Food before flowers is a direct translation of the Japanese proverb, hana yori dango, which means putting practical concerns before aesthetic ones. Cclemon is here to share insights into practical addons and maximizing their use.
When I first started raiding it was on my DPS Death Knight and I saw a post by BigRedKitty on Power Auras Classic. At the time I was running an Unholy build and I first used the addon to help me track which diseases were on my target. And then I realized I could use it to help my bone shield and horn of winter uptime. And then I realized I could use it to track my raise ghoul CD so I knew how often I could sacrifice my ghoul to self heal and have it immediately available again. And then I figured out I could use it to put a more prominent and noticeable visual indicator of mutating injections on Grobbulus than the dbm/raid icon one. And then … well, basically I’m addicted to power auras. I use it for everything, and it’s made me a much better raider by making myself more situationally aware with less effort. I’d like to share with you some of the methods I’ve used with it to get me to where I am now.
Power Auras Classic is an addon that gives you prominent visual indicators based on conditions you set. It installs in the normal way and it is configured using the "/powa" command. Here’s the main panel:
Notice that there is a check box to turn it on and off at the top, which is useful for flame leviathan and other situations when your normal settings won’t apply and any notifications will get in the way. There are also groups of settings on the left and the settings themselves on the right. You can temporarily see what an aura will look like by double-clicking it and disable it with a shift click. I often disable and enable individual auras as I switch between my dual-specs and as we progress through different encounters. For example, on my shaman I have an aura to remind me to refresh my Earthliving weapon imbue when I am in Resto spec that I swap out for a separate Flametongue imbue aura setting in my elemental spec. On my paladin I have similar settings that I swap out based on spec or raid composition for my seals, judgments and auras. Depending on the specifics of your class and spec you might want to add ones for procs such as the Fire Mage’s Hot Streak, or to remind you when abilities on cooldowns become available such as a Rogues’ Tricks of the Trade or a Warlock’s Soul Stone.
Here’s the editor for configuring each aura. There are a lot of settings so that it might seem overwhelming at first, but in reality you’ll only need to start with a few main settings, and the other items are fairly self explanatory if you would like to try for a different effect. This is also encouraged as the effect is shown on the screen and changes dynamically as you adjust the settings.
Firstly you’ll want to choose a visual appearance by choosing an aura and a color as appropriate. After deciding what you want it to look like you select the conditions to show the aura at the bottom of the screen.
Let me share a few example settings from my restoration and elemental shaman settings and I think you’ll get a feel for how it works.
This one tells me when my shield comes off. Note the "Show when inactive" button. Also, if you’ll look at the name of the buff it’s looking for you’ll see I only typed "Shield" which will match any Water Shield, Lightning Shield, and Earth Shield.
These settings will warn me when my earthshield is not on my focus and needs refreshing (or requires communication with other resto shammies to prevent doubling up). This checks the focus (see the setting at the bottom), so I need to have the tank as my focus in order for this setting to work. If you regularly raid with the same tanks you could also add settings using their character’s names by checking the Unitname box.
When I see my m ana is below a certain percentage I know I’ll need to drop mana tide totem, down a pot, ask for innervate, get dps to down a saronite cloud or whatever. This way I can act preemptively rather than getting too focussed and then only realizing I’m out when it’s too late. I didn’t want the icon to be too big though, so I adjusted the size to 34% which is the slider on the top half that reaches across the whole length of the panel.
I’m normally set on raid heals, but it’s nice to have a reminder to give some health to the tank if the other person assigned has fallen behind. I’m sure there aren’t many tank healers that would complain about me "sniping" a heal when the tank is getting hit hard. This setting also requires me to have the tank as my focus.
For Elemental shamans keeping flame shock on the boss is not just another DoT effect, but it causes Lavaburst to crit every time. Keeping it up is the first priority of the dps rotation. I used the "Debuff" and "Enemy Target" settings.
