Addon Spotlight: Loremaster addons

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Happy Thursday, addon nerds. I hope your week is going as splendidly as mine is. Why is my week going splendidly, you ask? I decided to begin the Loremaster achievement process on my new warrior in preparation for Cataclysm. Potentially, only a few more months remain until the world goes kaboom, and I'd like to have that title ready to roll -- which, conveniently, brings me to the topic of this week's Addon Spotlight.

This week, Addon Spotlight brings you the core collection of addons that make Loremaster less of a giant pain in the butt. For a comprehensive Loremaster strategy, I recommend, nay, compel you, to read Lisa Poisso's excellent Loremaster rookie article. I am here to give you all the information on the addons that make this achievement a snap. Let's read some quest text together! Awww, yeah!

Before we jump into the Loremaster addons, I wanted to give you all a little piece of my own history with the Loremaster achievement and a small anecdote. Back when I leveled the character that currently has Loremaster, my paladin created on launch day of The Burning Crusade, the dungeon finder was not implemented. The fastest way to level 60 at the time was a rigorous questing regiment that had you maximizing experience gains through easy-to-do quests. When the Loremaster achievement came around, I was already well on my way to completion. After scouring each zone with no option to show low-level quests, I eventually completed the achievement. No addons, no low-level quest options and no sanity remaining.

Fast-forward to today -- a wealth of options open up for the aspiring Loremaster. With the ability to ping the server for completed quest information and addons that do amazing things with Wowhead data, Loremaster has never been more easy and fun. My warrior, the current Loremaster candidate, is armed to the teeth with addons to make this whole ordeal as simple as possible, and I'd like to pass on that knowledge to you. Sit back; it's still a bumpy ride.

Every single quest

Everyquest is the addon glue that holds the Loremaster achievement process together. This addon is the main tool that you will use to accomplish this grand task. What does Everyquest do? Simply, the addon pings the server for your completed quest data. Then, the quests you have completed and not completed are shown to you by zone. Every single quest is available at your fingertips. With the completion data now part of the addon's database, you can begin to go down the list and find the quests that still require completion in each zone.

Everyquest does much more than just tell you what quests are in game, however. Daily quests get a counter to see how many times you've completed each, each completed quest is timestamped with data on when it was completed, and, as we will see in a few moments, the addon works smoothly with other addons aimed to help you complete the Loremaster achievement. Everyquest is an awesome addon to have, even if you aren't working on your Loremaster title.

Download Everyquest at [Curse] or [WoWInterface].

Feeling a little lightheaded

Everyquest is an awesome addon, but wouldn't it be wonderful to have all of the quest information straight from Wowhead available when you click on a quest in Everyquest's display? What? That exists?! Of course it does! Lightheaded is the masterful companion addon to Everyquest that will open up the quest's data and comments from Wowhead right next to the Everyquest window. Coordinates are available for quest givers and objectives, helpful community tips are included, and now you'll never have to alt-tab out of the game again to find out quest information.

If you haven't already seen the pattern, the addons centered around Loremaster and questing build on top of each other, like a Loremaster fighting Megazord. Everyquest is the cookie inside, and Lightheaded is the gooey chocolatey coating outside.

Clicking on a quest in Everyquest will open up the quest's information in a separate dialogue box next to Everyquest. It's that simple.

Download Lightheaded at [WoWInterface].

Keep building

There are two more addons that, when paired with Everyquest and Lightheaded, make the Loremaster experience even easier! Loremaster, a very conveniently named addon, adds some extra information to the quest text window, giving the player status on whether a quest counts towards the Loremaster achievement. I ran into the problem of going on long quest detours to find out later they never really counted for the achievement, so Loremaster would have been an excellent tool to have.

Loremaster integrates seamlessly with Everyquest as well. Simply use the command /lm eqignore to set all of the quests that Loremaster deems ineligible for the achievement as ignored in Everyquest. A simple /lm equnignore clears this list. It is simple, effective and downright useful.

Download Loremaster at [Curse] or [WoWInterface].

Finally, complete this crazy process with TomTom, the ubiquitous arrow location addon. TomTom syncs up brilliantly with Lightheaded -- one click on location coordinates spawns a TomTom arrow pointing directly to that location. Seriously, how could this be better for the Loremaster achievement? The locations of quest givers, mobs, quest items and points of interest are instantly at your fingertips.

Download TomTom at [Curse] or [WoWInterface].

So there you have it. Loremaster is an incredibly engaging and fun achievement that I believe everyone should do at least once. Azeroth is rich with lore, awesome quest text and genuine surprises. Check it all out before a giant hole gets torn in the middle of it and everything gets set on fire.

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.