Addon Spotlight: SmartBuff
by Eliah Hecht 
May 5th 2009 at 8:00PM
Buff smart: use SmartBuff. This addon is pretty comprehensive and crazy configurable, and is designed to facilitate and partially automate the buffing process. Here's how it works:
- Check off which buffs you want to keep up, on what classes, main hand/off hand (if applicable), and when you want it to remind you (in combat, out of combat, 10 seconds remaining, etc).
- Under the specified conditions, SmartBuff will put a reminder up on your screen (also configurable, of course) telling you who needs what buffs.
- Now simply click the SmartBuff button, or scroll your scroll wheel (if you have that option set), and the necessary buffs will magically be applied for you!
It doesn't get much easier than that. SB also supports setting up profiles, for PvP vs. raids vs. parties, for instance.
I do have a few minor gripes about SmartBuff. It would be nice if it could recognize when I was on a vehicle, and stop bugging me for buffs under those conditions. Sure, "/sb toggle" isn't hard (turns the mod off/on), but then I have to remember to toggle it back on, and remembering to buff is the reason I have SB in the first place. It doesn't do a very good job of recognizing when you've manually re-applied a buff, as I often do with Inner Fire when I have a spare moment. It also used to frequently double-buff for buffs that just recently went raid-wide (like Prayer of Shadow Protection), though that seems to be fixed in the latest version.
That's another good thing about SB: It's under constant development. The author is very responsive to bugs and feature requests, and I've never seen big issues stay around for long. New revisions are usually made pretty quickly in response to patches changing things.
There's more to the mod than I've talked about here, but basically: if you want it to be easier for you to buff, or if you're always forgetting buffs, give SmartBuff a spin. I think you'll like it.
Download Smartbuff at WoWInterface
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Smee May 5th 2009 8:06PM
SmartBuff has been around for years and it's a must have for me.
Swee May 5th 2009 8:10PM
I don't know...
Seems a lot like cheating to me.
You might as well be a gold farmer.
Jehosaphat May 5th 2009 8:21PM
Sigh...I hate feeding trolls...but, here goes.
It only works outside of combat. Blizzard's API prevents any addons from casting spells for you in combat, and SmartBuff falls within that limitation.
Diie May 6th 2009 6:17AM
Next you'll be saying it's cheating to use an alarm clock to make sure your up for work/school in the morning :D
swee May 6th 2009 2:29PM
Very funny.
And if i were playing WoW while I was asleep, I might fully agree with your analogy.
I must say, I did not know about the "non-combat" clause that Jehosaphat mentioned. I think that makes it a little more fair.
I don't know. Call me old-fashioned. I like doing things for myself instead of having a machine tell me when to do them. Sure, I have to keep an eye on my teammates to make sure the buffs are still there, but, as a healer especially, shouldn't I always keep an eye on my teammates?
I just think that at a certain point, with too many add-ons, you're no longer actively involved in your playing, but are just passively following the commands of an automated system -- not to far from being a bot.
I am a human being.
By the way, Diie, you said "your" when you meant to say "you're"...
and I didn't need a Microsoft grammar check or spell check to tell me that. I just needed my brain.
Agerath May 6th 2009 6:18PM
@swee:
And you used 'to' when 'too' would have been correct.
Brains are cool, huh?
Daedhir May 5th 2009 8:20PM
I used to use SmartBuff, but I've recently switched (back) to using ZOMGbuffs. ZOMG has a small interface where you can see the state of all buffs on raid members at a glance, and it hides when you're not mousing over the button. This is a must for me since I got rid of my Pitbull raid frames in favor of Grid.
ZOMG can also "learn" certain buffs -- for instance, if you cast Fear Ward on a tank, ZOMG will remind you to reapply after that. If you don't cast it at all, it won't bug you about it.
Both are good mods, and accomplish the same function. Try both, you might find you like one more than the other. FuBar users should also know that there is a module for SmartBuff that allows you to add it to your FuBar and remove it from your minimap, if you like to keep things clean.
PeeWee May 5th 2009 9:00PM
ZOMGBuffs is also compatible with PallyPower, and has the same tools for distributing pally blessings across the raid. It notifies you who's got what blessings improved, and at what ranks they are available (if they have the addons too)
Frank May 6th 2009 12:39AM
i didn't know about the fubar module! what is the name of it, or do you know where i can find it? thanks for mentioning this!
Daedhir May 6th 2009 4:51AM
fubar_smartbuff_fu I think.
Riley May 5th 2009 8:31PM
I've been using it for a while for poisons, it's pretty nice
Akeesha Holder May 5th 2009 10:40PM
I REALLY like SB, but not on my paladin. i refuse to use it and use ZOMGbuffs for my pally. Plus, it has PallyPower coms so you can manage blessings with paladins who use PP.
aglar May 5th 2009 8:52PM
Does this work for for my own item/glyph buffs such as glyph of lifetap?
elvendude May 5th 2009 9:12PM
So, how does this compare to Cork? I know that the author noted that it doesn't necessarily pick up buffs that you cast manually very well, which is something that Cork does extremely well.
Any other notable differences?
Crash May 5th 2009 10:59PM
Thank god I play a druid and GotW and thorns are the only things I have to remember about. Don't need an addon to press two buttons yet.
Abedabun May 6th 2009 4:40AM
I use ZOMGBuffs as a druid - if nothing else, being reminded to recast thorns every 10 mins is handy :)
(and I have altitis - so I use it on various chars)
uncaringbear May 6th 2009 12:49AM
So which would be the best for a pally? This, or Pally Power or ZOMGbuffs? I have never really been a huge fan of Pally Power.
Tekkub May 6th 2009 3:19AM
I understand the historical need that PP filled, but that's all but gone now that blessings are simplified and imp talents only exist for two of the four. It only takes a moment to figure out blessing when there's more that one pally... and judgements. Here's how it goes down when I'm tanking:
[me] "Hey I have imp might, I'll bless might/wisdon and judge wisdom, you get kings and light"
[other pally] "ok"
Of course, I give myself (and therefore the other pally) sanc.
If it's a holy pally, I let him take wisdom and I do kings for the mana users, while he does kings on the others. The only time there's an issue is hybrids that want all three buffs, but frankly they just have to suck it up and take what they get.
That's why I have no intent of adding PP support to Cork. It's a lot of complicated code that's rendered unnecessary by taking a moment to decide on judgements... which can usually be done before everyone's been summoned.
jbodar May 6th 2009 6:03AM
I much prefer the UI of Paladin Buffer and it talks with PP users as well. It's basically PP but with a better interface, IMO.
http://www.wowinterface.com/downloads/info12734-PaladinBuffer.html
Bruski May 12th 2009 3:36PM
PallyPower, while it might not be the best or flashiest addon, is the golden standard for Paladin buffs, and as a raid leader I love it and expect all paladins in my raids to have it. It's also very useful for Emalon pugs and such when the paladins can assign one to set the settings for everyone else, and get it done quickly and efficiently. With the addition of auras, I would say PallyPower is a must have for every raiding paladin.