The Usefulness of Macros and AddOns in World of Warcraft

There is some debate as to whether using macros and AddOns when playing World of Warcraft is "cheating" or unfair. The truth is that Blizzard has approved of both and encourages their use. In fact Blizzard has added their own versions of many popular AddOns over the years. Many macros and AddOns are especially useful for players that are not great at multitasking or have slower reaction times. In this article I will look at some of the useful macros and AddOns you can use to make your playing time in World of Warcraft easier and more enjoyable.

Macros And Their Uses

Macros can be useful to combine several actions into one key press, thus saving time and the repetition of pressing multiple keys over and over. This can also be a great relief for people playing classes that have many abilities, as it will free up more room on your action bars. The one big restriction is that you can not make a macro that uses two or more abilities that are on the global cooldown. One example of a useful working macro is a Hunter casting the Hunter's Mark ability on an enemy and sending his pet to attack it with the Pet Attack command. Another example would be for a Warrior fighting in Battle Stance to combine Overpower and Heroic Strike in one macro.

Another great macro to make is one that combines all of your cooldowns in one button. For example, an Orc Fury Warrior can make a macro that will cast Blood Fury, Death Wish, and any trinket abilities all at once. This will give you the largest amount of burst damage for the full duration of the effects. Tanks and Healers can also make similar macros for their cooldowns for when there is a lot of incoming damage.

The Wonderful World Of AddOns

AddOns for World of Warcraft can be simple or complex, and can do many different things. They can be something simple like Bagnon, which combines all of your bag space into a single window, or something as complex as completely changing the look of your User Interface. One AddOn I would recommend to everyone is Deadly Boss Mods. This super useful AddOn gives warnings for when bosses are going to use their special moves, which is invaluable for when you need to interrupt them or move out of the way of something. It's great for PVP too, as it shows timers for when objectives will cap, such as the bunkers in Alterac Valley.

Another good AddOn I would recommend is Recount. It keeps track of many things, including DPS, Healing Done, Overhealing Done, Damage Taken, and many other things. A few other good AddOns that I use are Gatherer, which marks on my map where I've mined ore and gathered herbs; NPCScan, which alerts me when I pass by a rare mob (great for Hunters that are looking for rare tamable Beasts); and AtlasLoot, which shows what loot every boss in the game drops.

There are many more AddOns available, including class and role specific ones that will make doing your job in a group easier. If you have not used macros or AddOns yet, I would definitely recommend taking the time to check out what is available. You very well may find that your playing experience becomes more enjoyable as some of the tedium of the game is removed.