Buff

Most often, a buff refers to a temporary beneficial spell or effect placed on a player. Buffs can range in effect from simple personal shields to buffs which augment almost every category of stats a given player may have for their race or class.

Buffs can be of two types: those that expire over time (simple buffs like [Arcane Intellect]) or those that are dependent on the environment around you (like the AoE effect given by totems). You can dismiss an active buff that expires over time by right-clicking on its icon.

Most buffs do not stack with other similar buffs. One prominent exception is heal over time spells; heal over time spells from multiple characters and different heal over time spells from the same character (such as a druid's [Regrowth] and [Rejuvenation]) will stack with each other.

Buff can also be used as a verb, i.e. "to buff" means to apply buffs.

Buff is also used to represent a change to a class or ability that makes it more effective or useful. It is the opposite of a nerf.

Raid buffs

Available raid buffs have changed in composition throughout the history of World of Warcraft. Current buffs include:

Class	Buff	Effect	Type
Death knight	N/A	N/A	N/A
Demon hunter	[Chaos Brand]	Increases magic damage taken	Enemy debuff
Druid	[Mark of the Wild]	Increases Versatility	Raid buff
Evoker	[Blessing of the Bronze]	Reduces major movement ability cooldowns	Raid buff
Hunter	[Hunter's Mark]	Increases damage taken	Enemy debuff
Mage	[Arcane Intellect]	Increases Intellect	Raid buff
Monk	[Mystic Touch]	Increases physical damage taken	Enemy debuff
Paladin^{[n 1]}	[Concentration Aura]^{[n 2]}	Reduces Interrupt and Silence length	Area of effect buff
	[Crusader Aura]^{[n 3]}	Increases mount speed	Area of effect buff
	[Devotion Aura]^{[n 2]}	Reduces damage taken	Area of effect buff
	[Retribution Aura]^{[n 3]}	Increases damage dealt	Area of effect buff
Priest	[Power Word: Fortitude]	Increases Stamina	Raid buff
Rogue^{[n 4]}	[Atrophic Poison]	Reduces damage dealt	Enemy debuff
	[Crippling Poison]	Slows movement speed	Enemy debuff
	[Numbing Poison]	Slows attack and cast speed	Enemy debuff
Shaman	[Windfury Totem]	Gives chance for extra physical attacks	Party buff
Warlock^{[n 5]}	N/A	N/A	N/A
Warrior	[Battle Shout]	Increases attack power	Raid buff

^ Each paladin can only activate one aura at a time, but which aura is active can be changed mid-combat.
^ ^a ^b Holy and Protection paladins only.
^ ^a ^b Retribution paladins only.
^ Each rogue can only apply one type of non-lethal poison at a time.
^ While not actual raid buffs, warlocks have access to [Ritual of Summoning], [Create Soulwell], and [Soulstone].

Burst of Haste

Main article: Bloodlust effect

Another factor to consider when devising a group composition is a Burst of Haste, colloquially known as bloodlust effects or just lust. A cooldown that provides 30% Haste while it is up, it is different to the other buffs because it is temporary with a duration of 40s, and then cools down for 10 minutes from the start of the buff. These spells are generally used at a critical moment during a raid encounter predetermined by the raid leader, based on the party's strategy.

This buff can provided by the following classes:

Evoker: [Fury of the Aspects]
Mage: [Time Warp]
Shaman: [Bloodlust] (Horde) or [Heroism] (Alliance)
Hunter: [Primal Rage]
- Prior to Battle for Azeroth, Hunters used the abilities [Ancient Hysteria] (Beast Mastery only) or [Netherwinds] instead.

If one of these classes is not available, a weaker version of the Burst of Haste buff can usually be provided by a Leatherworking consumable. At the time of Dragonflight, this is specifically [Feral Hide Drums] which provides 15% Haste at the same duration.

Since Shadowlands, all Priests now also bring the [Power Infusion] cooldown which can be cast on a single ally to grant them 25% Haste for 20 seconds, although due to its smaller nature this is generally not considered as important as the full Burst of Haste type effect. Power Infusion stacks with the Burst of Haste effect.

Historical

Warlords of Draenor

The subject of this section was removed from World of Warcraft in patch 7.0.3.

There were 9 standard raid buffs, which are provided by a number of different abilities. Duplicate abilities with the same effect would not stack, but you could combine buffs with different effects. For example, [Mark of the Wild]'s increased stats did not stack with [Legacy of the Emperor] as both increased stats; but [Mark of the Wild] did stack with [Power Word: Fortitude], as stats are a different buff effect to stamina.

Some abilities apply more than one buff. When you are in the Proving Grounds, you automatically receive all 9 buffs until you leave the instance. A raid that consists of a party capable of providing all 9 buffs is considered an optimal raid, and when forming a raid party you should try to ensure that each of the buffs will be available. While not technically raid buffs, [Mortal Wounds], combat resurrection, and Burst Haste are often just as desirable.

The buffs are:

Stats: Increases Strength, Agility, and Intellect by 5%.
Stamina: Increases Stamina by 10%.
Attack Power: Increases attack power by 10%.
Spell Power: Increases spell power by 10%.
Versatility: Increases Versatility by 3%.
Haste: Increases Haste by 5%.
Critical Strike: Increases Critical Strike by 5%.
Multistrike: Increases Multistrike by 5%.
Mastery: Increases Mastery by 550.

Weaker versions of some buffs can be provided by consumable items. While these versions are weaker, it is worthwhile to have an inventory of these items when raiding, in case a class capable of providing the full version of a particular buff is not available. Like the abilities above, these do not stack with similar effects:

Stats: [Drums of Forgotten Kings]
Stamina: [Runescroll of Fortitude III]

World buffs

While no longer an element of retail, some of the strongest buffs during vanilla World of Warcraft are procured in the world and can be taken into instances. They make their reappearance in World of Warcraft: Classic with new additions appearing in seasons such as Season of Discovery. Season of Mastery disabled them for raids.

The following world buffs were part of the original 2004 experience: