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3 more useful pet battle add-ons
I recently wrote about Pet Quality Glow, a wonderful add-on that tells you the quality of the pet during (not before) a pet battle. It's no longer listed as out of date, by the way. I highly recommend it. Suggestions from commenters and guildies have led me to three more pet battle add-ons that I now can't do without. Pet Battle Teams allows you to form teams that you can load up with a click. The interface is a little awkward in that you can accidentally overwrite any team as long as it is the one highlighted, without confirmation. Right clicking on the team will delete it, but a confirmation dialog does popup for that. Otherwise, whatever team you have loaded in your journal will determine whatever team is highlighted. I find Pet Battle Teams extremely useful for both leveling pets and collecting them. Don't judge me on the levels of my pets. You see, I've been collecting rather than doing the pet battle quests. I want to be the girl with the most rares.
Addon Spotlight: Pet battle addons?
So, from an addon perspective that Mists launch went off pretty darn painlessly, didn't it? I have to say I was impressed, as you may recall from last week's Addon Spotlight, I was not entirely sure how it was all going to go down. Did you have any addon problems? I know I had to switch off addons to actually get myself to Pandaria in the first place, but that is far more a reflection on my abysmal rural internet, and heavy server loading, than on the quality of work of our beloved addon authors. I've been doing a lot of addon mailbags lately, to help people over the hump from Cataclysm to Mists, but this is the last one for a little while. I will, potentially, continue to tack them on to the end of other Addon Spotlight columns, depending on whether I receive questions that I think might be troubling a lot of people or not! If you have questions, or suggestions, do email me on olivia@wowinsider.com. I will try to get back to you! Let's delve into the mailbag once again with a great question about Pet Battle addons!
How to tell pet quality during battles
Collecting wild pets for your army can be tedious, particularly since you can't tell the quality of the potential pet before you fight it. You can, with either a macro or an add-on, tell the quality during the battle, however. With this information, you can trap the creature or not, as you see fit. The add-on is Pet Battle Quality Glow. It is out of date, but still functions without errors. So you just need to enable out of date add-ons in the AddOn List located on the Character Select Screen in order for it to show up in game. As seen in the screenshot above, Pet Battle Quality Glow changes the icon color of the pet you are fighting, indicating its quality. Just like items, blue is for rare, green for uncommon, white for common, and grey for poor. The add-on also changes the color of the name.
Arcane Brilliance: Mage add-on guide for Mists of Pandaria
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we look add-ons your mage might want to download or update for Mists of Pandaria. There are some great mage add-ons out there, but somebody needs to make one that tracks warlocks. I just think it'd make things a bit easier if I knew exactly how much killing I needed to do in a given area at all times. We're down to just days now, guys. Days. I've been playing this game for the better part of 7 years now and at this point it's sort of amazing that I'm still capable of getting excited about anything it throws at me, but I have to say that I'm pretty damn giddy right now. I want to make a panda. I want to teach it to conjure pastries and hurl fireballs. I want to gain 5 levels on my main. I want to explore Azerothian Asia. I want to learn to sew new and prettier pairs of pants. I want to put a Rune of Power right outside Hot Topic, then just stand there like Gandalf, making sure all the warlocks most certainly do not pass. But there are still a few items of business to attend to before that expansion hits and I can do all those infinitely fun things. We've already discussed a lot of them. A quick recap: Talent spec guide Glyph guide General guide to mage changes in patch 5.0.4 and beyond Spell rotation guide Guide to stat weights and reforging The item on today's agenda is mage add-ons. Every major patch or expansion is guaranteed to break all of your add-ons. Things you've depended upon for months suddenly stop working, and you look to to the heavens and cry out in anguish, your faith in a benevolent God shaken to its very core because Mage Nuggets is down. Well fear not. Most of the add-ons you love and need are already updated and ready for Mists to drop.
