Segment 52: Deadly Boss Mods

So now you’re raiding, or at least running instances. It doesn’t matter if you’re raiding old “vanilla WoW” dungeons or Baradin Hold, or anywhere in between; you want to do the best you can, whether you are the tank, a healer, or DPS. That means you need situational awareness, because while a mage doing the safety dance in Naxxramas may be low on the DPS charts, a dead mage is zero DPS.

The NPCs have an advantage over you. They may not be as smart as you (let’s hope not!), but they are inside the computer; there’s no lag between events and their knowledge of those events. Deadly Boss Mods (“DBM”) will help you overcome that advantage.

Right now I have a total of 36 DBM modules installed, including the core module and a totally superfluous “victory sound” module. There are modules for world events, PvP, every existing raid instance, and general modules for Outlands, Burning Crusade, Wrath, and Cataclysm. Other features (cribbed from the DBM Web site) include:

* Boss mods for all raid bosses.
* Colored raid warnings (players will be colored according to their class) with icons – so you will know what’s going on without even reading the message.
* Auto-respond during boss fights. DBM will inform anyone who whispers you during a boss fight that you are busy. These messages contain the name and health of the boss as well as the raid’s status.
* Boss Health-frame: you can enable a simple frame that shows a health bar for all active bosses. This is enabled by default for multi-mob bosses like Four Horsemen.
* Bars can be enlarged with special “notice me!” effects when they are about to expire.
* Crash recovery: you had a disconnect or crash during a boss fight? No problem for DBM! It will request the timer and combat status information from other DBM users in your raid group and you get your timers back.
* Synchronization system for accurate timers.
* No dependencies, no embedded libraries (except for the optional LibDataBroker plugin that embeds LibDataBroker). This means you can use DBM without any other add-ons.
* Modular design – all boss mods are plugins and can be exchanged, removed or updated separately.
* Load on demand – all boss mods are separate AddOns and they will be loaded when they are needed, so they don’t use memory or CPU until you enter the corresponding instance.
* Efficient code: DBM uses less than 250 kb memory and the CPU usage is also very low.
* Special effects like the screen flash effect, huge warning messages and sounds will draw your attention to critical events.
* Bars can change their color over time and flash before they expire.
* Highly customizable: you can change the bar color, size, icon position etc.
* Support for SharedMedia, so you can use any texture for your bars.
* An option to create custom timers, so-called “Pizza Timers” for your pizza or whatever you prefer to eat while raiding. You can also send those timers to your raid group.
* Powerful object-oriented API – you can use it to write your own boss mods!

There are screenshots and a download link, as well as dedicated forums at DeadlyBossMods.com

And you can update DBM with any of the three popular updaters.

Do yourself and your party members a favor; get and use Deadly Boss Mods.

Music for this segment is from FreePlayMusic.com and is entitled “Pushing It” by Eric Darken

Download the MP3: Deadly Boss Mods

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NOTE: The status of many add-ons post-patch 4.0.1 can be found at
http://www.wowpedia.org/Cataclysm_AddOn_status

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This morning, as is my usual habit, I tried to log into WoW from the computer in our library at home. Instead of the normal “Authentication Successful” message, a larger splash screen popped up, telling me that my account had been locked due to a detected “change in play pattern.” Now, my pattern is highly predictable. I normally play on the computer in my home library mornings and evenings, on my office work computer at lunchtime, and on my home office computer weekends, with rare forays on my laptop. That’s it; four computers, three of which never go anywhere. What could have changed?

Well, here’s the thing: on Tuesday evening, I was having problems staying connected. I didn’t think anything of it; rolling restarts on the servers frequently indicate server-side patches, and those frequently mean new bugs. Wednesday, one of my co-workers mentioned he had the same problem, but the third member of our lunch crowd said he hadn’t noticed anything.

What if those connection problems were caused by some account thief attempting to log into my (and my co-worker’s) account? Failing, of course, as he doesn’t have our authenticators, but still trying? Attempted logins from an unusual location (like, for example, China) qualify as a “change in play pattern.”

So this morning, I carefully typed the URL shown in the “account locked” popup (in Google Chrome, because Internet Explorer is about as secure as a tissue-paper bank vault), went through the rigamarole to change my password (this time using a more-secure randomized string), and logged in to play. The whole thing wasted about half of my normal early-morning play time (and prevented me from testing a particular add-on for the Emporium), but none of my Horde toons have been robbed. I should have checked the Alliance, too, I guess. I’ll do that later today.

Bottom line: If you don’t have an Authenticator, for your own sake, get one! I am certain that’s the only thing that kept my account from being stolen. And after you get it, if it’s the keyfob style, photocopy the serial number on the back and store that copy someplace safe, away from the computer and the Authenticator.

Use a “secure” password, one that you never use for anything else, at least eight characters long, mixed letters and numbers. Make it random if you can do that and still remember it. Write it down (yes, I know you’re always told “don’t write it down”) and put the slip of paper in your wallet. If you lose your wallet, your WoW password is a very minor problem, trust me.

And if you aren’t using Gmail for your main email address, open an account there now (it’s still free), and change your Battle.net information to point there. Gmail is very, very good at detecting “phishing” spam. I get around six spams every day that pretend to be from Blizzard. They never are. Gmail properly identifies them as phishing every time, with a large red banner across the top of the email. Granted, it also flagged the legitimate email from Blizzard this morning as “spam,” but it did NOT call it phishing. If anyone is interested, I can tell you how to identify the real source of an email; it’s pretty easy.

Be paranoid; this is the Internet, and they really are out to get you.

