As an RPG, Touhou LostWord naturally includes a lot of jargon and lingo that might not immediately be obvious. Fear not! This glossary is here to give the most comprehensive list of definitions possible. Are we missing a word you think should be here? Please feel free to leave a comment or contact us on the official discord in the #gamepress-feedback channel!
A
Absorb
Any bullet tagged with this will restore a % of the unit’s maximum HP if the bullet hits, no matter how much or little damage the attack does. Also known as Draining.
Affection
See Friendship
Agility
A stat that determines which units go first. See the Advanced Combat guide for more details.
Aggro
See Focus
Aid
An ‘attack’ which only performs non-damaging effects.
All
An attack which targets every enemy unit. Also called AoE, or Area of Effect.
Amulet
See Ofuda
Anti-
See Killer.
AoE
See All
Area of Effect
See All
B
Backloaded (1-1-3)
A community term to refer to when an attack or spell gets most of its power and bullet lines at a third boost. You will usually see this as 1-1-3, or "1 line for 1 boost, 1 for 2 boost, and 3 for 3 boost."
Banner
What Prayers are performed on: all but the general banner (named Prayer ingame) are time limited, and most (but not all) feature a Rate Up unit which is more likely to be drawn, and can be traded for with Exchange Points earned by Prayer.
Barrier
A sort of damage reducing shield. See the Advanced Combat guide for more details on barriers.
Barrier Status
Conditions which are inflicted directly onto a Barrier. See the Advanced Combat guide for more information.
Basic Shot
Refers to a unit’s infinitely reusable attacks, Spread Shot and Focus Shot.
Best in Slot (BiS)
A community term that describes when an equipped story card is the best pick for a specific Friend. Usually referring to their Last Word only.
Blind
A type of Barrier Status which reduces accuracy.
Body
One of the various bullet tags. Does nothing by itself, but can result in damage modification due to Story Cards, resistances, or characteristics. Also known as Physical.
Boost
The act of using Spirit Power to give an attack access to more bullets, aka ‘lines.’
Bullets
The “lines” on an attack, which determine the effects of that attack’s hits, depending on how many levels of Boost are provided. See also, Danmaku.
Bullet Spread
A community term used to describe the "spread" of an attack. Every attack gains more lines when boosted, and the spread is meant to describe how many lines are added based on the attack.
Burn
A Barrier status which does damage at the start of a turn and lowers a unit’s Yin ATK and DEF.
C
Charge
An effect which makes a unit go last within their given turn bracket. Please see the Advanced Combat guide for more information.
Cooling
A bullet tagged with this has a chance of inflicting 1 Layer of the Barrier Status: Freeze to the target upon hit. Also known as Freezing.
D
Danmaku
Also known as bullets. Non-lethal attacks with a focus on looking pretty first and foremost, with the damage typically limited just to clothing
Delayed
A bullet tagged with this has a chance to force the target to act after the next 2 units in the turn order on hit. Can also be applied by freezing.
Divine Paper Doll
An item used to uncap Ultra Festival units in place of using a duplicate copy. Regular paper dolls will not work on Ultra Festival units, and Divine Paper Dolls cannot be used on regular units. Also known as a super doll or god doll.
Discharged
A bullet tagged with this will Break any Paralyze barriers on the target. Also known as Discharge. Not to be mistaken with Cirno's Discharge skill.
DPS
Stands for Damage Per Second. In spite of the fact that this game uses turns, not seconds, this is often used by community members to refer to units who excel at doing damage, or to refer to a unit’s damage output.
Draining
See Absorb
Draw
See Prayer
E
Elastic
A bullet effect that increases the attack's chance to deal a critical hit based on the opponent's ATK buff of the respective bullet type (Yin/Yang).
Electrified
See Paralyze
Energy
One of the various bullet tags. Does nothing by itself, but can result in damage modification due to Story Cards, resistances, or characteristics.
Exchange Points
Points used to trade in for a Rate Up unit on a banner.
Explosive
A bullet effect that increases the attack's chance to deal a critical hit based on the opponent's DEF buff of the respective bullet type (Yin/Yang).
Extra Attack
A special debuff applied by enemies at the start of a turn to all frontline allied units. This effect prohibits the use of one or more types of actions, depending on the Extra Attack.
Extra Stage
A special sort of Main story stage mode that can only be challenged three times per day.
F
Fes
See Festival
Festival
A classification for limited units which only show up on specifically marked banners, and cannot be obtained outside of them. Regular Paper Dolls work just fine for them. Often shortened to Fes.
Flash
A bullet tagged with this will Break any Blind Barriers on the target.
