nerfing

Making less effective

Nerfing is weakening something that's considered too powerful, especially in video games.

Developers nerf overpowered weapons, characters, or abilities to restore competitive balance: They nerfed the shotgun in the latest patch.

The term comes from Nerf toys—soft foam versions of real objects—suggesting something has been made harmless.

Outside gaming, nerfing describes any deliberate reduction in effectiveness: The new policy basically nerfed our bonus structure.

gamebalance

patch

Material covering damage

  • updateNew version or information
  • buffAvid fan; also burnish
  • tweakMinor adjustment

rebalance · meta · overpowered · cooldown · hotfix · changelog · buffed · adjustment · tuning · optimization

weaken

reduce

Make smaller in degree

degrade · impair · dilute · attenuate · curtail · downgrade · scale back · tone down · cut · limit

foam

dart

Handheld pointed projectile

  • blasterEnergy-shooting firearm
  • foamBubble-filled substance
  • toyObject for amusement

projectile · target · reload · ammo · magazine · battle · war · modding · rival · elite

Categories
Opposites
game balance adjustments

nerfingbuffing

Friction-based shine work

buff · buffed · strengthening · boosting · powering up

Family

nerf, Nerf, nerfs, nerfed

Familiarity
Top 500,000
Profile
Known to kids · Used worldwide · Rated G