Back a few years ago, I had a MacBook I used to play WoW on when traveling. At first, I foolishly thought, I won’t put addons on this computer. (It was a more complex process than on PC.) That decision lasted all of about 15 minutes when I got into the game. As it turned out, I relied on addons more than I remembered.

What are addons?

Addons are Lua programs players can write that traditionally change the game UI. They cannot play the game for you. But they can change things like the mini map, bags, and raid frames. You can find and download them from WoW Interface and Curse. They are unzipped and just copied into your Addons folder in the WoW directory. Once you log on, at the character screen, in the bottom left corner, you can choose which addons to turn on and off. When a new patch hits, addons go “out of date”. Sometimes they stop working, and sometimes they don’t. It depends on what the addon affects. It’s worth trying to keep them up to date though.

What addons do I use and why?

1- Postal.

Postal is a mailbox addon. It’s a bandaid to fix Blizzard’s subpar mailbox ui. If you plan on using the auction house at all, you need Postal.

2 – Deadly Boss Mods.

I raid. I run dungeons. This or Big Wigs is required to do these things at a high level. If you are only running LFR, this is less vital.

3 – Altoholic

Again, this is practically required because I have 22 alts. I have items and mats stored on other characters. Including heirlooms. This makes it easy to search other character’s bags and also to keep track of who has gold, who has mail, and who is fully rested.

4 – AffDots

My main is a warlock. This addon helps me track embers and play to the best of my ability. It’s really specific for my class though. Some other classes may need a different thing, or nothing at all.

5 – HealBot

I use this for raid frames and healing. There are several good options for this. I prefer keeping my ui as close to stock as possible, so this really wins for me.

6 – Master Plan

If running garrison missions this addon is almost vital. It is great for picking the best missions, finding useless followers, etc.

7 – Recount

Again, if you aren’t raiding, this addon is worthless. People argue about which is better, this or Skada, but I just stick with recount because I am familiar with how it works.

8 – Handy Notes

Handy Notes is amazing for finding hidden treasures, holidays, and all that random stuff found in the world. Really useful for leveling in WoD or Pandaria.

9 – Pet Journal Enhanced

I love pets and pet battling, and sadly the stock ui just doesn’t give me enough info. I like this one, because it gives me just enough info without getting to busy or wordy.

10 – Ask Mr Robot

I actually sub to his site, so being able to to load in what I have in bags and get my best loadout is very useful.

11 – TSM and it’s various bits + Auctionator

I am a gold baron on my server, so TSM is required for mass listing on the auction house. I wrote a post on how to set it up. It’s also useful for buying stuff in bulk as well.

12 – WoW Lua

I write my own addons, so this is one I use for that!

 

There are so many addons that do so many things. It’s best to look for ones frequently downloaded, and don’t be afraid to test things out.