Fluid
See Liquid
Firebomb
A bullet tagged with this has a chance of inflicting 1 Layer of the Barrier Status: Burn to the target upon hit. Also known as Incendiary.
Focus
A stat available only from buffs and debuffs. Any unit with at least 1 Level of Focus Up will be more likely to be targeted by an enemy attack - likewise, at least 1 Level of Focus Down will make them less likely to be targeted. This has no effect on All-targeting attacks, as they already hit all enemies, and does not make them less likely.
Freezing
See Cooling
Friend
The playable units obtained by the gacha. Also called Units and/or Characters.
Friendship
An ingame reflection of a unit's affection towards you, which can improve their stats. See the Advanced Combat Guide for details.
Frontloaded (3-1-1)
A community term to refer to when an attack or spell gets most of its power and bullet lines at a first boost. You will usually see this as 3-1-1, or "3 lines for 1 boost, 1 for 2 boost, and 1 for 3 boost."
G
Gacha
The game’s primary form of obtaining Friends and Story Cards. In exchange for either Seal Crystals and Coins or God Crystals, you are given random Friends and Story Cards, as based on the rates displayed. Using the Gacha is referred to as “Prayer.”
GC
See God Crystal
God Crystal
The game’s premium currency, used for a variety of things between skins, Prayer, slot expansion, and more.
Graze
The act of using a Barrier. In Touhou, this refers to just barely avoiding getting hit by an attack.
H
Hard
Any bullet tagged with this will scale with both a unit’s DEF stat as well as their ATK stat (Yang-type attacks scale with Yang DEF, Yin with Yin DEF). The exact % of DEF that the attack scales with varies based on a hidden value, but is typically between 30% and 90%. If a character isn't noted for having exceptional Hard scaling, assume the scaling is on the lower end of the scale.
Heavy
One of the various bullet tags. Does nothing by itself, but can result in damage modification due to Story Cards, resistances, or characteristics. Also known as Mass.
I
Incendiary
See Firebomb
Incineration
A bullet tagged with this will break all of a target’s Barriers with Burn applied to them on hit.
J
K
Killer
Any attack tagged with this will always result in a Critical Hit against any enemy with the appropriate designation. Also known as Anti-.
L
LW
See Last Word.
Last Word
The most powerful Spell Card a unit possesses, usually much flashier than their others. A unit must be at Max Limit Break status to unlock this attack.
Laser
One of the various bullet tags. Does nothing by itself, but can result in damage modification due to Story Cards, resistances, or characteristics.
Levels
The way the game refers to an increment of any buff or debuff. Not to be mistaken with character level or player level. Also known as Stages.
Light
One of the various bullet tags. Does nothing by itself, but can result in damage modification due to Story Cards, resistances, or characteristics. Also known as Ray.
Limit Break
The act of using duplicate copies of a unit to upgrade them. A unit must be at Max Limit Break, which is the limit and requires being uncapped 3 times in total, to unlock their Last Word.
Line
See Bullets
Liquid
One of the various bullet tags. Does nothing by itself, but can result in damage modification due to Story Cards, resistances, or characteristics. Also known as Fluid.
M
Mass
See Heavy
Max Limit Break
See Limit Break
Melting
A bullet tagged with this will break all of a target’s Barriers with Freeze applied to them on hit. Also known as Thawing.
Mirror
See Specular.
Missile
One of the various bullet tags. Does nothing by itself, but can result in damage modification due to Story Cards, resistances, or characteristics.
MLB
See Limit Break
Morale
Refers to an ingame mechanic reflecting the unit's ability to keep fighting. See the Advanced Combat Guide for details. Also known as Motivation.
Motivation
See: Morale
Multi-
Means a tag refers to multiple things. The only way to see what all it refers to is to check the bullet’s details.
N
Nuke
Community lingo used to refer to any attack that deals a high amount of damage. Units who can deal a ton of damage overall are sometimes referred to as Nukers.
O
Ofuda
One of the various bullet tags. Does nothing by itself, but can result in damage modification due to Story Cards, resistances, or characteristics. Also known as Amulet.
P
Paralyze
A Barrier Status which can prevent the target from moving, and lowers their evasion. Also known as Electrified.
Paper Doll
An item used in place of a duplicate copy of a unit to Limit Break them. Also known as Dupe Dolls.
Physical
See Body
Pity
See Spark
Poison
A barrier status which does damage at the start of a turn and lowers a unit’s Yang ATK and DEF.
Poison Spray
A bullet tagged with this has a chance of inflicting 1 Layer of the Barrier Status: Poison to the target upon hit. Also known as Toxic.
Power
See Spirit Power
Prayer
The act of spending currency for new Friends.
