Wow is of course a wildly successful game with some pretty hardcore fans. It’s also getting on in years, it’ll soon be old enough to order a drink.
Of course, a game being old doesn’t mean it’s bad but even the most ardent WoW fans have to admit that despite frequent expansions and updates, parts of WoW are starting to show their age.
Normally when a game starts to show its age modders come to the rescue. This is true for WoW.
Clever modders have been hard at work for years now creating WoW addons. Many of them are aimed at improving WoW’s more old-fashioned design elements whilst others are handy tools designed to improve your experience.
Below we have the best WoW addons in 2022.
Best WoW Addons for UI
1. Bagnon
So the inventory system in WoW pretty much sucks. To be fair poor inventory design and inventory management is a blight upon the majority of RPGs and MMOs, not just WoW.
By default, your WoW inventory is made up of separate bags. Want to find a specific item? Have fun sifting through those bags.
Why not just have one big inventory with filters to find specific items. Well, that’s Bagnon for you.
Bagnon is one of the more comprehensive addons for WoW when it comes to inventory management. It starts by replacing those irritating bags with one big inventory screen.
You can use this to view all your items, even if they’re in the bank or if they belong to one of your alt characters. Like many RPGs, item icons have a color based on their rarity making it easy to find your best items.
You can then use the sort items option to arrange your items by type. Finally, most useful you can use the search function to find specific items.
2. Bartender 4
One of the most common complaints players have when it comes to WoW is its hot bars. They’re small, lack helpful information and there are next to no options when it comes to customization.
In short, they’re pretty outdated when compared to more modern MMOs. This is where Bartender 4 comes into play, one of the most downloaded addons for WoW.
Bartender 4 allows you to take complete control of 10 action bars. You can customize their position on screen, size and even make them transparent. Any WoW player will tell you it doesn’t take long to fill up your default Hotbar so Bartender 4 is one of the must-have WoW mods.
Once you’ve gotten used to the add-on there are more advanced features like the ability to program macros that can adapt your hotbars.
3. ElvUI
ElvUI is the big dog when it comes to total conversion WoW addons. This baby completely redesigns your UI from the bottom up.
The new design is sleek and modern and greatly improves readability. On the flip side, you lose the classic fantasy flavor of the default UI for something with much less “character”.
This sacrifice is well worth it though. The coolest thing about ElvUI is that you can tailor its UI to your needs. It comes with an in-game startup process that can be used to select class-specific setups of the UI.
These setups emphasize parts of the UI that are most relevant to your character.
On top of all this, there are a whole host of other features to play around with, many of which cut out the need for other addons altogether. This all makes ElvUI one of the most customizable addons for WoW out there.
ElvUI is not perfect, however.
It can be a pain to install and update for a start. Most addon managers don’t play well with ElvUI so you’ll likely be doing any installation and updates yourself.
Not a huge problem, but something to be aware of if you’re not particularly techy.
ElvUI also has problems playing nice with a lot of other addons. You’ll need to install ElvUI first and then install any further addons and check for stability issues.
Even with its faults, ElvUI is still seen as one of the best WoW addons around.
4. Dynamic Cam
Dynamic Cam is all about making your WoW experience a little bit more cinematic and a little bit more visually exciting.
It is one of the few WoW UI addons aimed at fixing the camera. It does this by playing around with the game’s third-person camera.
The biggest way it does this is by giving you an over-the-shoulder point of view, much like God of War to make character actions more exciting.
It also focuses the camera on enemies and NPCs during interaction for a more cinematic, focused feel.
Besides this, the add-on comes with a ton more camera options so that you can tailor-make your own experience.
If you’re interested in streaming WoW this could be a nice way to make you stand out. Or it’s just nice not having to play around with the camera manually all the time.
5. MoveAnything
So, MoveAnything allows you to move anything.
Shocker right?
Jokes aside, MoveAnything is a super useful tool that gives you the ability to move any part of WoW’s default UI wherever you like.
You can move your Hotbar, quest list, Portrait, minimap, and anything else you can think of. If you’re tired of looking at the same old UI year in, year out then this is a good choice to spice things up a little.
If all you want to do is move around the UI then MoveAnything is one of the top WoW addons for you.
Best Ease of Life WoW Addons
6. World Quest Tracker
Another one of the addons for WoW that does exactly what it says on the tin, World Quests in WoW are daily quests.
World Quests were introduced in Legion and can offer some pretty great rewards so they’re often worth chasing.
Unfortunately, Blizzard hasn’t done a great job of allowing players to track them, and the game’s outdated map UI doesn’t help.
World Quest Tracker adds a custom tracker so that you can manage which quests are relevant to your goals.
The Quest icon is changed in zone maps and now lists the rewards. The quest you are tracking is then shown on our fly map so that you can easily reach them.
Finally, the addon records your World Quest statistics- which you’ve done, rewards earned on all characters.
If you like to focus on World Quest then the World Quest tracker is the addon you need.
