What are addons and why do you need them?
Addons are player made extensions that can enhance features of the game or even introduce whole new features that alter the gameplay and improve your performance. In this article we will be looking at the best addons for the DPS role and how they can help you with your rotation and damage output. Keep in mind that while this is a Top 15 list, the addons here are in no particular order, since they all serve very different functions.
15. Deadly Boss Mods - Dungeons
Starting off our list with an essential mod for PvE players, Deadly Boss Mods, or DBM, which we will be splitting in two categories: Dungeons and Challenges. This first one is for dungeons and it can really help you improve, adding many things such as colored warnings, warning messages, custom bars, and an auto response to whispers during dungeons, making your life a lot easier while tackling harder content,
Why you need Deadly Boss Mods - Dungeons:
- Additional warnings can really help you survive a difficult boss encounter;
- Auto responds any whispers sent to you, letting your friends know that you are busy;
- Custom timers and infoframes specific for 5-man PvE content.
Get Deadly Boss Mods - Dungeons here
14. Deadly Boss Mods - Challenges
Moving on to the second part of DBM, we have the Challenges mod. It shares most of the qualities that we have just mentioned in the previous entry, but is optimized for a variety of challenges such as Proving Grounds and Torghast.
Why you need Deadly Boss Mods - Challenges:
- Additional warnings that can keep you safe during a difficult boss encounter;
- Auto responds any whispers sent to you, letting your friends know that you are busy;
- Custom Timers and infoframes specific for challenges.
Get Deadly Boss Mods - Challenges here
13. Kui Nameplates
Ever thought that the nameplates in WoW are somewhat lackluster? They don’t look really good and do not show a lot of information about your targets. Kui Nameplates is a great mod to improve on that front, with a wide variety of settings, from frame sizes to auras, in order to make nameplates in WoW a lot better.
Why you need Kui Nameplates:
- A wide variety of settings to improve nameplates in the game;
- Improved visibility and more information about your targets;
- Has an aura function, threat glows, and much more.
12. TopCombat
TopCombat is a targeting assistant addon that highlights the enemy player dealing most damage, allowing you to burst down the health bars of DPS foes who might go unnoticed otherwise, especially those staying in the backlines.
Why you need TopCombat:
- Allows you to easily identify and target enemy DPS players who might go unnoticed;
- You can put the enemy’s top DPS under a CC effect, greatly helping your team and allowing you to target the enemy healer;
- Having a full party using this addon is a game changer when it comes to PvP encounters.
11. ElvUI
ElvUI is a full replacement of the original World of Warcraft user interface, allowing you to completely customize every aspect of the HUD, from positioning to sizes, hiding or showing specific elements, and much more.
Why you need ElvUI:
- Allows you to fully customize your UI;
- Putting together the perfect UI can be a great help overall, improving the visibility of important elements of the user interface while hiding useless ones;
- A customized UI can make the game a lot more comfortable to play, which in turn increases your performance.
10. Raid Command
Raiding is a huge part of World of Warcraft, and raid leaders have the big responsibility of assigning functions and ensuring teamwork among every member of the group. The Raid Command addon makes your life easier, allowing you to create and save specific assignments, individual assignments for different raids and set up custom instructions for encounters.
Why you need Raid Command:
- Create, edit and save raid assignments;
- You can create specific assignments for different raids;
- Include custom notes and instructions that help your raid members deal with complex boss mechanics.
9. TopTarget
TopTarget is another targeting assistant, but this one has even more functions and is guaranteed to completely change the way you play PvP in WoW. You have different reticles for most targeted enemy, lowest HP targeted enemy, lowest mana targeted enemy, and much more. With this addon you have a lot more synergy with your party even without talking to each other, and can secure those sweet kills that we all love.
Why you need TopTarget:
- Allows for team synergy even without talking;
- Different reticles for a variety of potential good targets;
- Is guaranteed to increase your kill ratio in PvP.
