Addon Spotlight: 4.0.1 updated favorites
by Mathew McCurley 
Oct 14th 2010 at 7:00PM
Addon Spotlight is going to do things a little differently this week. We've just come off a fresh, new patch, with loads of new abilities, content and system mechanics. Rather than focus on one or two addons this week, I want to give my readers a rundown on some of the crucial addons we all know and love, making sure you know what to update, considering some addons are taking the drive out of the car, so to speak. In addition, I'll give you some alternatives to addons that might not be functioning perfectly right now, tell you which addons are just being naughty and try to get you back on track before the weekend.
Classic damage and threat
Many addons have had Cataclysm variations and updates in the works, but most didn't get pushed out until late Wednesday night. Many people reported errors across the board as addons were mashing up against one another, ruining some people's nights. Recount, Omen and Skada have all been updated for 4.0.1, covering all of your damage and threat tracking needs. Be careful, DPSers, because some of your numbers might be awesome, but your poor tank is going to be very sad all night.
Download Recount at [Curse].
Download Omen at [Curse] or [WoWInterface].
Download Skada at [Curse] or [WoWInterface].
Raids and boss encounters
Those crazy fools over at Deadly Boss Mods, BigWigs and Deus Vox Encounters have got your back with an update for 4.0.1 that is stable, working and guaranteed to make your raid night go a little bit smoother. Raiding Tuesday night was a giant pain, with everyone's user interfaces on the brink. Having boss encounter addons ready to go after a new patch is a huge boon, considering most of the encounters in Wrath of the Lich King feel a little bit different with all the new changes. Update your boss encounters and make your fellow raiders a little bit happier.
Download Deadly Boss Mods at [Curse] or [WoWInterface].
Download Deus Vox Encounters at [Curse].
Download BigWigs Bossmods at [Curse] or [WoWInterface].
Action and cast bars
The two big names in action bars, Bartender4 and Dominos, both updated fairly quickly with 4.0.1 capable builds of these most important addons. I'm a Dominos man myself, so I can speak confidently when I say it's running fine with zero problems. I had one personal mishap with a profile issue, but it was all over quickly and the problem was solved. My Bartender4-savvy friends tell me that Bartender is keeping it real, rocking it old school and generally having an awesome night on the town after that horrible break-up with Samantha. That could have also been my buddy Rick. Either way, it involved bars.
My past recommendation of Castbars exploded on patch day. Without a working cast bar, I was not in a happy mood. I shifted over to Quartz, the reigning cast bar addon that I had proposed an alternative to a while back -- but lo and behold, I have totally refallen in love with Quartz. It's working great for the new patch and has even changed a lot of my own cast bar behaviors. You won me back, Quartz. That's a tough sell.
Download Bartender4 at [Curse] or [WoWInterface].
Download Dominos at [Curse] or [WoWInterface].
Download Quartz at [Curse] or [WoWInterface].
Unit frames are a staple of player interfaces, and thankfully, many of your favorites are working perfectly fine under the new 4.0.1 regime. Shadowed Unit Frames, my personal favorite, was not updated for 4.0.1 and was giving me some trouble. Shadowed, the creator, has recently announced that he is leaving the project and handing it over to the very capable hands of Antiarc and Nevcairiel. If you can't wait for an updated SUF, however, Pitbull and Stuf are both extremely capable and feature rich unit frames. I switched over to Stuf for a while until SUF is back up and running, and the customization options in Stuf blow my mind every time I use it. If you want complete and utter control over your unit frames and have the patience to sit with it, Stuf is your man. Pitbull really doesn't need an introduction, because it's great and everyone already knows it.
Update: SUF does have updates for 4.0.1, released after I had written the round-up. You can find the latest version of Shadowed Unit Frames at [WowAce].
Download Pitbull at [Curse] or [WoWInterface].
Download Stuf at [Curse] or [WoWInterface].
