As
much as it pains me to say it, mostly because I dislike the standard
Blizzard U.I., World of Warcraft does not require any mods to be
playable. Yes, you read that correctly I just said that World of
Warcraft is playable just the way you purchase it. If you bring the
game home, unpackage it, install it, and load it up you can begin play
with no tweaking needed. However, the standard Blizzard U.I. is very
basic, playable, but basic.
Since the standard U.I is so basic, with the rise of the game more and
more mods have appeared with the sole purpose of allowing you, the
player, to modify your game in almost any way you desire. Want an MP3
player in game? There is a mod for that. Want to know the gear scores
of other players, or know the quickest way to complete a quest? There
are mods for that.
With so many mods available, it can become an overwhelming task trying
to decipher which mods are right for you. This can result in players
skipping valuable mods that may aid them in their game play, discourage
them from downloading mods at all, or make the even bigger mistake of
having more mods than any one person ever needs. As such I encourage
players to do research and only ever download mods they truly feel are
essential to improving their personal game play experience.
Having said all that in my personal opinion there are several types of
mods that every WoW player should have. While I could give a list of
individual mod names I feel that with all the choices out there a more
generalized approach is needed. So instead of individual mods, only the
general categories will be listed to leave room for player preference
(for example Bigwigs and DBM are both in the Boss Mods category but
some players may prefer one over the other). So without further chatter
here is my list of five mods that no WoW player should be without:
Action Bars
Blizzard’s action bars are probably one of the worst aspects
of the standard Blizzard U.I. Overly bulky and lacking in
user customization the Blizzard bars
are an eye sore on any players screen. Downloading any action bar mod
will allow players more wiggle room, making it possible to move bars
freely, change bars size, make key bindings easier and allow many
other customizations so that the bars fit neatly into the players U.I.
While this may seem like a small change that has little
impact, keep in
mind that the more accessible and organized your action bars are, the
easier game play becomes. Also easy access to your spells and abilities
makes you a better player, as such action bars makes my list.
-
style="font-style: italic;">Mem’s Action
Bar of Choice: href="http://www.wowace.com/addons/bartender4/" target="_blank">Bartender
Unit Frames
Unit frame mods usually give
more information and look better than standard Blizzard frames.
Next on the list is some type of Unit Frame mod. Now some may be
wondering why, since
Blizzard’s standard Unit Frames are
useable, although lacking a certain flare, and will give players all
the basic information they need concerning their health, party, pet, or
raid. Like Blizzard’s Action Bars the Unit Frames
are lacking
in the user customization department. Pretty much players get the
basics, and that’s that. A good unit frame mod will not only
make your U.I much better looking but will give you tons of additional
bells and whistles, such as target’s target’s
target (say that three times fast), and other options that provide much
valuable
information. You may think you don’t need all those
fancy options and play just fine without them, but try out a good set
of unit frames for a week and I almost guarantee you will be amazed at
the difference.
-
style="font-style: italic;">Mem’s
Unit
Frame of Choice: href="http://www.wowace.com/addons/pitbull4/" target="_blank">Pitbull
Boss
Mods
I think a common misconception
concerning Boss Mods is that they are
only for those participating in serious raiding, but I really feel that
everyone should have some form of boss mods downloaded to their game.
Most players will venture into an instance setting at some point in
their WoW careers, and boss mods will aid them in that journey. Whether
it is a 5, 10 or 25 man instance boss mods will provide important
announcements during most boss fights that will keep the player on
their game. This not only allows players who may not have seen a
particular boss fight a chance to avoid a horrible death.
It’s also great for more experienced players who can instead
of waiting on the boss to cast Spell of Doom number 1, focus more fully
on other things (such as pewpewing), relying on the boss mods to let
them know through various methods (nothing says impending doom quite
like a flashing shaking screen) when the aforementioned spell will be
cast. Boss mods can and will help you play better, and smarter.
-
style="font-style: italic;">Mem’s
Boss Mod
of Choice: style="font-style: italic;"
href="http://www.wowace.com/addons/big-wigs/" target="_blank">BigWigs
Quest
and Leveling Helper
We all know that sometimes the
in game quest text leaves something to
be desired. Like basic instructions on how exactly to find the turn in
point for your quest, or where those elusive quest mobs are located.
That’s why all players should take the time to download a
quest and leveling helper. You can of course visit Wowhead or other
such site and glean out the information by doing a simple search, but
how much better would it be to have the information laid out neatly
before you in game on your own map? So go ahead, download one
of these amazing mods, it will save you a ton of time and a lot of
headaches.
-
style="font-style: italic;">Mem’s
Quest and
Leveling Helper of Choice: style="font-style: italic;"
href="http://wow.curseforge.com/addons/quest-helper/"
target="_blank">Questhelper
Damage
Meters
One of the things distinctly
missing in game is a way to gauge how much
healing and damage you are actually doing. Sure Blizzard offers
scrolling combat text, but unless you are sitting there with a pen
writing down every number that pops up on your screen you probably have
no idea how much damage or healing you are actually doing. Solo or
grouped, PvP or PvE how much damage you do, or how much healing you are
putting out is important for obvious reasons. Having a damage meter
allows you to see the numbers you are putting out and directly compare
them to other players, and helping you to decide if you need to
improve. No matter what kind of player you are a damage meter will
benefit you.
-
style="font-style: italic;">Mem’s
Damage
Meter of Choice: style="font-style: italic;"
href="http://www.wowace.com/addons/recount/" target="_blank">Recount
That concludes my list of addons that every WoW player should have.
Please keep in mind that this list is based off my personal opinion
only, and in no way am I suggesting that you *must* get these mods.
Addon categories that were considered but didn’t make the
list include: Chat and Communication, Threat Meters, and Gear Rating.
Join us on our forums to share what you think of my list, and what mods
you can’t live without.
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