Jargon Buster & Game Terms! [Empires and Puzzles]

Not sure what a Tank is? What about FFA? Don’t worry, I’ll explain everything in this Empires and Puzzles Terminology & Jargon Buster!

I’ve gathered all the in-game slang I could find and populated it into this A-Z reference guide. This has been updated for 2025!

If you’re looking for Empires & Puzzles guides, be sure to check out my E&P Section.

Otherwise, read on!

Empires & Puzzles Jargon Buster – Dictionary of Terms (A to Z)

3/70 – Level 3/70 is often used to describe the maximum level a Hero is levelled to. It’s a key stage because, beyond it, Final Ascension Materials (Mats) are required. As Ascension Materials are rare, only the best Heroes are considered worthy of them, leaving many others abandoned at level 3/70.

7DD (Seven Days Departed) – A well-known, successful alliance.

Aethers – Ascension Materials used to Limit Break a Hero.

Alpha Aethers – The Aethers used to upgrade a Hero for the second Limit Break (second pink chevron). You can find my complete guide here.

Ailment – An adverse Status Effect that can be inflicted on a Hero. For example, 100 Bleed damage every turn for 3 turns is an Ailment.

Alt – Alternative account.

AoE – Attack on everyone.

Auto (Auto’ing) – Pressing the AUTO button and letting the CPU complete a map or Quest stage. You can read my guide here.

BBS – Be Back Soon.

Bench – Refers to Heroes in your roster that did not make the team (and so are sitting on the bench).

Bn3 – A reference used to identify the upper limit for players when hitting Titans. This is designed to afford all members of an alliance the opportunity to obtain decent (B-grade) loot.

Buff – A Buff is an in-game improvement, normally granted by a Hero through the use of their Special Skill. The term ‘Buff’ can also refer to when the game developers improve the skills or stats of a Hero.

BRB – Be Right Back.

C2P – Cheap To Play. Players who occasionally spend money on the game.

Caster – The Caster is the Hero who is activating their Special Skills. When Mana is charged, and you press on the Hero Card in-game, that is the Caster.

Cleanups/Cleans – This normally refers to finishing off a War opponent that has survived a prior attack.

Cleanse – Removes Ailment Status Effects.

CYOM – Clean Your Own Mess. This normally refers to finishing off a War opponent you failed to kill in the first attempt. This is opposed to the philosophy of Double Tapping.

Cups (or Trophies) – Cups and Trophies refer to your in-game Raiding rank. You can find your Cup number by hitting your avatar and checking the number under the tab, Trophies.

Devs (Developers) – Refers to the developers of Empires & Puzzles: Small Giant Games. It can also refer to the current game owners.

Discord – Discord [External link] is an external social media application used by Alliances to communicate with each other.

Dispel – Removes Buffs from enemy Heroes.

DOT – Damage Over Time. A Status Effect.

Double Tap (Double Tapping) – Hitting the same team twice in a row during a War: If you attack a team and lose, you might be tempted to jump back in and seek revenge. However, this is frowned upon in larger Alliances. It’s called Double-Tapping, and you’re encouraged not to do it. Why? Firstly, to leave scraps for weaker players to clean up. This means your Alliance can be more efficient. Secondly, good judgment can evade you when under the red mist of War. It’s best to step back, calmly re-evaluate the situation, and choose a different target where possible.

Dragonspire – A new realm in Empires & Puzzles where the Dragons live. Read my complete guide here.

Dropping Cups – The act of reducing your Trophies Raiding score. This can be achieved by fielding a weak Defense team. A person will drop cups for numerous and varied reasons, including (but not limited to) 1. Making Raids easier so they can complete the PoV faster, 2. In order to complete a Hero Chest as quickly as possible, or 3. Because they’ve abstained from the conflict of competition on moral grounds.

E&P – Empires and Puzzles.

F2P – Free To Play. Players who don’t spend any real money on the game.

Farming – The act of replaying completed levels to collect resources. Learn how to create a Farming Team here.

Feed (or Feeder Heroes) – 1 and 2-Star Heroes are routinely used to level up higher-grade Heroes (3, 4, and 5-Star).

FFA – Free For All. Normally, referring to War, when players are invited to play however they want.

Fiend – A Fiend is similar to a Minion, but with adverse effects on the host. They generally require healing to remove and often inflict Ailments on the host. While a Minion is summoned for a friendly ally, a Fiend is cast onto the enemy.

Flags – Flags are tokens that allow you to play different parts of the game. To complete World Map stages or Quests, you use World Energy Flags. For War, you use War Flags. For Raids, you use Raid Flags. For Titans, you use Titan Flags, etc. You can refill your Flags by consuming a Flask (all besides War Flags, which are not refillable).

Flank – An in-game reference for the Heroes positioned directly beside the centre Hero. The centre Hero is called the ‘Tank’.

Flask – A disposable unit used to refill your Flags to maximum capacity. There are World Flasks, Raid Flasks, and Titan Flasks.

Flask’ing a Titan – The act of using a Titan flask to get more hits on, and to kill off, a Titan.

Flip – Defeating all enemy teams in an Alliance War, causing the board to flip so that they are all available to hit again.

Forum – Empires & Puzzles official forum. [External link]

Friendly – Friendly battles are available to members of the same alliance. You can battle an alliance member by selecting them from the Alliance Members board and clicking on Battle in the Alliance box on the Player Info pop-up.

Ghosting Tiles – Intentionally matching tiles which will not make contact with any enemy Heroes is called Ghosting tiles. It results in double the speed of the tile’s mana generation.