Precise
A bullet effect that increases the attack's chance to deal a critical hit based on the opponent's Agility.
Q
Quick
An effect which makes a unit move first within their turn bracket. See the Advanced Combat guide for more information.
R
Rate Up
Refers to a unit promoted on a banner, who will have a naturally higher rate of being drawn and can be traded in for with Exchange Points earned by Praying on a draw.
Ray
See Light
Rebound
Any bullet tagged with this will damage the user by 15% of their max HP per line, hit or miss. This damage cannot reduce HP below 1. Also known as recoil.
Recoil
See Rebound
Ritual
Items which provide a chance for either a random Friend or Story Card, depending on the type These count as Prayers for the sake of tasks.
S
SC
May either mean Seal Crystal, Spell Card, or Story Card, depending on usage.
Seal Crystal
A mysterious item which LostWord’s plot revolves around. Seal Crystals are used ingame to either perform Prayers, or to heal your units in the Scarlet Devil Tower after your daily free heal.
Set Up
A community term used to refer to how quickly or how easily a Friend can optimize their Last Word's damage. Depends on the Friend, stage, and support they have.
Sfes
See Super Festival
Single Target
See Solo
Slash
One of the various bullet tags. Does nothing by itself, but can result in damage modification due to Story Cards, resistances, or characteristics.
Slicing
Any bullet tagged with this will factor in a % of the unit’s Agility stat in addition to the appropriate Attack stat. The exact value varies based on an invisible value that is different for every attack. The exact % of Agility that the attack scales with varies based on a hidden value, but is typically between 30% and 90%. If a character isn't noted for having exceptional Slicing scaling, assume the scaling is on the lower end of the scale.
Smokescreen
A bullet tagged with this has a chance of inflicting 1 Layer of the Barrier Status: Blind to the target upon hit.
Solo
An attack which only targets one enemy. Also called Single Target, or ST.
Spark
The act of Praying enough times on a banner to earn enough Exchange Points to trade in for a copy of the Unit on Rate Up. Sometimes mistaken as Pity.
Specular
An attack that checks the opposite Defense type (Yang ATK will check Yin DEF, and Yin ATK will check Yang DEF, including debuffs and relevant anomalies). Also known as Mirror.
Spell Card
A themed attack that’s focused on giving a show first and foremost.
Spirit P
The ‘fuel/energy/stamina’ you use to embark on stages. The amount of Spirit P a unit costs to deploy depends on their upgrades, and is shown on their status screen. Not to be confused with Spirit Power
Spirit Power
A resource that units use in order to Boost, to unlock the more powerful bullets (or ‘lines’) of their attacks. Every 1.0 Spirit Power can be used for 1 Boost. Often shortened to just Power. Not to be confused with Spirit P.
ST
See Solo
Stage
See Levels
Stat Stick
A Story Card which is equipped to a unit only for the stats it provides, and not the spell card’s Ability.
Story Card
A form of equipment that you attach directly to your Spell Cards, which reflect events which may or may not have happened. They provide both stats for being equipped, and an Ability when the Spell Card they are equipped to is used. Refer to the Story Card guide for more information.
Super Festival
See Ultra Festival.
Sure-Hit
Any bullet tagged with this will always hit.
T
Task
A list of in-game objectives which, when completed, provides a reward. Often referred to as Missions.
Thawing
See Melting
Toxic
A bullet tagged with this will break all of a target’s Barriers with Poison applied to them on hit. Also referred to as Overdose. May also refer to Poison Spray
U
Ufes
See Ultra Festival
Ultra Festival
Limited units which require a Divine Paper Doll to Limit Break and 250 draws to Spark. Also known as Super Festival, Sfes, and Ufes.
Unit
See Friend
Universe
A term referring to the world tag of a Friend. These can range from L1 for most units, or other universes such as A or R based on the Friend's original world.
V
W
World
See Universe
X
Y
Yang
One of the game’s two attacking stats. Yang ATK is checked against Yang DEF.
Yin
One of the game’s two attacking stats. Yin ATK is checked against Yin DEF.
Z
#
x-y-z (3-1-1, 2-2-1, 1-2-2, 1-1-3, 3-11-1, etc)
Numbers isolated by dashes can have 2 meanings: designating the bullet spread of a spell or Last Word (ex. 3-1-1 means 3 lines added at 1 boost, 1 more at 2, and 1 at 3) or describing a specific stage in main story (ex. 3-6-3 is Chapter 3 Act 6 Stage 3)
x/y/z (10/10/10, 10/1/5, etc.)
Unlike with dashes, this numerical notation is commonly used to describe the skill levels of a Friend (ex. 10/10/10 means Level 10 for all skills)