7. Azeroth Auto Pilot
In any MMO it’s always super exciting to level up your first character to the level cap.
It can still be fun to do it with your second character. But the more alt characters you have, the more of a chore the leveling grind becomes.
Azeroth Auto Pilot takes away some of that grind by automating tons of little things. Firstly you’ll get an arrow that will guide you from quest to quest in the most efficient route possible.
It then automates things like chatting to NPC’s, interacting with objects, etc. You’ll still have to play the game, this isn’t a bot, but it does speed things up significantly and allows you to multitask.
When it comes to addons for WoW designed to save time this is the best.
8. All the Things
Are you a completionist intent on completing all the content available in one of the biggest, longest-running games ever made? Then you’re going to need All the Things.
This addon keeps track of things like achievements, rare kills, pets, treasures, and items you’ve collected and then identifies everything you haven’t managed to collect yet.
It then shows you these in an incredibly simple interface and provides extra tooltip info on the things you still need to collect. For example the drop rate of an item and where şt can be found.
Whenever you collect something new you’ll be alerted through an audio cue to keep you motivated. It’s a great way to let you know you’re making progress.
If you’re a completionist then All the Things should be near the top of your addons list.
9. Rarity
If you’ve ever played an MMO like WoW before, you’ll be familiar with the idea of drop rates.
We’ve all spent countless hours killing the same MOB over and over again in a futile attempt to get its rarest drop. Rarity seeks to help you in this often fruitless endeavor.
Rarity is the addon for people who like to know the odds. For each item, it will tell you how likely it is to drop, tell you how long you’ve been wasting your time, and will tell you if you’ve been lucky or unlucky so far.
Basically, this addon is great for telling you if you should just give up now or if you have a good chance of getting the drop if you just try for a little longer.
Note that rarity has its limitations. It doesn’t play very well with group-based mobs or enemies that drop nothing. It’ll only register a kill if they drop coins, otherwise, it won’t.
This can skew the numbers. Really though you’re going to be using this for rare drops, not just a few coins.
10. HandyNotes
As mentioned earlier, WoW’s map is fine but it’s not the best. It does a decent job of highlighting the most important areas but that’s about all.
Handy Notes lets you annotate your map with your points of interest. Found a good area for farming an item? Save it. Secret entrance? Save it. Just a super scenic area you like? Save it.
Even better, there are published collections of HandyNotes that allow you to track down things like treasure chests in Azeroth, rare creatures, and easter eggs.
To get started you’ll need to download HandyNotes first and then any of these collections as separate addons.
Much like All the Things, this is one of the better WoW mods for any completionists out there.
11. Rarescanner
Hunting down rare enemies can be stressful.
Knowing that a brief lapse in concentration could mean missing an enemy you’ve been hunting for hours can be anxiety-inducing.
Fear not, Rarescanner will make sure that no rare monster will ever escape your clutches.
Any time you come close to a rare monster, item, or event Rarescanner will warn you via a loud sound and a visual prompt.
The visual prompt is particularly useful as it shows the name of the rare and its loot pool. If you want to chase it, click the prompt and a skull will appear over the mob, singling it out for death.
Best Raid Addons WoW
12. Deadly Boss Mod
Fighting bosses in WoW can be a real pain. Of course, that’s kind of the idea behind boss fights.
The problem is WoW has A LOT of bosses and many of them are difficult. Defeating some of the higher-end bosses can require you to play against them multiple times until you have their attack patterns etc. memorized.
Who has time for that?
Luckily there are WoW add ons for this too.
Deadly Boss Mods uses alerts and camera effects to warn you of a boss’s heavy-hitting attacks or just to give you simple instructions.
This means that even if it is the first time you’re going up against a boss you should have some idea what’s going on. This is especially great for newer players who might feel like they’re holding their party back.
Another feature of this addon is the ability to auto-reply to in-game messages during boss fights.
If you get a whisper the addon will let your friends know that you’re otherwise preoccupied saving the world and will let them know how much HP the boss has left as an indicator of how long you’ll be.
The Deadly Boss Mod is one of the best WoW addons for raids and bosses.
13. Details! Damage Meter
If you want to maximize your party/ guild’s raid performance then you need to install Details!
Its main feature is its ability to sift through your party’s combat data to provide you with charts that show each party member’s damage and healing numbers.
This means you can see how well you’re playing but also make sure everyone in your party is pulling their weight.
The data is invaluable in analyzing your performance and seeing where your party can improve. You can then do further analysis through Details! advanced death logs and debuff timelines.
Finally, you can use the addon to see which items and talents your raid members are running with and their item level.
You can even use all this data to build Guild rankings to show which members contributed most against which bosses.
If you’re all about teamwork and efficiency then Details! is for you. It’s most definitely one of the best WoW addons for raids and party cohesion.
14. Omen
If you play a lot of MMOs you’ll be familiar with the concept of aggro.
In WoW, enemies don’t just attack the player nearest to them. Instead, individual monsters decide who to attack by assessing who is the biggest threat and then they go after them.
