Bink's UI Post
As promised, I'm posting a screenshot of my UI, with a listing of the mods I use and why I use them. I will admit that this is a continual work in progress, as I continue to find out about new addons and tinker with existing ones. All mods I use are from either Curse or WoW Interface, but I will not be putting together mod packs or copies of my settings. One other thing to note before getting into the UI stuff, I'm reproducing the Elemental TTT entry over at my Blogspot blog, mostly so I can break it down into smaller chunks for ease of editing (working with a 5.6k word document inside a vB editor is not exactly fun, especially with all the code that goes along with it).
Now, most people have a philosophy when it comes to Addons and UI design. For my own, I try to make sure that I have the information I need, without getting too cluttered. As a caster hybrid, it makes sense to have a raid frame up so I can do some emergency healing. I also need to keep the middle of the screen as clear as possible so I can see where I am, and what's going on. All those extra things which I need but I shouldn't pay attention to right away are tucked off on the sides of the screen. One of the other things I have is a small focus/focus target frame set up under EventHorizon, and I tie that in with a macro to /assist focus, which means I can change targets to whatever my designated MA is targeting. Also, before anyone says anything, yes, I know I'm not on the damage meters there, mostly because Freya isn't an Elemental friendly fight (lots of AE damage, target swapping, etc etc)
The following are the primary addons that I use, and then I'll write a little bit about why I use them. I have also attached a text file with the full addon listing if you want to get picky about what mods I use.
Now, most people have a philosophy when it comes to Addons and UI design. For my own, I try to make sure that I have the information I need, without getting too cluttered. As a caster hybrid, it makes sense to have a raid frame up so I can do some emergency healing. I also need to keep the middle of the screen as clear as possible so I can see where I am, and what's going on. All those extra things which I need but I shouldn't pay attention to right away are tucked off on the sides of the screen. One of the other things I have is a small focus/focus target frame set up under EventHorizon, and I tie that in with a macro to /assist focus, which means I can change targets to whatever my designated MA is targeting. Also, before anyone says anything, yes, I know I'm not on the damage meters there, mostly because Freya isn't an Elemental friendly fight (lots of AE damage, target swapping, etc etc)
The following are the primary addons that I use, and then I'll write a little bit about why I use them. I have also attached a text file with the full addon listing if you want to get picky about what mods I use.
- BigWigs
BigWigs is my boss mod of choice. I've been running this for many years now (from back in my MC days even), and I've always liked it. I guess the biggest reason why I've stuck with it is because it's generally been more reliable than the other boss mod, DBM (that, and I don't think I could bring myself to use something called "Deadly Boss Mod", but I'm silly like that at times). - Buffalo
For buff/debuffs, I use Buffalo. I've experimented with different personal buff/debuff layouts over the years, but keep coming back to the standard icon setup in the top right corner. Most of what I like about Buffalo is that I can arrange buffs, debuffs and weapon buffs however I want to, so I can look at things without having a massive list running down one side of the screen. - Cooldown Buttons
Sitting in the middle of the screen is a Lava Burst icon with a 7 on it. That's Cooldown Buttons telling me how long I have before Lava Burst is back up (but it also watches other cooldowns). The nice thing about this is that I can set it up to watch certain cooldowns, and not have to worry about re-configuring the layout so that everything fits neatly. - Chatter
Chatter may not be apparent from the screenshot, but it's the thing that makes chat channels easier to use. It handles item linking in custom channels, renaming those channels so you don't see "[3.LocalDefence][Askledarea] Hi" but rather "[LD][Askledarea] Hi", meaning you can have more space for text (or reduce the width of chat windows for other stuff). I have two major chat windows, on the left and right sides of the screen (the right hand one is that black space beside the action bars). I hide General/Trade from both, and then split Guild/Whispers as well as one of my three custom channels off to the right, with the remained on the left. General/Trade/etc are all on extra tabs on the left side. - Dominos
Action bars are one of those "core" addons that everyone seems to have. I use Dominos, and have for a while (back when it was called Bongos). There's not much to say about it to be honest, as it's a basic, clean and useful addon. - EventHorizon
EventHorizon is a mod that I had a little input into. I'd sent Tifi a PM at the start of April asking if he was able to make an Elemental version, as I liked how he'd set up the Shadow Priest version (well, that's what it started out as, anyway). By mid April he had a version up for testing, and I've been using it ever since (although I have swapped the CL & LB bars around, as I find it easier to use that way). I highly recommend it for all Elemental Shaman (and anyone that has a module built for their class). - Eavesdrop
Eavesdrop is my combat log viewer, and I can say it's easier to use a scrolling window like this than the flash-in-the-middle-of-the-screen view of most scrolling combat text mods (which means I can keep an eye on not-standing-in-things, as well as warnings & cooldowns). - Fubar
Fubar is my info-bar and small mod collection tool. I've got lots of things on there, like mod controls, information about friends/guild. There's a large number of plugins for it (I've got 31 visible at the moment), and it's just damn useful. - Grid
Despite being a DPS spec, I still have Grid up for those Emergency Heals (and it makes resurrecting people easier too). I've switched off most of the extra bells and whistles, but as a hybrid caster I find it's worth it to be prepared for those times where it's needed. I also find that it's important for any player to have the whole raid visible too. - Pitbull
I used to use PitBull for all my UI needs, but now I've relegated it to just handling my MT/MA frames, because UnderHood doesn't have that (yet). - Raid Cooldowns
Raid Cooldowns is a nifty little mod that allows you to watch who's used what cooldowns in the raid. I primarily used it for Heroism tracking prior to the cooldown change in 3.1, but it still has some uses. - Recount
Recount is pretty much the only practical damage meter around at the moment, but I am playing with Skada as well (it's a fairly even tossup between the two to be honest). - SexyMap
SexyMap is another mod by Antiarc, the guy that wrote Chatter (mentioned earlier). I find it "lighter" & easier to use that some of the other mini-map mods around. - TimeToDie
As you can probably tell by the name, TimeToDie is one of those "Target dies in X time" mods. Mostly useful for predicting if you'll beat enrage timers. - Totem Timers
Totem Timers is one of those "core" shaman mods that you've just got to have. If you don't have a decent totem management mod, go download one right now (seriously, do it). I use Totem Timers because it allows me to switch totems easily, and has shield/weapon buff trackers as well. - TrinketMenu
Trinketmenu is a nice little "click trinket" frame (although you should really macro up your trinket use anyway) and swapper utility. - Underhood
Underhood is the unit frames mod I use. It controls anything unit-frame related apart from the MA/MT targets that PitBull is used for. It's fairly customisable, using DogTag code to do pretty much anything you want. It's also fairly light, and easy to configure. I have it showing my Vehicle HP/Power as well as Threat.