Oh, and have you ever been curious where those “we heard you like to sell your Wow Account, Dawg” emails that pretend to be from Blizzard would take you if you followed the link? If you’re using OpenDNS, this is what you’d get (and even if you are, DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME! I am a computer professional; I have years of experience to help me stay safe.):

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Segment 51: Old Friends Revisited

Let’s look at the pre-Cata add-ons covered in the Emporium once more, quickly, and see what’s still useful. Any dates referenced here will be 2011 unless otherwise stated.

From the top:
Omen3 – Outdated. I’ve personally moved to Skada.
Carbonite – Updated January 25th.
Decursive – Updated March 4th.
Grid – Use Healbot.
Mage Fever – Updated February 14th. Use Curse to get the latest version.
Lorack’s DK Optimizer – Out of date. Use SpellFlash with the DK module.
DeclineDuel – Out of date but still working.
AchievementSnap – Out of date.
DingRecorder – Out of date.
AuctionLite – Updated January 22d.
Advanced Trade Skill Window – Updated February 9th.
Free Refills – Updated March 7th.
InfiniteIgnore – Updated February 21st.
RankWatch – Outdated and obsolete.
EasySerum – Updated for patch 4.0.1 and should still work.
GoGoMount – updated March 9th, and GoGoPet updated for 4.0.1 in October 2010.
Add-on updaters are updated whenever you run them.
Outfitter – Updated January 8th.
_NPCscan – updated January 23rd.
Parrot – updated February 16th.
WetSpot – Obsolete.
SkillScore – obsolete. Use PlayerScore/GearScore instead.
RaidBuffStatus – Updated March 15th.
ArkInventory – updated February 26th
AutoEmote – still works even though it is long out of date.
AutoProfit is out of date, use AutoProfitX2, updated March 4th, instead.
LightHeaded was updated March 9th.
Leveling Guides – possibly no longer needed with Carbonite and Lightheaded. It’s up to you.
HealBot – updated March 6th. I’ve received email that there may be an issue with the slash command for HB, but I have not had time to investigate.
XtoLevel – updated January 25th.
AutoAspect – out of date. Consider SmartBuff as a replacement.
OmniCC – updated in December 2010 for WoW 4.0.3a
ControlFreak – updated January 4th 2009, but amazingly it still works.
Panda – updated March 5th.
Xloot – updated in December 2010 for Wow 4.0.3a
Talented – updated January 7th.

And at that point we started hitting add-ons by class.

Quick tip: Every add-on you have active uses some memory, so for best performance, only enable add-ons you intend to use.

Music for this segment is from Archive.org and is entitled “Nostalgia of Freedom” by Nicolas Panderis

Download the MP3

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Segment 50: Add-ons for Shaman

I have been informed that, during the per-class segments, I somehow contrived to miss the shaman. Let’s correct that right now.

The shaman is a hybrid support class, providing DPS via spellcasting or melee, or healing. In addition, the shaman can place totems to provide additional benefits to the party or deal additional damage to enemies.

To help your shaman in his chosen role, I’ve put together a list of some well-regarded add-ons. All of these are available from Curse.com – see the segment notes for direct links.

First, we have SpellFlash: ReSham, a module for the SpellFlash add-on. SpellFlash: ReSham will provide visual cues for appropriate spells or abilities duing combat and out of combat. You can easily disable certain talent trees, and also disable it when out of combat.

TribalEnhancement is a lightweight add-on supporting all shaman specs. It provides totem, buff, debuff, and shield tracking using a “least intrusive” philosopy.

Tyler is a Nub is a simple add-on to remind you to reapply your weapon buffs. It also works for rogue poisons and warlock buffs.

SmartRes2 provides intelligent and co-ordinated party and raid wipe recovery. You’ll want every class who can rez to run this add-on, and then hope you never need it.

Lastly, we have Shaman Friend. This add-on is specifically designed for the shaman and provides lots of useful functions for all shaman specs. There are too many to go over here; take a look at the add-on page, as linked in the segment notes.

Music for this segment is from Jamendo.com and is entitled “Deranged” by Fox.

Download the MP3

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Segment 49: AutoBar

AutoBar is a multi-bar add-on that automatically adds potions, water, food, quest items, and other usable things into buttons for quick access.

By default, it creates three new bars: Basic, with such things as your hearthstone, mounts, bandages, potions, trade skills, quest items and trinkets; a Class bar, with primarily non-combat spells and abilities; and Extras, with companion pets, fishing items, and miscellaneous other items on it.

You can move the bars around, change size and alignment, skin them, assign categories to various bars, add new bars, bind keys, and many other things, either using the AutoBar GUI or using the command line in the chatbar.

Since Autobar doesn’t use up any of the built-in action bar slots, it allows you to reserve those for combat abilities, hopefully making you more effective in groups and solo.

You can get AutoBar from WoWinterface.com or from Curse and support is provided at MuffinManGames.com

This segment was inspired by Psycaeda of Destromath.

Music for this segment is from Archive.org and is entitled “Dreamworld” by Brainstorm.

Download the MP3

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Segment 48: Pawn

You’re running 5-mans, trying to gear up so you can level even faster, or run heroics, or raid. You see other people clicking “need” on gear that you think you might want, but you’re not sure if it’s really an “up” for you, and you don’t want to be “that guy.” What do you do? Pawn.

Pawn is an add-on that uses values from Wowhead to quickly compare loot items (or quest reward items) with gear you have equipped, and lets you know if it’s really an “up.” In the case of quest rewards, it will also indicate which item to take to vendor, in the case where none of the items will improve your current outfit.

