Addon Spotlight: My guild's favorite 4.0.1-compatible addons
Each week, WoW Insider brings you a fresh look at reader-submitted UIs as well as Addon Spotlight, which 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, I ask my 10-man, again, for some of their favorite addons for 4.0.1.
Right now, as I speak, a plane hurtles through the sky towards California. I am aboard that plane -- BlizzCon, here I come! Many of you will be at the WoW Insider reader meetup at the Anabella hotel, and I can't wait to say hello. Aka'magosh and all that.
My original plan was to highlight some addon UI compilations this week, but to be honest, not all the ones I wanted to highlight had updated yet. I'll give them another week or so. Suffice to say, we still have a ton of fun in store for you. What do I do when plans fall through? Favorites. Not just my favorites, mind you, but the favorites of the hapless schlubs in my guild. It basically works like this: I enter our Mumble channel, scream at them for their favorite addons, and I'm met with some awesome suggestions. Let's hear what the Smooth Jazz boys and girls have to say.
Before we begin, I just wanted to say something to an addon author that I've come to really respect and befriend over the past months writing this column. Shadowed, the creator of some awesome addons such as Shadowed Unit Frames and Quick Auctions 3, has retired a good number of these addons and passed them on to very capable people. It's a shame seeing him get out of the addon business, and I just wanted to give him a hearty Thank you, and great job! for working on these tremendous addons. You changed the way I dealt with unit frames and opened my heart to terrible undercutting. For that, I salute you. Don't be a stranger, and we'll miss you terribly.
Primrose loves: Auction Profit Master
Speaking of addons that were passed on from Shadowed, Quick Auctions 3 died a terrible, sad death upon the altar of 4.0.1. In its place, risen from the ashes, is a fork of QA3 called Auction Profit Master, the code of QA3 packaged up by its new caretaker, Sapu. Primrose, the second-best discipline priest in the world, is a hard-nosed auction house veteran, bravely entering most markets and smiting (get it?) the competition. Using a tool like Auction Profit Master is essential to playing the auction house, especially when you're dealing with large numbers of items.
Since 4.0.1, many features were removed from addon functionality in regards to the auction house, including the ability to fully automate the posting and cancelling auctions. No addon can do this for you, so you'll have to get used to the button clicks. Suffice to say, Auction Profit Master makes it easy-peasy to put all your items up for sale, with great options, an easy-to-use interface and some great macros that make auction house PvP that much easier.
There is a small learning curve with auction addons of any caliber, so start small. Test out the waters with one item, browse the options and see what fits your selling style. Remember, take it slow, and you'll be well on your way to auction house domination.
Download Auction Profit Master at [Curse].
Smallpox loves: Hear Kitty
If there's one thing Smallpox knows, it's how to rogue it up. He's like the anti-surgeon. He even knows what Feint does and how to disable traps. Smallpox told me that one of his favorite addons, Hear Kitty, has been around for a long time but is one of those addons that seems to fly under the radar, so I should give it a mention.
Hear Kitty is an addon aimed at rogues, feral druids, enhancement shaman and paladins -- all classes with combo points or tiered power meters of some kind. As holy power, combo points or Maelstrom Weapon charges are accumulated, Hear Kitty will play a tone. A final note plays once you are at max capacity of power buildup. Personally, I love audible cues for things that happen in game, which is why I am also in love with Blizzard's built-in Power Auras system.
At first, I thought I would love Hear Kitty for its rogue functionality but quickly appreciated it more and more on my paladin. Since I'm used to having to build up points on the rogue, combo points were second nature. On the paladin, however, I was having a bit of class shock relearning the holy power system, and the audio cues were a true boon to my playing. Give Hear Kitty a shot!
Download Hear Kitty at [Curse] or [WoWInterface].