Next priority is casting Lava Burst as soon as it becomes available. Note the "Action Available" setting. I use this same setting for auras to remind me when my cooldowns become available.
As you can see this addon helps my cover the maintenance areas of my class, informs me of things I need to pay attention to, and helps me work out my dps rotation.
If that was all I used it for it would still be a major addition to my raiding experience; but wait, there’s more! This addon also doubles as a much more visually prominent boss mod without the spam of textual information I don’t need to pay attention to (or don’t have time to read).
I went through the description on Wowhead of each boss in Ulduar and made a power aura for each boss ability that affects my role in the encounter. To keep things consistent I used a yellow exclamation mark for every effect in the entire instance that requires me to call out my name on vent, such as the Slag Pot on Ignis (shown below), Kologarn’s Stone Grip, or pre-nerf mind control on Yogg-Saron phase one:
I also added a white skull every time if I need to move or double check my positioning including effects like Biting Cold stacks on Hodir, the hurricane on the trash in Freya’s room, moving in front of Auriaya’s Sonic Screech, or Mimiron’s pew pew lasers:
In order to get a warning for abilities that the boss uses that aren’t buffs or debuffs, you will need to target the boss in order for power auras to detect casts and cast bars.
I’ve additionally made settings for casting interrupts, dps burn phases, intense tank and raid healing phases, target switch warnings (using enemy target health percentage for things like Freya’s adds phase and Mimiron phase 4) and more, but rather than post all that ugly exported code or screenshots of each one I’ll leave it as an exercise to you, the reader, to decide which buffs, debuffs and spell casts you’d like to see information for. Remember to copy these boss fight settings to one of the global effects groups in the library panel to share them between all of your characters.
Let me finish up with a few action shots (please excuse the combat text clutter… I’m planning on tuning that down soon.):
Images below link to full size screenshots
Time to Lava Burst:
Refresh shield:
Get out of that rune! (and by the way your tank is under 50% health…)
Low Mana! (Good thing the boss is almost dead)
Stop Casting!
Hodir Frozen Blows. Healing is required.
Thanks for reading! I look forward to reading about your experience with this or similar addons in the comments below.
– Cclemon
PS: I’d like to thank my guild, Heimdall on US-Thrall, for letting me post shots of our raid.
Found a cool addon? Want to share a UI tip? In the mood to contribute a guest post? Have some ideas for future posts? Feel free to 
Note also, there’s been a fan update to Power Auras that adds the ability to specify a “spec” for which this aura applies.
http://www.wowinterface.com/downloads/info13507.html
Nibuca
http://chicanery.fibergeek.com/
Nibuca´s last blog ..Big Sky Country
http://www.wowinterface.com/downloads/info13507.html
Dual specs enabled version.
I love using Power Auras as well. It helps for certain abilities that lack a prominent animation, such as Adrenaline Rush and Shadow Dance. The timer shown during the custom animation is very helpful as well.
I’d like to add that using Doom Cooldown Pulse in conjunction with PA really helps to add visual aids to the screen without overtaking the UI and cluttering up the screen.
This is an awesome intro to a very cool addon. Thank you very much!
I’ve gotten my hands dirty with some very configuration heavy addons before, but could never quite get into Power Auras (my alternative for something with similar functionality is TellMeWhen). I’ll definitely have to give it a spin now!
Hi!
I use power auras as well, I would love to see your config for your DK, as I have problems getting some auras to work. Thanks alot for an awesome blog!
Yup awesome addon this one.
BobTurkey´s last blog ..PUGs
@Dk
There’s no way for me to post images of the exact settings here in the comments but here are some things that might be tripping you up.
For keeping up your diseases, note that the name of the disease is different than the attack that causes it. Icy touch is the attack, but you want to set up an aura that tracks the *debuff* called *frost fever* *casted by me* on your *enemy target* and is *show(n) when not active.* Similarly blood plague is the name of the debuff that you want to track for plague strike.