8. WeakAuras
WeakAuras is a classic World of Warcraft addon that you will probably see in almost every list of top addons for the game. WeakAuras is an amazing and very flexible tool that allows you to set up and display custom graphics in WoW’s interface, indicating important information such as buffs, debuffs, alerts, and all sorts of valuable data during combat with increased visibility.
Why you need WeakAuras:
- Increases the visibility of important combat information;
- Allows you to set up and display all sorts of custom graphics related to combat;
- While this addon might be intimidating due to the huge amount of features, the website has premade WeakAuras for specific classes and specs.
7. Ability Team Tracker
Another PvP game changer is the Ability Team Tracker addon. This addon allows you to keep track of your team’s cooldowns, be it for skills or trinkets. Just like the TopTarget addon, this creates a new level of synergy without the need of direct communication. Plus, it is totally customizable.
Why you need Ability Team Tracker:
- Allows you to keep track of the cooldowns of your party members;
- Generates more synergy between you and your team in PvP;
- Fully customizable, meaning that you can keep track of specific abilities that might influence your actions.
6. Weapon Swing Timer
The Weapon Swing Timer addon puts a new layer of strategy in WoW’s combat, with something that we take for granted most of the time: auto attacks. This addon tracks the timing of your auto attacks, as well as of your target’s, allowing you to act accordingly. This is particularly great for hunters who want to optimize their DPS.
Why you need Weapon Swing Timer:
- Great mod for hunters who wish to improve in PvP;
- Keeping track of auto attack timers puts a new layer of strategy in the game’s combat system;
- With this mod you can properly move away at just the right time to avoid enemy attacks.
5. Threat Plates
Threat Plates is very similar to the previously mentioned Kui Nameplates addon, however this one brings even more features to the table. With automatic spec detection, fully customizable nameplates, support for multiple profiles and lots of different options, this is truly the ultimate nameplate addon.
Why you need Threat Plates:
- Fully customize every setting of the nameplates in WoW;
- Automatic spec detection that makes the setup process a lot quicker and easier;
- Save and load as many different profiles as you want.
4. Hero Rotation
Every DPS player wants to boost their DPS output, no matter if you are a PvP or a PvE player. Hero Rotation makes your life a lot easier, showing an icon with the next ability that you should cast on your rotation, additional icons for useful off-GCD skills, and even auto adapting your rotation for single target or AoE damage.
Why you need Hero Rotation:
- No need to look for the next skill in your rotation anymore, master your rotation with ease;
- Additional pop up icons for useful abilities;
- Auto adapts to single target and AoE situations.
3. H.H.T.D.
Playing a DPS character means that healers are both your favorite prey and your worst nightmare in PvP situations. H.H.T.D., or Healers Have To Die, automatically healers, with different icons for allies and enemies, so now you always know where to find that annoying player who is healing every person that you try to kill, and also where your party’s healers are when you need their saving grace.
Why you need H.H.T.D.:
- Automatically marks healers in PvP;
- Allows you to easily recognize and target enemy healers;
- Now you can find your party’s healer much easier, which helps a lot in emergencies.
2. MaxDPS Rotation Helper
One of the big boys of rotation helpers, MaxDPS is a great tool to improve your overall damage output and master your skill rotation once and for all. With specific modules for each class in the game, compatibility to WeakAuras, and a huge community around the addon that can help you set it up correctly, this one is a great option for DPS players who wish to be competitive.
Why you need MaxDPS Rotation Helper:
- Highlights important abilities in your action bars;
- Compatible with WeakAuras and other important DPS addons;
- Specific premade modules for every class.
Get MaxDPS Rotation Helper here
1. Hekili Priority Helper
Last but not least, we have Hekili Priority Helper, an addon that feels like a Skynet AI directly from Terminator movies. It makes predictions based on every sort of data available in your game, constantly collecting information and showing you the best possible skill to use in that situation.
Why you need Hekili Priority Helper:
- Constantly collects data from the game and makes predictions based off of that;
- Helps you to stay one step ahead the competition during combat;
- Fully customizable display.
Get Hekili Priority Helper here
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