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NeedToKnow

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  • World of Warcraft
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  • Supports: 4.3
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  • Created 1/2/2007 2:52:24 PM
  • Updated 1/28/2012 7:02:33 PM
  • 1,239 Favorites
  • Project Site
  • License: GNU General Public License version 3 (GPLv3)
  • Release Type: Release
  • Newest File: NeedToKnow 4.0.02
or

About NeedToKnow

NeedToKnow lets you monitor specific buffs, debuffs, cooldowns, and totems as timer bars that always appear in a consistent place on your screen.

Note that 4.0 is a pretty big update. I recommend backing up your WTF folder before upgrading just in case there's a problem!

NeedToKnow is especially useful for monitoring frequently used buffs, debuffs, and cooldowns. For example, a rogue could configure NeedToKnow to show timer bars for Slice and Dice, Rupture, and their own stack of Deadly Poison VII. A death knight could use it to track their own diseases on a mob.

Features


  • Customizable bar number, size, position, and texture
  • Works with procs and on-use trinkets
  • Separate settings for each talent specialization (with profile support)
  • Track multiple buffs or debuffs with a single bar
  • Option for fixed maximum duration so that all bars in a group deplete at the same rate
  • Works with SharedMedia
  • Low CPU and memory usage
  • Overlay a cast time. For example, easily see when to refresh Vampiric Touch or when there's less Flame Shock than it takes to cast Lava Burst.
  • Support for watching totems by name (this includes non-shaman totems like Wild Growth.)
  • Support for temporary weapon enchants (like Flametongue Weapon)
  • Support for SpellID to eliminate issues with duplicate buff names.

Please use the ticket system on CurseForge for bugs and suggestions.

Instructions

General options are available in the Blizzard interface options menu. You can type "/needtoknow" or "/ntk" to lock/unlock the addon. To configure individual bars, right click them while unlocked. Bars work while locked. If you only see full bars that aren't changing in response to anything, they are unlocked! Just type /ntk to lock them and get them working for you.

You can enable more groups of bars by going into the Interface settings off the main menu and choosing the AddOns tab.

When entering your settings, be careful with your spelling and capitalization. Also remember that buffs and debuffs sometimes have different names than the items and abilities that apply them. The Death Knight ability Icy Touch, for example, applies a DoT called Frost Fever.

On each bar you can enter in multiple buffs/debuffs deliminated by commas. They are prioritized according to order.
i.e. "Rake, Lacerate" - If both are applied, will display Rake until it expires and then it will track Lacerate
i.e "Curse of Recklessness, Curse of Exhaustion, Curse of Shadows" - Good way to track single instance curses

If you wish to use SpellID, make sure you are using the correct one!

Videos
Some folks have put together videos showing off how they configured NeedToKnow

FAQ

Why won't NeedToKnow work for me? I set it up but the bars just sit there at full, not moving or tracking anything.

  • The bars only time things when the addon is locked. Type "/needtoknow" or "/ntk" to lock/unlock the addon. You can also use the buttons in the AddOns tab of the Blizzard Interface Options menu.

Why won't NeedToKnow track this buff/debuff? It works for other things.

  • Check your spelling and capitalization. Also remember that buffs and debuffs sometimes have different names than the items and abilities that apply them. The Death Knight ability Icy Touch, for example, applies a DoT called Frost Fever. If you're using a SpellID, make sure you have the correct one.

How do I track multiple buffs or debuffs on a single bar?

  • Enter the name of each buff/debuff separated by commas. They are prioritized according to order. For example, "Rake, Lacerate" will display Rake until it expires and then it will track Lacerate. "Curse of Recklessness, Curse of Exhaustion, Curse of Shadows" is a good way to track single-instance curses.

How do I get more bars?

  • You can enable more groups of bars by going into the Interface settings off the main menu and choosing the AddOns tab. If four groups of six bars isn't enough for you, consider another timer bar addon. Also consider rethinking your UI.

How do I get NeedToKnow to track my own DoTs but not those applied by other members of my class?

  • Select "Only show if cast by self" in the bar's configuration menu.

