AddOn Spotlight: Skada
by Mathew McCurley 
Feb 4th 2010 at 5:00PM
AddOn Spotlight focuses on the backbone of the WoW gameplay experience - the user interface. Everything from bags to bars, buttons to DPS meters and beyond - your AddOns folder will never be the same! This week, we do some mad-deeps.
Before I start my first Addon Spotlight, I wanted to quickly give a primer on my Addon/UI preferences and the way I hope to spotlight and review addons here at WoW.com. World of Warcraft is over five years old now, and in such a short period of time a ragtag bunch of Addon coders and modders fashioned thousands of addons, making the game playable. Over five years the addon environment has evolved so greatly that now, in addition to discussing form and function, we can judge addons from an aesthetic approach. Addons that allow for greater customization and tailored appearances are now the norm. I strive to help players find not only the most useful and functional addons but also the most aesthetically pleasing of the bunch. I hope everyone reading will appreciate the mix of form, function and aesthetics, creating a better UI for everyone.
My first Addon Spotlight is a great example of what I love about a good addon. Skada is a DPS meter following in the footsteps of Recount, the current ubiquitous DPS meter and bragging device currently in WoW. Recount, however, always gave me memory problems and felt sluggish. And, as a personal pet peeve, I never liked the bugle. We'll get to the bugle later. Recount does the job, however, and most of us never look back. So why switch to Skada?
Before I start my first Addon Spotlight, I wanted to quickly give a primer on my Addon/UI preferences and the way I hope to spotlight and review addons here at WoW.com. World of Warcraft is over five years old now, and in such a short period of time a ragtag bunch of Addon coders and modders fashioned thousands of addons, making the game playable. Over five years the addon environment has evolved so greatly that now, in addition to discussing form and function, we can judge addons from an aesthetic approach. Addons that allow for greater customization and tailored appearances are now the norm. I strive to help players find not only the most useful and functional addons but also the most aesthetically pleasing of the bunch. I hope everyone reading will appreciate the mix of form, function and aesthetics, creating a better UI for everyone.
My first Addon Spotlight is a great example of what I love about a good addon. Skada is a DPS meter following in the footsteps of Recount, the current ubiquitous DPS meter and bragging device currently in WoW. Recount, however, always gave me memory problems and felt sluggish. And, as a personal pet peeve, I never liked the bugle. We'll get to the bugle later. Recount does the job, however, and most of us never look back. So why switch to Skada?
Modular Addons
The modular nature of Skada is a huge draw. Each mode of data reporting is a separate addon, allowing the player to customize the amount of data collected, giving the user better control over the addon's CPU usage on an already CPU-svelt meter. As a tank, I don't need to know mana regen or the associated healing modes, so they are disabled.
[Update: It was correctly pointed out to me that CPU usage, not memory usage, would be a better yardstick to use to compare Skada and Recount. Due to loading separate modes and Skada's absence of relatively heavy graphs and charts, the addon has a smaller CPU usage footprint. Sorry for the confusion.]
DPS Data
Skada is a capable DPS threat meter with a simple to use data management system. What I like about Skada is the linear nature of parsing DPS data. Skada starts by showing you the fights that it has recorded data from. Clicking on a fight brings up the modes available (DPS, Damage, Healing done, etc.) and, with a click, shows you that data. A left click moves you forward and a right click moves you back to the modes selection - a very smooth implementation. I personally have Skada set up to display the top 10 DPSers in the list, but a simple roll of the scroll wheel down runs through the entire raid list.
A really cool feature of Skada is Mode Switching. Under the options (Windows > Skada > Mode Switching) you can set what the default mode will be while in combat. Upon leaving combat, Skada will revert back to its default mode. For instance, a tank could use Threat mode when entering combat and have Skada revert to group DPS after combat has ended.
Customization
Customization is fluid and pretty. Skada can be bordered with presets or practically any border you have imported from another addon. Changing Skada's size is not intuitive (from the interface options menu select Window > Skada) but provides better precision for changing the horizontal and vertical size of Skada in slider form. I personally like slider controls because the cursor does not get in the way while fitting together UI pieces seamlessly. Recount's limitation on its horizontal size made it impractical for my minimalist UI.
Skada Tips
As part of my Addon spotlights, I'll try to include a section at the end of the review with some suggestions for adding the UI to your already existing setup or just helpful reminders about key functionality of the addon. I know that in the past I've fumbled around looking for the correct "slash" command to open an Addon that wasn't part of the interface menu. Here are some quick tips and suggestions about Skada:
- Impress your friends - according to Skada's Curse page, Skada means "damage" in Swedish. Which makes total sense, given the circumstances.
- "/skada report" can be used to report your current mode data to the preset channel in place of two clicks.
- "/skada reset" can be used to reset all the meters and fights in place of two clicks.
- "Current Fight" is the data you want for, you guessed it, the fight you are in at that moment. Right clicking Skada and going back to the fight selection screen will show you more selections for previous fights and their times, but Current Fight will bring you back to "live" DPS data.
- For pure DPS, you want mode "DPS." Again, a no-brainer, but some of the other modes also record DPS, like "Damage." My default is "Current Fight > DPS."
