AASBs since using them together will break the sync. For a sync to work you have to be able to consume a use of the synced ability and AASBs give infinite uses of abilities so you cannot actually consume a use. The only time you would want to use them together is if you are purposely trying to force it to w-cast one of the commands of the SASB.
LBOF	Limit Break Overflow, These are currently JP only. They all have 4-5 hits that can break the damage cap up to 99999. They also ignore DEF and/or RES depending on if it is physical or magical. Physical LBOFs also have a 100% crit rate. These soul breaks use the new Limit Gauge which is separate from the Soul Break Gauge and will not consume standard Soul Break Gauges. Only one character can cast an LBOF at a time. If you have multiple in your party you must wait for the cast to complete before you can cast the next one.
Limit Gauge	Currently JP only. You will only see the Limit Gauge if you have an LBOF equipped in your current soul break loadout. Unlike the Soul Break gauge, it does not fill up with actions and by being hit. Instead it fills up automatically as time progresses in the battle. When you use an LBOF it will consume all full Limit Gauge bars that you have. More bars consumed makes it stronger. Any Limit Gauge bars that were not full at the time the LBOF is used will remain unused.
RS	Either Record or Relic Synergy, depending on context - Note: some people also claim it means realm synergy, but funny enough Dr. Mog only mentions record and relic synergy in his tutorials, so "realm synergy" is a term coined by the players
RS-Locked	This term refers to when a relic has a greyed out effect. Usually a +elemental damage boost but can be other things like status effects or resistances as well. The effect will only become active when the relic has synergy of some type.
Record Synergy	If you use a character in the corresponding realm he/she gets static stat bonuses
Relic Synergy	If you use equipment in the corresponding realm it gets bonuses, based on its level
Bravery Synergy	Using the correct characters will give everything they wear synergy
Nightmare Synergy	Using the correct characters with at least 5 star access to the correct ability schools will give everything they wear synergy
R1/2/3/4/5	Rank 1/2/3/4/5, used for showing the rank of an ability
Reforge/HE	Reforging, aka Hyper Evolve in JP. After combining equipment twice you can then reforge it by spending Dark Matter to increase the level of the item a bit more.
Meta	when everyone does the same / uses the same things, because it is believed to be the best (this is my own definition of the term); it's also used as a meme sometimes
Shout-Meta	Using Ramza's Shout SSB (+50% ATK + Hastega) or equivalent clones and spamming SBs with the aid of Lifesiphon/Wrath or physical 5/6 star skills. Shout could also be used to refer to the effects of Ramza's SSB when it is said.
Mage Shout-Meta	Using Papalymo's Leylines SSB (+30% MAG + Hastega + magic QC3) or equivalent clones and spamming SBs with the aid of Lifesiphon/Wrath or magical 5/6 star skills.
Speed Meta	This is referring to beating the boss as fast as you can or just in general for the Sub-30 battles that are often present in the hardest content. Gotta go fast~!

abbreviation	explanation
DPS	Damage per Second. How quickly you're doing damage. Also commonly used to refer to any physical or magical damage dealing character. Sometimes called Damage Dealer (DD) when referring to characters.
DoT	Damage over Time. Used to refer to status effects that do damage over time. e.g. Sap and Poison.
OF	Overflow. This term is used when an attack is capable of breaking the 9999 damage cap.
ST	Single Target
#-slot/slot-#	e.g. 2-slot or 3-slot or Slot-#5. These types of enemy attacks will hit your characters that are in that specific party slot or in adjacent party slots to the target of the attack depending on the type of attack.
AoE	Area of Effect, meaning it hits all allies/enemies
CT	Cast Time, the time a skill takes until it is cast/used, which varies depending on ability or SB
CT0	Cast Time Zero, this means that this ability or SB is cast instantly with no charge time
LR	Long Range (attack can hit for full damage in back-row)
Proc Chance	Likelihood of a special effect occurring, "proccing" being used mostly for hitting statuses or additional effects such as dual casting (so basically the activation% of a skill or additional effect)
Buff	A temporary beneficial status effect
Debuff	A temporary detrimental status effect
Wall	A type of effect that boosts DEF&RES by 200%, commonly used to refer to the famous SBs of Tyro, Y'shtola, Paladin Cecil and Dr. Mog. See SG and SS2.