Addon Spotlight: Getting your addons ready for Mists
It's almost here! If you've been living under a rock at the bottom of the Thousand Needles lake, there is a faint possibility that you might not know about Mists of Pandaria's arrival on the 25th of September. We did a lot of work here at Addon Spotlight for 5.0.4 addons, giving you a list of addons that are ready, a survival guide, and a couple of question and answer sessions, which will carry on below. For Mists, the process is all quite similar. I'll be uploading my list of addons that are ready for Mists, much closer to launch day this time, but I'll also be relying heavily on what I've started to call the "big three" addon sites (WoWInterface, Curse and WoWAce) and their lists of addons which are ready. As I'm sure you can appreciate, there are a lot of addons out there being updated, and, unlike for 5.0.4, these sites are running dedicated, automatically generated lists of Mists-ready addons, and I'm just one girl! So, is there much you can be doing in advance? If you're a Curse Client user, then a lot of the updating process will be automated, and if you haven't set up WoWInterface's email alert system, now would be the time. Bear in mind that it's a good idea to try to check the addon's home site rather than just blindly following one site's system. Beta files and versions may not appear on each site. Additionally, these "big three" sites are the places where the vast majority of addons are hosted with the authors' permission, meaning they are in line with copyright rules, ethically sound and home to the authors' most recent updates.
Addon Spotlight: Replacing your broken addons
This is a continuation of the ongoing work in progress that always takes place around a big patch such as 5.0.4. Last time we had a few reader emails, asking some questions about certain aspects of the 5.0.4 addon changes and how to deal with them, and this week we're doing much the same, except that we're focusing exclusively on broken addons and some alternatives that do work in the current patch, and therefore may well work when Mists arrives in two weeks' time! Raeli's Return! First, ladies and gentlemen, I have some great news! A while back, my esteemed ex-colleague Mat McCurley wrote a piece on replacing Raeli's Spell Announcer (RSA). He referred to the Raeli's Apocalypse, which it appeared took place when 5.0.4 dropped a couple of weeks back. Mat did find some alternatives, so if that's what you're after, have a look at the original article. But just the other day, I received an email from Raeli himself with the great news I was talking about: Raeli's Spell Announcer is back! Raeli isn't the guy holding the reins any longer, he has handed that hefty responsibility over to Xadurk and stapler2025. And the updates are coming in thick and fast! There's already been over 12 beta versions for 5.0.4 added in the past 2 days, and the new developers have stated that they are determined to have a stable version up and running for the launch of Mists, if not before. A release version has recently become available. If, like me, you're thrilled to hear this news, get on over to the RSA project page, download the latest version and do some testing for the new developers!
Addon Spotlight: 5.0.4 Addon Mailbag
I've been doing my level best, along with Bluspacecow, Mac Technical MVP extraordinaire and general incredibly helpful person, to keep you in the loop on addons that are ready for 5.0.4, as well as an addon survival guide for handling broken and updated addons. The article on addons that are ready is still being updated, as I'm going to be redoing it for the Mists launch. But of course, I can't possibly anticipate all your 5.0.4 addon questions, and I've been getting a good number of emails with addon problems, addon frustration, and addon-related cries for help. If you want to email me with questions, do feel free. I will try to get back to you as quickly as I can, or reply to you in a future article! Let's get started with your questions.
Addon Spotlight: Patch 5.0.4 survival guide
Ladies and gentlemen, the patch is upon us! Brace yourselves for a total UI meltdown. Here at Addon Spotlight, we are as ever here to help you with your patch day UI blues. There was a preparation guide a couple of weeks back, but it's too late for that now. If you didn't take those steps already, you're going to have to pin your hopes on this survival guide. Once more into the breach, my friends! First and foremost, check out last week's post on addons that are ready for 5.0.4. I've been doing a ton of updating on this piece every time someone informs me that an addon is updated. It's a work in progress, of course, but it's pretty accurate right now. If you don't see your preferred addon on there, then have a look on the big three addon sites: WoWInterface, WoWAce and Curseforge. You're looking for recently updated files in the download section. If they don't show up there, have a Google. Your addon may have a stand-alone site. You can look elsewhere, but these are the places where the vast majority of addons are hosted with the authors' permission, meaning they are in line with copyright rules, ethically sound and home to the authors' most recent updates. Once you've checked for the most recent versions, download any that show compatibility with 5.0.4. If there are none, then make a note of that addon and check back in a few days' time. WoWInterface can also be set up to email you when addons are updated; check out how to set up email notification for addon updates.