Blackoccamy loves: Shadowed Unit Frames
The Shadowed farewell love-fest continues with another of his amazing addons, Shadowed Unit Frames. The addon has been picked up by none other than Antiarc, the prolific Omen creator and minimalist incarnate. Blackoccamy stands by Shadowed Unit Frames (SUF), touting its simple configuration and ease of use as the two biggest selling points. Even right out of the box, SUF feels a bit more complete than other unit frames that I have used. Even the customization was easier to grasp than, say, Stuf. I don't want to rag on Stuf because it is amazing. All I can do is discuss my experiences using these addons, and it took me less time to configure SUF to my specifications than it did to get Stuf to the same place.
One of the cool bits about Shadowed Unit Frames is that you can add a text line to the unit frames, allowing you to keep the health bar free for percents and health amounts and not share space with a long target name. The target's name can sit on top in a separate text line, which looks pleasing and is aesthetically nicer, in my opinion.
Shadowed Unit Frames is now updated for 4.0.1 and seems happy and stable on my system. Good show, new management.
Download Shadowed Unit Frames at [Curse] or [WoWInterface].
So there you go -- three addons to update, check out or rediscover after the addon rapture of 4.0.1. I do hope to see many of you at BlizzCon and the reader meetup, so please be sure to say hello!
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.
Right now, as I speak, a plane hurtles through the sky towards California. I am aboard that plane -- BlizzCon, here I come! Many of you will be at the WoW Insider reader meetup at the Anabella hotel, and I can't wait to say hello. Aka'magosh and all that.
My original plan was to highlight some addon UI compilations this week, but to be honest, not all the ones I wanted to highlight had updated yet. I'll give them another week or so. Suffice to say, we still have a ton of fun in store for you. What do I do when plans fall through? Favorites. Not just my favorites, mind you, but the favorites of the hapless schlubs in my guild. It basically works like this: I enter our Mumble channel, scream at them for their favorite addons, and I'm met with some awesome suggestions. Let's hear what the Smooth Jazz boys and girls have to say.
Before we begin, I just wanted to say something to an addon author that I've come to really respect and befriend over the past months writing this column. Shadowed, the creator of some awesome addons such as Shadowed Unit Frames and Quick Auctions 3, has retired a good number of these addons and passed them on to very capable people. It's a shame seeing him get out of the addon business, and I just wanted to give him a hearty Thank you, and great job! for working on these tremendous addons. You changed the way I dealt with unit frames and opened my heart to terrible undercutting. For that, I salute you. Don't be a stranger, and we'll miss you terribly.
Primrose loves: Auction Profit Master
Speaking of addons that were passed on from Shadowed, Quick Auctions 3 died a terrible, sad death upon the altar of 4.0.1. In its place, risen from the ashes, is a fork of QA3 called Auction Profit Master, the code of QA3 packaged up by its new caretaker, Sapu. Primrose, the second-best discipline priest in the world, is a hard-nosed auction house veteran, bravely entering most markets and smiting (get it?) the competition. Using a tool like Auction Profit Master is essential to playing the auction house, especially when you're dealing with large numbers of items.
Since 4.0.1, many features were removed from addon functionality in regards to the auction house, including the ability to fully automate the posting and cancelling auctions. No addon can do this for you, so you'll have to get used to the button clicks. Suffice to say, Auction Profit Master makes it easy-peasy to put all your items up for sale, with great options, an easy-to-use interface and some great macros that make auction house PvP that much easier.
There is a small learning curve with auction addons of any caliber, so start small. Test out the waters with one item, browse the options and see what fits your selling style. Remember, take it slow, and you'll be well on your way to auction house domination.
Download Auction Profit Master at [Curse].

If there's one thing Smallpox knows, it's how to rogue it up. He's like the anti-surgeon. He even knows what Feint does and how to disable traps. Smallpox told me that one of his favorite addons, Hear Kitty, has been around for a long time but is one of those addons that seems to fly under the radar, so I should give it a mention.