As unholy you’ll also want to track the unholy blight debuff on your enemy target, bone shield buff, action available: summon gargoyle.
If you are a tank you might want auras tracking “action available” for your tanking cooldowns like icebound fortitude, and your threat moves: rune strike and death and decay. I mentioned above that I had an “action available” aura set up for raise dead, so that I knew how often I could sacrifice my ghoul and have it back immediately, this heal is pretty significant and would probably be well suited to a tank as well (although I used it as dps to make myself a little more self reliant).
For fights with interrupts you might want to track strangulate and mind freeze to ensure their availability, and these two and chains of ice would be good for the pvper.
Hey, great column on a great addon! One thing that you didn’t mention in your write up was the timers that you can use. Which brings me to my question…as a fellow resto shaman, I have been trying to set up a timer showing my riptide cooldown, but I have been unable to. If you or anyone out there has such an export (or could talk me through the screens!) I would be ever so greatful!!
Cheers!
@Mellisande
I actually use a different addon to track riptide, but with power auras you could set up an “action available” aura. Copy the settings from the Lava Burst image (changing the aura’s appearance as desired) and change Lava Burst to Riptide.
Thanks for the info. I’ll try my way around! :)
Its a Good Addon, but its pointless. Its nothing u cant do with Elkano’s buff bars and with Mik Scrolling Combat text, which both server other purposes and run a bit lighter.
Its a piggyback addon, and people should just use the better versions of better addons.
I suppose if your not very good with customization of configuration there might be some value to it.
@knyle
I think you’ve missed the point.
There are many ways to track debuffs and statuses, but the key to this addon is giving very large visible notifications of only the ones you care about to make sure you don’t miss them. I’d also like to point out that the scrolling combat text in my action shots is not connected with this addon.
Do either of the addons you mention let you track when actions are available? Does the debuff tracker allow you to show certain important debuffs in a way that jumps out from all the other stuff going on on your screen (let alone the other debuffs on the target tracked)? Do either of those addons allow you to make warnings based on enemy cast bars activating? How about mana or health status warnings for targets other than yourself? Does the scrolling text mod allow you to set apart single specific notifications in a way that doesn’t fade away or get over-written until you deal with the condition you were watching for to ensure you don’t miss it?
There’s two parts to this addon. One is a very smart filter for criteria of when to show the warnings, and the second is a way to display very prominent and unique visual indication of those criteria being met. Both in a single addon that is easily and intuitively customized.
If you have other tools to do the job, all the more power to you. For those looking for such an addon, or who didn’t realize what they were missing out one, may I suggest power auras to you.
Hmm interesting, so it would actually be possible to get a warning before a pvp-enemy’s throwing sheep on me? ;)
I believe so DK, however, the enemy would have to be either your target or your focus (and you’d have to set one aura up for each situation!). The setup would be similar to the spinning up/pewx2 setup in the main post.
What you couldn’t do is have an aura pop up saying that some random person in a BG is sheeping you.
[...] « Common Mistakes! Matticus’s Power Auras Guide! July 28, 2009 Go check it out Plenty of good info there- I just set mine to the hunter defaults floating around the web and [...]
Ummm… not sure if I should but here you go.
Every pvp stun and silence. Enjoy.