Addon Spotlight: Addons ready for 5.0.4 (and where to get them)
Patch 5.0.4 is less than a week away, and we need addons. I've been in touch with various addon authors and established who has addons ready to go for 5.0.4. I've compiled the results here for you, along with the authors' preferred download links. This is far from an exhaustive list -- it's always going to be a work in progress -- so if you know of addons I've missed that are ready to go for 5.0.4, pop a link in the comments or email me and I will add them to this list. There may well be many addons that are prepared for Mists' full launch in September but are not set up for 5.0.4 -- they're not what we're after here! If that's what you're looking for, though, there's a huge list of addons ready for Mists itself at Curse, and another at WoWInterface. Please note that in the majority of cases, the addon page's live download will be updated at 5.0.4's launch, not several days in advance. Use your brain when downloading addons via these links; many of the authors who've contacted me have told me that their addons are ready to go but that they will not be uploading a release version to their live pages until patch day. This list of addons here represents those I have confirmed either through my own testing or directly from their authors that are ready for 5.0.4, and the links provided will be the links to download the addons on patch day or shortly before. If there are addons you use that don't appear on this list, let me know and I will try to look into whether they're ready to go yet or if there is no news. I will do my level best to keep this list up to date and complete as we approach the launch of 5.0.4. [I'd like to say a huge, huge thank-you to Bluspacecow for all their help with this!]
Addon Spotlight: 6 ways to prepare your UI and addons for patch 5.0.4
We've all heard the news: It's begun. Patch 5.0.4 is on its way in just under two weeks. I'm really excited, and I hope you are too! But what I'm not that excited about is the almost inevitable addon carnage that will ensue. You know how it is -- you have your setup just perfect, you've nipped and tucked and tweaked and coded, and it's running beautifully. Then those crafty folk at Blizzard go and release an expansion, and it all goes Pete Tong, as we say in Essex. (We mean "wrong," by the way; I'm slowly educating you all in the ways of English idiom!) It's not Blizzard's fault. All the broken elements are things they're improving, and we love them for doing so. And it's not the addon developers' fault either. They're doing sterling work bringing everything up to date. It's just that things change. But there are steps you can take to prepare for this, so that the transition between Cataclysm's twilight days and Mists of Pandaria is as easy as possible.
Breakfast Topic: What's the one in-game task you'd love an addon for?
We've all had tasks in game that we feel at the back of our minds might be more like chores than gameplay -- things that seem a little too tricky, a little too tiresome, something that's a time sink. Not actual gameplay itself, perhaps, but maybe things like using the WoW in-game mail system, or the auction house, or things like that. And maybe some of us have thought, at some point, "Hey, I wonder if there's an addon for that?" I know that when I was first learning to heal with my new main, a restoration shaman, for example, I found myself ardently wishing there were a better way to display my stacks of Tidal Waves -- the buff you really ought to try and maintain uptime on when healing. So eventually I went online, searched something like "show Tidal Waves buff better shaman," and lo and behold, there was Weak Auras. I'm aware now that Power Auras is a viable alternative and that there are various other addons that allow you to display buffs and debuffs in myriad different ways, but I begin to wonder what I'm missing in other life-improving addons. So, as ever when I have a burning question, I'm asking you. What in-game tasks do you wish you had an addon for? Maybe raiding things, maybe not. Maybe PvP things, maybe using the auction house, maybe roleplaying, maybe just general quality of life. And what addons have you found that make your life easier in a big way or a little way?
Addon Spotlight: TradeSkillMaster tips and tricks
This, readers, is the final installment of our TradeSkillMaster (TSM) series. We've previously looked at TradeSkillMaster Crafting and TradeSkillMaster Auctioning, and today we're going to be having a little look at some of the brilliant additional functionality of this fantastic addon. I really want to encourage reader feedback here. I'm certain don't have the space to write about all the awesome little things you can do with TSM to make your gold making life easier, and I'm even more certain that I don't know them all. So please, do share your clever TSM tricks and any tips you think might be useful to other readers. Then we can all learn something. Download TradeSkillMaster: TradeSkillMaster.com, Curse TSM Destroying Firstly, I'm going to talk about a feature that I use a lot and have recommended to guildmates on several occasions. What does it do? Well, with a little setup and the click of a button, it can disenchant all the greens in your bag. OK, so you actually need to click the button once for every green, but quite frankly, that's a vast improvement on the other options for disenchanting.