Total Comments 15
Comments
|
Nice work Bink. It will help us :P
|
Updated 06/01/09 at 9:07 AM by Excess_3 |
|
|
You misspelled Eavesdrop.
I have been using Pitbull for years, but it I have been looking for a replacement, maybe Underhood is it. ORaid2 can show MT/MA as well. |
|
|
|
|
Underhood is a fantastic mod, if you want a HUD that is.
On a related topic: I assume you use scrolling combat text in addition to eavesdrop; why use both? |
|
|
|
|
Underhood does most of the stuff I want, thinking about grabbing SUF for MA/MT frames as well as seeing if it'll replace grid too.
oRA I have already, but it doesn't always pick up blizz MA/MT assignments unfortunately. |
|
|
|
|
Underhood can actually display frames as normal horizontal bars Sov. Just takes some manipulation to get them there.
|
|
|
|
|
Where "some manipulation" = changing an option and re-sizing the bar.
|
|
|
|
|
Oh I know you can display it like a 'standard' unitframe rather than a hud, but the way it stands out from PB4 is really in it's HUD functionality - otherwise I don't think it's even worth making the switch.
|
|
|
|
|
I swapped back when Pitbull 3 was all fucked up from the auras consuming massive cpu/ram.
|
|
|
|
|
Oh hey I was looking for something like Cooldown Buttons, I've just been using a 1 button Bartender bar with OmniCC for that. >_> I guess I didn't pick it up since the only version I saw was from December.
|
|
|
|
|
"Underhood is the UI mod I use."
I guess u wanted to say "Underhood is the UF mod I use." Keep up the good work, really awesome blog! ) |
|
|
|
|
The solid black area at the bottom of your screen, is that KG panels?
|
|
|
|
|
If you check the text doc, you'll see I don't use that. I have Aperture instead
|
|
|
|
|
Im gonna give this a try. ty
btw....why are you not inthe Top 8 on recount ? :P |
|
|
|
|
Because it's a highly mobile, multiple target switching AoE fight (ie: one that elemental shaman don't do well at, if you recall), plus it was prior to the LO hotfix. If you look at Recounts Fubar output, I was roughly 300 dps behind the lock at #8.
|
|
|
|
|
I want to write a little comment, first time posting, but first, can I just take a minute to say that I've been reading your posts for a few months now, and greatly appreciate the level to which to take your detail and analysis of many shammy issues. I don't pretend to know the details of SP and crit multipliers, haste/cast time curves, etc. etc. .... but with your information (and other helpful posters) I feel I completely understand how things work and why one stat/glyph/spell rotation is better than another, etc.
I started approximately 4 months ago, and with the help of the information and debates contained here, I've gone from never having played to being a contributing member of my humble end-game raiding guild. On topic; I've never tried Event Horizon until you posted it here. I love that it shows 2 critical things I want to see at the same time: Spell cool downs (really only Lava Burst and Chainlightning - which isn't needed often but definately critical in some fights such as Phase 3 Mimiron, Kologarn, etc.) which you can get in a number of ways, sometimes from your HUD/Unit frames, or other specialized addsons, and, of course, debuff duration (shocks) which you can get from Class Timers and others. Event Horizon integrates these two things in a way that shows you many extra cool things too, while being minimalistic. Sadly, after trying it after seeing it here, I have to note, and you probably already know this as you know the dev., I read on his blog he has quit WoW and no longer will be supporting this. Thus, the next update may break it forever, and I'm torn about getting used to this unique addon then losing it in the near future. One last question, but what is SUF? I am struggling to find something that can replace Pittbull which I only use for MT/MA as well, AND Grid, which is really critical for me. I have tried to test a few addons, but it's definately hard to find a good fit. I don't like Pittbull, but it's pretty useful to see MT/MA, and Grid is just required in my opinion, as you should always be able to see at a glance any debuffs on the raid you can cleanse, people with threat, etc. -- Don't get me wrong, Grid is nearly perfect, but I hate to have multiple unit frame addons. Thanks again for the UI ideas and comments, and all the other work as well of course. |
|
|
Total Trackbacks 0
Trackbacks
Recent Blog Entries by Binkenstein
- Haste Breakpoints: Corruption vs Moonfire (08/03/11)
- TotemSpot (07/26/10)
- Bink makes a poll (07/04/10)
- You and the (Elemental) Cataclysm Part One: Talent Changes (07/02/10)
- Boredom + Math = Spreadsheet with bonus Blog Entry (06/30/10)
