Hi all,
After so many years in the game and discussing this topic many times with friends and family in the game, I wanted to share with all of you, as helpful, my master add-ons list with detailed explanations of what I use and why. This is meant to include only those tools that I see as essential for various reasons. I hope this might help you condense, add to and refine your own list and further enjoy your gameplay in Azeroth
Of note, I don’t have any UI or cast bar mods as I have found on some systems these slow down input response time or performance. I also don’t have any specific class or healing mods
Also, many of you already know this, but for those who don’t, the best way to manage your addons is to download the Twitch app, which was formerly Curse. This will scan for your Warcraft folder and allow you to download, sync, and update all your addons in one convenient window and keep them up to date. Using that interface, you can easily find all the addons below and download them
Adibags
As opposed to Bagnon and other storage addons, I find this to the best in that it auto splits all your items by category. It also flags new items as they come in. It is also very easy to remove and add new bags. This is by far the best addon in making inventory management clear and quick. You can even customize new categories or what items go into each category
AskMrRobot
This pairs well with the AskMrRobot website and allows you to import and export scripts to immediately see what gear/builds/enchants/etc. will optimize your DPS. Their site is also very deep in allowing you to easily run simulations around your character and to see what talent builds and gearing configurations will maximize your performance
AtlasLoot Enhanced
A timeless reference for all the items in the game sorted into useful and logical categories
Auctioneer
There are many auction and item sales tools but I find auctioneer, as paired with its scanning tool, the most practical in terms of allowing you to price up all your items and post them within 5 minutes or less even with 5 full bags
BadBoy
Flags spam in chat channels with greater ease than the ignore system - you can also train it
BadPet
Spams to an individual or the whole party or raid when someone has their pet on taunt when they should not
Capping Battleground Timers
When DBM lost its PVP timers, this addon filled the void, allowing you to see the expected score in a match and capping times
ChampionCommander
Garrison Mission Manager
GarrisonCommander
OrderHallCommander
These tools combine for the best interface for managing your missions, with clear rankings, probabilities and quick completions of missions
Deadly Boss Mods
With its main alternative being BigWigs, I find this to the be the best mod in giving pertinent information about instanced dungeons and raids in improving your performance and keeping you on top of each fight
Grail + Wholly
Two paired addons that will flag all available quests on the map for you and remove them as you complete them. There are other tools like Quest Completist, but this is the only working one with high quality map pins and visualization
Greenwall
As applicable to your guild, this can be an essential tool to link chat between multiple related guilds with a common community
Handynotes (+ Broken Shore, Warfront Rares, DraenorTreasures, Battle for Azeroth Treasures, Legion Treasures, Lost and Found Pandaria Treasures, Universal Explorer)
Handynotes, plus its various modules, allows you to see all the remaining activities of certain types that you have on the map, such as finding treasures, rare mobs and so forth. There are literally endless modules for things ranging from world quests to quest and exploration achievements. Universal Explorer is another particularly overlooked but useful module that gives you dots of exactly where you need to ride or fly to to get exploration achievements for every zone
MapCoords
A simple listing of your X/Y coordinates at all time, but on a map position or your current position, which can help when looking at a WoWHead or other reference for activity completion
MoncaiCompare
An old and simple tool that toggles always-on the shift button so you always see comparisons between two pieces of gear rather than having to hold shift down
O Item Level (OiLvL)
Provides a quick scanned item level for everybody in your party or raid
Overachiever
Flags various achievements in the game, such as loving or killing critters and timed achievements in raids and PvP
Pawn
Provides an in-game score system for quickly sizing up, based on suggested stat weights that you can customize, whether a piece of gear is an improvement. I use this as a quick in-game check, and then further confirm with AskMrRobot
Personal Loot Helper (PLH)
Automatically queries others in your party or raid to see if they have loot they don’t need that is either a Xmog or upgrade for you and allows you to quickly whisper them for it
PetLeash
Automates rotation of your pets so you can put them on display whenever you want. Has many toggles for cities only, new zone only, etc.
PetTracker
Identifies pet battle and species you have / have not obtained in any zone - invaluable in defeating all trainers and making sure you have collected all pets - has additional information on some if they are only available under certain conditions
Pokemon Trainer: The Pet Battle Mod
Flags all the abilities for your and your opponents pets in combat and identifies strengths and weaknesses - really helps in winning battles
Pride - Personal Achievements
When combined with overachiever, makes sure you don’t miss any achievements. This is particularly focused on instances and will cite all the achievements in that instance as you enter and will track how you are progressing in meeting them with chats to the party window. Invaluable especially for dungeon/raid completionists
QuickQuest
Auto turns all your quests immediately so you can fly through leveling or completions
RaiderIO Mythic Plus and Raid Progress
A now almost standard tool that also includes an on-desktop app that calculates your performance score in mythic plus and raids and shows you a similar score for other people in your party or prospective parties so you can see what level m+ they have completed, how many overall, and how many for a specific instance
Recount
Reviews all of your performance information for healing, damage taken or delivered and more by fight and overall
Scrap (Junk Seller)
Auto scraps all your junk, with an easy button for junk beyond 12 items or so. Also has a button to auto repair when possible
SilverDragon
With 8.1 WoW’s new interface disabled many overhead addons like NPC Scan. Silver Dragon, however, works, and is a good replacement for the NPC Scan function for calling out rare mobs when you see and find them
World Quests List
The best world quest addon I have seen, which pins the world quests on the map and shows their rewards, time left, name and type
Good luck in your adventures and hope you find this list helpful. Feel free to give your feedback and additions/suggestions on top of this.