Pawn can be installed and used immediately without any configuration; or if you’re the hard-core theory-crafting guy who spends days building spreadsheets, reading Elitist Jerks, and who runs Rawr and Atlas Loot, you can customize it for your fine-tuned needs.

Pawn is built to detect your class and optimize gear scores for you; again, you can customize it heavily, but for most players it will be more than adequate as soon as you install it. You can also share your own customizations (called “scales”), and import customizations shared by other players. There’s even a Web site dedicated to sharing them, linked in the segment notes.  And you can set up multiple scales (quite useful for the dual-specced player) and have multiple scores displayed on gear items.

Comparing drops or linked items to your current equipped gear is easy: Just right-click the item’s icon. If you would like to compare items in AtlasLoot, you can set up hotkeys for that purpose (the square brackets are the default, but if you have already bound them to other purposes, you’ll need to choose others).

There’s a pretty comprehensive ReadMe file included with Pawn; it includes almost everything I’ve mentioned here, and more.

One final note, not in the audio segment: the Pawn suggestions for gemming and reforging are also incredibly handy.

You can download Pawn from Curse or install it using Wowmatrix. Other Web sites and add-ons mentioned in this segment are linked in the segment notes at Wowphiles.com.

Music for this segment is from Jamendo.com and is entitled “Pay Attention” by Dead Pawn Company.

If you have a favorite add-on, or you’re looking for an add-on for a specific purpose, please drop me a line via email to AddOns@wowphiles.com or hit me up on Twitter.

Download the MP3

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Segment 46: PlayerScore

The single biggest complaint heard in World of Warcraft is about pick-up groups, usually called “pugs.” Why? Because players join pugs without the proper gear or experience to make a successful run. In the past, group leaders (now called “dungeon guides”) had two add-ons to help them determine the level of readiness a player might bring to his pug, GearScore and SkillScore. Individual players could use them to determine their own state of readiness, and decide how to improve it. Both of those became outdated with Cataclysm.

Now, TenTonHammer has released an add-on that combines the best features of GearScore and SkillScore, called PlayerScore.

I chose to download the add-on only, but there is an option to download the add-on with an updater. Since I already have three updaters, I didn’t see the need; plus, I will be forever paranoid about EXE files in add-ons that don’t come from Blizzard. However, the updater also allows you to download new PlayerScore data from TenTonHammer, and to upload ratings you’ve given to other players, much like the Wowhead Looter. So again, it’s up to you. TenTonHammer makes it easy to choose.

Confusingly, the folder name for PlayerScore is GearScore. If you already have GearScore (or SkillScore) installed, you should remove it (or them) before installing PlayerScore.

Once installed, you may find, as I did, that PlayerScore is disabled. Enable it for the toons you want to use it on.

After you log in on one of those toons, you’ll find a new icon in the center of your screen, a warhammer. Drag it to where you want it. Then click on a toon you’d like to inspect (you can click yourself, which is a good idea for your first look), and either type “/gs” or right-click the hammer icon and choose from the menu.

You will be presented with a largish frame containing quite an array of data, including the old GearScore information and a lot of new data. Dungeon Guides will want to look at the toon’s capability in 5 man, 10 man, and 25 man dungeons.

Rather than go into any more depth here, I recommend you check out the PlayerScore site at TenTonHammer. Look yourself up and see how you’re rated. Decide for yourself if this is an add-on you need. I know I want it.

Music for this segment is from Ska4U.com and is entitled “Explosive” by The Planet Smashers.

Download the MP3

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Segment 45: Custom sounds

Some players play with all of the World of Warcraft sounds turned off; others turn on everything; and some prefer to replace or augment the in-game sounds with custom sound files. This week we’ll look beyond music players, at a couple of add-ons that help you with customizing the sounds in WoW. This segment was inspired by John Trahan. Thanks for your suggestion, John!

Since all of these add-ons use normal MP3 files for their custom sounds, you could easily substitute replacements of your own choice – just put them in the appropriate folder in your add-ons directory tree (look in the folder where the add-on you’re customizing is found) and rename them to replace the ones that came with your add-on. A good source of sound effects MP3s is SoundFXnow.com

GodLike! is an add-on that plays a sound when your spell, heal or melee attack crits. NOTE: Some of the default sounds are definitely not safe for work or around small children. It comes with some Bart Simpson clips that could be used instead, however, and if you’re reading this, you can grab my personal replacement English choices at the bottom of this post.

ComeHere is for Death Knights, and plays Scorpion’s “Come Here” or “Get Over Here” sounds when you use Death Grip.

Chocobo will play one of four random chocobo theme songs when you mount on a hawkstrider of any type. You can also change it to play the song on any mount if you want.

CritSound plays a custom sound each time you crit. Customizing the sounds without replacing the files requires you to edit the LUA file; if you’ve never looked inside a LUA, this is a relatively safe place to get your feet wet. Personally, I’d simply replace the MP3 file.

CoolLevelUp replaces the level up system message by a complete Level Up animation with music and sound displaying what stats you have gained and the new skills you can now learn from your class trainer. It gives you more information than the vanilla WoW level-up message, as well as being more entertaining

Music for this segment is from Ska4U.com and is entitled “You Done Me Wrong” by the Upsessions.

Download the MP3

Replacement English Sounds

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Segment 44: Music Players

This week we’ll look at a few music players that run from within World of Warcraft. If you’ve ever died while tabbed out to change your music, or missed an important message on Ventrilo or TeamSpeak because the music was too loud and you couldn’t change the volume on WinAmp, you may find one (or more) of these to be a godsend. However, for those that require playlist makers, let me warn you NOT to use Curse’s installer; download the ZIP file and install manually, because Curse Client strips out EXE files – which includes the necessary playlist makers.