Is using addons cheating?
I was idly browsing the blue tracker this morning over at Wowhead, as you do, when I spotted a thread asking whether using addons is cheating. In the instance of this post, the writer is discussing Deadly Boss Mods' PvP functionality in battlegrounds where it calculates how quickly either faction will win if the current situation remains exactly as it is. Blue poster Taepsilum responded to the thread with the following. It's not cheating at all, don't worry, all the addon does is a calculation based on several variables to tell you when you should expect a given outcome if the variables remain constant. That's why sometimes the time on those addons isn't very accurate, because some of those variables are dependent on players behaviour and aren't just a visual aid of fixed in-game timers, making an absolutely accurate result truly unpredictable. So if for example you're in Arathi Basin, your team has 5 nodes and the addon says you're going to win in 1 minute, that's only true if you keep those 5 nodes until the end, and that's something the addon can't really be sure about, so *it will only show a pseudo-prediction based on instantaneous information, if anything changes, the prediction changes as well. source Now, the blue poster knows addons aren't cheating. The OP knows addons aren't cheating. I know addons aren't cheating; you probably do too. But that doesn't prevent them from being decried as such by those who think playing with addons is somehow cheating.
Gmail 1.3 for iOS now saves image attachments
The official Gmail app for iPhone recently got a nice update, and in addition to a few bugfixes and performance enhancements, users now have the ability to save picture attachments straight to their iPhone (or iPad's) camera reel. That's a nice feature -- it means that you can browse and save attachments more easily. I can imagine some nice use cases as well: You could grab an image from Gmail and put it right into a slideshow on your iPad, or send yourself some images from another computer, and insert them on to your iPhone or iPad's lock screen wallpaper easily. The Gmail app in general is a solid app to have. Though I usually use the Gmail web client in my browser when I'm at home, and Apple's own Mail app when I'm out and about, there are times when I'd just rather have an official Google experience when browsing mail. With this update and a few others lately (the last update added support for Notification Center), Gmail makes an even better case for owning a spot on your home screen. [via The Verge] #next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }
Addon Spotlight: Getting started with TradeSkillMaster auctioning
Last time on Addon Spotlight, we talked about TradeSkillMaster (TSM) crafting. It was a bit of a slog, but I hope some of the readership were able to take the instructions and get TSM and have a bit of a go at setting it up. The setup is definitely a trial, but it's so worth it in the end. This week, we're taking our hard-earned crafted items, and we're going to sell them on the auction house. It is kind of the idea, after all! Just like last time, if you haven't already, please ensure that if you're trying to follow these instructions that you've got all the relevant modules of TSM installed. PowerWordGold helpfully and correctly pointed out in the last column's comments that TSM Gathering is outdated and should not be downloaded, but get the rest. As you get more accustomed to the addon, you'll be able to work out what you use and switch things off if they're not necessary. Download TradeSkillMaster: TradeSkillMaster.com, Curse Again, with this column, I'm not going to be getting into the really detailed super-user aspects of TSM. Like I said before, it's not really necessary to just get up and running with it. Once you've begun, you'll inevitably start working out how the additional elements work, and the more advanced guides will start to make more sense. I linked setup instructions for these guides in the past, so I won't be delving into the details for each profession. This is just a general guide. Right, that's the housekeeping out of the way. Once more into the breach, my friends!
Preordering Mists of Pandaria may break certain addons
WoW Insider has received a tip that preordering Mists of Pandaria makes a change to your account in the API that may cause some addons to malfunction. Rosanera sent us the following message: The API call GetAccountExpansionLevel() is returning 4 for accounts that have pre-ordered Mists of Pandaria on Battle.net, instead of 3. This is causing several addons to break, where they don't check for GetAccountExpansionLevel() being any higher than 3 (for level 85). 4 is supposed to be for level 90. ... Any addons that check to show a UI element or not for experience will now behave improperly. If you haven't pre-ordered, the API call returns 3. But what does it all mean? Basically, an API is the publically available set of data that Blizzard makes available to addons and addon makers worldwide. The 3, in this instance, means "This account has Cataclysm, and you should adjust your behavior accordingly. 85 is max level." Conversely, 4 means "Hey, this account has Mists of Pandaria, and max level is 90" -- but many an addon hasn't been set up for this, and indeed, it's not possible to actually level to 90 right now.
