Buff

In game balance language, a buff is an increase in power or usefulness. Developers might raise a weapon’s damage, shorten an ability cooldown, improve a character’s health, or make an underused strategy more reliable. Players also use buff for temporary positive effects, such as a spell that grants extra armor for thirty seconds. Context separates a permanent balance change from an in-match status effect. Buffs can refresh a stale metagame, help weaker options compete, and change team composition, but excessive changes may create a new dominant choice.