Music players that run within WoW require you to put your custom music into folders within the WoW directory tree (there’s a way around that, but having tried it, I recommend that you *don’t* try it). And it seems that no two music player authors agree on where you should put your music, so I recommend you settle on which one you want for playing MP3s and stick to that.

Van32′s CombatMusic plays custom MP3 files to (1) replace the in-game Fanfare music; (2) replace the in-game “you died” sound; (3) play your music when you enter combat and (4) play other MP3 files when you enter a boss fight. In my experience, you should probably pick 30-second “ringtone” MP3 files for the Battles list, or you will find yourself wanting to prolong combat. This is not a wise move when you’re solo, and won’t make you popular in groups. It doesn’t require a playlist generator, but the files you want to use must be placed in specific folders and renamed; and you’ll need to tell the player how many Battle songs and Boss songs you have. See the tutorial page for details.

EpicMusicPlayer really is Epic. It plays all of the in-game music as well as your own custom playlist, and includes two playlist generators, one in Visual Basic and the other as an EXE file (which, again, will be stripped out by the Curse client). The visuals are truly epic, as well. This is one worth having just to look at when you’re waiting in a queue. You don’t have to rename your files; if you don’t want to use your own MP3s, you won’t need a playlist at all. Install Guide

MusicPlayer (Sat, Oct 23 2010) is a fairly simple straight-up MP3 player. Unfortunately, it can’t be used without a playlist at all. Visually, it’s unattractive, but it’s simple and it works.

Music for this segment is from FreePlayMusic.com and is entitled “Flash Pipe” by Thomas Schneider.

Download the MP3

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In the Wowphiles podcast #54, Modem mentioned three add-ons to help us archeologists, but they didn’t get linked in the show notes,  so here’s where you can get them:

Archy (pronounced like the perennial comic book teenager, “Archie”) is an assistant for Archaeologists that want information at their finger tips.

GatherMate2 and GatherMate2 Data collects Herbs, Mines, Gas Clouds, Artifacts, Fossils and Fishing locations and adds them to the worldmap and minimap. Updated for Cataclysm.

Archeology Helper Draws HUD with GatherMate2 pins, and shows Dig Sites on the Minimap and Battleground Minimap

If you find you need help getting Gathermate working, check out this thread on MMO-Champions.

Happy digging! Oh, and Modem – I wear adamantium-toed boots. No worries!

EDIT: Thanks to Chesterfield, 85 Worgen Druid on Drenden.

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Segment 43: Add-ons for Warlocks

First, let me apologize for being alphabetically-challenged last week, and getting Warrior ahead of Warlock in the add-on rotation.

Warlocks are generally called upon to provide DPS, along with some ancillary tasks like summoning soulwells, creating soulstones, and making coffee. No, wait, that’s mages who make the snacks and beverages. Well, whatever.

As a consequence, one very popular talent spec is Destruction. If you are a Destruction warlock, you’ll probably want Destruction for Dummies. Keeping in mind that this add-on is also meant as an aid for Death Knights, Druids, and Hunters, it provides a visual prompt to tell you what spell you should cast next for a good single-target DPS rotation.

Spellflash: Warlock is, of course, a module for Spellflash, and flashes the spell button for (what should be) your next cast. You may want to experiment and see which style, and which spell rotation, suits you better: Destruction for Dummies, or Spellflash.

Winns Drain Soul tells you when to cast Drain Soul (and nothing else). Useful if you find yourself running out of Soul Shards frequently.

DoTimer (“dot timer”) is actually four add-ons in a single package, for tracking Damage over Time spells, Cooldowns, and PlayerAuras, and managing Notifications. Each sub-add-on can be enabled, disabled, or customized individually.

And for you role-players and just generally chatty warlocks, we have SoulSpeak. SoulSpeak emits random chats and emotes appropriate to various Warlock actions, with messages you can edit for customization.

Music for this segment is from ska4u.com and is entitled “Whip Them Down” by Pauline Black and The Selecter.

Download the MP3

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Segment 42: Add-ons for Warriors

Warriors fall into that World of Warcraft category that can either tank or DPS; with that in mind, we’ll look at a few add-ons that lend themselves to these roles.

First up is TidyThreat, which is a plug-in for TidyPlates. TidyPlates modifies the nameplates you see over the heads of mobs, and TidyThreat makes it instantly clear, using color bars, which mobs are loose, which have aggro on you, and which don’t. It’s easy to switch the color scheme for Tank or DPS, and you can turn on a “detail” window which will tell you who has threat, and how much. If you only want to use one add-on for tanking,, it should be TidyPlates with TidyThreat. The default display is thermometer-like, and it’s incredibly simple; as stated by the author, “If you’re DPSing: Don’t go into the RED! If you’re tanking: Stay in the RED!”

SpellFlash: Warrior is a plug-in for SpellFlash which will flash above your ability buttons, to suggest your next move.

TankadinTps is a threat analyzer for several classes; this is especially useful for the theory-crafting players.

Nutty War Announce is a useful add-on with an unfortunate name; it will display chat text announcements of the warrior’s use of various abilities.

Please see the segment notes for links to the add-ons.

Music for this segment is the Dragon Warrior theme from Realm of Darkness.

Download the MP3

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Segment 41: Add-ons for Rogues

This week we’ll talk about some add-ons for the most versatile of melee DPS classes, the Rogue. In addition to simple DPS, Rogues are often called upon to provide crowd control, scout, open locks, and find traps.