Healing UIs
Healers, rejoice! Not all is lost in your worlds, despite all of those new healy ... things ... going on. Something about mana? I don't know! I think that there's a tree involved. Anyway, Blizzard released this patch with a brand new raid UI that is a somewhat-capable facsimile of Grid, which is currently updated but experiencing a few issues that should all be fixed up soon. Vuhdo and Healbot users, have no fear, because your favorite healing augmenters are ready and raring to go.
Blizzard's new raid UI tries to be Grid for everyone, but misses the biggest boon of Grid -- customization. Sure, it's better than what was there before, but raid frames and healing interfaces are clearly the domain of the addon creators. With the newest raid frames, Blizzard seems to be acknowledging that.
Download Vuhdo at [Curse] or [WoWInterface].
Download Healbot Continued at [Curse].
Personal addon staples
Finally, I wanted to let you guys know about a few of my personal staples that, really, I have a hard time living without. Everyone knows Postal, the ubiquitous mail addon that makes the in-game mail system tolerable. It's been updated for patch 4.0.1, even after some hair-raising moments last night where Postal gave me a few issues. I might have cried.
Arkinventory is another addon that is finally updated to 4.0.1, but for a while on patch day I was getting some errors. Thankfully, that all seems to have gone by the wayside, and even better, all of my previous settings were perfectly intact. Rejoice!
Finally, OmniCC has a new, special place in my heart, as I adjust to my new life as an arms warrior in PvE as well as the new tanking changes. Seeing cooldowns on Rend, for instance, neatly displayed on my enemy's target frame is something I couldn't live without. OmniCC is updated and doing what it does with a stable and solid build.
Download Postal at [Curse] or [WoWInterface].
Download Arkinventory at [Curse].
Download OmniCC at [Curse] or [WoWInterface].
Double finally
Finally-finally, don't forget to update the two best addons ever, Addon Control Panel and ButtonFacade, both sparkly and shiny and patch-4.0.1-resistant.
Download Addon Control Panel at [Curse].
Download ButtonFacade at [Curse].
For a list of all addons updated for the new 4.0.1 patch and Cataclysm, hit up Curse for a comprehensive list.
Good luck with your interfaces, everyone. Next week on Reader UI of the Week, we'll discuss and highlight some of the UI packs that have updated for patch 4.0.1, so if you have a favorite UI pack that's stable and patch-ready, email me and let me know.
Addons are what we do on Addon Spotlight. If you're new to mods, Addons 101 will walk you through the basics; see what other players are doing at Reader UI of the Week. If there's a mod you think Addon Spotlight should take a look at, email mat@wow.com.Filed under: Add-Ons, AddOn Spotlight
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
Trilynne Oct 14th 2010 7:04PM
Don't forget, QuestHelper is officially and thoroughly dead. It does not work. Period. I didn't realize this was going to happen, so I was quite shocked. Tourguide is okay, but it doesn't have the same pathing ability that QH did. x.x
PS: XPerl doesn't work currently. Is Pitbull better? If so, why?
wutsconflag Oct 14th 2010 7:25PM
Try the beta of Xperl. It seems to work okay for me (although it throws LUA errors for buggrabber all over the place).
Also, Pitbull ... I tried to use it, but I couldn't figure it out. I like options, but there is such a thing as too complicated.
Starsmore Oct 14th 2010 7:25PM
Questhelper going south was depressing. I still have something like 300 quests to finish in the Old World for the achievements, and I used Questhelper just to have the questgiver icons on the map. :(
Does anyone know of another addon that'll work in 4.0.1 that'll do that?
PictoKong Oct 14th 2010 7:29PM
IMO, pitbull is better because there is a lot more configuration options
Still, before it gets any thing "good", it takes a while (not to mention config is a pain at first)
Went from X-perl to Pitbull, never looked back
hicks Oct 14th 2010 7:41PM
Everyquest, Lightheaded and TomTom are all invaluable Loremaster tools. You won't get Questhelper's automatic waypoints with Lightheaded, but the handy ingame Wowhead comments almost always have coordinates for questgivers and objectives, so it's close.
keith Oct 14th 2010 7:57PM
I used X-Perl a long time ago (BC-era), but wasn't blown away by it, so I reverted to default frames with MoveAnything. However, seeing recent Reader UI of the Week articles convinced me to try a Unit Frames addon again.
