Addon Spotlight: Talented
Welcome to another installment of Addon Spotlight, the quiet home of mod enthusiasts amongst the whirlwind of breaking news that is WoW Insider. Reader Kyle "strongly" suggested that I profile Talented, an addon that replaces your talent interface and opens up some extended features for talent planning.
Considering the tone of his suggestion, I would venture to say that Kyle has grown frustrated by his fellow players' tendency to screw up their builds or they're taking too long to respec. This can, indeed, become an issue when one is respeccing for raiding, arenas and different roles for hybrids.
This is where Talented, and its companion Talented_Data, can save you time and a little money if you're prone to selecting the wrong talents when you're in a hurry. This addon allows you to build talent templates, which can be applied via one click after a talent wipe. I do this when I switch from a PvE Retribution spec to Holy for progression nights or arenas. I have to say, it helps reduce the risk of mistakes, which can leave me free to spend more time remembering to grab the correct gear out of the bank.
Alright, let's take a step back and look at some the actual features of Talented, per the author's description over at Curse.com:
"See the complete talent tree on a single frame.
Create templates, for your class and, optionally, other classes too.
Set a specific template as a target, and see it when you're spending your next talent point on level up.
Apply complete templates with a single click, after a talent wipe
Share your current build with other, or any template you've made. Import templates directly from the Blizzard Talent calculator, wowhead or wowdb.
Export templates as URL to wowhead, wowdb or the Blizzard Talent calculator.See other's template if they have LibRockComm installed."
Okay, so first and foremost, your talent interface will now display all three talent trees, giving you a bird's eye view of your entire spec, all of which can be re-sized if you're not content with its default size.
From any character, you can create templates for any class and store them for use later on. Setting a template as your target saves you the time of rehashing your build every time you ding. (Not everyone plans or knows how each point will be spent at every level, so settle down.)
My favorite feature is the ability to apply a template in one click, which I think I've made clear, but there is nothing like being able to re-spec, re-gear and tweak your UI for a different role in less than a few minutes. It's a good way to earn a few points with your raid leader as well, if you're into that.
Importing to and exporting from popular database sites or even Blizzard's own talent calculator can ease the strain of data entry when you've got a killer build you want or would like to share. All that said, you can share templates with fellow Talented users. Just in case your Ret pally has a terrible build and you want to share your stored template, which actually includes Precision, with him or her. (If you're sharing a template it probably means said Ret pally is not hit-capped because they haven't done their homework.) Read all about it over at RetPaladin.com!
That is it, folks, an addon that enhances the default talent interface with a bunch of handy features. Make sure if you're downloading Talented that you go ahead and grab Talented_Data as well, you'll want the added functionality. (Combine the two? Hint hint, wink wink)
Are you an addon-addict? Is your User Interface a living work of art? Welcome home, my friends! Every week, Addon Spotlight profiles a different addon, brings you mod-related news and dishes out free addon advice. See out what's been said and done in the addon community by checking out past features or our addon and UI directory.