Quick Rogue Info is a customizable set of information frames for rogues. Included are buff and debuff bars, combo points, poison stacks, threat, DPS, player health, target health, energy, and much more! Also, an icon suggests the next ability to cast based on simple rotation rules for all rogue specs. If you have Recount installed, QRI will also display DPS.

Sapper Enhanced is a somewhat less-comprehensive add-on for Rogues with a few different features. If you want something that’s lighter than QRI, give this one a try.

Poison Warner is unique to the Rogue class. It prints a warning in chat and plays a sound to warn you if you are missing a poison or if you have joined an arena or BG with a weapon unequipped.

Finally, we have SpellFlash: Rogue, a module for BigRedBrent’s Spellflash addon. Currently meant for the Mutilation Rogue, it will (as the name implies) flash the action button for the suggested next ability in your rotation.

Music for this segment is from High-Tech.com and is entitled “The Pink Panther” by Henry Mancini, performed by The Ventures.

Download the MP3

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Segment 40: Add-ons for Priests

I’m going to focus primarily on healing priests here, because you guys are the ones that stand back and make sure the rest of us can work. And, of course, sometimes you have to pick us up, dust us off, and send us back into the fight. That’s what Moms, Dads, coaches, and Priests do.

So, without further slobbering…

Healbot Continued is *the* quintessential add-on for healers. If you’re still using Grid, I strongly recommend you give Healbot a try. If you don’t use any other add-ons as a priest, you should use Healbot. There are intensive, in-depth tutorials and commentary for Healbot in multiple languages at healbot.info and even videos. As always, you should check the segment notes for direct links.

SmartRes2 helps you and your fellow healers to coordinate recovery from wipes, when someone gets in over their heads. I did NOT say DPS pulled aggro. Although maybe they did. Ask the tank.

PetTimeToLive lets you Shadow Priests know how much longer your Shadowfiend will be around to distract the mobs. Do you have time to escape, or should you just try to take down as much as you can before you die? PTTL will help you decide.

POM Assist tracks Prayer of Mending casts specifically. If that’s all you think you need to know, POM Assist will take care of that for you.

Music for this segment is from Audiostreet.com and is entitled “Zadok the Priest” by Johann Sebastian Bach, as performed by the WPHS Chorus.

Download the MP3

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This week we’ll look at a few add-ons for Paladins. Keep in mind that in many cases, add-ons are multi-class, so even if you don’t play a pally, it’s worth your time to check out the links in the segment notes to see if there’s anything for your favorite class.

SpellFlash: Paladin is a module for SpellFlash which will flash your action bar when procs happen, to remind you to cast your special abilities as soon as they are ready.

BuffBroker manages your group and personal auras. This add-on will help match your best buffs for your group, and help keep those buffs active on you and your party.

Movable Holy Power helps you track your holy power, moving (and improving) the graphics.

PallyPowerWarn provides warnings when you are missing blessings, seals, auras, or righteous fury. Combine this with BuffBroker and you should never have to worry about getting the right buffs on again.

Ardent Defender is an add-on designed to help Protection Paladins. It has around ten functions; if you are a prot pally, I’d recommend you check out the full description at Curse.

bitPala is a simple add-on to add three bars so you can easily track Beacon of Light, Judgement of the Pure, and Holy Power.

OptiTaunt informs you and your party or raid if your taunting abilites were resisted. It also announces your use of crucial abilities like Hand of Reckoning, Righteous Defense, Avenger’s Shield, and Divine Protection.

Retribution FCFS helper (clcret) is an addon similar to Lorack’s DK Optimizer; it provides visual cues to recommend the best spell or abilitiy for your Ret Pally to use next.

BOLT – Beacon of Light Timer is another add-on to help you keep up your Beacon of Light and Judgement of the Pure.

And for more Pally add-ons, check out this link.

Music is from YouTube.com and is the Theme from Paladin, performed by Johnny Western,  and the instrumental version by Duane Eddy.

For more information about “Paladin” take a look at TV Acres.

Bumpers provided by Scott Johnson of The Instance and Frogpants Studios.

Download the MP3

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This week we’re going to take a look at a few of the add-ons meant for mages, the glass cannons of the World of Warcraft. As always, be sure to get the latest version if you’re going to try these out; out-of-date add-ons may not work at all, or worse, they may do something completely different to what you want. Check out the links in the segment notes for add-on details and dates.

First up, we have ControlFreak. This add-on is meant for crowd control, and it does a very good job keeping you, the mage, focused on this aspect of your job.

Next is Decursive. Decursive is designed to help you cast Remove Curse on the proper target at the proper time.

Mage Fever is a proc and buff notifier for mages. If you have difficulty figuring out when to cast any of the spells that depend on another spell’s proc for maximum effect, Mage Fever will aid you to get the best effect from your rotation.

OmniCC is a simple, lightweight timer that puts impossible-to-miss countdown timers on your spells which are on cooldown.

SmartBuff helps you make sure your buffs are kept up, allows you to manage them for solo or groups, and even reminds you to scarf down that buff food.

Finally, WittyMage is a fun addon (which may annoy those around your toon, so make sure they’re cool with it if you plan to be around them often).

Music for this segment is from FreePlayMusic.com and entitled “Magic Evening” by Dean Barrett and Judy Whittaker.

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This week we’re going to look at add-ons meant for Hunters and their pets. There are many of them available, and I’m not planning an hour-long segment, so this will just skim the cream off the top, covering one or two of the various types available. For the full list, take a look at Curse; there’s a direct link in the segment notes.

