Executive Summary
Install this mod, when a suggestion frame shows up in the middle of your screen (when you are out of combat) move it to where you want it. When the frame shows you a picture, cast the spell that picture represents. If nothing ever shows up, your current class/build is not supported.
That's all you have to know. Have fun, I hope you like it.
Introduction
This addon will display the recommended spell for you to cast (in or out of combat). It keeps track of what buffs/debuffs you have up, what your cooldowns are, and offers a pretty good option. Out of combat, it will remind you to put up buffs (usually before they entirely expire). It is aimed at Level 80 toons, so recommendations below L80 will likely be suboptimal. In particular, at very low levels it will frequently not recommend anything at all.
You can resize the suggestion frame from the configuration panel (reached via the /dfd command). You can also lock the panel so it cannot be moved (it auto-locks in combat irrespective of this lock). You can set it to display dummy suggestions when it's unlocked, so you can see where it is to move it around and scale it.
It only handles single-target DPS
Supported Classes
Support is by class and build. Because every build in every class is different, I am very limited in what I can test. Things marked as beta have been tested so they should at least basically work. Things marked as alpha have never actually been tested so chances are they aren't going to do much, if anything. If you try them out and tell me what is broken, I'll try to get fixes turned around rapidly. If they are working, I'd appreciate it if you would tell me that too.
Druids
- Feral - Released
- Balance - Released
Hunters
- Marksman - Released
- Beastmaster - Alpha
- Survival - Released
Mages
- Arcane - Alpha
- Fire - Released
- Frost - Alpha
Paladins
- Retribution - Released
Priests
- Shadow - Beta
Shamans
- Elemental - Beta (very limited totem support)
Warlocks
- Affliction - Released
- Demonology - Released
- Destruction - Released
Warriors
- Fury - Beta
- Protection - Beta
Your Mission (Should You Choose to Accept It)
I am definitely interested in feedback and suggestions. In particular, I would really appreciate bug reports (either through the ticket system or below in the comments section). Please understand that I don't have access to L80 toons in all the classes this add-on supports, so I cannot test everything, and will have no idea that something is broken if I don't hear about it.
My To-Do List
- Support other dps classes
- Take threat into account and recommend threat-reduction measures when appropriate
- Add an auto-talent feature (a button that will automatically allocate your talents from the talent screen)
- Take latency into account when recommending when to begin recasting a debuff that has not expired yet (now it just looks at expiration time - cast time)
Known bugs
- Only works in English. This should be fixed in the medium term, I hope.
The Rotations Implemented
Most of these rotations actually have some thought behind them, just not by me. Ones that I made up are pretty much all for toons I don't actually play, so you know they have to be right. Note that I did have to add things to all these rotations, as they don't take some important real-world needs into account (eg., when should a hunter cast Mend Pet during a fight? Even though it's not in the rotation, clearly letting your pet die isn't going to be the right call to up your DPS).
If you want changes to the rotation, please be prepared to explain why the source is wrong (or just point out that I'm deviating from it).
Note that some tanking builds are included (Bear Druids and Protection Warriors); these are provided as a convenience. The truth is that there are many enhancements that could be made to make this a far more useful tanking add-on, but they are going to have to wait for quite a while to get implemented. For now the add-on offers reasonable suggestions, assuming a largely straight-forward tank-and-spank fight, and is very useful (at least to me) in showing when the GCD is up, and when Maul is ready to be hit again. But there is no way you are going to successfully tank squat just following it's instructions; this is different from DPS'ing, where following the instructions will tend to give you close to optimal results.
Druids
- Kitties: http://elitistjerks.com/f73/t63774-cat_dps_guide_dummies/
- Bears: http://omen-of-clarity.blogspot.com/2009/04/breaking-news-imangle-rotation-owns.html
- Balance: http://elitistjerks.com/f73/t59457-moonkin_beginner_guide_updated_3_2_a/
Hunters
- Beastmaster: http://elitistjerks.com/f74/t42519-best_possible_dps_shandaras_wotlk_spreadsheet/
- Marksman: http://elitistjerks.com/f74/t37654-marksman_questions/
- Survival: http://elitistjerks.com/f74/t38137-survival_hunter_wotlk/
Mages
- Arcane: http://elitistjerks.com/f75/t42876-arcane_thread/
- Fire: http://elitistjerks.com/f75/t37364-frostfire_bolt_thread_updated_3_2_a/
- Frost: http://elitistjerks.com/f75/t65510-raiding_frost_post_3_2_a/
Paladins
- Retribution: Developed by one of my users
Priests
- Shadow: http://elitistjerks.com/f77/t37074-shadowpriest_basics/
Shamans
- Enhancement: http://elitistjerks.com/f47/t20765-shaman_enhancement/
Warlocks
- Affliction: http://elitistjerks.com/f80/t37900-dots_you_affliction_warlock_thread/
- Demonology: Made up by me. If you want to run simulationcraft to figure out what is optimal, I'll implement it
- Destruction: http://elitistjerks.com/f80/t53164-pve_raiding_compendium_v3_1_a/#Spec_3__Destruction
Warriors
- Fury: http://www.worldofraids.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21300
- Protection: Developed by one of my users.
For People Who Want To Help Write Code
Note to people who are considering helping support other classes: the class support files are not written in LUA; they are written in DDDL (Destruction for Dummies Definition Language) and compiled into LUA. Everything you need to do the work is included with the addon (starting with release 1.3.6). See the ReadMe file in the DestructionForDummies directory.
Development does require a Unix system. If you know that your Mac is really running Unix, you'll be fine. If you only have access to PCs, or don't know how to work your Mac as a Unix box, you are likely SOL. Unix is a complex enough system that there's no way I'm going to be able to walk you through it.