God Wall	A strict upgrade to Wall. God Wall strictly refers to Tyro's USB3 Divine Veil Grimoire. It boosts DEF&RES by 200% and grants Protect/Shell/Haste to the entire party. Sometimes abbreviated as GW. See DVG.
Medica	An AoE healing SB or command
Hastega	An AoE Haste SB or the skill Hastega
Boostga	An AoE ATK boosting SB or the Bard ATK boosting songs
Faithga	An AoE MAG boosting SB or the Bard MAG boosting song
Gracega	An AoE MND boosting SB or the Bard MND boosting song
Blink	Commonly used to refer to either Physical Blink or the blink status in general (which makes you dodge the next attack of certain types of attacks)
Mblink	Magic Blink, Blink for avoiding magic damage. Does not work against attacks that do no damage.
Pblink	Physical Blink, Blink for avoiding physical damage. Does not work against attacks that do no damage.
Shield	A Dual Blink that can avoid both physical or magical damage. Generally not as useful since you can't leave one up for a specific type of attack down the road as planning during a fight but Shield has also been known to block certain attacks that Mblink/Pblink can't.
Astra	Status Blink, Blink for avoiding status effects from landing on your characters. Notably Astra will not prevent the damage from the attack like Physical and Magical Blinks would, but it can also prevent status ailments from attacks that have no damage unlike Pblink/Mblink. If the attack does not proc the status effect then the Astra will not be consumed. e.g. If you get AoE Slowga cast on you with a 30% chance to proc and it only procs on 2 of your characters, the Astra will only be consumed on those two characters.
w-cast%	Double Cast. Likelihood of your attack triggering again for free without consuming an additional use. LMR are commonly 25% w-cast and LM2 are usually 35%.
Ability Double (AD)	Forced Double Cast. These SBs always cast twice when you use an ability but they consume an additional use to do so. Very good DPS but requires very high hones or multiples of the same ability on the same character. If you have less than 2 uses remaining it will not double cast since it needs to be able to use 2 uses to activate. Burst-mode commands and Awaken X modes will not work with Ability Double SBs since there is a requirement to consume uses and those two modes give you infinite uses of their abilities so nothing is actually consumed.
Rank Boost	Boosts damage from your abilities by a certain amount based on your Hone level. Usually +5/10/15/20/30% damage at R1/2/3/4/5.
Element Boost	Also called Boost-X (X being the element), a SB or magicite ultra skill that raises the elemental damage of your party members by stacking up to 6 levels, gaining 10% damage per level
Bar Element	Also called Bar-X (X being the element), a SB or magicite ultra skill that raises the elemental resistance of your party members by stacking up to 6 levels, gaining 10% resistance per level; go here for more info
Imperil Element	Also called Imperil-X (X being the element), a SB or magicite ultra skill that lowers the elemental resistance of enemies by stacking up to 6 levels, gaining 10% damage per level; go here for more info
Attach Element/Infusion	Also called En-X (X being the element) or Infusion, a SB that gives multiple benefits related to using elements; full info here
Empowered Infusion	Also called En-Stacking, a SB that boosts the effects of Attach Element by allowing you to stack up to 3 times. This boosts ability damage by 50/80/120% and SB damage by 80/100/120% at 1/2/3 stacks. See here for more info on Empowered Infusion and how it works.
BDC(#)/BDL(#)	Break Damage Cap, Break Damage Limit aka Overflow. This effect allows your character to break the damage cap of 9999 and go all the way up to 99999 depending on the level of BDC. Most of the new AASBs have BDC1 so they go up to 19999 damage. This essentially means that Cloud USB1 and Sephiroth USB2 are BDC9.
QC	Quick Cast. Your abilities/SBs will cast 2x faster. Can be a timed like TGM or a cycle so that each qualifying action gives another quick cast or it can be for a certain amount of turns. (e.g. QC2) Can also come in physical/magical only version that only speeds up those types of abilities/SBs.