Now, let’s give your pet some love first. If you want to know about how many more boars you’ll have to kill before your pet levels, you’ll want XToLevel. It works for you, too, but I find I am usually wondering more about my spider (named Robinson) than I am about myself. Another useful item for newer hunters is Pet Ability List. It’s exaclty what the name says, but instead of having to Alt-Tab out to a Web site, this list is available in the game. And to avoid finding yourself and your pet suddenly kicked from a raid or other group because your pet pulled aggro off the tank, you’ll want BadPet, to help you remember to turn off Growl (and other taunts).

Now, for yourself, you will probably enjoy HunterHelper, which helps you keep track of Aspects in addition to a handful of pet-related functions. Hunter Got Focus attempts to maximize your DPS by helping you keep Focus, Serpent Sting, and your other abilities working to best effect. Semi Stance & Pet Bar will unlock your Aspect bar and Pet bar so you can put them where you want them; if you’ve been playing a hunter for over a year this may be a very welcome option. StableSnapshot will let you see what pets you have stabled (in case you can’t recall what’s in those 20 slots). TranqShotMonitor will notify you when your Tranquilizing Shot dispells a buff and it will also say which buff has been dispelled.

There are plenty of hunter add-ons; if you visit the Curse page, be sure you sort them by the last update when choosing new ones, so you don’t end up with something that’s already obsolete.

Music for this segemnt is from FreePlayMusic.com and is entitled “Big Game Hunter” by Dave Greendale.

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This week we’ll take a look at add-ons meant specifically for that most versatile of classes, the druids. You really need to look at the blog to get the full benefit of this segment; everything I talk about here is linked in the blog. Be sure, before you try out any add-on, that it has been updated to at least WoW version 4.0.1

Any discussion of druid add-ons must start with the Blizzard official forums, where we find the Druid UI Guide. The Guide includes generic raiding add-ons as well as druid-specific mods.

Also we have the venerable Allakhazam’s recommended druid addons. You will again find general raiding and party add-ons here.

Next up, Feral by Night for feral druids only.

Face Mauler Zwei is in progress, a spell and ability recommendation add-on for feral cat druids while soloing.

BadKitty is a debuff tracker.

DotTracker tracks damage over time spells and reminds you to renew them.

Destruction for Dummies suggests the next spell to cast.

Finally Opthimus Druid UI is a complete widescreen UI package for resto and feral druids.

Remember to try out your add-ons on the target dummies before going into a group situation! As with every class, druid add-ons are subject to errors that could be embarrassing when you’re facing a boss.

Next week, we will look at Hunter add-ons. See you then!

Music for this segment is from FreePlayMusic.com and is entitled “Nature” by Tillman Sillescu.

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As I write this, it has now been almost a week since patch 4.0.1 went live. Anyone who has been through a major World of Warcraft patch before knows that this means instability, numerous server restarts and mini-patches, and broken add-ons for several days. For add-ons, it can be even longer, depending on how complex the changes are, and if the add-on developers are still maintaining their products. In this segment, I’m going to interrupt the series devoted to class-specific add-ons and talk about how to handle the current situation.

First, be patient. The World of Warcraft is a huge software undertaking, exceeding even your operating system in complexity. It is, after all, not merely an entire virtual world, but two such worlds, Azeroth and Outland. The mere size of the installation on your hard drive should tell you that much; my Windows 7 Ultimate install folder is less than 20 gigabytes, while my WoW 4.0.1 install takes up close to 28 gigs. Granted, I probably have more screenshots and add-ons than any normal person, but that’s still a huge amount of storage space.

Secondly, be prepared to abandon some add-ons, perhaps even your favorites. Some add-on authors are not going to keep up development. That’s just how life is. You may be able to find replacements, or you may learn to play without them.

Lastly, be very careful when choosing replacements for your add-ons. Sometimes what seems to be the perfect answer turns out to be a nasty surpise just waiting to happen. For example, while I was waiting for the update to AutoProfit, I found and installed LootMagic, which automatically deletes the “least valuable grey item” in your inventory when your bags are full, and you grab more loot. I uninstalled it when it deleted my Chilled Meat.

If you visit the WoWphiles.com Web site and find the Add-On Emporium Summarized, there’s a link at the top to WoWwiki, showing add-on statuses. Not everything is there, but it’s a huge help.

Finally, let me tell you what has been updated that I consider essential: Carbonite and Deadly Boss Mods, two add-ons I feel crippled without. For those who are still awaiting LUI4, you’ll be pleased to know that Xperl seems to be working.

Next week, we’ll move on to Druid add-ons. Suggestions – and update status – are welcome!

Music for this segment is from Freeplaymusic.com and is entitled “Starting Over,” by D. DiFonzo

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Segment 34: Add-ons for Death Knights

NOTE: I have not had the opportunity to test these add-ons with 4.0.1 and would appreciate comments from those who have tested them.

In this segment we’ll look at add-ons meant strictly for Death Knights. As you might imagine, most of them are for management of runes and diseases. Since those all perform pretty much the same function, my advice is to try them – one at a time, of course – and see which one provides you with the best fit for your play style.

The rune optimizers are, in no special order:

Lorack’s DK Optimizer
DKiRunes
RuneWatch
Engraved
Acherus
MagicRunes
FaceSmasher (WoWmatrix only)

There are also two which have been recommended by other sites in the past, and which I want to mention simply so you won’t try them and become too attached before Cataclysm is released (and yes, Jason, you’re right, it’s going to be on December 7th). Those are:

SimpleRune (discontinued)
EbonBlade (abandoned)

Finally, we have two that are just for fun; they add audio events for Death Knights:

ServantofArthas
ComeHere

Music for this segment is from FreePlayMusic.com and is entitled ”Flagship Commander” by Patrick Smith

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Edited for Patch 4.0.1

If you have have made any effort at all to learn about the World of Warcraft achievement system, you are probably aware that there is an achievement for obtaining fifty mounts. There’s another for one hundred mounts. There are also achievements for fifteen pets and for fifty pets. Breanni has even created a guide to the vanity pet achievements over at WarcraftPets.com

But how do you manage all those mounts and pets? What’s the point of having dozens of them if you can’t show them off? Don’t worry! There are two add-ons which are designed to make it a real pleasure to have lots of mounts and pets.

