Terms you will see, decoded

How to use this list

Definitions are written to stand alone, in a sentence or two, without assuming any of the others. Where a term connects to one of the worksheets on this site, the definition links to it rather than repeating the working.

Two of these entries describe community opinion rather than anything published by a game: meta and tier list. Both circulate widely and both are produced by players without access to the underlying figures. This site publishes neither, and a reader deciding what to spend time or money on is better served by the published rates than by a ranking.

A–C

Account linking

Attaching a game account to an email address or a platform login so it can be recovered and moved. Until this is done, the account belongs to the device.

Arena

Player-versus-player content, usually fought against an opponent’s team run by the computer rather than against a live player.

Artefact

Equipment fitted to a character to raise its statistics. Often acquired randomly and upgraded with a chance of failure, which makes it a second cost centre alongside characters.

Ascension

Raising a character’s tier using consumable materials, usually gated behind dungeon content rather than purchasable directly.

Auto-battle

A mode that plays a fight without input, following simple rules. Useful for repeating cleared content, and the reason these games fit into short sessions.

Banner

A time-limited draw with its own pool of characters and its own rates. The word describes a promotion, not a separate game mode.

Battle collection RPG

The genre this site covers: a role-playing game where the central activity is acquiring characters and improving them, and battles are decided by team composition and setup.

Champion

A collectable character. Publishers use different words — hero, unit, servant — for the same thing.

Clan

A player group with shared objectives and usually a chat channel. Joining one is contact with people you do not know; see account safety.

Clan Boss

Cooperative content in which a group attacks a single powerful opponent, with rewards scaled to the damage done.

Consumer advice

The lines published alongside an Australian classification that say why it was given — violence, themes, language, online interactivity. Usually more useful to a parent than the classification letter.

D–G

Daily tasks

Small objectives that reset on a clock, with a reward for completing a set. The mechanism behind the return-tomorrow habit.

Drop rate

The published probability of a given outcome from a draw. Published in most titles and reachable from the draw screen. See working out what it costs.

Dungeon

Repeatable content that yields upgrade materials rather than story progress. Usually the limiting factor on how quickly characters improve.

Energy

A pool consumed by battles and refilled on a timer. It caps a session and rewards returning at intervals rather than playing for a long stretch.

Event

Limited-time content with its own rewards, running for days or a fortnight. Events concentrate time demand; see the time budget worksheet.

Farming

Repeating the same content for its rewards. The activity auto-battle exists for.

Free-to-play

A game that can be installed and played without payment, funded by optional purchases. It describes the business model, not the total cost of playing.

Fully-voiced

Dialogue recorded by actors throughout. Relevant to a desktop player mainly because voice files are large; see before you install.

Guaranteed pull

A mechanism that grants a stated outcome after a set number of unsuccessful draws. Where one exists it bounds the worst case; where none exists there is no ceiling.

Gems

A generic name for the premium currency bought with real money. Titles use their own names for it.

H–P

Idle progress

Rewards accumulating while the game is closed. Common in the genre and usually capped, so the cap is worth finding.

In-app purchase

A purchase made inside the game, processed by the platform. It generates a receipt, which is what a dispute later rests on.

Meta

Informal shorthand for which characters and strategies are currently considered effective by players. It is community opinion, not a published fact, and it changes.

Multi-draw

Several draws bought at once, often at a small discount and sometimes with a guaranteed minimum tier. Convenient, and the point at which per-draw arithmetic matters most.

PvE

Player versus environment: content fought against opponents run by the game rather than by other people.

PvP

Player versus player: content where the opposition comes from another player’s team, live or as a stored defence.

Pity counter

The counter behind a guaranteed pull, tracking unsuccessful draws. Check whether it resets between banners, because that changes its value considerably.

Premium currency

Currency obtained mainly by paying, as opposed to currency earned through play. The conversion between it and AUD is where the real price hides.

R–Z

Rank up

Consuming duplicate or fodder characters to raise another’s tier. A reason duplicates have value rather than being waste.

Rates

See drop rate. In most titles a rates screen is reachable from the draw itself, and reading it before drawing is the whole of this site’s advice on the subject.

Roster

The set of characters an account holds. Its size is usually what storage and upgrade materials are spent on.

Season pass

A paid track of rewards unlocked by playing during a defined period. It converts a purchase into a time commitment, which is worth noting on the time worksheet as well as the cost one.

Starter offer

A discounted bundle presented to new players, usually with a timer. These recur; the timer is a prompt to decide quickly rather than a reason to.

Stamina

Another name for energy.

Summon

A draw from the acquisition system. Also called a pull or a roll.

Tier list

A community ranking of characters. Opinion, produced by players, not published by anyone with access to the game’s figures. This site publishes none.

Two-factor authentication

A second step at sign-in beyond the password. The measure that most reduces the value of a stolen password; guidance is published by the Australian Cyber Security Centre.

Whale

Community slang for a player who spends heavily. Worth knowing because comparisons to such accounts are a poor basis for a budget.

The title advertised here

Raid: Shadow Legends is the game advertised on this site, and its publisher uses several of these words in its own description — Champions, dungeons, Clan Boss fights, a fully-voiced campaign across twelve locations, and tactical player-versus-environment combat. The definitions above are genre definitions and are not descriptions of that title’s implementation. What its own shop, rates and energy systems contain is in the game, and the game profile sets out exactly what its publisher states and what it does not.

Sources

These are general definitions of vocabulary used across the battle collection RPG genre and are not claims about any particular title’s systems. Australian classification vocabulary follows the Australian Classification Board. Authentication terminology follows guidance published by the Australian Cyber Security Centre. Last reviewed 16 September 2026.