Destiny 2 T.A.G.S. – Terminology, Abbreviations, and Gamer Slang

Guide

Hello all!

I got a green light from u/GreenLego to put together a list of Destiny 2 terminology and jargon to help newcomers understand what the hell we're talking about. Here's what I've come up with so far.

Feel free to add any and all suggestions below, and I'll make updates as often as I'm able.

Last Updated: 11:00 Eastern Time, October 17, 2017

Destiny 2 T.A.G.S. – Terminology, Abbreviations, and Gamer Slang

#WELCOME!#

Immersing yourself into an online gaming community generally means learning to talk like everyone else – and Destiny 2 is no different. So, in an effort to help newcomers more easily acclimate themselves to the arcane ways of Guardianspeak, we’ve put together a list of some of the most common terminology, abbreviations, and gamer slang one is likely to encounter while perusing r/DestinyTheGame.

#DISCLAIMERS#

This page is now and will always be a work-in-progress (WIP). If you don’t see something here, feel free to leave a response and we’ll get it added to the list.
The content on this page is a mixture of both Destiny-specific terminology as well as widely used gaming industry terminology. If you’ve played other online games, some of this may be familiar to you.

#And, just so you know…#

The term “abbreviations” was chosen intentionally for the title. People often refer to any combination of letters that is used to shorten a lengthy term as an “acronym”, but this is not always necessarily the case. An acronym is when an abbreviation (or initialism) creates a new word that is pronounced in speech, such as:

NASA
[Scuba] (https://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/scuba)
Laser

All acronyms are abbreviations, but not all abbreviations are acronyms.

#Terminology, Abbreviations, and Gamer Slang#

Add - Additional (enemy)
ADS - Aim-down-sight - A measure of how quickly guns go from hip-fire to aimed in
AFK - Away From Keyboard - Used over voice communications when a player is away from their controller/keyboard
Ammo - Ammunition
Anchor - In the Control game mode of Crucible, holding a specific area of the map in order to force the enemy team to respawn in specific locations
AoE - Area of Effect - Using weapons or abilities that damage all enemies in a targeted area, as opposed to damaging a Single Target
Ape - A particularly aggressive player (or playstyle) in Crucible
AR - Auto Rifle
AS - Arcstrider - One of the hunter's three subclasses

Boop! (1) - The way in which Failsafe removes unwanted participants from her communication channels, see https://i.imgur.com/UaNm6fv.gif
Boop! (2) - Knocking an enemy player into the air or off the map in Crucible, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0x1EN0t8lQk
Blueberry - Players that are matched with your team, but are not members of your fireteam and display as blue dots on your radar
Bubble - Slang term for the titan super ability Ward of Dawn, because... it looks like a big protective bubble
Bubblebro - A Sentinel titan that uses Ward of Dawn

CBMM - Connection-based Matchmaking
CE - Crota's End - A Hive raid from the Destiny 1 expansion The Dark Below
Challenge - Attempting to defeat an enemy player 1v1 in Crucible
Cheese - Using a strategy (or sometimes, a glitch) to make an activity much easier
CQB - Close Quarters Battle
CQC - Close Quarters Combat
Cozmo - One of Bungie's Destiny community managers: https://twitter.com/Cozmo23

D1 - Destiny 1
D2 - Destiny 2
DB - Dawnblade - One of the warlock's three subclasses
DDOS - Distributed Denial of Service - A cyber attack intended to disrupt the target's services, see Denial-of-service attack
Deej - One of Bungie's Destiny community managers: https://twitter.com/DeeJ_BNG
DIM - Destiny Item Manager - A web-based app that helps Guardians manage their gear and vault
DLC - Downloadable Content - Additional game content released via download after the initial game launch
DO - Dead Orbit - One of the City's three factions
DOT - Damage Over Time - Damage done in increments over time
DPS - Damage Per Second - A measure of average damage done over time, can also be used as a verb: "DPS the boss!"

Endgame - The collective activities that players participate in after completing the main story mission and reaching level 20
EV - Eververse - Destiny 2's microtransaction system which sells shaders, ships, sparrows, and emotes

FoH - Fists of Havoc - The Striker titan's subclass super ability
FotL - Festival of the Lost - A limited-time event from Destiny 1 where the people of the Tower and the City gather to celebrate the lives of the loved ones they've lost
FR - Fusion Rifle
FWC - Future War Cult - One of the City's three factions

GG (1) - Golden Gun - The Gunslinger hunter's subclass super ability
GG (2) - Good Game!
G-horn - Gjallarhorn - An exotic rocket launcher from Destiny 1, widely considered to be the best exotic ever implemented due to its unmatched single target damage output
GL - Grenade Launcher
GS - Gunslinger - One of the hunter's three subclasses
GuardianCon - An annual convention that celebrates all things Destiny, see https://www.guardiancon.co/
GUI - Graphical User Interface

Hammers - The Sunbreaker titan subclass super ability
Hammerbro - A Sunbreaker titan
HC - Hand Cannon
HCR - High Caliber Rounds - A perk found on weapons primarily used to make it difficult for enemy players to aim in Crucible
Heavy - Power ammunition
HoW - House of Wolves - The second expansion of Destiny 1

IB - Iron Banner - A limited-time Crucible event hosted by Lord Saladin
Io - This isn't an abbreviation. It's the actual name of one of Jupiter's moons. Capital I, lowercase o. Eye. Oh.
IRL - In Real Life

