UI Mods

[Millamber - Lv22, Human, Mage]

Most of the time I'm a purist, but Blizzard has gone to extreme length to publish an Application Programming Interface to allow creative people to enhance the interface of the game to make is more useful and personal to their own needs/desires.

One collection of such mods that I've found very well done and very usefull can be found at: www.ctmod.net/

Basically what you do is:

1. Download the .Zip file from their website containing all of the mods - www.imagelink.org/CT_Addons.zip

2. UnZip that file and copy all of the sub-folders into /World of Warcraft/Interface/AddOns/ - see: www.ctmod.net/installation.ct

3. Launch World of Warcraft and enjoy enhanced in-game statistics, mapping capabilities...etc.

For more information visit their website.

[Kaillen Nevarre]

The question is - how much trouble do these cause when patches are released?

Recent example:
So far, the only addon I've ever installed or used is Allakhazam's WoWReader. However, after the latest patch, I was continually getting booted at random moments and being asked to disable any addons even when they already WERE disabled, etc...

Point being - many of these addons are programmed according to specific releases, and need to be updated themselves each time a patch comes out. Until they get around to tit, you may experience all kinds of hassles - which is one reason why I've never bothered with any UI mods to this point. The example above required me to not only Uninstall the program via Windows, but to completely delete the contents of the addon folder in order to get WoW to stop trying to recognize it.

I'd love to check in to some of these - they sound great - but is it going to be more trouble than its worth?

Any input from mod users would be greatly appreciated....

[Kalmorith]

Interesting issue. I must say...I have always been afraid of mods for this reason and never use them. They make me nervous, and in some ways I think might make me feel like I am cheating.

[Millamber - Lv22, Human, Mage]

1.7 broke the ct_mods that I was running, however they had the patched versions ready to go the day 1.7 came out. Even without them, the game just told me that the mods were out of date and gave me a button to push to disable them until I updated.

I agree they are not for everyone, and not needed, but definitely for people starting out at least is was an incredible help and I prefer some of the changes to how things are laid out. Even being able to name my bags is nice so that they are labelled according to how I like to sort them.

Anyhow, but an option for those looking to experiment with the game's interface and controlls. ;D

[Windfoot]

For a general collection of Addons, visit: www.curse-gaming.com and ui.worldofwar.net/

[Rheyna]

I just want to add that even with the new changes to the raid layouts in 1.9, no healer should be without CT_RaidAssist. I've played a bit with the built-in raid layout capabilities, and once the raid gets bigger than 10 people, they just don't scale well enough to support really good healing. The next version promises to provide even more sophisticated support for paladin buffing in raids (and you haven't had a nightmare until you are buffing a 40-man raid with some people who want out-of-the-ordinary buffs -- the paladin raid buffs were a mixed blessing).

CT_RaidAssist upgrades always seem to be available within 24 hours of major patches, since they test them extensively on the test servers.

You can find more information about all the CT mods, including CT_RaidAssist, here.

Edited to add: Oh! Meant to say that one of the great benefits of all healers using CT_RA is that it talks to other people's version of the program and you get all kinds of coordination benefits in larger raids from having the healers' raid tool communicating with one another.

[Windfoot]

Some favorite Addons:

Auctioneer
Gives sell prices and tells you what that strange thing is used for (ex: Murloc Eyes usable for Cooking).

Titan Bar
Adds a few essential features such as x, y location coordinates and current durability of equipment.

Atlas
Maps of all instances.

CT_MailMod
Allows you to send multiple items to a mail recipient at once.

Damage Meter
Gives stats summaries of instances and such.

[Sorcha'Rei]

One of my favorites for a feral or moonkin druid is Druid Bar. It's not hugely useful if I'm tanking or doing an all-Cat instance run, but for soloing and PvP, it's indispensible. It lets you add a third bar below your Rage/Energy bar that shows your mana. This enables you to know if you have enough mana to shift to elf, heal, and shift back. If you are using a feral fighting form to allow your mana to regen prior to returning to spell casting in moonkin form, this is also a necessity.

[Argonas Selonas]

Atlas (maps of all instances - this is super sweet!)
ui.worldofwar.net/downloadquick.php?dbtable=maps&id=400

Yatlas (full world atlas)
ui.worldofwar.net/downloadquick.php?dbtable=maps&id=1454

One Bag - combines all your bags into one master bag...MUCH BETTER!!!
(this one requires that you have the ACE mod in the AddOns directory first...you can get ACE HERE: www.wowace.com/downloads/Ace-1.3.zip)
ui.worldofwar.net/downloadquick.php?dbtable=maps&id=1886

Monkey Quest - a little garish, but it show much more easily at a glance all
the quests you have to complete, and what specific sub-tasks or item
gathering there is to do for each of them. When you hover over an NPC,
Monster or Animal it will even show you if you need to kill it for a quest.
ui.worldofwar.net/downloadquick.php?dbtable=maps&id=173

[Windfoot]

Also, for druids, Druidic Reagents

[Kalmorith]

Oooh...now that I am cheating and using mods, this is good stuff!

Tell me...I am obsessive about having every recipe in the game. Is there a mod that tracks what recipes you have and which ones you don't? I am manually counting now, and it is not easy.

[Argonas Selonas]

I am about this --> <-- close to havingthe Brady WoW Game Guide downloaded, and it has relatively complete recipie charts. I am still trying to find the expansion pages that Brady has been giving out as well. Yeah it's not a mod, but you should know someone is thinking of your needs.

[Windfoot]

Kanammer found this, and I consider it a must-have.

It is called "Chatlink" and anyone who has it installed can "link" an item so you can click as see stats etc. in private chats (ie: dovooc).

The link to this addon is:
www.curse-gaming.com/mod.php?addid=896

[Kanammer]

Ok... I announced in the raid of UBRS how much I loved my "Sheep" add-on and I consider it a must have now for raids. Here is a list of effects that it will stop your combat on...

Debuffs supported:
Gouge
Sap
Charm
Seduction
Polymorph
Tame Beast
Scare Beast
Sleep
Hibernate
Fear
Mind Control
Blind
Scatter Shot
Enslave Demon
Shackle Undead
Reckless Charge
Freezing Trap Effect
Intimidating Shout
------------------------

Now get this.... it also will make your pet step out of combat!!!! ( Basicly it does a "pet follow me" command, if the target is hit with one of those on the list.).

It only stops the attack, it doesn't prevent you from re-engaging the target so you can "By choice" break the mez.

Anyway here is the link and you can read more about it there...
www.curse-gaming.com/mod.php?addid=661

[Windfoot]

I recently started using Outfitter, and it makes a huge difference for stance-shifting. It also allows me to have riding gear (carrot and +travel gloves).