Stun:
gcd:bofalse; soundfile:st; owntex:bofalse; b:nu0.70980392156863; anim1:nu1; duration:nu0; g:nu0.11764705882353; thresholdinvert:bofalse; ignoremaj:botrue; opt2:nu0; speed:nu1.1000000238419; stance:nu10; icon:stInterface\Icons\Ability_Mage_DeepFreeze; size:nu0.37999999523163; torsion:nu1; multiids:st; stacksOperator:st=; realaura:nu1; mine:bofalse; optunitn:bofalse; x:nu0; inverse:bofalse; begin:nu0; off:bofalse; isdebuff:bofalse; customname:st; textaura:bofalse; target:bofalse; combat:nu0; wowtex:bofalse; groupany:bofalse; customsound:st; timerduration:nu0; exact:bofalse; threshold:nu50; unitn:stOnly for raid/group.; bufftype:nu2; party:bofalse; aurastextfont:nu1; stacks:nu0; isenchant:bofalse; focus:bofalse; customtex:bofalse; raid:bofalse; isdebufftype:bofalse; texture:nu38; buffname:stKidney Shot/Hammer of Justice/Cheap Shot/Maim/Charge Stun/Intercept/ Concussion Blow/Pounce/Shadowfury/Deep Freeze/Gnaw; anim2:nu0; opt1:nu0; r:nu1; randomcolor:bofalse; y:nu123; alpha:nu0.75; aurastext:st; timer:botrue; texmode:nu1; symetrie:nu0; ismounted:bofalse; targetfriend:bofalse; sound:nu0; isinraid:bofalse; finish:nu1
———–
Silence:
gcd:bofalse; soundfile:st; owntex:bofalse; b:nu1; anim1:nu1; duration:nu0; g:nu0.73725490196078; thresholdinvert:bofalse; ignoremaj:botrue; opt2:nu0; speed:nu0.5; stance:nu10; icon:stInterface\Icons\Ability_Druid_Bash; size:nu0.51999998092651; torsion:nu1; multiids:st; stacksOperator:st=; realaura:nu1; mine:bofalse; optunitn:bofalse; x:nu0; inverse:bofalse; begin:nu0; off:bofalse; isdebuff:bofalse; customname:st; textaura:bofalse; target:bofalse; combat:nu0; wowtex:bofalse; groupany:bofalse; customsound:st; timerduration:nu0; exact:bofalse; threshold:nu50; unitn:stOnly for raid/group.; bufftype:nu2; party:bofalse; aurastextfont:nu4; stacks:nu0; isenchant:bofalse; focus:bofalse; customtex:bofalse; raid:bofalse; isdebufftype:bofalse; texture:nu39; buffname:stSilence/Strangulate/Counterspell/shield bash/bash/pummel/kick/Mind freeze/earth shock/spell lock; anim2:nu0; opt1:nu0; r:nu0; randomcolor:bofalse; y:nu181; alpha:nu0.75; aurastext:stSILENCE; timer:botrue; texmode:nu1; symetrie:nu0; ismounted:bofalse; targetfriend:bofalse; sound:nu0; isinraid:bofalse; finish:nu1
———–
OK, so I’ve been beating my head against the wall for a while now with the “riptide available” power aura. I even copied the lava burst aura and changed the name to riptide, but it wouldn’t work. Does anyone have an export that I can use, or any hints for what I might be doing wrong?
Many thanks! :)
@Mellisande
What do you want the aura to be triggered on? Action usable? Or do you want to track that it is on your target or focus? I would assume you wanted to track whether you can use riptide. In that case the one you want to copy is the lava burst setup, not the flame shock one. If you wanted to track whether your target has riptide on them you could use something like the flameshock one with Friendly Target selected instead of Enemy Target.
Yes, I want to track whether or not I can use Riptide, just like Lava Burst (I think you misread my post just above, Lava Burst is the one that I copied, not Flame Shock). What I did was take the Lava Burst setup (which I actually already had working) and simply changed the name from Lava Burst to Riptide. No love. (I’m using the dual-spec-aware version of Power Auras and I made sure to also set the appropriate spec.) Like I say, I’m at my wit’s end because I simply can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong. :(
Also if I could get a timer telling me how long until my riptide was available I would…well I would be willing to do unmentionable things! :D Thanks so much for your help!
@Mellisande
Hmmm… it should be working fine then. The only thing I can think of is whether you spelt the spell correctly. I know I’m tempted to put a space in between rip and tide, but it’s one word.
Many of my healy friends swear by OmniCC to track cooldowns like riptide, or something like DoT Timer. I personally use a custom modified addon that I’d like to write about here but need to wait for my patch to the source to get accepted first, because I needed to add riptide myself in the source code and that’s more than I can ask of just anyone.