I tried Pitbull last week, and wasn't crazy about some aspects, but eventually got it to where it looked good and functioned well.
With 4.0.1, though, I thought I would give Stuf Unit Frames a try (I could always switch back if I didn't like it). Stuf was WAY easier to configure, in my opinion. Just as many options, it seemed, but much more intuitive. The only downside is the raid frames suck. However, the new default raid frames are awesome (after I shrunk them a bit with MoveAnything), so it doesn't matter!
In conclusion: Stuf is pretty cool. New default raid frames are pretty cool. Everyone should have MoveAnything, no excuses. For real, you can move anything!
KJ118 Oct 14th 2010 8:25PM
@wutsconflag
where can i get the beta version of xperl? i tried out pitbull after the patch but just couldnt get the feel of it.
wutsconflag Oct 14th 2010 9:27PM
@kj118:
I got the beta from Curse, actually.
Bapo Oct 14th 2010 11:06PM
I tried Stuf once before, and just didn't have the patience to sift through everything for the options.
I'm going to try the beta Xperl. It may not be pretty or be able to do everything, but it's extremely simple to use / quick to setup and get going.
Draknareth Oct 15th 2010 5:31AM
To download the beta version of X-perl you need to go into Curse options and enable alpha and beta releases, then go to the curse website and download the newest release. If you still aren't sure after that then check in curse and see which version is on there, it should say 3.10 NOT 3.09. and then you should be able to log in and all is well, though apparently there are a couple issues with the raid frames atm, although I haven't checked this yet.
Literaltruth Oct 15th 2010 7:41AM
Carbonite is now updated for 4.0.1 - at least in Beta form. I'm using it now. It has a quest tracker similar but, in my opinion, superior to the Questhelper one as well as a whole load of other stuff. Because the 4.0.1 version is in early beta, you have to get it from their website at www.carboniteaddon.com.
Kurtis Oct 15th 2010 7:50AM
Also, in the Curse client you can right-click on any application and choose a "Preferred release type" from the list. Options are Release, Beta or Alpha.
I've been running the alpha of X-Perl with no significant problems. The only thing I've noticed is that it shows all of my DK runes as blood. Most of the errors I've seen have come from Overachiever. The census mod for WarcraftRealms throws one when I log in (trying to add the map button) and I see one every now and then from LilSparky's.
Trilynne Oct 15th 2010 8:16AM
my word, I love the WoWInsider community! xD Thanks everyone! and I just might have to look at Carbonite...
anjeney Oct 19th 2010 9:35AM
Carbonite works well and does all that is needed and then some. It's free, shows you the quest givers and it's awesome for quests. You can turn off the announcements that you don't want. I personally loved the punk list, well when I pvp'd that is. Carbonite also has a minimap that keeps you from having to go back and forth between game map and live. In all honesty, at this stage in play, it's what I missed the most. It has been updated and throws no errors.
Ametrine Oct 14th 2010 7:04PM
I really hope they update Autioneer soon...
wutsconflag Oct 14th 2010 7:26PM
There's a beta of Auctioneer up, and according to their forums, they're working on it pretty hard. :)
Kakume Oct 14th 2010 7:37PM
I grabbed a developer build from their [url="http://auctioneeraddon.com/dl/"]download page[/url], and while any developer build requires a health warning (do back up your data) it has worked nicely for me. Was the first addon I installed when the servers came back up yesterday.
BTW, Matthew, THANK YOU for this article. Having an addon rundown *with links* is a huge help each major patch.
Aris Oct 15th 2010 3:13AM
Use the 5.9 version of Auctioneer. It was updated just this morning and seems to be working just fine for me.
Donuin Oct 14th 2010 7:09PM
SUF has updates at: http://www.wowace.com/addons/shadowed-unit-frames/
dpoyesac Oct 14th 2010 7:33PM
I'ma gonna reach right through the interwebs and give youse a sloppy kiss for posting this link.