My Raiding UI

This isn't the post I was planning, but it's what I've got available today.  This is a fairly basic UI layout I think, and it does have some double information, specifically ICE HUD and the standard portrait info.  I use ForteXorcist for multi-mob DOT tracking, and Power Auras to track DOTs on my current target.  I added scrolling damage text so I could get an idea of how hard I'm hitting, but I'm pretty sure that's going to be coming off soon - it's just too confusing.

There's really no need as far as I can tell to keep scrolling damage on my screen.  Maybe if it was BWL and I needed to see if a mob was resistant/immune to a certain type of damage, but that's not the case with anything really.  Plus, I think I'd figure it out after a few seconds.  IceHUD is probably going to be following it pretty quickly as well, though I have gotten pretty used to having that up there.  I think if I add an aura for < 35% mana, boss < 25% HP, and no Soul Link - I can completely remove that.

I'd also like to get rid of Recount, or just set it to only show after combat - it's just one more thing taking up space, and it's not like I'm going to change my rotation mid through the fight.  Omen is already disabled, thanks to the change in tank threat.  Since I open CoE>BoD>Corr - it takes a few seconds before I'm even dealing damage - more than enough time for the tank to secure agro. 

So there you go - my delicious, overcrowded, needs some work UI.

Time for a Grid revamp

Grid has been my mainstay raid frame addon since, well since I first started healing on a little baby shaman. I like the clean nature of it, and that it's pretty customizable and easy view. I don't have a problem with little indicator lights to show me things like agro, curses, bubbles, etc., but I do have one thing I'd like to change.

The size

I have not seen another Grid setup that looks like mine. Part of this may be that I have some bastardized German version leftover from the time I let Unbearabull take me on a UI ride (I really did like that UI though). So when you die now, it just says TOT, and something different for FD (I just notice that the box isn't grayed out). Ghost is still ghost though, so go figure.

My biggest challenge will be cleaning every scrap of Grid out of my UI folders. It was a mess when I realm transferred, and as I mentioned in my Carbonite post - my UI is in need of an overhaul. While it may be akin to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic (with Cataclysm sure to break and change everything), I figure that this is the best time to start playing with a new UI. The worst I have to fear is screwing up in a PUG raid (I do a GDKP to pay the bills for my alts), and given that most GDKPs don't go more than 8/12 - I can do those in my sleep.

The alternatives

I'm really not keen on Vuhdo, though I did give it a spin for a while when we first started working on LK. I like using mouse-over macros, not clique(esque) type setups, which Vuhdo seemed to use right out of the box. Sometimes I just want to target someone, and the last time I used click style macros I wiped the raid on the Four Horseman (Sorry Hanora).

Healbot got a bad name from way back when, and I've never really looked at it seriously. Part of my reasoning is I use Grid as my healing/raid frame package - I don't have separate frames out for anything else. I used to do this when I was raid leading in BC, but I've found that I can get all the info I need from Grid.

The rest of the UI

I'll be putting my whole UI up for others to look at, and I'm busy scouring the blogs for UIs to steal from. At this point anything is on the table, though I have gotten used to having things like a HUD, scrolling combat text, and my Razer. I definately need to move my map though. Trying to keep an eye on it while farming, leveling, and watching for Alliance is getting a bit much.

Replacement for Carbonite Punks

One of the things I'm still adapting to on the PvP server is keeping my eyes peeled all the time for Alliance folks in the area. I've been lucky in that I haven't been camped yet, though I have gotten ganked a few times in my leveling. Usually it's just someone running by who sees a lowbie in the area. Depending on what I'm doing, I've even dropped one or two. I'm certainly not afraid to engage in PvP when it's 'fair' footing.

What I need though, is a replacement for Carbonite's "Punks" feature. For those that don't use Carbonite, it basically will detect when someone of the opposite faction is near you, and you can target them via the frame. It won't prevent someone from getting that Pom Pyroblast off on you, but you might have time for a defensive move. I think it it along the lines of a proximity alert in Star Trek.

That's actually the scene that plays in my head. I may, or may not, call for shields as if I was Kirk getting ready to face off against the Klingons. Especially if I see I Pyroblast incoming. Penance is my torpedoes, and I am pretty quick to get the DoTs off.

Unfortunately, playing a Priest (especially at this level), my survivability is a touch limited if I don't have a chance to get a PW:S up first. If the first shots land, I usually am playing catchup instead of dishing out my own offense. This is also true on the Pally, where I'm limited to melee attacks. I need to know that someone is in my immediate area.

