Ambushing an enemy from another lane or the jungle to create a numbers advantage. A jungler's main job.
MOBA GLOSSARY
Essential MOBA Glossary
Not sure what a gank is, or what CS actually stands for? These are the terms Wild Rift and Honor of Kings players use in chat, in guides and in ranked — defined the way they are actually used, with the differences between the two games noted where they matter.
The basic terms every beginner should know — the shared language of MOBA players.
44 terms
The early phase of the game where you kill minions in your lane to earn experience and gold.
How the two games differThe lanes go by different names. Wild Rift has Top (Baron lane), Mid and Duo (Dragon lane); Honor of Kings has the Clash Lane (top), Mid and the Farm Lane (bottom).
Dealing the killing blow to a minion to earn gold. The foundation of income — accuracy translates directly into item advantages.
How the two games differIn Honor of Kings a last hit pays roughly 1.5x what a minion dying next to you does, and you can spend that gold from anywhere on the map. On the Wild Rift side, read it together with the eight wave-management entries in the glossary — freezing, slow pushing and the rest.
The order in which you buy items and level skills. Adapting your build to the enemy team is key to winning.
How the two games differWild Rift has 167 items plus 53 runes; Honor of Kings has 114 items plus 30 arcana. Boots differ too: Wild Rift upgrades them in tiers from a 400-gold pair, while every upper-tier boot in Honor of Kings costs a flat 700 gold and can be swapped for free after a five-minute cooldown.
Buffs strengthen (e.g. attack up) and debuffs weaken (e.g. slows). Jungle monster buffs are crucial for early-game control.
How the two games differIn Honor of Kings, Red Buff adds a slow and true damage over time, Blue Buff gives 20% cooldown reduction and mana regen, and both respawn every 90 seconds. In Wild Rift the big team-wide buffs come from the four dragons.
Your kill/death/assist ratio. Beginners improve fastest by focusing on dying less.
The hero your team feeds gold and safe farm so they can win late-game fights. If you are the carry, take the free farm; if you are not, play around protecting the one who is.
A high-health frontliner who starts fights and soaks damage. Tanks buy resistances instead of damage, so judge them by how much enemy attention they pull, not by KDA.
A durable melee hero who still deals real damage — able to keep trading in a fight without being a pure tank. Usually takes the solo lane: Top in Wild Rift, the Clash Lane in Honor of Kings.
How the two games differTheir home is Top (Baron lane) in Wild Rift and the Clash Lane (top side) in Honor of Kings. Both are 1v1 lanes; in teamfights a fighter either holds the frontline or flanks into the enemy backline.
A burst hero built to reach the enemy carry and delete them in one combo. Strong when the enemy is split up, near-useless when they group and peel for each other.
A ranged magic-damage hero, usually in the mid lane. Mages jump in strength the moment their first major item completes, so it is worth checking the enemy mage's build before you fight.
A ranged basic-attack carry who scales with items. Wild Rift plays them in the Duo lane (Dragon lane) with a support. Honor of Kings puts them in the Farm Lane (bottom). The roamer holds no lane and moves across the whole map, so a partner is not always standing beside you.
How the two games differA Wild Rift ADC farms with a support standing guard. In Honor of Kings the roamer holds no lane: it helps clear the first mid wave at level 1, then moves on to take vision around the boss pits, so the Farm Lane marksman cannot count on a partner standing next to them.
The role that gives up farm in exchange for vision, crowd control and peel. In Wild Rift the support starts beside the marksman and also manages wards. Honor of Kings calls the role Roam: it holds no lane, moves across the whole map, and — with no ward item — earns its keep by checking bushes, protecting teammates and calling the start of a fight.
How the two games differA Wild Rift support pairs with the ADC in the Duo lane and handles wards. The equivalent Honor of Kings role is the Roam, which buys the 300-gold Knowledge Gem and moves across the whole map instead of holding a lane.
The player who farms neutral camps instead of a lane and decides where to gank. Their pathing sets the early tempo for the whole team.
How the two games differSmite is a different spell in each game. Honor of Kings: 1,500 true damage on a 30-second cooldown, and you cannot buy jungle items without it. Wild Rift: 600 true damage on a 10-second cooldown, upgrading to Chill Smite after three uses.
The AI soldiers that march down each lane. They are your steady income — clearing waves pays for your build, and shoving them into a tower is how you take it down.
How the two games differHonor of Kings waves gain a long-range ballista from 4:00, and killing the Overlord turns your next two waves into Dragon Vanguards. In Wild Rift it is the Baron buff that supercharges nearby minions.
Channeling back to your fountain to heal and shop. Time it right after you shove the wave in, so you lose the least gold and experience while you are away.
How the two games differHonor of Kings lets you buy items from anywhere on the map, so a recall is for healing, not shopping. In Wild Rift the usual timing is right before a cannon minion wave arrives or straight after crashing your wave into the tower.
Steadily collecting gold and experience from minions and jungle camps. When a fight is not clearly winnable, taking a wave is usually the higher-value play.
The neutral area between lanes. Defeat monsters there for experience and buffs.
Grass that hides you from enemy view. A classic spot to ambush the enemy carry.
Lane defenses that hit hard and switch to you the moment you attack an enemy hero in range. Only step in when your own minion wave is there to take the shots for you.