GoGoMount allows you to bind a hotkey, or create a macro, that will randomly choose an appropriate mount and “get it out of your bag” for you. If you are in a no-fly zone, GoGoMount will put you on a ground mount. If you are in a flyable zone, you will mount up on a flying mount. And if you are in the water and have a fast water mount, such as the Sea Turtle, GoGoMount will bring her out for you. A second click dismounts you.

GoGoPet randomizes your vanity pets for you in the same way, choosing a different pet with each click.

While technically out-of-date, both add-ons continue to work and behave well in WoW 3.3.3 [Both have been updated for 4.0.1 now]

4.0.1 note: the macro below will give you the same function as GoGoPet.

You can get GoGoMount through the WowMatrix updater, Curse, or Wowinterface.

GoGoPet seems to be exclusive to Curse.

Music for this segment is from Freeplaymusic.com and is entitled “Highway Patrol,” by Scott P. Schreer and Eric Roos.

Bumpers are from Frogpants Studios, by Scott Johnson.

BONUS NOTE:
Here’s a macro that will select a mount if you are in a mountable area, or a vanity pet if you are not:

MACRO 53 "GoGoMount" Spell_Magic_PolymorphChicken

/run CallCompanion("CRITTER", random(GetNumCompanions("CRITTER")))
/click GoGoButton

END

The only parts you need are the lines beginning with a slash – the rest are snipped right out of my macro cache file.

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Segment 33: Essentials for all classes

Starting this week, we’re going to go over the “bare essential” add-ons for each class.

Now, let’s look at what every class should have, in no special order:

1. An inventory management add-on. I prefer ArkInventory.
2. Carbonite. Carbonite is the essential all-in-one add-on that provides so many different functions that the only toon you won’t need it for is your banker. If you play on a PvP server, the ability to detect any opposing-faction players within range is essential and is sufficient justification for this add-on all by itself. Carbonite also provides quest help, a locator HUD (Heads-up display), gathering assistance, data warehousing, data sharing, and much more.
3. _NPCScan detects rare NPCs. Possibly not essential, but if you love those achievements, you really do want this.
4. Speaking of achievements: AchievementSnap to automatically get a screenshot of each of them.
5. AutoProfit for quick and easy sale of grey items.
6. Buffet to auto-generate food and drink macros.
7. DeclineDuel if you have better things to do than duel.
8. DingRecorder while you’re leveling; this is another automatic screenshot add-on.
9. AutoGrats if you’re the social type, and in a Guild.
10. FreeRefills to help make sure you don’t show up to a party without things you really need.
11. Gatherer if you took at least one gathering skill – which you should, it’s like free gold just lying around.
12. GoGoMount once you get your mount.
13. HideBobberTip for fishing.
14. InIg (InfiniteIgnore) because Trade chat is horrible, but sometimes you need it.
15. LightHeaded for Wowhead quest comments in-game.
16. Omen (Omen3 actually) to track threat in parties (including just you and your combat pet).
17. Outfitter to help you quickly change outfits, and to create new ones.
18. Postal, the enhanced mailbox manager.

Now that’s eighteen add-ons. We’ve covered many of them individually in the Emporium already. All of them are easy to find using WoWmatrix or Google.

Next week we’ll start to take a look at each individual class, alphabetically. That means DKs get love first – next week!

Music for this segment is from Archive.org and is entitled “All I Need” by Mandy Thompson.

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Click thumbnail to enlarge.

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“Does this armor make my butt look fat?”

Attention, Death Knights! This is your opportunity to suggest add-ons for the Emporium to look over next week that are specific to your class. I’m looking at you, Modem… And every other DK reading this blog!

Please use the Contact Us page to send me your list of “must-have” add-ons for Death Knights, with a short explanation of why you consider each one essential. Alternately, you may Tweet me @Icesnake1950 or contact me through Google.

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Segment 32: Talented

One of the most important character customization means in World of Warcraft is the Talents tree. While Blizzard’s default Talents UI is usable, it’s not possible to see all three branches at the same time, nor can it easily import or export talent builds. This is where Talented comes in.

Talented replaces the default Talent UI and adds a lot of useful features. The first is obvious; you get to see the entire Talent tree in a single frame. Most of the rest are not as obvious, and I advise you to look at the Talented page on WoWinterface for more hints. Here are some of the important features:

• View and easily switch to your alternate spec (requires that you purchase dual spec first, naturally).
• Use templates both for characters and for hunter pets.
• Create a template for a full talent build, and use it while leveling to reach your goal.
• Apply complete talent builds to a “blank slate” with a single click after one of Blizzard’s talent wipes.
• Share your talent builds and templates easily, and import and export from and to the major online talent calculators.
• Talented will show you another character’s alt spec (if they have one) when you inspect them.
• Talented has an independent Glyph frame.
• Talented allows you to compare two templates side-by-side

If talents are important to your character (and believe me, they are!) , Talented will help you get the most out of your talent tree build time.

You can get Talented through WoWmatrix, or from WoWinterface or Curse.

Music for this segment is provided by FreePlayMusic.com and is entitled “It All Leads To This” by Franklin Enea and Tomas Cataldo.