Carbonite is heavy

Unfortunately Carbonite is extremely memory intensive in the addon department. While it's great for questing (especially when coupled with LightHeaded), the total package is weighing in around 20 or 30 MB of addon memory. That's just ridiculous. I know entire UI setups that don't push past 10, and on a bad day (when I forget to reset recount) my addon setup can push 100MB.

Obviously I need to do more than just replace Carbonite. This is a step though.

So - does anyone know of an addon that will replace the 'Punks' portion of Carbonite? If I can get that all alone, I should be able to drop Carbonite and LightHeaded all together. The in game quest helper has come a long ways, and now that I'm pretty much just leveling through dungeons, I don't need the additional help. That, and once you've put two or three toons up to 80, you pretty much know where all the quests are.

So - anyone have an addon that will handle that?

What's in a UI?

First - um - oops? It seems there is some key combination that auto posts my blog - hence the no word post with a title of "what"....

Poll a hundred different players, and I bet you'll come up with at least 50 unique UIs, and 100 different layouts. Sure - there may be the occasional player running around with a stock UI, but mods are so commonplace today that I find it hard to imagine you'll find two.

Over the years my UI has changed many times - from a complete overload of information, to a minimalist approach. Since I regularly switch from tanking to healing - with the occasional bout of DPS dropped in, I need a UI that is flexible. As a raid leader I need as much information as possible about what's going on, and as a complete data nerd....well - that's recount for you.

What I run

My UI is still getting tweaked, but I run some fairly standard mods - and then some that are slightly different. I still have too much redundant information going on, but I've been playing with IceHUD and PowerAuras to show me what I need.

• Recount - standard for most DPS (although the Wombcrusher doesn't run one), I use mine mostly for the Grim Reaper function. I need to see why folks are dying, and what we can do to fix it.
  
• Grid - I've used several different raid frame layouts, but Grid is the one that I keep coming back to. It lets me customize my information (like a green aura around the box of someone who has BoL on them), and keeps it nice and compact. It also works well with all three of my specs.
• Omen - Having in game threat metering is nice, but this allows me to quickly slap a Hand of Salvation on someone (including myself) as needed.
• Carbonite - I don't generally enable this while raiding - but for PvP and questing, it's the way to go.
  
• Pally Power - There was a suggestion for a different mod last week that I'm going to try out, but PallyPower has been tried and true for a long time now.
  
• Class Timer - shows me every Sacred Shield, BoL, and SS HoT on the raid. I use it more to track my own SS and BoL - but it also lets me find the person who keeps overwriting my SS instead of putting it on another tank. This addon also drops a big icon in the middle of your screen as it falls off - so you know to refresh it. This is next on my list to play with for showing DP timers.
• Bartender - Great for setting up custom bars and buttons.
  
• BindPad - probably the single greatest addon for keybindings. It remembers your key binds to spells, not button locations - so you can keep things off your bars and still have them cast (not shown in the UI).
• Rating Buster - great for finding out if that upgrade is really and upgrade.
• Talented - I just got this one and it's working out very well. It lets me save my talent trees, so when I'm resepccing for the 4th time that day I can quickly assign the template I want. It will import talent trees from Wowhead, the armory, or anyone you inspect. It takes a second to inspect someone, but it's worth it (not shown in the UI).
• LightHeaded - downloads all the quest information from WoWHead. I turn this off for raiding, but it's invaluable when questing - especially since we faction swapped and I still don't know where anything is.
• DBM - I honestly can't remember if I'm running BigWigs or DBM these days. It's a coin toss as to which one is "better" every week - so I just stick with one and roll with it.
• BigBrother - this lets me check for buffs, who broke CC, who used MD/ToT, flasks, etc. It's really helpfull when I drop it in our PUG 25s and they can see everyone in Parabola is flasked and well fed, and 1/2 their guild isn't.
• MK SCBT - My damage out is on the left of my HUD, damage in (parries/blocks/heals) is on the left, with special abillities showing at the top.
  

What you need

Obviously I run a lot of addons you don't really need. Here though is my list of addons from required to nice to have.

Required

None. Zero. Nada. You don't "NEED" any addons to play sucessfully, the addons just make your life a whole lot easier. Blizzard has many warnings built in now, their own threat meter, and custom timers.

Suggested

• Some type of boss mod - Blizzard's default is ok, but not perfect.
• Raid frames - even if it's just pulling out the standard Blizzard ones (which works much better than it did in Vanilla).
• Omen/threat meter - This is for seeing what everyone's threat is - not just if you're going to lose it in the next second.
• Death meter - great for figuring out why someone died.

Nice to have

• Buff checker
• Keybinds
• Inventory management
• Quest assistance

Summary

In short, you need to have a UI that is comfortable for you - and that gives you the information you need, when you need it. The biggest drawback to a custom UI? Big patches will break it into a thousand little pieces.