AoE

I would just like to know what AoE is.

It stands for Area of Effect.

Basically, any spell or ability that effects more than one target. So things like Overpower that hits all enemies not just the one you're attacking. Or Medica which heals the whole group instead of just one person. Or the orange floor circles enemies put down, that hit everyone standing in them, not just the person said enemy is targeting, etc.

You can think of it as an attack on the environment. Why would you want to attack the environment? If there are multiple enemies.

Otherwise, you want to use direct single target attacks that require a target.

The previous two posters have answered your question, but I'd like to take a moment to suggest that you complete the Hall of the Novice training. There's one for tanks (Gladiator/Marauder), Healers (Conjurer), and Damage Dealers or "DPS" (everybody else*).

"Hall of the Novice" is basically an MMO crash-course. It gives you very good gear for the lower level dungeons (it's level-15 gear), and an excellent ring that provides an EXP boost as well as stats.

While it won't teach you the acronyms ("AoE"), it will teach you role requirements (such as a tank using an "Area of Effect" attack, or a ranged attack). It's not perfect - and it does teach a small handful of bad habits - but it's really good for what it is, and it's a great resource for a newer player. Especially since I see you've picked up a tanking role!

https://trialsoffantasy.com/wp-conte...-The-Smith.png

This is the icon that you're going to want to look for. You'll find an NPC with this icon in the inn room of each of the starter cities (The Drowning Wench, The Quicksand, or The Carline Canopy). You'll also find this NPC at the entrance to the first three dungeons (Sastasha, Tam-Tara Deepcroft, and Copperbell Mines) as well as multiple other early-level ARR locations (Haukke Manor, Halatali, and a dedicated Hall of the Novice building outside Aleport).

Check it out! It'll take you through 5 (healer), 7 (DPS), or 8 (tank) short battle duties with NPC allies.

* There are more jobs than just these, but my list is based off classes that you can select at the character creation screen. Most notably, "Arcanist" is a damage dealer that eventually branches into another healer - but for the purpose of this reply, I've treated it as a DPS.