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Segment 31: Panda and Xloot

Xloot is a replacement for the default loot frame, with a few options. The one we are specifically interested in here prevents the loot window from appearing at all if you have autoloot turned on. The slash command is:

/xloot behavior swiftloot

Panda is another of the many add-ons from Tekkub. Originally mean for disenchanting, it has been expanded to include prospecting, gem cutting, herb milling, glyphs, flasks, and elixers, and a quick view of AuctioneerAdvanced prices. My tests were performed using the disenchanting function.

When you launch Panda, it will present a window the size of the Auction House window, containing everything (that will fit) that you can disenchant (or brew up, or whatever, depending on your professions). There is a checkbox to include soulbound items. Then you simply click on the items to disenchant. However, unless you have Xloot installed, the window will close each time; with Xloot, you can disenchant every item in the window, one after another. This is where you have to be very careful; if you have “show soulbound items” checked, you could accidentally shard your best gear if you aren’t paying attention.

You can get both Panda and Xloot from wowinterface.com

Music for this segment is from FreePlayMusic.com and is entitled “China Wall” by Jim Klein and Scott P. Schreer.

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ControlFreak is a small crowd control assist add-on. It provides a small frame for fast click-casting of CC spells onto the player’s focus target. It also provides visual cues of the focus’s status and audio cues of CC breaks.

ControlFreak is designed to be an “install and go” add-on for all classes with sustainable CC spells, but it also provides direct access to edit the macro used by the frame for players that want to extend it’s functionality. As of this writing, the latest version is still missing the Hunter “fear beast” and Warlock “fear” spells, but is still quite functional. I may take a stab at adding them myself, since the macro code in this add-on is readily editable.

Using ControlFreak is very easy, and it provides obvious visual clues as to status.

First, target the mob your plan to control. Click the ControlFreak button to set focus. The button turns green, and the word “ready” is overlaid on it.

You can now target something else for DPS, and when you click ControlFreak’s button again, your CC spell will be cast on the focus target; the button will turn blue and indicate “Controlled” with a countdown timer until your spell wears off.

If someone breaks control, the button will again change, and the word “Loose” will appear on it.

If your focus target is dead, the button turns grey and says “Dead.” You can clear focus by shift-clicking the button.

For users who want a macro instead of clicking on the frame, code is provided on ControlFreak’s Web page at WoWinterface, ready to plug right in.

ControlFreak is available from WoWinterface or from Curse. While the last update was in early 2009, this add-on is still working. The Curse version seems to be more out-of-date, however.

Music for this segment is from FreeplayMusic.com and is entitled “Sheep May Safely Graze” by Johann Sebastian Bach.

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This week will be another “Twofer.” One of our add-ons this week, AutoAspect, is strictly for hunters, so if you don’t have a hunter or don’t care about hunter aspects, you may want to skip ahead. OmniCC, however, is for everyone.

Firstly, AutoAspect. AutoAspect is a fairly simple add-on for hunters that will remind you to switch between Aspect of the Hawk (or Aspect of the Dragonhawk for Level 75 or higher) based on the percentage of mana you have remaining. If you are out of combat, it will plant a big button right in the center of your screen, so you can’t miss it. It also plays the “raid warning” sound and throws up messages in the “error” frame, or optionally using SCT or Parrot. All of AutoAspect’s features can be toggled on and off very easily using slash commands.

You can get AutoAspect from WoWinterface.

Secondly, we have OmniCC. OmniCC adds text to the casting button for items, spells, and abilities that have cooldowns. It’s simple, requires no configuration to get started, and can make a lot of difference in your DPS when you’re waiting for your “nuclear option” to become available, by helping you anticipate the exact moment you can cast it.

OmniCC is also available from WoWinterface, through WoWmatrix, and from Curse.

Music for this segment is from Freeplaymusic.com and is entitled “Hostile Hunter” by Scott P. Schreer and Pete Calandra.

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This week I would like to tell you about an add-on that provides information only; it won’t necessarily improve your DPS, HPS, or even your mood, if you’re in a hurry to reach the next experience level. However, XtoLevel is a simple addon that will provides detail about the kills, quests, dungeons, battlegrounds and experience required to gain a level.

After each kill, quest, dungeon or battleground, the exact number required to level of that particular item is displayed on the screen, and optionally in the default chat window. Hunters can see the number of kills required for their pets to gain a level.

An optional small window displaying details about the kills, quests, dungeons, battlegrounds, experience and time remaining to gain a level is also available.

XtoLevel provides data to LDB front-end addons, such as TitanPanel and Fortress.

All of these display features can be configured via the configuration window, which is accessible by either right-clicking the “average” window or by using slash commands.

You can get XtoLevel from WoWinterface or from Curse.

Music for this week’s segment is from Archive.org and is entitled Hot Mittens by the Bucktown 5.

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Healbot is now the essential tool for raid healers. It allows up to 60 keyboard-mouse combinations to simplify casting; these combinations can include usable items, such as scrolls, potions, trickets, etc., and existing macros. Healbot can also track aggro, buffs, and debuffs, and perform many other functions, including synchronizing incoming heals with other raid or party healers. Healbot can also be used out of combat with the “SmartCast” option, to rez, decurse, buff, heal, or perform a user-defined action. Even more functions are listed on Healbot’s Web page.

Healbot integrates with both Fubar and Titanpanel; optional plugins for both are included.

You can get Healbot Continued through Wowmatrix, from Wowinterface, or from Curse. The author’s page with forums, news, and tutorials can be found at http://look4me.endoftheinternet.org/healbot/

Music for this episode is provided by FreePlayMusic.com and is entitled “Universe” by Paul Andrews.

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