What are addons and why do you need them?

Addons are player made extensions that can enhance features of the game or even introduce whole new features that alter the gameplay and improve your performance. In this article we will be looking at the best addons for the tank role and how they can help you with keeping your enemies at bay and away from your allies, while also doing a consistent skill rotation. Keep in mind that while this is a Top 15 list, the addons here are in no particular order, since they all serve very different functions.

15. Who Taunted?

Taunting is one of the essential abilities of a tank character in any MMORPG, and in WoW that’s no different. Who Taunted is an addon that lets you keep track of taunts, which is useful for raid groups where many different tanks have to work together in order to manage aggro.

Why you need Who Taunted:

• Control the aggro of mobs much more efficiently;
• Increase your synergy with other tanks in raid content;
• Never taunt the same enemy twice again.

Get Who Taunted here

14. Simple Interrupt Announce

Interrupts are abilities that can cancel the cast of other skills, an essential part of both PvE and PvP in WoW when it comes to countering channeled spells. The Simple Interrupt Announce addon lets your party keep track of interrupts so you and your allies don’t make the mistake of interrupting the same enemy, allowing for better coordination in dungeons and raids.

Why you need Simple Interrupt Announce:

• Informs your allies whenever you interrupt an enemy;
• Keep track of interrupts in PvE and PvP;
• Provides better teamwork and coordination in dungeons, raids and battlefields.

Get Simple Interrupt Announce here

13. Method Raid Tools

Next on our list is the Method Raid Tools addon, a must-have for tanks who take raids seriously. This plugin includes features that allow you to focus on difficult encounters and react accordingly.

Why you need Method Raid Tools:

• Set up custom notes and instructions for your raids, never forget a boss mechanic again;
• Keep track of all the relevant information about your raid members during combat, which helps a lot in protecting them and giving peel;
• Record your combat statistics and those of your allies.

Get Method Raid Tools here

12. TopCombat

TopCombat is an aim assist addon that highlights enemy players doing the most damage and lets you blow up the health of DPS enemies that might otherwise go unnoticed, especially those that stay in the backline.

Why you need TopCombat:

• Allows you to quickly identify and target enemy DPS players who might go unnoticed;
• You can put the enemy’s top DPS under a crowd control effect, greatly helping your allied DPS players to score a kill or target the enemy healer;
• Having a full team using this addon is a game changer when it comes to PvP encounters.

Get TopCombat here

11. TopTarget

TopTarget is another targeting aid addon, yet with more features and guaranteed to revolutionize the way you play PvP in WoW. This addon has different crosshairs for the most targeted enemy, the lowest HP target enemy, the lowest mana enemy, etc. With this addon, you'll have more synergy with your party, and, even when you're not talking to each other, you'll be able to get those sweet kills that we all love.

Why you need TopTarget:

• Allows for team synergy even without talking;
• Different reticles for a variety of potential good targets;
• Is guaranteed to increase your kill ratio in PvP.

Get TopTarget here

10. TankHelper

Raid UI addons are essential for people trying to get serious about raiding, especially those willing to tackle Mythic Plus content. This is a simple addon that helps a lot when you are playing a tank, with specific raid icons, a pull timer and information on the status of your allies.

Why you need TankHelper:

• Adds specific raid icons for tanks;
• Features a pull timer so you don’t mess up and wipe your group;
• Additional information on the status of your allies.

Get TankHelper here

9. WeakAuras

WeakAuras is a classic World of Warcraft addon that you'll probably see on almost every top addon list for the game. WeakAuras is an awesome and flexible tool that allows you to set up and display custom graphics in WoW's UI that show important information during battles such as buffs, debuffs, warnings and various valuable stats, all with improved visibility.

Why you need WeakAuras:

• Increases the visibility of vital combat information;
• Allows you to configure and display all sorts of custom graphics related to combat;
• While this addon might be intimidating due to the huge amount of features, the website has premade WeakAuras for every class and spec in the game.

Get WeakAuras here

8. Ability Team Tracker

Ability Team Tracker is an addon that will completely change the way you play PvP in WoW by allowing you to track the cooldown of skills for each allied party member, meaning you know the right time to retreat, know the best time to defend and when to burst the enemy team.

Why you need Ability Team Tracker:

• Allows you to keep track of the cooldowns of your allies;
• You will have more synergy with your party in PvP;
• Fully customizable, meaning that you can keep track of any ability that you judge more important.

Get Ability Team Tracker here

7. Death Note

If you don’t want to let your team wipe twice in a row, then Death Note is a great addon to add to your list. It gives you a detailed combat log on how you and your allies have died, allowing you to learn from your mistakes and not mess up in the same way twice.

Why you need Death Note:

• Shows detailed information about your deaths and those of your allies;
• As a tank, avoiding death is vital, so knowing what caused you to die is essential if you want to avoid making mistakes in the future;
• This is a great tool for figuring out complex boss mechanics that might wipe your team over and over again, especially in random groups.

Get Death Note here

6. ElvUI

Making a custom UI in MMORPGs has become a trend in more recent games, and even WoW now has a limited yet welcome interface customization tool. However, if you wish to go another step further, then you should try ElvUI, a full replacement of the original World of Warcraft user interface that lets you completely customize every part of the HUD, down to the little details.

Why you need ElvUI:

• Allows you to completely customize your UI;
• Creating the perfect UI for you can be a great help overall, improving the visibility of important elements of the user interface while hiding useless ones;
• A customized UI can make the game a lot more comfortable and intuitive to play, which in turn makes you a lot more efficient.

Get ElvUI here

5. Kui Nameplates

Want a simple yet efficient nameplates addon? Here is Kui Nameplates, a great mod that improves nameplates through a wide variety of settings, from frame sizes to auras, without the need of a complex set up process.

Why you need Kui Nameplates:

• A wide variety of settings to improve nameplates in the game with easy setup;
• Increases the visibility and the information you have about your targets;
• Includes an aura function, threat glows, among many other functions.

Get Kui Nameplates here

4. Deadly Boss Mods - Dungeons

Next we have an essential addon for PvE players of all roles, but especially tanks: Deadly Boss Mods, or DBM. There will be two versions of this addon on the list: Dungeons and Challenges. The Dungeons version can greatly improve your performance in 5-man PvE content, with helpful functions such as colored warnings, warning messages, custom bars, and an auto response to whispers.

Why you need Deadly Boss Mods - Dungeons:

• Custom warnings can really help you survive a difficult boss encounter, and as a tank you don’t have the privilege of dying, otherwise your whole team is very likely to wipe;
• Auto responds any whispers sent to you, letting your friends know that you are busy;
• Additional timers and infoframes specific for 5-man PvE content.

Get Deadly Boss Mods - Dungeons here

3. Deadly Boss Mods - Challenges

The Challenges version of the DBM mod shares most of the pros of its Dungeons counterpart, this time  optimized for challenges instead, like Proving Grounds and Torghast for example.

Why you need Deadly Boss Mods - Challenges:

• Custom warnings can really help you survive a difficult boss encounter, and as a tank you don’t have the privilege of dying, otherwise your whole team is very likely to wipe;
• Auto responds any whispers sent to you, letting your friends know that you are busy;
• Additional timers and infoframes specific for challenges.

Get Deadly Boss Mods - Challenges here

2. Threat Plates

If you enjoyed Kui Nameplates but want to go another step further in the customization of nameplates, Threat Plates is basically the bigger and stronger cousin of that addon. It includes the automatic spec detection function, fully customizable nameplates, support for multiple profiles, and much more.

Why you need Threat Plates:

• Fully customize every setting of the nameplates in WoW;
• Automatic spec detection that makes the setup process a lot quicker and easier;
• Save and load as many different profiles as you want.

Get Threat Plates here

1. Hekili Priority Helper

One of the most impressive addons in WoW’s catalog, Hekili Priority Helper, is your own combat AI. This addon constantly collects combat data and makes predictions based off of it, showing you the best possible skill to use in each situation.

Why you need Hekili Priority Helper:

• Collects combat data from the game and makes predictions based off of that information;
• With the help of this AI you will always stay one step ahead the enemies during combat;
• Fully customizable interface.

Get Hekili Priority Helper here

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