The Bottom Line
- Completely customizable DPS meters, among other types of data collection
- Precise size controls via slider
- Modular approach to data collection - choose only the types of data you want to view
- Save on addon CPU usage - approximate DPS with no graphs and charts
- No bugle
Skada Links:
Download Skada from [Curse] or [WoWInterface].
Interface cleanliness is next to corrupted Old Godliness here on Addon Spotlight. Addon Spotlight is fueled by viewers like you, so if you have a mod you think Mat should take a look at, e-mail him at mat (at) wow dot com. Filed under: AddOn Spotlight, Add-Ons
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
Stephen Feb 4th 2010 5:03PM
Congrats on the column! I was wondering when someone would cover Skada. I've been using it for a while and IMO it blows Recount out of the water. Looking forward to more from you1
Aceman67 Feb 4th 2010 5:04PM
I tried using Skada a couple of times, but it just didn't work for me (personally, the addon itself worked fine).
I just trust Omen and Recount too much.
They are good addons though, don't get me wrong. It does what it sets out to do.
Narshe Feb 4th 2010 5:41PM
Skada threat is the same thing as Omen, either one works perfectly. Skada has more features than Recount, and takes less memory.
Both Recount and Skada work well, so take your pick. Neither one will be as accurate as a log parsing app, but they both do an ok job.
I prefer Skada to Recount, mostly because as a Disc priest, Skada counts absorbs as healing, which Recount does not.
elainesy2009 Feb 5th 2010 1:59AM
For some reason there isn't a "reply" button on Narshe's post.
@Narshe:
http://www.wowace.com/addons/recountguessedabsorbs/
protopethunter Feb 25th 2010 12:23PM
@Elainesy2009
That still requires a separate addon and some math to check your standings against the other healers. Skada shows pure absorbs, absorbs + heals, and pure heals.
PS theres no reply on Narhse's post because his/her post is a reply in itself
Stephen Feb 4th 2010 5:06PM
Congrats on the Column! Looking forward to Addon Spotlight being a regular thing again.
I've been waiting for someone to review Skada. It's been my meter of choice for quite a while now and IMO much better than Recount.
Stephen Feb 4th 2010 5:06PM
Dang double posts. Rate down plz to darken my humiliation.
CallMeIrd Feb 4th 2010 5:22PM
I could never use it because of the name. I think maybe it's supposed to be some deformed version of the word 'skaði' which means damage in Icelandic (my native tongue) and it just bugs me. Just like it bugs me that Skadi in UP is a MAN when in Norse mythology it's the name of a giantess. Skaði.
Pet peeve, probably a very nice addon!
Hansbo Feb 4th 2010 5:32PM
Or, perhaps more likely, it's made by a Swede. Skada is the Swedish equivalence to the Islandic skaði (and means the same thing)
That is, damage in it's verb form.
CallMeIrd Feb 4th 2010 5:40PM
Ah I see. Either way it always looks so silly to me, and I suppose I've become touchy because of how they brutalise my language in the new expansion. >.
Res Feb 4th 2010 5:47PM
It says right in the article why it's called what it's called.
Netheral Feb 4th 2010 6:43PM
Lodi dodi we loves the Skadi.
Sorry, I just couldn't resist. :C
Nathanyel Feb 4th 2010 7:25PM
That achievement somehow implies though that the boss was planned as a female initially..
syi Feb 4th 2010 5:20PM
I would really like someone to cover elitistgroup
Sicadastra Feb 4th 2010 6:00PM
Why was this voted down? Elitistgroup is an addon, still not well known, which aims to "fix" some of the things "broken" in the world of gear score addons. Matt Low covered it on NoStockUI.com pretty recently. I personally find it cumbersome, but that's the point of articles like this. Here's the URL if you want to check out his overview in case it isn't covered here at some point: http://www.nostockui.com/2010/01/use-elitist-group-to-find-out-more/
And congrats on the column Mr. McCurley, as an addon and UI junkie, I look forward to what you have to share!
Dazaras Feb 4th 2010 9:47PM
This looks like a really great addon. I was wondering just the other day whether there were any addons that make it easier to check achievements, since the default UI is so cumbersome. Downloaded.
Khanmora Feb 9th 2010 5:26PM
They covered it on No Stock UI about a month ago.
http://www.nostockui.com/2010/01/use-elitist-group-to-find-out-more/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NoStockUi+%28No+Stock+UI%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher
Gravity Feb 4th 2010 11:51PM
I also use Skada instead of Recount. It's only failing (and perhaps other readers can help) is that its DEATH log is not as useful as Recounts, and the one thing I miss is graphic charts from Recount. The Skada death logs are inconsistently populated with the incoming damage that caused my death, and when it does work I don't find it anywhere near as well organised as Recount's.
Camaris Feb 5th 2010 4:58AM
This. I love Skada, and I like its absorbs tracking and the customizability (I'm pretty sure that's not a real word).
But as a healer, I really like to have good death logs to see exactly why the main tank fell over. And Skada's death logs are inconsistent to say the least (in fact, the last couple of times they were completely empty).
Wolftech Feb 4th 2010 5:22PM
I like Skada, but it is just to inaccurate to be reliable. It does not keep accurate track of any stats (save possibly threat, but I have seen that off as well). I did a direct comparison with both Skada and recount and recount was constant while Skada was either high or low depending on the fight.
Bottom line is Skada looks pretty, but isn't very useful.