Hear Kitty is an addon aimed at rogues, feral druids, enhancement shaman and paladins -- all classes with combo points or tiered power meters of some kind. As holy power, combo points or Maelstrom Weapon charges are accumulated, Hear Kitty will play a tone. A final note plays once you are at max capacity of power buildup. Personally, I love audible cues for things that happen in game, which is why I am also in love with Blizzard's built-in Power Auras system.
At first, I thought I would love Hear Kitty for its rogue functionality but quickly appreciated it more and more on my paladin. Since I'm used to having to build up points on the rogue, combo points were second nature. On the paladin, however, I was having a bit of class shock relearning the holy power system, and the audio cues were a true boon to my playing. Give Hear Kitty a shot!
Download Hear Kitty at [Curse] or [WoWInterface].

The Shadowed farewell love-fest continues with another of his amazing addons, Shadowed Unit Frames. The addon has been picked up by none other than Antiarc, the prolific Omen creator and minimalist incarnate. Blackoccamy stands by Shadowed Unit Frames (SUF), touting its simple configuration and ease of use as the two biggest selling points. Even right out of the box, SUF feels a bit more complete than other unit frames that I have used. Even the customization was easier to grasp than, say, Stuf. I don't want to rag on Stuf because it is amazing. All I can do is discuss my experiences using these addons, and it took me less time to configure SUF to my specifications than it did to get Stuf to the same place.
One of the cool bits about Shadowed Unit Frames is that you can add a text line to the unit frames, allowing you to keep the health bar free for percents and health amounts and not share space with a long target name. The target's name can sit on top in a separate text line, which looks pleasing and is aesthetically nicer, in my opinion.
Shadowed Unit Frames is now updated for 4.0.1 and seems happy and stable on my system. Good show, new management.
Download Shadowed Unit Frames at [Curse] or [WoWInterface].
So there you go -- three addons to update, check out or rediscover after the addon rapture of 4.0.1. I do hope to see many of you at BlizzCon and the reader meetup, so please be sure to say hello!
Filed under: Add-Ons, AddOn Spotlight







Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
BritishBulldog Oct 21st 2010 3:02PM
As said on Euripies post, ZeroAuctions is also another branch of APM. My guildie and I are using ZA and APM seperately and are getting pretty much the same results, so I guess either one is good :)
Cassie Oct 21st 2010 3:10PM
I semi-recently tranferred a level 60 rogue i'd never played (yay, RaF!) to a new server and have been failing to grasp the concept of combo points. As a caster at heart, it's difficult for me to understand this new concept. Hear Kitty sounds like it could be a huge help, thanks!
Eyhk Oct 21st 2010 5:04PM
Not sure what kind of caster you were, but it's kind of like using imp Scorch to debuff the target to do higher damage with your fireball except the imp Scorch debuff goes away after hitting the target with fireball, or keeping immolate up to conflagrate except you have to have 5 in order to do so, or cast Wrath to proc an Eclipse to do some other damage, or debuff your target with Flame shock to get a huge Lava Burst.
The mechanics are similar, its just using whatever combo point builder (like scorch, immolate, wrath, flame shock) that is right for your spec (sinister strike, mutilate, backstab, hemo, HAT) and then using the correct finisher (Slice and Dice, Rupture, Envenom, Eviscerate, or even Expose Armor or Recuperate) to use up the points.
Semian Oct 21st 2010 8:56PM
I've had a lot of luck using Comergy on my feral druid. The audible queues are single piano notes with lots of reverb. The notes are very noticeable over the over WoW sounds. I haven't touched my druid since 4.0.1, so I'm not sure if it still works.
Cassie Oct 21st 2010 10:30PM
I play a boomkin, so I can kinda get what you're saying with Eclipse. I have issues figuring out what rotation to use, but that's something i'll just have to read up on myself. Thanks for the tips :)
neogramps Oct 22nd 2010 7:16AM
I actually started using Shadowed Unit Frames to handle combo points - what I (and many other rogues) do, is put the player frame in the middle of the screen, just below my character - it has a combo bar, so you can much more easily see your current points without glancing up to the normal frame.