Addon Spotlight: Getting started with TradeSkillMaster Crafting
Today, we're really getting into it with TradeSkillMaster. This is the big daddy of the gold making addons -- an incredibly powerful addon that revolutionizes your crafting and auction house play. There are alternatives to TradeSkillMaster (TSM) available. Many players use Auctioneer or other similar addons instead, but there's a reason TSM's popularity remains. With this column, I'm not going to be getting into the real fine details of TSM. For starters, I don't have the space, and furthermore, I don't think you need to to start making a bit of gold. What I plan to do for you today is to just walk you through the basic setup of this addon to start making some gold the easy way. First and foremost, you have to install it: Download TradeSkillMaster: Tradeskillmaster.com, Curse. For now, it's probably best to download and install the entire suite of addons. You may find once you start using it that there are some sections you barely use and others you use all the time. Then you can simply switch off chunks of TSM, thereby lowering your memory usage. I mainly use Auctioning, AuctionDB, Crafting, Shopping and Destroying, as well as the core program.
Addon Spotlight: 4 alternatives to my recommended addons you shouldn't play without
Last time on Addon Spotlight, I wrote about six addons I felt you shouldn't play without. They were my personal choices, but some readers seemed worried that I hadn't suggested alternatives and so took it upon themselves to do so. Like the curious soul I am, I immediately downloaded the alternative suggestions and have been playing around with them since then, and this is the result. I should reiterate what I said on the previous column, since some might have missed it, that these addons are not for raiding, not for PvP, not for hardcore Auction House play, and not for roleplaying. This is just a set of addons that improve your general quality of life within the game. "But there were six addons in your original column!" There sure were, dear readers, but nobody seemed to want to suggest an alternative to the fantastic Addon Control Panel, so then there were five. Bag addons are a whole different ballgame and worthy of their own column. Also, too many were suggested as alternatives, so then there were four. It's like an Agatha Christie novel 'round here.
Addon Spotlight: 6 addons you shouldn't play without
It would make a very sad paladin to think that anyone was playing WoW without these addons installed. Sure, some of you are purists -- but if you are, then maybe this column isn't for you! I love these addons, and I want to share. Do note that this is six addons I couldn't play without. Your opinions may differ; these are mine. None of these are for specific gameplay situations so much as more just for general quality of life in WoW. I'd love to see their features included in the standard UI by Blizzard, but until then, I'll carry on using them. You could give them a try too if you felt like it! Addon Control Panel Download Addon Control Panel: WoWInterface, WoWAce, Curse This nifty addon is top of the list. Why is it top of the list? Because as the name suggests, it's an addon that allows you to control your other addons! It's all very meta. Seriously, though, if you're into addons like me, this is the one addon you should never be without. It allows you, by way of a simple screen, to switch on and off addons and modules of addons at will, without logging out of the game. I honestly don't know why this hasn't been included in the Blizzard interface as standard yet. Addon Control Panel proves it's possible, and it is just such a huge quality of life improvement for anyone who uses addons -- and that's most people.
Addon Spotlight: Alt Management Addons
At this time in an expansion, the pre-panda lull, many of us are leveling alts. Some people have bucket lists where they have set ambitious targets of a certain number of 85s or a certain level achieved. My bucket list is going pretty well. Remember folks, the secret is to set fairly unambitious targets! So with these alts coming up, here at Addon Spotlight, we thought we'd fill you in on some little secrets: addons that will help you to manage your alts. Manage them? But how? Well, of course they won't level them or their professions. For starters, that would be completely against the terms of service, and here at WoW Insider, we don't like people to get banned after reading our columns. No, these addons help you to track down which of your leather-wearing alts has those heirloom shoulders, where your pesky staff is this week, whether there's any Strange Dust in any of your guild banks, and whether any of your other alts picked up that Citrine your would-be blacksmith needs. And we're just getting started here; these addons can bring you so much more functionality than what we've just talked through!
