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.