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The best World of Warcraft Classic addons iron out many of the early game's problems while still giving you that authentic vanilla experience. With the relatively recent announcement of Cataclysm Classic, or the popularity of Season of Discovery, you might have decided to take the plunge back into Blizzard's old-school MMO. While World of Warcraft Classic is still going strong, the original user interface leaves a lot to be desired. Luckily, there are a number of addons that help tidy things up a bit.
Many of today's WoW addons won't work in Classic, but there are plenty that have their own separate versions. So if you're planning to venture back to Azeroth, and you want to make sure you enjoy everything the Classic experience has to offer without giving yourself an unnecessary headache, you should make sure your UI is up to the task. With that in mind, here's a list of the best WoW Classic addons you can use to help make your journey back in time that much easier.
How to install WoW Classic addons
Once you download your chosen mod, it’ll be in a .zip file—which should be in your Download/Downloads directory. If you’re a Windows user, click on the file once in Explorer, then choose 'Extract All' from the menu toolbar. Then select where you want to save it.
By default WoW Classic addons are located in Program Files (x86)/World of Warcraft/_classic_/Interface/AddOns folder—this is where to unzip the new files. If you’ve put WoW somewhere different, navigate to the same folder, but in the directory where you’ve put your Warcraft installation. In either case, you’ll end up with a new folder or folders inside 'AddOns' named after your mod.
Mac users must double click on the file to extract all of it into a new folder named after the mod. Then use 'Finder' to navigate to 'Applications'. Look for the World of Warcraft folder, then the _classic_ folder inside, then 'Interface', then 'AddOns'. Copy your new folder (the one named after the mod) into the 'AddOns' folder. Then the next time you start WoW from scratch your new addons will be active.
If you don't like installing addons manually, there are several WoW addon managers that can make the job less gruelling and save you some time. Do check which ones work with WoW Classic before installing though.
WoW Classic Addons list
Bartender4
This addon fully replaces your action bar with one that is completely customizable. Using Bartender4, you can change the positioning, size, and transparency of every action bar, which goes a long way in personalizing your own UI. One of my favorite features, though, is the ability to write macros that drive things like hiding action bars when I'm not mousing over them.
Bagnon
Tired of managing your inventory across multiple bags? Bagnon is an inventory overhaul that makes sifting through your items so much easier. Instead of having multiple bags to manage, Bagnon condenses everything into one big bag and can automatically sort and group items by type. Colored borders tell you an item's quality at a glance, and a search function let's you quickly find what you need. Bagnon even tracks items across multiple characters, so you know what your alts have without having to log in.
Questie
One of the biggest conveniences in modern Warcraft is the addition of quest markers and objectives to the mini and world map. Once you accept a quest, moving to the relevant area will see a highlight of where to go. This isn’t part of Classic, so Questie aims to address that by putting available quests on your maps and marking the potential locations of your quest objectives.
It's not perfect, but for those looking for Classic with this crucial modern convenience, it’s the best you've got.
Auctionator Classic
Gold is a precious resource in WoW Classic, but managing auction house listings can be a pain. Auctionator is a long-standing addon that makes the process a little easier by suggesting listing prices and automating the posting of items for other people to buy. If you frequently find yourself buying tradeskill materials or other items, it’ll simplify that, too.
Deadly Boss Mods
Deadly Boss Mods is a must-have addon for the modern game. While there are fewer things to track in vanilla WoW, DBM still nudges you when things are coming and recommending a reaction. It includes information and warnings for all Classic dungeons except Blackrock Depths, Blackrock Spire, Dire Maul, and Scholomance, which are still in progress.
Details! Damage Meter Classic
Details! Damage Meter is one of the most popular damage meters in the modern game, and this is the Wrath Classic port—go here for the original WoW Classic version. It breaks down how much damage or healing you and other party members do by abilities, individual fights, for example.
It doesn't boast as many features as the modern version, but this is the mod that will tell you if you really are better off wanding than, say, casting actual damage spells as a priest.
AtlasLoot Classic
Modern WoW has a handy journal that logs loot drops from all of its raids and dungeons, but Classic has no such luxury—unless you start using AtlasLoot Classic. This handy mod let's you quickly browse the loot tables for every dungeon and raid to see what bosses drop the gear you need. It's a mandatory mod if you're already at level 60 and farming best-in-slot gear.
Titan Panel Classic
Vanilla addon Titan Panel is equally useful now as Titan Panel Classic. It adds a dark stripe (or two) to the top and/or bottom of your screen to display configurable information about your character.
Want to know how much gold or ranged weapon ammo you have left? How about the coordinates for your location, what your PC performance is, or how long you have to your next level? All these and more are built in by default, and more plug-ins use this mod to deliver useful information.
