The Garwulf UI

For nearly two years I played World of Warcraft with absolutely no addons. I was a purist you might say. Once I began raiding however, my guild required me to have a threat meter and boss encounter alerts. Since I then had to install those essential 3rd party addons, I decided to see what else was out there.

To make a long story short, after about a year of trying various addons, I’ve assembled a suite of mods that I believe to demonstrate awesomeness at its finest. My UI is geared primarily towards PvP, but works equally as well for parties and raids. The emphasis is on organization and useful information during combat.

Since I played for the better part of two years without addons, I got pretty used to the default Blizzard UI. This is why I’ve chosen to keep the unit frames and mini map in their usual spots. I tried different configurations, but I prefer having those items at the top of the screen. A lot of people like to have their unit frames at the bottom either near their character or action bars, but I say go with whatever works.

The primary addons that I use to achieve this setup are:

• Pitbull – Unit frames
• Bartender 4 – Action Bar replacement
• Quartz – Cast bar replacement
• Antagonist – Enemy cooldown and buff timers
• FuBar – Excellent alternative to Titan Panel
• eePanels2 – Customizable background panels
• Prat – Chat mod
• SimpleMiniMap – Customize the mini map placement, size, etc.
• Buffalo – Buff dislay
• ButtonFacade – Skins the buttons for that special touch

Those are the addons that are responsible for the appearance of my UI. Just like anything else, these addons require a little work in order to tailor them to your needs. In my opinion though, it’s worth it to spend a little bit of time on something that will enhance your enjoyment of the game. I don’t consider myself reliant upon addons, but I’d prefer not to go without after having gotten used to them.

Other addons that I use which aren’t readily visible are:

• Proximo – Invaluable unit frame addon for arena
• MikScrollingBattleText – A kickass floating combat text and spell alert mod
• Omen – Threat meter
• Recount – Damage and healing meter
• RangeDisplay – Helps me to kite those pesky Warriors
• OmniCC – Shows the actual time left on your cooldown over your spell, trinket, and consumable icons
• Auctioneer – Make $$$ like nobody’s business with this addon
• Gatherer – Essential for herbalists, miners and treasure seekers
• Cellular – Manages your whispers
• ClosetGnome – Manage your different outfits
• Align – Organize your UI and indulge your anal retentive side
• Bejeweled – Possibly even more addicting than WoW

Other than those mentioned, I use a few FuBar plugins that make life easier. These are things like auto repair, inventory management, fps and latency meter, clock, etc. After Wrath of the Lich King is live and provided my UI isn’t completely broken, I’ll post a detailed and itemized list of my current addons. If people are interested, I may even upload a zip file for others to download and install.

Enough blogging… time to go play!