The AI behind this is complicated but it all comes down to what skills characters are using. Omen is a threat meter that tells you who in your group is pulling aggro or is about to.
This is ideal during raids when the tank is the only one who can survive the boss’s attacks. If your squishy damage dealer is close to pulling aggro then Omen will tell them what to back off to avoid aggroing the boss.
Unfortunately, Blizzard reworked how enemies assess a threat and this has severely limited the scope of what Omen can do.
It’s still a useful tool but we suggest reading up on its limitations on the download page before you rely on it too much.
15. GTFO
The best WoW addons don’t have to be complicated. Sometimes the simplest WoW add ons are some of the most useful.
Case in point- all GTFO does is play an alarm sound when your character is standing in something unpleasant.
How many times have you been overwhelmed in a boss battle and died because you didn’t release you were taking environmental damage?
How many times have you been knocked out by an attack you really should have dodged? Well, GTFO keeps you alert and makes sure you’re not knocked out by anything stupid.
Other WoW mods might give you visual alerts but nothing works better than a nice loud alarm.
16. Mythic Dungeon Tools
Mythic Dungeon Tools is a pop WoW Shadowlands addon. The Mythic + Dungeon system introduced with shadowlands is a system that rewards flawless execution of a raid.
Flawless execution requires planning. Mythic Dungeon tools is a set of fully interactive maps for the Mystic + dungeons.
Every enemy in every dungeon is mapped out. These enemies can then be divided up into different pools.
As you and your party members work your way through the dungeon progress bars for each group of enemies will fill up on the map.
What this all means is that you and your party can create a plan before going into a dungeon and annotate the route and who kills what on the map.
As you make further attempts in the dungeon you can perfect your plan. Mythic Dungeon Tools is one of the most downloaded WoW Shadowlands addons for a reason.
Best WoW Addons For Making Money
17. GatherMate 2
GatherMate 2 is one of the top WoW addons for the more industrious players out there.
If you spend a lot of your game time gathering resources for crafting or for making money in the auction house then you’ll want to look at GatherMate.
The addon drops a little indicator on your map and minimap every time you gather a resource. This means when you revisit an area you’ll be able to work out the most efficient route for gathering resources.
Or if you have a favorite resource gathering area you can find the areas where resources are the most plentiful and avoid the scarcer areas.
GatherMate 2 is one of the best WoW addons for increasing your resource gathering efficiency.
18. Auctioneer
Wanna make some serious coin but find the auction house intimidating? You need Auctioneer.
Auctioneer is a great addon for streamlining the auction house and keeping track of market trends.
Auctioneer appraises your items and then gives you a competitive price that will undercut other sellers selling the same thing.
Besides this, Auctioneer makes becoming an Auction House tycoon even easier by tracking your biddings, postings, and mail.
This makes it much easier to keep on top of multiple listings at once. Once you get the hang of it you’ll be turning a profit in no time!
When it comes to making money, Auctioneer is most definitely one of the best WoW addons around.
Best WoW Map Addons
19. TomTom
If you’re of a certain age you can probably remember TomTom sat-nav. It’s what everyone’s Dad had stuck to the dashboard before GoogleMaps and in-built satnav became standard.
Well, the TomTom addon is a handy sat-nav tool for WoW, because who doesn’t hate getting lost.
Just type in a set of coordinates, or select a spot on the map, and TomTom will give you a handy green arrow to follow.
Especially useful, as soon as you die TomTom will provide you with directions back to your body.
20. SexyMap
Looking to spice up your map UI? Give Sexymap a try.
Don’t worry, it’s nothing inappropriate.
SexyMap replaces the boring old default minimap with some more stylized presets like Emerald Dream and Elemental Fury.
The add-on won’t revolutionize your experience but it will make it a little easier on the eyes.
21. MBB Reborn
The more add-ons you have, the more cluttered your minimap is going to become. This şs because so many of these addons are used to track things like resource points, enemy locations, etc.
MBB reborn is a super helpful add-on that negates this problem. It takes all these new, addon-related buttons and hides them away behind one single button.
When you need to deal with an addon, click the button and they’re all lşsted nice and neat.
If there’s one add-on button you use more than the rest don’t worry. You can use Ctrl+Right Click on that specific addon to have it displayed on the minimap.
Addons are great and MBB is just a super useful tool to help them work together and keep your screen free of clutter.
There is an absolute ton of addons for WoW and this list barely scratches the surface. Instead, we’ve just listed the most useful that we’ve so far.
Most of these addons have downloads that reach into the millions so you know they are safe to download and will more than likely play well together unless stated specifically.
You should always be careful when downloading WoW addons and only do so though from trusted sources.
The best thing about these WoW mods is that none of them are cast as cheating by WoW so your account is safe. Even better, none of them really give you an unfair advantage so using them is guilt-free.
The best Wow add ons are all about making your life easier and encouraging teamwork.