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, start Cataclysm off right with Atlasloot.

The Shattering has come and the world has been sundered. Thankfully, with all that shattering and shaking, a ton of new stuff came with it. What's our favorite new thing, you ask? Why, loot of course. Lots of lots of brand new, shiny loot has appeared to sink our teeth into, which is why I am super-happy to talk about the new Atlasloot today.

Atlasloot is one of those ubiqitous addons that has been around for such a long time, you forget a time before it existed. Atlasloot has been a loot repository for so long that, when my mind begins to wonder what particular loot drops from a boss, muscle memory immediately begins typing in /atlasloot.

Atlasloot's future, as of BlizzCon, felt uncertain to me. With the new loot lists for bosses coming in 4.1, one of Atlasloot's hallmark features is being incorporated into the default user interface. While a huge honor, this also puts into doubt what Atlasloot has to offer the community. Well, there is no reason to worry. In fact, with the release of Atlasloot v6, we see the true power of addons in World of Warcraft -- taking basic user interface functionality and giving you options you might not have ever known you wanted.

The basics

Atlasloot is an addon that contains a database of loot and items that drop off of bosses, in instances and raids, world events, vendors and everything else you can think of. Look up class item sets, try on all items using the wardrobe feature, and enjoy a new, excellent interface with version 6. If you're already an Atlasloot user, you know how incredibly valuable having all of this information in game can be. If you're a new user, here are some awesome features that are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Atlasloot's usefulness.

Wish lists

My absolute favorite feature of Atlasloot has been and always will be the wish lists. Wish lists allow the player to save lists of wanted gear to easily make item decisions about what is needed and what should be rolled on.

To add an item to the wishlist, alt-click the item and then select which wish list it is to be added to. You can have plenty of wish lists to cover your different specs and characters.

Here's where the Cataclysm fun comes in. Since all of the loot is available in the Atlasloot database from the beta, you can put together your Cataclysm loot lists early. By knowing what you need from each dungeon, Cataclysm gearing up can be accomplished much more easily. Not having to worry about spending time away from the game to figure out what instances you need to run can save a lot of time and stress during new content exploration. I'm a fan.

Vendor lists

Being able to see all of the instance and raid loot is great, sure, but with the advent of emblems, badges, and now the point system, a great deal of loot doesn't come from bosses at all. With Atlasloot's vendor database, you get to see what kinds of items point vendors sell and their costs. You can even add these to your wish list.

Quicklooks

Quicklooks allow you to set a loot table to a quicklooks slot and be able to jump there at the press of a button. For Wrath of the Lich King, I kept the afforementioned vendor loot tables on my quicklooks buttons, as I was constantly going back and forth looking at item prices as I was farming emblems and points.

Searchable loot

Hate alt-tabbing out to Wowhead to check what loot a boss drops? Do you know the name of a piece of loot but have no idea where to find it? Wouldn't it be awesome to just search for the name of the item and find it from within the game? Atlasloot is tailor-made for these uses. Atlasloot search allows you to quickly and easily find exactly where a piece of loot drops and show you its drop rate as well.

Currently, search is temporarily disabled in the addon, but the Atlasloot guys have been banging away at the bugs and fixes for the addon, and it's going to continue to be the go-to loot addon for WoW.

A staple of loot research

Atlasloot has always been a staple in my addons folder and that isn't changing any time soon. With the new boss loot tables being built in, I was worried about Atlasloot's core feature. What has been done with the addon, however, shows exactly how the modding and addon community that revolves around World of Warcraft is so talented. Addons are not always about doing things differently or better, but about creating a feature set that is immensely robust.

Wish lists, quicklooks, vendor information, searchable loot and more keeps Atlasloot at the top of the addon game. I am very excited that Atlasloot is soldiering on and keeping the addon great. It is one of my absolute must-have tools for Cataclysm.

Download Atlasloot at [Curse] and [WoWInterface].

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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.

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Tags: add-on, add-on-configuration, add-on-guide, addon-configuration, addon-guide, addons, atlasloot, atlasloot-enhanced, cataclysm-addons, featured, guide, loot-wish-list, loot-wishlist, wishlists, wow-add-on, wow-add-on-guide, wow-add-ons, wow-addon-guide, wow-addons, wow-guide

Filed under: Add-Ons, AddOn Spotlight, Cataclysm