As much as it pains me to say it, mostly because I dislike the standard Blizzard U.I., World of Warcraft does not require any mods to be playable. Yes, you read that correctly I just said that World of Warcraft is playable just the way you purchase it. If you bring the game home, unpackage it, install it, and load it up you can begin play with no tweaking needed. However, the standard Blizzard U.I. is very basic, playable, but basic.
Since the standard U.I is so basic, with the rise of the game more and more mods have appeared with the sole purpose of allowing you, the player, to modify your game in almost any way you desire. Want an MP3 player in game? There is a mod for that. Want to know the gear scores of other players, or know the quickest way to complete a quest? There are mods for that.
With so many mods available, it can become an overwhelming task trying to decipher which mods are right for you. This can result in players skipping valuable mods that may aid them in their game play, discourage them from downloading mods at all, or make the even bigger mistake of having more mods than any one person ever needs. As such I encourage players to do research and only ever download mods they truly feel are essential to improving their personal game play experience.
Having said all that in my personal opinion there are several types of mods that every WoW player should have. While I could give a list of individual mod names I feel that with all the choices out there a more generalized approach is needed. So instead of individual mods, only the general categories will be listed to leave room for player preference (for example Bigwigs and DBM are both in the Boss Mods category but some players may prefer one over the other). So without further chatter here is my list of five mods that no WoW player should be without:
Action Bars
An Action Bar mod allows players to change the postion, size, shape, and color of their buttons.Blizzard’s action bars are probably one of the worst aspects of the standard Blizzard U.I. Overly bulky and lacking in user customization the Blizzard bars are an eye sore on any players screen. Downloading any action bar mod will allow players more wiggle room, making it possible to move bars freely, change bars size, make key bindings easier and allow many other customizations so that the bars fit neatly into the players U.I. While this may seem like a small change that has little impact, keep in mind that the more accessible and organized your action bars are, the easier game play becomes. Also easy access to your spells and abilities makes you a better player, as such action bars makes my list.
Mem’s Action Bar of Choice: Bartender
Unit Frames
Unit frame mods provide more information and generally look better than the standard Blizzard frames.Unit frame mods usually give more information and look better than standard Blizzard frames. Next on the list is some type of Unit Frame mod. Now some may be wondering why, since
Blizzard’s standard Unit Frames are useable, although lacking a certain flare, and will give players all the basic information they need concerning their health, party, pet, or raid. Like Blizzard’s Action Bars the Unit Frames are lacking in the user customization department. Pretty much players get the basics, and that’s that. A good unit frame mod will not only make your U.I much better looking but will give you tons of additional bells and whistles, such as target’s target’s target (say that three times fast), and other options that provide much valuable information. You may think you don’t need all those fancy options and play just fine without them, but try out a good set of unit frames for a week and I almost guarantee you will be amazed at the difference.
Mem’s Unit Frame of Choice: Pitbull
Boss Mods
Boss Mods provide an early warning for boss abilites, allowing the player to remove themselves from danger.I think a common misconception concerning Boss Mods is that they are only for those participating in serious raiding, but I really feel that everyone should have some form of boss mods downloaded to their game. Most players will venture into an instance setting at some point in their WoW careers, and boss mods will aid them in that journey. Whether it is a 5, 10 or 25 man instance boss mods will provide important announcements during most boss fights that will keep the player on their game. This not only allows players who may not have seen a particular boss fight a chance to avoid a horrible death. It’s also great for more experienced players who can instead of waiting on the boss to cast Spell of Doom number 1, focus more fully on other things (such as pewpewing), relying on the boss mods to let them know through various methods (nothing says impending doom quite like a flashing shaking screen) when the aforementioned spell will be cast. Boss mods can and will help you play better, and smarter.