Patch 3.3 PTR: Consolidate buffs and debuffs in the default UI
by Matt Low 
Oct 24th 2009 at 1:55AM
One of the big UI changes coming in patch 3.3 is an option to Consolidate Buffs. It appears that when the feature is enabled, specific short term buffs like Replenishment and longer duration buffs like Gift of the Wild or Arcane Brilliance will be tucked aside and hidden in a buff box. When you mouse over it, the box will expand and display the buffs within. In other words, we can get more real estate back!
On the other hand, certain important buffs that may be critical to the operation of your class will always be displayed. For example, Art of War procs on my retribution paladin will always show up so I know when to slam Exorcism. (Don't hate on me because I have ret paladin now!) Heroism (or Bloodlust) and other similar cooldowns will be shown as well as range limited buffs like totems and paladin auras.
From the debuff side of things, there's another option called Castable Debuffs. When it's enabled, all it will do is show debuffs that you apply. My elemental shaman will throw Flame Shocks and that's all that will appear. I won't see a shadow priest's Misery or a rogue's Rupture. It's an interesting way to cut down on screen clutter.
Patch 3.3 is the last major patch of Wrath of the Lich King. With the new Icecrown Citadel 5-man dungeons and 10/25-man raid arriving soon, patch 3.3 will deal the final blow to the Arthas. WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.3 will keep you updated with all the latest patch news.Filed under: Patches, Buffs, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Miwabo Oct 24th 2009 2:00AM
This makes me happy. I've always felt the current buff/debuff system was somewhat clunky.
Dyonas Oct 24th 2009 2:30AM
Addons have been doing this for a while so its nice to see Blizzard pick up the idea and use it. One more addon I can remove now :)
Chris A Oct 24th 2009 3:52AM
Yes agreed. The more addons I don't need, the better!
breaklance Oct 24th 2009 1:32PM
Exactly my thoughts, nice to see blizzard coming around. Only wish they would make the equip manager less buggy. Getting dc'd or a wow crash my equips will disappear, sometimes they will come back if I respecc but often not and it takes another shutdown of wow to make it come back.
comedown Oct 24th 2009 2:33AM
Please... please dont tell me you actually need a buff mod to tell you when to cast exorcism. I'm pretty sure hits it every time, or if your crit is low should definitely nail it.
Muse Oct 24th 2009 8:06AM
In theory, it has a de facto 100% uptime and a guaranteed instant cast.
In practice, there is not a retri-paladin out there who hasn't accidentally ended up long-casting Exorcism during a fight at one point or another.
comedown Oct 24th 2009 2:36AM
That should read "I'm pretty sure -faceroll right- hits it every time, or if your crit is low -faceroll left- should definitely nail it."
Explination ftl. Html ftw.
Viper007Bond Oct 24th 2009 3:19AM
Cool, but I'll probably stick to Elkano's Buffbars (the addon Blizzard is "ripping off"). Blizzard's implementations tend to be good but not quite as good as the addons they seek to replace. :)
Zhiva Oct 24th 2009 4:25AM
Buff and unit frames addons could do this for ages...
Jorges Oct 24th 2009 5:04AM
That's the whole point. To NOT need an addon to do this.
Koskun Oct 24th 2009 6:37AM
It's a shame though that most (all?) addons that Blizzard copies to put in as an option or default aren't near as good as the originals.
Muse Oct 24th 2009 8:08AM
They do however break less often and draw less system resources. Reasonable trade-off.
Taladan Oct 24th 2009 5:44AM
I'm wondering where that option is. I just logged in the PTR and couldn't find it anywhere.
nieboh Oct 24th 2009 9:27AM
I'm a little wary of hiding away some of the more important buffs like Blessing of Kings, Mark of the Wild, etc. While almost every priest I've ever seen in a raid has been right on top of keeping the fortitude buff up (and spirit if specced that way), I've known plenty of slacker Pallies and Druids. If those are tucked away, I may not notice when I don't have them. Plus side, less raid chat "Kings please"; down side, no kings.
Also, I find it quite handy to see some of the other debuffs going up on the boss. If the boss has Shadow Mastery debuff, I'll know not to bother casting scorch. On the other hand, there are plenty of debuffs I don't care about at all. Misery? I can't count on it so I gear to hit cap on my own, if it's up 3% less chance to miss is still none. It would be nice to be able to selectively hide or show debuffs but I imagine Blizzard's attempt at this will be ON or OFF. This is why people prefer addons.
Corvana Oct 24th 2009 4:20PM
"Don't hate on me because I have ret paladin now!"
lolret
...sorry, I couldn't resist.
Kyle Hebert Oct 24th 2009 2:06PM
I'm curious to know how debuffs cast on players will be handled.
For instance on Koralon I watch for the Buring Ember (?) debuff to make sure I'm out of range of the fire on the ground instead of just trying to move where I think the fire can't get me.
If I have to mouseover or click something to show that, I'll continue using EBB.
catharsis80 Oct 24th 2009 2:23PM
You might want to mention that the screenshot is not what you're talking about, but is in fact Elkano's BuffBars. It's kind of deceiving.
foxkreig Oct 25th 2009 5:27AM
this is an almost exact duplication of CT-mod's buff mod ... which i like and only stopped using because Xperl did something fiddly and the two would cancel out eachother's switch to make the default buff UI dissapear. so if both were on so were the default UI.... wierd