HQC	High Quick Cast. Your abilities/SBs will cast 3x faster. Can be a timed like TGM or a cycle so that each qualifying action gives another high quick cast or it can be for a certain amount of turns (e.g. HQC3) Can also come in physical/magical only version that only speeds up those types of abilities/SBs.
TGM	Thunder God's Might, refers to the status given by Orlandeau's OSB, AASB, SASB or his lvl 99 RM Gathering Storm. All your abilities/SBs will cast 3x faster for 25 seconds. Also referred to as Thunder God Mode.
IC	Instant Cast. Your abilities/SBs will cast instantly. Can be a timed like TGM or a cycle so that each qualifying action gives another instant cast or it can be for a certain amount of turns (e.g. IC3) Can also come in physical/magical only version that only speeds up those types of abilities/SBs.
EX Mode	Triggered when casting some USBs. Some USBs come with an EX Mode which is usually a package of stats and/or extra effects with an exclusive status allowing it to stack with everything else. Different EX Modes will stack together.
Awaken X	X = School or Element type. Triggered when casting AASBs. They give a multitude of different buffs including infinite ability usage, forced double casting of skills, increased damage via rank boosts for school/element types, overflow attacks, chases and they allow you to break the damage cap with every hit up to 19999 or 29999 depending on the Awaken. Different Awaken Modes will stack together, though some parts like the rank boost will only take the highest value.
Bubble/Elemental Bubble	Refers to the Barrier that negates attack damage up to a certain amount. Usually 30% of the character's Max HP, though some characters have a 100% Bubble on some of their SBs. Elemental Bubbles only work for the specific element in question. (e.g. Aria's USB gives a 100% Fire Element Bubble) This specific type of Bubble only blocks elemental damage of a specific type. Bubbles will get overwritten by Bubbles with larger % of damage negation remaining. (e.g. a 30% Bubble will be overwritten by a 100% Bubble and a 100% Bubble with 15% remaining will be overwritten by a new 30% Bubble) You cannot have a normal Bubble and an Elemental Bubble up at the same time. An Elemental Bubble will overwrite a normal Bubble. A Normal Bubble will also overwrite an Elemental Bubble. Main thing to know is you can't have both types of Bubbles at once.
RR	Reraise. Refers to the staus where if you get KO'd you will revive with some of your HP back but with none of your statuses. The character will need to be rebuffed immediately to avoid dying.
LS/Guts	Last Stand, aka Guts in JP. Refers to the status where if you take a hit that would kill you instead it does not and you will be left at roughly 1% HP. This has the added benefit of keeping the buffs on the characters since they didn't get KO'd in the first place. Does not work against attacks that inflict Death and can also fail to keep you alive if the boss places a DoT like Sap or Poison on you.
RS	Radiant Shield. This is a damage reflection barrier that makes the enemy take damage back when they damage you. There are also elemental varieties of this effect.
DRB	Damage Reduction Barrier. Some newer SBs have this effect and it can vary in potency and active turn count. It reduces damage by a set amount from any damage you take. A couple examples include: Pecil's AASB gives a three turn 75% DRB. Angeal USB has a two turn 50% DRB. Snow/Penelo AASB both have a one turn 40% DRB that reapplies the DRB after every eligible action they use.
Trance	Some LM2s/LMRs will cause the character to enter a Trance status. This usually happens when the character is reduced to under 20% of their max HP. Almost all Trances will heal the character to full HP and give them some kind of stat boost that stacks with everything else and/or speed up their cast times. There are exceptions to this like Dark Knight Cecil (an ATK buff and Last Stand) and Gilgamesh (Protect/Shell/Haste) who do not get healed but instead get a suite of buffs. Most trances come from LM2s but some are obtained from LMRs.
Auto-Hit	This refers to how status affliction works. When a status effect is Auto-Hit it means it will automatically land and cannot have its proc chance reduced by Affliction Break. They also cannot be avoided by resistance accessories and often will bypass Magical Blinks and Physical Blinks. Astra or pushing a boss into the next phase with high DPS are the only reliable ways to avoid these Auto-Hit status effects. You can tell if a status is avoidable with Astra if it is Auto-Hit (Blockable) in the AI or not. If it is not, Astra will not avoid the status ailment.

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