How the two games differIn Honor of Kings, outer towers take 40% less damage for the first four minutes, and hitting a tower with no allied minions nearby cuts your damage by 55%. Wild Rift's early tower plan is to take the Rift Herald and send it charging in.
The final structure in the enemy base — the Nexus in Wild Rift, the Crystal in Honor of Kings. Destroying it ends the match regardless of the kill score.
How the two games differIn Honor of Kings the Crystal cannot be attacked until at least one high ground tower is down. In Wild Rift, breaking a lane's third tower — the Inhibitor Turret — spawns Super Minions in that lane.
A placeable item that reveals part of the map. Wild Rift gives every player free wards from the shop, while Honor of Kings has no ward item at all — there, vision comes from bushes, the minimap and hero skills.
How the two games differWild Rift vision runs on wards, cleared with the Sweeping Lens, and wards even serve as Teleport targets. Honor of Kings has no ward at all — the roamer walks into the bush first to check it.
The unlit part of the map where enemies are invisible to you. When an enemy disappears from the minimap, assume they are walking toward you until you see otherwise.
The healing zone in your base where you shop and refill. Enemies who chase you into it get shredded by the fountain's attack, so a fountain dive is almost never worth it.
Wiping out the entire enemy team. Use the window to take towers and objectives and swing the game.
Protecting your carry (damage dealer) from enemy attacks.
Any effect that takes control away from a hero — stun, knock-up, root, silence, slow. Chaining CC is how a team kills a tank, and holding your escape until after the first CC lands is how you survive one.
How the two games differThe cleanse spell is Purify in Honor of Kings (120s cooldown) and Cleanse in Wild Rift (110s). In both games, suppression is the one effect the usual cleanses cannot remove.
Damage delivered in one short combo rather than over time. Burst heroes live or die on whether the target dies before it can react, so they need setup or CC to land it.
Chipping away at enemy health from outside their range before a fight starts. Enough poke forces the enemy to recall or fight at a health deficit.
Health you recover on your own — lifesteal, regeneration, or a heal skill. Good sustain lets you stay in lane through poke instead of giving up waves to recall.
Attacking an enemy who is standing under their own tower. It only works when you have a minion wave to hold the tower's aggro and enough damage to finish before it kills you.
How the two games differHonor of Kings towers take 40% reduced damage until 4:00, so dives before then almost never work. The Wild Rift glossary covers tower aggro swapping — passing the tower's target from one teammate to the next so everyone walks out.
Agreeing on one target and killing it first. Damage spread across five enemies kills nobody; five players hitting the same squishy usually decides the fight on the spot.
Moving between basic attacks so you keep dealing damage while staying out of reach. Attack, step back, attack again — it is the core mechanic of every marksman.
Engage is the skill that starts a fight — a knock-up, a hook, a dash in. Disengage is what pulls your team out of a bad one. Whichever side has the better engage usually gets to choose when the fight happens.
Turning a small lead into an ever-growing advantage and keeping control of the game.
Killing minions to move the front line toward the enemy's towers.
Big-picture strategy: map awareness, objective control, and rotations. Its counterpart, micro, refers to mechanical skill.
Neutral monsters that grant powerful team-wide buffs — Wild Rift's dragons and Baron, Honor of Kings' Tyrant and Overlord. Teamfights around them often decide the game.
How the two games differHonor of Kings objectives run on a clock: Overlord at 2:00, Tyrant at 4:00, their Shadow versions at 10:00 and the Tempest Dragon at 20:00. Wild Rift has seven — four dragons, the Rift Herald, Baron Nashor and the Elder Dragon.
Leaving your lane to make something happen elsewhere — a gank, an objective, a vision sweep. Roam after you shove your wave in, so the trip does not cost you farm. In Honor of Kings, Roam is also the name of the support position.
How the two games differIn Honor of Kings, Roam is also the name of a role, with its own tier list. The roamer helps clear the first mid wave at level 1, then goes to take vision around the boss pits. In Wild Rift the word only describes the action.
Pushing a side lane alone while your team holds the enemy's attention elsewhere. It forces them to send someone to answer, which is how you create the numbers fight your team can win.
How the two games differHonor of Kings speeds up the Clash Lane side with a warp point — kill its sprite to activate it, then it has a 30-second cooldown. The Wild Rift glossary lays out the 1-4 and 1-3-1 formations.
Controlling where the minion waves meet. Freeze the wave near your own tower to farm safely, or slow push a big wave first so you have time to take an objective.
How much stronger a hero gets from levels and items. A late-scaling team should trade early aggression for farm; an early-game team has to convert its lead before the other side catches up.
The moment a hero jumps in strength — a key level or a completed item. Look for fights right after your own spike, and avoid them right after the enemy's.
How the two games differIn Honor of Kings the first spike is level 4, when your ultimate unlocks. In Wild Rift, tier 3 boots only unlock at 10:00, so the pair you buy early decides the passive you finish the game with.
The heroes, builds and strategies that are strongest under the current patch. It shifts with every balance change, so check the patch date on any tier list you read.
How the two games differThe two tier lists draw on different data. Honor of Kings Hub uses win, pick and ban rates from the official in-game HoK Camp; Wild Rift Hub uses official China-server stats from Master rank and above.