Hi Matt,
It would be great if you could include the export strings of your PoWA settings. E.g. http://www.anybrowser.org/wow/power_auras.html
@cclemon Yeah, that’s what I thought too. I’ll go home and quadruple check it, but I typed it out with my spellbook open last night just to be sure. Nada. At this point I’m wondering if I have some weird sort of addon interaction/bug. I don’t suppose you could set it up real quick tonight and post an export string here? :D If you have a few minutes to do that I would be eternally grateful!
Just a quick note for anyone who finds their way here. Power Auras hadn’t been updated since March 10th. But now someone’s picked up where the original author left off, and he’s fixing some bugs and adding some features, all based off of the 2.6.1a dual spec version. So far it’s looking good. Check it out over at WoW Interface and support the guy IMO.
I play a Holy Paladin and am tinkering with Power Aura. Do you know of any way for there to be a display when my Sacred Shield and Beacon of Light is not active on a player (besides focus or a specific raidmember)? I typically switch who has Beacon and who has Sacred Shield throughout a fight and just need an indication when it is not active. I’ve tried Party Member, Raid Member, and Any but it only works when I put the buff on myself. It seems like this might be beyond Power Aura. I’ve used DBM macros in the past but I like the visual feel of Power Aura. Any help is appreciated. Thank you.
Cor
@corinthor
One possibility would be to macro your beacon to make the person who receives it your focus. I use this with my earthshield so that when I swap eathshield targets my focus changes and then I just have power auras check my focus.
I’m not sure about this, but if you check the boxes “raid member” and “any” would this be the effect you are looking for?
@Cclemon
That’s what I originally tried but it didn’t seem to work. Since Beacon no longer puts a buff on the caster I can’t get Power Aura to work. Oh well….back to DBM macro.
I did have a friend suggest an addon appropriately named Beacon of Light, Sacred Shield Tracker
http://wow.curse.com/downloads/wow-addons/details/clcbpt.aspx
Looks decent, but I like Power Aura better. Just grabs my attention more.
Any thoughts on how this addon might be used to track the duration of Magma totem? A question literally burning on the minds of all enhancement shamans who use this mod!!
With the help of a lovely poster on the official warcraft forums, I figured out what I was doing wrong trying to set up my riptide aura (as described in above posts).
The short version? Absolutely nothing. What I had set up was 100% correct.
So what’s the catch? It turns out that, when dealing with ability cooldowns, Power Aura only works on spells that are on your spell bar. I use Grid and Clique to heal and hence Riptide wasn’t on any of my spell bars. Last night I dropped it onto one of my bars and presto, there was my aura!
In between different versions of my happy dance I thought that I’d post here in case anyone else runs into a problem similar to mine. Cheers!
Buh. Power Auras has become my DoT Timer, my boss mod, everything. I am genuinely not sure I could raid without it anymore, which may or may not be a good thing. Thank gawd it still works!
CC´s last blog ..Retro Raids, Or Shopping For The Savvy Roleplayer
[...] extremely useful, especially as a reminder to keep buffs up as an inexperienced healer. (See this NoStockUI post for [...]
[...] Food Before Flowers: Power Auras Classic from No Stock UI [...]
[...] a few online, but most seem to really just scratch the surface: Seabrat's WoW Blog: Power Auras! Food Before Flowers: Power Auras Classic | No Stock UI YouTube – Power Aura Tutorial World of Warcraft (en) Forums -> [Guide] Power Auras – Warlock [...]
[...] – A good introduction, as well as how to use some of the more complex functions. Food Before Flowers (NoStock UI) – Slightly more general, but covers a lot of ground. Aliena’s Tutorial (Tankspot) [...]
[...] – A good introduction, as well as how to use some of the more complex functions. Food Before Flowers (NoStock UI) – Slightly more general, but covers a lot of ground. Aliena’s Tutorial (Tankspot) [...]