How to Add Addons to Classic WoW

For many players, addons are a key part of World of Warcraft. Unlike similar mods in other games, WoW addons do not change the MMORPG’s rules. However, their interface improvements can be just as impactful. They make it easier for users to make important decisions in the midst of gameplay. WoW Classic can arguably benefit from addons even more than the retail version, as it lacks many of the conveniences introduced later in the game’s history.

Some Classic addons recreate those quality of life improvements, while others are adaptations of popular addons from later versions. In this article, we will teach you how to enrich your WoW Classic experience with addons.

Finding Addons

You can find most addons on at least one of three sites: CurseForge, WoWInterface, and GitHub. The former two are more user-friendly. You can search for specific addons or browse categories to find tools for various areas of gameplay. GitHub allows you to study the code and all the changes between versions, which can be useful if you wish to modify or create addons of your own. One thing to keep in mind is that those sites display addons for all versions of WoW, not just Classic. CurseForge and WoWInterface allow you to filter results by game version. Some addons also have their own sites, but the big repositories we mentioned are the simplest and safest option in most cases. On Cackboost you can buy TBC Classic Boost

Installation and Maintenance

Installing addons is only the beginning of the story, as they are constantly being improved. Additionally, many of them rely on up-to-date information about the game. Between Burning Crusade Classic and Season of Mastery, Classic is not immune to major changes as time goes on, which may require you to update mods pretty frequently. You can install and update addons yourself or use an addon manager. The former method can suffice if you are only using a few mods. Otherwise, it may become very cumbersome and difficult.

Follow these steps for a manual installation:

Make sure the game is not running.
Download the addon from one of the sites.
Extract all files from the archive to your World of Warcraft/_classic_/Interface/Addons folder for Burning Crusade Classic or World of Warcraft/_classic_era_/Interface/Addons for Classic Era/Season of Mastery.
Launch the game and go to character selection. Open the Addons menu by pressing the button in the bottom left corner of the screen. You should be able to activate the addon from there. Otherwise, something has gone wrong and you should probably try installing the addon again.
Optionally, add the addon to favorites on Curseforge or WoWInterface. You will need to have an account on the site. It will make it easier for you to keep all your addons up to date by keeping information about all the latest versions in one place.

Addon managers are special programs that can automate the entire process of installation and maintenance. They are integrated with some or all of the major repositories, allowing you to find addons through them as well. These options are widely considered the best, but they all have their pros and cons:

Overwolf is integrated with CurseForge and easy to use, but lacks access to some independent mods and uses numerous ads unless you buy a subscription.
WowUp is very lightweight, easily installed, and versatile, and has a wider range of sources. However, it lacks some advanced features from its competitors.
Instawow is harder to set up, but uses the widest range of repositories and grants you more control over updates (as sometimes you may wish to keep an older version).
Cursebreaker suffers from the lack of a user-friendly interface, but is very efficient, accesses many sources, and tracks many commonly overlooked features such as specific scripts.

Addon Recommendations

The best addons are ones that help you with some part of the game that would otherwise give you trouble. They are inherently very individual. That said, the following choices are highly popular and may be a good starting point:

Auctionator Classic for more efficient trading in the Auction House, with features like price suggestions and partial automation.
Bagnon to let you handle all your bag contents from one screen.
Deadly Boss Mods for keeping track of boss mechanics during instances.
Details! Damage Meter Classic to let you track your damage and healing output, allowing you to adjust your strategy and build accordingly.
Questie for quest objective tracking on the map, similar to the in-game quest markers in retail WoW.