UI Clinic: Segment4

The UI Clinic is a series of segments created by Bouvi for The AIE Podcast which help you turn your back on the default UI and create a UI to be proud of.

I've got the Power!

Welcome to this edition of the UI clinic, I am your host Bouvi. Lets jump right in so grab your patient chart and we will get started.

Power Auras Classic

This segment we will be focusing on one addon. Power Auras Classic. This is an incredible addon that can do many different things and to be honest the sky is the limit here. This addon provides visual cues (auras) when you gain buffs, debuffs and other areas like mana, health and more. Very useful for shorts buffs or debuffs, it allows you to draw in the center of the screen, or around your character, very customizable visual effects, rather than having to look at or mouseover buff/debuff icons/actionbars. One thing I use it for is my shot rotation. Some people use macros but I find that you will lose dps as the marcos cannot take into account quite a few things.

Let me tell you how I use PowerAuras On my hunter I set it up to watch my various shots and when they are off of cooldown it will show a symbol which represents that shot. When I see the symbol I hit my corresponding keybind to fire the shot. This is very visual and allows me to go through my shot rotation without having to watch the various buttons for the cooldowns. Yes there are other addons that allow you to do this for a hunter but can they also warn on low mana or give you a visual when you are using Aspect of the Viper. It even changes the color of the Viper visual when my mana is back on full so I know to switch back to my Dragonhawk aspect. This allows me to get maximum DPS for my buck.

Also instead of having to use an addon for each class this will work for every class you have. Use it on your deathknight, mage, paladin, rouge or any other class to assist with spell rotation or to track cooldowns for all your abilities.

PowerAuras will not just track cooldowns but will also check debuffs, etc. I use it to check a mob to see if my DOT is on the mob, if not a symbol will pop up letting me know that I need to DOT it up.

How to use Power Auras Classic

To use it (taken from the author discription)

1- Type /powa, to open the effect browser

2- Click on the button "New" to create a new effect

3- On the effect editor, you can choose the texture to apply to the effect, the position, the size, the symmetry, be creative :P

4- Below, select the activator of the effect (like a buff, debuff, etc...)

5- Enter the name of the buff, debuff... just below (or a part of the buff, like "clear" for activation with the buff "clear cast"). Don't forget to read the tooltips for more help on ways to enter the names

6- It's ready ! Close all windows, when you gain the buff/debuff, the effect appears

Regardless of your class this is one addon that will help you improve many aspects of your character. Take my word for it, you do not want to go without it.

Time's Up

That is all the time we have for this segment. As always you can find the show notes at uiclinic.com and if you have any questions just e-mail me at bouvi@uiclinic.com or find me in-game on Bouvi. Until next time remember while the default UI is nice it might not fit your playstyle Make your UI your own.