Panic button

The word panic button refers to the phenomenon that every class in the game has some sort of a button they press in order to save their hides from a certain death. Some classes are more 'blessed' with these buttons than others but it is usually evened out by their surviving/damaging skills.

Panic buttons are nearly always instant spells with a certain cooldown, to make them available for use at all times, but not limitlessly. These abilities are neither Crowd Control methods nor Snares but some of them do have an offensive use.

"Save yourself" buttons

• Druid: [Travel Form]/ [Aquatic Form], [Nature's Swiftness], [Nature's Grasp].
• Hunter: [Feign Death], [Scatter Shot], [Aspect of the Cheetah].
• Mage: [Blink], [Ice Block], [Frost Nova], [Blazing Speed].
• Paladin: Bubbles, [Lay on Hands].
• Priest: [Desperate Prayer], [Pain Suppression], [Psychic Scream].
• Rogue: [Sprint], [Vanish], [Cloak of Shadows].
• Shaman: [Ghost Wolf], ( [Reincarnation]).
• Warlock: [Howl of Terror]*, Sacrifice, [Death Coil].
• Warrior: [Shield Wall], [Recklessness].

(*It can become instant for Affliction warlocks.)

"Save the day" Buttons

Usually used to prevent the death of every person in your party/raid and having to restart all over again.

For more information, see Wipe.

When and how

Most buttons have a pretty short cooldown, enabling it for use every one or two battles if/when needed. However, some have the potential to be used to save a lot more than you'd think so think twice before using these for PVP situations.