I'm a returning druid from 2 years ago.... so the face of mods has changed drastically since then and i'm curious what ones are most recommended to use now for a druid (will be starting from level 1 and playing casually)?

Thanks for any suggestions

Depends on what you want to do. I like using different unit frames ( pitbull ) and buttons ( Trinity bars or Bartender ).

Hello returning druid ! :D

Welcome to our Druid's Grove ^_^


In terms of "standard" addons, most people use CTRA or oRA2 - I believe the majority go for oRA2. Another very popular addon considered "essential" by most raiding guilds is Deadly Boss Mods.
Omen, a threat meter addon, is also required by the vast majority of raiding guilds (on my server at least).

Finally, you might also want to look into getting Ace. Ace is a little program for managing your addons. The idea is you download Ace-compatible addons (it works with LOADS of different ones) and then whenever you want to update your addons to the latest versions, you just run the Ace Updater and it does it all for you. It's meant to take some of the annoyance out of maintaining a complex UI. Might be worth a sniff :>


-Annikk

I'd recommend Perl Classic Unit Frames, very nice and has many very useful features.

Also some sort of gear switching addon is pretty much mandatory for us druids. Wardrobe-AL, ClosetGnome, Outfitter, ... take your pick

Oh, and not to forget: DruidBar - it displays your mana bar while in forms.

For action bars I always liked Bongos better than Bartender, but YMMV.

Hello returning druid ! :D

Welcome to our Druid's Grove ^_^


In terms of "standard" addons, most people use CTRA or oRA2 - I believe the majority go for oRA2. Another very popular addon considered "essential" by most raiding guilds is Deadly Boss Mods.
Omen, a threat meter addon, is also required by the vast majority of raiding guilds (on my server at least).

Finally, you might also want to look into getting Ace. Ace is a little program for managing your addons. The idea is you download Ace-compatible addons (it works with LOADS of different ones) and then whenever you want to update your addons to the latest versions, you just run the Ace Updater and it does it all for you. It's meant to take some of the annoyance out of maintaining a complex UI. Might be worth a sniff :>


-Annikk

Annikk,

He's talking about starting from level 1. There's no reason to clutter him with DBM or any raid addons at this point IMO. I think that would just end up frustrating a new addon user more than not. I know mods can leave me :banghead: from time to time.

And to make a little clarification on Ace. Ace is a common library for mod developers. It allows developers to have a common interface across the board. Most Ace mods are hosted at http://files.wowace.com . If you use Ace mods I'd definitely recommend getting the WoWAce Updater, which will scan your addons folder and let you update those mods with just a few clicks of your mouse.

That said 99% of my mods are Ace mods simply b/c of the ease of which I can update them, and they are ( usually ) smaller in terms of memory usage than other mods that do the same thing but are not built on Ace.

Annikk,

He's talking about starting from level 1. There's no reason to clutter him with DBM or any raid addons at this point IMO. I think that would just end up frustrating a new addon user more than not. I know mods can leave me from time to time.

Oh, sorry... I did not realise. :/ I thought Blackdove meant he had just started playing his druid from 2 years ago again. Mind you, I guess that would mean at the very least levelling 60 -> 70..


-Annikk

I've been using wowmatrix to great effect for addon management. It has the advantage of not being limited to just ACE addons, and seems much cleaner and safer to use than the Curse updater.

I understand there is a new interface coming out with LK (in the patch?) and I suspect it will take awhile for our erstwhile addon writers to update everything.

I've used so many addons since day one (literally) of my wow experience that I am rather helpless on the ptr, where I have to use the vanilla wow interface.:crazy:

A lot of mod creators have already updated versions available to test on the PTR ;)