Heya guys!!  So with my recent post about my UI and mods, I thought it would be a good time to talk about tracking your buffs for optimizing your DPS.

The best option I’ve seen to date for this purpose is the mod Tell Me When.  It’s simple, easy to use, light weight, and efficient.  You can’t ask for much more than that.

Tell Me When

This mods creates new frames that can be resized and moved to any position on your screen.

As you can see from this screen shot above of the Interface Addon control, you have up to eight frames which can have a variable amount of columns and rows.

The above screen shot is the 2nd stage of setup.  From the previous picture you can see that I turned off all of the other frames except for one.  The one that I kept has 2 rows and 7 columns.  More than enough for my needs!

Now to set up the buffs (or debuffs) you need to know the names of the specific buffs (not the item name).  If you’re not sure, search the item on WoW Head.  The comments usually have the buff names listed.

If you click on this 2nd pic and zoom in you can see there are 14 boxes.  I will start on the top row and count from left to right, then repeating the process on the bottom row.

First Row

Number 1:  A lit up Killing Machine icon from my KM talent.

Number 2:  A grayed out Killing Machine icon.  This is where I originally had KM set, but found it was easier to notice putting it one box to the left.

Instead of deleting it however, I set it to inactive so that I can use it later if I choose.  That is why it appears grayed out.

Number 3:  A lit up Unholy Strength icon from my FC weapon enchant.

Number 4:  A lit up Speed of the Valkyr icon from my DBW trinket.

Number 5:  A lit up Unholy Force icon from my SoV sigil.

Number 6:  Empty

Number 7:  Empty

Second Row

Number 8:  A lit up Freezing Fog icon from my Rime talent.

Number 9:  A grayed out Freezing Fog icon.  This is where I originally had FF set, but found it was easier to notice putting it one box to the left.

Instead of deleting it however, I set it to inactive so that I can use it later if I choose.  That is why it appears grayed out.

Number 10:  A lit up Paragon icon from my DC trinket.

Number 11:  A lit up Strength of the Taunka icon from my DBW trinket.

Number 12:  A lit up Frostforged Champion icon from my AV exalted ring.

Number 13:  A lit up Aim of the Iron Dwarves icon from my DBW trinket.

Number 14:  Empty

Options

This mod gives you a lot of options.  How you choose to use it is up to you.

Appearance: You can change the size of the frames and their position on your screen.

Timers: You can set up the mod to even have a “clock” style countdown for buffs.

Buffs: Can track buffs easily.

Debuffs: Can also track debuffs on you or your target.  Whether it’s a debuff placed on you by a boss, or tracking debuffs you placed on a target in PvP.

Cooldowns: Can display an icon when an ability or item becomes available and off of CD.

Focus Targets: Can let you know when a debuff falls off of your focus target.

TMW in Action

Here is just a limited scope view on what TMW will look like in combat.  Fully customized however, this mod can do so much more.

A special notation should be made for “troublesome” boss debuffs as well.  Is there a particular debuff a boss places on you that you’ve had difficulty noticing the boss mod warnings for?

Set up TMW to pop up an icon whenever it’s present on you.  Choose the location and size of the icon, and you’re good to go!

The above shows me with Killing Machine, Paragon, Strength of the Taunka, and Unholy Force buffs present.

The above shows me with Killing Machine, Freezing Fog, Paragon, Strength of the Valkyr, Unholy Force, and Frostforged Champion buffs present.

If you zoom in on the pictures you will see that the buff mod I use on the right hand of the screen shows multiple buffs present.

However only the buffs that I programmed into TMW show in the middle of the screen, making it very easy to see just the important ones.

If you look closely you can also see the circular “clock-like” count down on the icons showing when they will wear off.

A brand new buff is fully lit up, while the count down starts graying out the icon as it wears off.  Once it is fully grayed out, the buff duration has ended and the icon vanishes.

Why is this useful?!

Tracking your buffs and timing your use of buffs, cooldowns, and abilities can shift your dps by a margin of anywhere between 500 to 3000 dps dependent upon numerous variables of course.

That is not an exaggeration.

Frost

As Frost it is critical that you always know when KM and Rime have proc’ed in order for you to take the maximum benefit from those talents.

The same also goes for Raise Dead.  You need to cast this when you have the most buffs on you.

Unholy

As Unholy your Gargoyle damage can shift dramatically by using it when you have full buffs up and Heroism.

If you don’t know when the buffs are on you and cast Gargoyle when they’re down, then the dps gain from that spell drops significantly.

Minions

One shot pets have their stats set by your current stats at the time of casting.  So Raise Dead (non-Unholy), Summon Gargoyle, and Army of the Dead all fall into this category.

They’re not true pets like an Unholy ghoul.  They’re more like one shot minions.

If you have 5 temporary buffs on you when you cast Raise Dead or Summon Gargoyle, and then they fall off 5 seconds later, your summoned minions stay buffed.

Their stats are set at the time you cast them, based off of your own stats.  Or your AP and Haste more specifically.

Summation

This isn’t a guide on how to set up the mod, but it’s very easy to use.  Set it up in the Addon Interface first, and then type /tmw in chat when that is done.

You don’t have to use this specific mod, but you need to be using something like it.  Seriously.

You need some type of UI modification so that you are fully aware when temporary buffs are on you.  It will change your dps for the better.

-Suffer Well Brothers and Sisters…

Tags: DPS, Mods