Aigarius Oct 21st 2010 3:11PM
Auctioneer is not back and that works too.
Boz Oct 21st 2010 3:48PM
I'm not certain I understand what you are stating here; Auctioneer was updated and uploaded to Curse earlier today (10/21) to Suite 5.9, which should support Patch 4.0.1:
http://wow.curse.com/downloads/wow-addons/details/auctioneer.aspx
Brett Porter Oct 21st 2010 3:59PM
Maybe he meant now instead of not? I was using the beta version of Auctioneer and it was working really well. I haven't yet tried out the official release though. I did try the other auctioning addons and didn't like that none that I found had a form of Appraiser. I don't want to drag and drop, even the tiny list of auctions I do.
I am glad Auctioneer is back!
Feldring Oct 21st 2010 3:19PM
You're waiting for a plane. A plane that will take you far away. You know where you hope the plane will take you, but you can't be sure...
OT: have to try out Hear Kitty; as a healer, I'd love an audio cue for holy power levels. :)
Pyromelter Oct 21st 2010 4:11PM
MSBT (mik's scrolling battle text) has options for audio cues on triggers. I prefer a "ding!" sound which prompts me to cast pyroblast/frostfirebolt/arcane missiles/LB_MW5/feral druid finisher/bloodthirst slam
MikeLive Oct 21st 2010 3:23PM
One of my must-have addons, iPopBar, is 4.0.1-compatible. Anyone who uses the default action bars should definitely get it, unless they have a particular love of the micro menu and bag bar appearing on screen all the time.
MikeLive Oct 21st 2010 3:28PM
Oh, on the topic of Hear Kitty. Oddly enough, I can keep track of Maelstrom Weapon and Combo Points just fine, but oddly I find watching Holy Power slightly more stressful. It might be that I'm just not used to it yet.
Feldring Oct 21st 2010 3:39PM
Mike, I agree about watching Holy Power. This has also surprised me because I play a rogue as well. It could be that Holy Power is not gained as regularly or predictably as combo points, and it's something we'll get used to in time. Here's hoping!
MikeLive Oct 21st 2010 3:40PM
Agreed, the random proc chance that Ret has for it, while definitely makes for interesting gameplay, does make for far more to pay attention to than pre-4.0. Of course, this was exactly the design intention, and one I certainly don't disagree with :)
Feldring Oct 21st 2010 3:57PM
Absolutely! It's thrilling that the pre-Cataclysmic rumblings have also shaken up our playstyles. I'm very excited about things.
Boydboyd Oct 21st 2010 3:23PM
I can't seem to figure out how to get Blizzard's new raid tool (to the left of the Raid Frames on a stock UI) to appear while using SUF.
Is it disabled with SUF, or incoming? I love the ability to toss out smoke markers and do role checks/assignments.
MikeLive Oct 21st 2010 3:34PM
That's all in the API, and it's very likely it'll be up to the SUF devs to implement these features. If you can figure out the function calls, then you can call them yourself by macros and whatnot. I'm actually trying to figure out the function call to Unlock the new raid frames (an option unavailable in 5-man mode) for a similar reason, thus far unable to.
Boydboyd Oct 21st 2010 3:37PM
Thanks for the info, but I must tell you this:
I download addons. I use them. I can configure all of them via the options included in-game.
Anything more technical than that and I'm going to need to see a powerpoint, because I have no idea what you just said. :D
MikeLive Oct 21st 2010 3:43PM
Haha, fair enough. Have you given the new raid frames a try? I must say they're done rather well. They've (along with a much-improved Clique) actually replaced Healbot entirely and I couldn't be more happy with them. You should still be able to use SUF for your self/pet/target/focus frames in conjunction with the new raid frames.