Growth – Growth is a Hero Skill that increases a Hero’s Ability Scores (commonly, Attack and Defense). This effect can not be cleansed or dispelled.

Hero Class – There are 10 Hero Classes: Cleric, Barbarian, Fighter, Wizard, Druid, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, Sorcerer, and Rogue. ‘Hero Class’ refers to the Class of your Hero. Learn how to read a Hero Card here.

Hit – A word to describe using a flag in War, or on a Titan.

HotM – Hero of the Month. Each month, a new Hero is released as a Bonus Draw. You can find info for the current HotM in the banner at the top of the Summons screen.

HP – Health Points.

IGC – In-Game Chat.

LB – Limit Broken. Usually seen before the name of a Hero, like this: LB Quenell. See here for details on Limit Breaking a Hero.

Line – Line [External link] is an external social media application used by alliances to communicate with each other.

Loot – In-game items that are often given as rewards for completing a task or event.

Nerf – When developers reduce the stats or skills of a Hero. Also known as ‘Nerfing’.

Mana – Mana is a substance required to make magical things occur. This is what Heroes use to fuel their Special Skills.

Mana Speed – This is a reference for how long it takes a Hero to charge their Special Skill. There are five main speeds: Very Fast, Fast, Average, Slow, and Very Slow. Here is my reference guide.

Mats – A shorthand expression for Ascension Materials (which are required to level up a Hero).

Merc (Mercing) – If you have Titan Flags left, but your Alliance’s Titan is already dead, you could go ‘Mercing’. This involves travelling to different Alliances and assisting them in defeating their Titans.

Meta or Game Meta – This refers to the balance and current makeup of in-game dynamics. For example, when you have lots of popular and dominant Ailment Casters, one might say, “To beat the Meta, you need at least one Cleanser on your team”.

Minion – Minions are like pet Heroes that can be summoned. They often absorb damage before the Hero they are attached to, and some have their own Skills that they bring to battle. For example, Lady Of The Lake will summon three Minions, and when they hit an enemy, they reduce the enemy’s Mana.

Mega Minion – Mega Minions are like normal Minions but bigger. Unlike Minions, where you can have three attached to a single Hero, only one Mega Minion can be retained at any given time.

Mono Team – When you play a team containing only 1 color (5 Heroes of the same element). Learn more about Color Stacking here.

Mystic Vision – The name given to external advertisements that you can watch for rewards.

OP – Over Powered. Referring to a Hero who is perceived as too strong and in need of Nerfing.

Opt-Out – If you don’t want to, or aren’t able to, participate in the Alliance War, you can ‘Opt Out’ via the War screen.

P2P – Pay To Play. Players who choose to spend real money in the game.

Player Level – In your Player Profile, you’ll see your in-game name, icon, and Player Level. Your Player Level increases as you play the game more.

PB – Personal Best score.

POG – Path Of Giants. A more expensive ladder reward system that gives you resources for completing tasks, like waving at someone in your village or killing a number of Titans.

POV – Path Of Valor. A ladder reward system that gives you resources for completing tasks, like waving at someone in your village or killing a number of Titans.

Power Creep – Refers to the increasing strength of the Heroes: Special Skills and Power Stats. Read more about the Power Creep here.

Power Stats – Relates to the power of a Hero. The Power Stats number of a Hero can be found at the top right of a Hero Card. Attack, Defense, Health, and Emblems all combine to create the Power Stat number.

PvE – Player Vs. Environment.

PvP – Player Vs. Player.

Rainbow Team – When you play a team containing all 5 colors (elements). Learn more about Color Stacking here.

Reaper – A Hero who targets three enemies or targets multiple enemies randomly.

RNG – ‘Random Number Generator’ is the formal meaning; however, the term is generally used in reference to all areas of Empires and Puzzles which involve Chance: Tiles, Summoning Portal, and Troop Pulls. And when things do not occur as hoped for, the ‘RNG Squirrels’ are sometimes blamed for their capricious nature.

S1, S2, S3, S4, S5 – Season 1, Season 2, Season 3, Season 4, Season 5.

SG – Small Giant (the makers of Empires and Puzzles).

Sniper – A Hero who targets one enemy.

Stacked Team – A team of either 4-1, 3-2, or 2-2-1. Learn more about Color Stacking here.

Status Effect – A Buff or an Ailment that affects a Hero in battle. In recent years, more effects have been introduced that fall outside of this definition, such as Growth and Wither. Status Effects can generally be cleansed and dispelled.

Sweep (or Clean Sweep) – Winning all the battles you attempted in the Alliance War using a single flag (one flag per battle).

Tank – An in-game reference for the Hero positioned at the centre of a 5-Hero team.

Taunt – Taunt is a Special Skill which forces the opposition to only target one Hero: the Taunt Caster. Heroes like Ludwig, Krampus, and Kara can cast Taunt.

Tile gods – Used to describe the random nature of the tiles at the beginning of a battle.

VF / VS – Very Fast, Very Slow. Normally used to describe Mana speed.

Whale (or Wallet) – A player who spends large amounts of money to obtain the best Heroes.

Wing – An in-game reference for the Heroes positioned on each outer edge of the team.

Wither – Wither is a Hero Skill that decreases a Hero’s Ability Scores (commonly, Attack and Defense). This effect can not be cleansed or dispelled.

Empires & Puzzles Jargon Explained

It took me a while to work out what many of these terms meant, so I figured it might be helpful for someone else.

Nothing earth-shattering, but now you don’t need to pretend to be hip and with it.

I hope you found it useful.

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[Please always check in-game Hero Cards to confirm details and never chase Heroes]

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Images used by way of review/tutorial
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