What Does Buff Mean In Gaming? (Revealed!)

Buff in gaming refers to changing a weapon to make it more powerful in some way. This may just be to rebalance it, to make it a more viable weapon to use, as it had not been properly balanced at first and was not useful as an item. This can apply to weapons, spells, perks—just about anything.

Buff is a very broadly used gaming term that you’ll hear in just about any game, single-player or multiplayer.

It can also mean something in the game which gives you a temporary strength increase in some way.

Let’s find out more.

In This Article

What does buff stand for in gaming?

Buff in gaming stands for a certain kind of change to an item or weapon that makes the thing stronger.

You can also use this term to apply to just about anything in-game, from the enemies to the player’s animations, really anything that can be changed to give a greater advantage to whatever is being “buffed”.

“I hope they buff this sword, I love it but it’s useless!” for example.

When an item that a player can use is buffed, it is given more power and viability as an in-game item.

This is often done shortly after a game is released when, on seeing how people have been using it, find that the strategy is underpowered and needs a tweak if it is going to be more than useless in the game.

At the same time, you might use the term buff to describe how an enemy is made more powerful.

Say players are having a very easy time with a particular boss, and that everyone is killing it very easily.

The developers might realize that this is not what they intended, and the encounter needs to be rebalanced.

Thus, the boss would be buffed.

Equally, you can just use it for any basic enemy that is not enough of a challenge.

“They buffed the level one zombies so you can’t kill them so easily,” for example.

It does have another meaning which, while the sense is rather similar, the two things are not quite the same.

But I’ll get into that shortly.

For now, do we know how the term buff came to have this meaning?

Where does buff come from in gaming?

Buff has a couple of senses in English outside of its gaming use, but you’ll be surprised to learn which of them was the one that gave it this gaming meaning.

To buff in this sense has the same meaning as the word buff “to polish”.

When you buff something, you polish it to a fine degree.

“Buff that vase for me, would you?” for example.

Though we aren’t sure when exactly it happened, at some point this was taken to mean the specific act of “polishing” something up in a game by making it stronger.

It doesn’t relate to the idea of “buff” as in strong or muscular.

The term really refers to the act of changing something in game after the game has been released, then—which was not really a thing that happened until seventh generation consoles.

So, this term came into widespread use after 2006.

What is a buff in game?

So, what is this idea of an in-game buff?

Well, it’s simultaneously a very similar idea but also completely different.

When something in the game is a buff—noun form—that means that it is something that gives you extra power in some way, temporarily.

You might use a spell or drink a potion that makes your attacks hit harder, or makes you more resistant to damage.

You are thus “buffed” for a brief time.

This term is no doubt a lot older than the other sense, as there have always been “power-ups” in games.

But there were called “power-ups” for a long time and not buffs.

What does debuff mean in gaming?

As you can probably surmise, a debuff is the opposite of a buff.

However, importantly a debuff refers only to the opposite kind of buff that we described just above.

A debuff makes you weaker for a short period, maybe taking away some of your health or lowering your attack power.

For something to be debuffed does not mean that the developers have made it weaker.

This is “nerfing”—which is a subject for another time!

That distinction is quite key, though.

What does buff mean in CoD?

So, taking CoD as an example, let’s look at how buffs might work.

One of the main ways that CoD is buffed and changed after release is in the weapons.

Things are often needed to be rebalanced after the game is release, say because a particular gun fires too slowly or doesn’t do enough damage.

This may be buffed to make it a more viable option.

You might do this to just about anything in the game, including perks which are often useless until they’ve gone through significant balancing.

So, there are a couple of different things that this can mean.

The way to tell the difference is in whether it is a noun or a verb.

If something is “buffed”, then that usually refers to how it has been changed by the developers to make it more viable as a weapon or strategy.

If it is a verb, “I buff my weapon”, then it refers to something in-game you can use for more power.

More in Gaming Meanings

Founder - @PollyWebster

Polly Webster is the founder of Foreign Lingo and a seasoned traveler with a decade of exploration under her belt.

Over the past 10 years, she has journeyed to numerous countries around the globe, immersing herself in diverse cultures, traditions, and languages.

Drawing from her rich experiences, Polly now writes insightful articles about travel, languages, traditions, and cultures, sharing her unique perspectives and invaluable tips with her readers.

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