Juke - Artfully dodging an enemy projectile or ability

KAD - The ratio of kills and assists a player earned to how many times he/she died: (Kills + Assists)/(Deaths)
KD (KDR) - Kill/Death (Ratio) - The ratio of kills a player earned to how many times he/she died: (Kills)/(Deaths)
KDA - The ratio of kills, plus a weighted value of assists, a player earned to how many times he/she died: (Kills + (Assists/2))/(Deaths)
KF - King's Fall - A Hive raid from the Destiny 1 expansion The Taken King
Kinderguardian - A new Destiny player

Lane - A long sight-line in a Crucible map down which players tend to snipe
Leeroy - Charge recklessly into an encounter before your teammates are ready, see https://youtu.be/hooKVstzbz0
LFG - Looking For Group - Normally used on sites like http://www.destinylfg.net/ or http://the100.io
LFM - Looking For More - Indicates that a group is forming and is seeking additional members
LFR - Linear Fusion Rifle
LL - Light Level - The Destiny 1 equivalent of Power Level
LMG - Light Machine Gun - Not a weapon class in Destiny 2, but a common term in online shooters

M&K - Mouse and Keyboard
Meta - Either "Most Effective Tool Available" or "Metagame" - Generally refers to the most commonly used guns/loadout in a particular activity
MM - Matchmaking
Mob - Mobile - Used to refer to an enemy, see [Mob (gaming)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mob_(gaming)
Mod - Modification - Sold by Banshee-44 (the Gunsmith) and used to augment gear and weapons

Nade - Grenade
Neutral Game - Refers to a Guardian's capabilities when not using their super ability
NF - Nightfall - The highest strike difficulty level
NM - New Monarchy - One of the City's three factions
NPC - Non-Player Character - Any character in the game not controlled by a player
NS - Nightstalker - One of the hunter's three subclasses

OHK (OHKO) - One-hit Kill (Knock-out)
OP - Overpowered

P2W - Pay to Win - The ability for players to pay real-life currency to gain in-game power
Peek - Looking down a sight-line (or Lane) in a Crucible map to determine the position of an enemy player
PL - Power Level
PoE - Prison of Elders - A three-player end-game activity in the Destiny 1 expansion The House of Wolves
Pole Dancer - Arcstrider hunter
Pop - Activate super ability
PR - Pulse Rifle
Pub - Public Event
PUG - Pick-up Group - A group comprised of players who don't know one another
PvE - Player Versus Environment - Game activities in which the player is fighting against non-player controlled enemies
PvP - Player Versus Player - Game activities in which players are fighting against other players

QoL - Quality of Life

Rep - Reputation
Rez - Resurrect or Revive
RL (1) - Rocket Launcher
RL (2) - Raid Leader
RL (3) - Real Life
RoF - Rate of Fire - A measure of how rapidly a gun fires bullets
RoI - Rise of Iron - The fourth and final expansion of Destiny 1
RPM - Rounds Per Minute

SA - Sidearm
Salt - Anger, dissatisfaction
SBMM - Skill-based Matchmaking
SC - Stormcaller - One of the warlock's three subclasses
Scoped (Scoping) - Remaining aimed down sight (ADS) to watch a sight-line in Crucible
Scuf - A company that makes custom console controllers with advanced options, see https://scufgaming.com/
ScR - Scout Rifle
SG - Shotgun
SGA - Super Good Advice - An exotic machine gun from Destiny 1 whose name became a popular term for sharing game tips and advice on u/DestinyTheGame
Skating - A technique in Destiny 1 which allowed Titans to use their Increased Control jump ability to reach extremely high speeds
SMG - Submachine Gun
SR - Sniper Rifle
SRL - Sparrow Racing League - A limited-time event from Destiny 1, hosted by none other than Amanda Holliday, that allowed players to race sparrows and earn cosmetic rewards
ST - Single Target - Damaging only one target at a time, as opposed to using Area of Effect (AoE)
Strat - Strategy
Sweaty - A term used to describe players who try so hard in competitive Crucible game modes that they would likely be sweating from the intensity of it

TDB - The Dark Below - The first expansion of Destiny 1
Teabag - A taunting behavior in Crucible in which players repeatedly crouch over a defeated opponent to simulate dropped their "manly teabag" on the opponent's face.
Tether - The Nightstalker hunter subclass super ability Shadowshot, which tethers enemies
TLW - The Last Word - An exotic hand cannon from Destiny 1, often referenced jokingly in place of TL;DR on r/DestinyTheGame
ToO - Trials of Osiris - The Destiny 1 equivalent of Trials of the Nine
Toon - Character
TotN - Trials of the Nine
TtK - Time to Kill - A measure of how long a gun will take to kill an enemy Guardian given optimal play
TTK - The Taken King - The third expansion of Destiny 1
TWaB - This Week at Bungie - A weekly article published on Bungie's site, see https://www.bungie.net/en-US/Explore/Category?category=News

UI - User Interface

VoG - Vault of Glass - A Vex raid from Destiny 1
Voidlock - A Voidwalker warlock
Voop - An onomatopoeia of the sound made by Fusion Rifles
VW - Voidwalker - One of the warlock's three subclasses

Wipe - Intentionally kill the entire team to restart an encounter, usually used during raids or difficult strikes
Wombo Combo - Using a Nightstalker's Smoke ability to trap an enemy combatant in a grenade effect, usually Vortex Grenade
WoD - Ward of Dawn - The Sentinel titan subclass super ability that creates a large protective dome to hide in
WotM - Wrath of the Machine - A Fallen and SIVA themed raid from the Destiny 1 expansion Rise of Iron

Xur - A vendor who appears in random locations (indicated by a IX symbol on the map) during the weekend to sell Guardians exotic weapons and armor in exchange for Legendary Shards

Posted Oct 16, 2017, 6:26 PM UTC · edited

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