4.0.02
- Fixed: Cancelling out of the interface options could cause values set to false to reset to true the next time the profile was loaded
- Tweaked "boss only" blink bars so that if the target is friendly, NTK will track if anyone in the raid is in combat with a boss
- Improved the look of the per-bar configuration menu, getting rid of radio button backgrounds
- Improved the usability of the equipment slot feature, changing the buff/debuff name into a submenu when equipment slot is chosen
- New feature: Import/Export bar settings. This allows settings to be copy and pasted between bars, or shared between users, or with me as tech support. This replaces the old "clear settings" menu option. To clear the settings now, just blank out the import/export string.

4.0.01
- Fixed: Characters which had never used NTK before could only use the first bar group (Ticket 116)

4.0.00
- Major update to support profiles
- Greatly improved the UI for selecting fonts and bar textures
- New bar type: Equipment slot
- Increased the maximum bars per group
- Reduced the minimum bar scale to 25%, allowing for very thin bars
- Updated toc for 4.3

3.2.08
- Fixed: blink didn't work with weapon imbues

3.2.06
- Updated combat log hander for 4.1 (targettarget bars). Also tried to make it a little more efficient
- fixed: "sum stacks from all casters" only worked for buffs
- Fixed problem with cooldowns sometimes not working after spec switch

3.2.05
- Added some sanity checks around weapon imbues. Should prevent the lua errors, though the corresponding bars won't work. It'll complain (a lot) in your chat window.
- Listening to ACTIVE_TALENT_GROUP_CHANGED as well as PLAYER_TALENT_UPDATE
- Listening to SPELL_UPDATE_COOLDOWN as well as ACTIONBAR_UPDATE_COOLDOWN
- Fixed: The code that was supposed to stop cooldown bars from disappearing was actually preventing it from detecting cooldown resets sometimes.

3.2.04
- Fixed refactoring bug in auto shot bars causing a lua error

3.2.03
- Trying again to get bar initialization to happen reliably

3.2.02
- Fixed: Cooldown bars initialized too soon, resulting in failure to find the item/spell

3.2.01
- Fixed: "Usable" bars caused massive lua errors and didn't work

3.2.0
- internal cooldown bars can now be told to reset to 0 based on the presence of another buff. (for example, eclipse resets Nature's Grace)
- Fairly massive restructuring to split up the monolithic Bar_AuraCheck function (Ticket 56)
- Fixed berserk tracking on multiple weapons. This never worked before, it turns out. (Ticket 84)
- Some changes for perf improvements
- Spell cooldown bars try a bit harder to figure out what you meant to watch. Before, Swipe would end up watching cat Swipe (same name as bear Swipe), which has no cooldown. Explosive Trap works now, too. (Ticket 85)
- A bar watching your pet will update when your pet changes
- Min scale reduced from 0.6 to 0.25

3.1.9
- Fix Lua error tracking certain DK spell cooldowns

3.1.8
- Fixes cooldown tracking in 4.0.1

3.1.7
- Maybe works with Cataclysm now?
- More robust rune vs spell cd detection for DKs (Ticket 72)
- Added support to the text override for a list of names, corresponding to the list of spells to watch for (Ticket 43)

3.1.6
- Can now turn off the display of stack count (Ticket 52)
- Can now override the name that is displayed (Ticket 43)

3.1.5
- Spell cooldowns for spells like Stealth will now start when the spell ends, instead of looping when the spell is cast
- The logic to hide a cooldown that was just the GCD has been improved. Spell cooldown timers will no longer disappear when they become GCD limited (if there was 1s left and you begin a 1.2s GCD, the bar would disappear before.) This logic has then been extended to cover DK rune cooldowns (if you had a spell which required runes, but the runes had a longer cooldown than the spell had remaining, the bar would display the cooldown for the runes.)

3.1.4
- Cyrillic fixes from kolod on curseforge (ticket 74)
- Groups can only be sized such that the bars are an integer number of pixels tall. Hopefully this will improve ticket 70
- Fixed non-deterministic texture ordering on the bars, which could put the visual cast time under the bar. (Ticket 73)

3.1.3
- Fixed a LUA error caused by 3.3.5 edit box changes when entering the name of the spell to watch

3.1.2
- Added zhCN & zhTW localization. Thanks, wowui.cn!
- Change tooltip anchor to above group
- Added new options panel: Appearance. Moved texture, font, bar spacing, bar padding, and background color options to it
- Changed lock/unlock button to config mode / play mode buttons
- Fixed a LUA error if the addon was loaded with totems out
- Replaced use of StatusBar widget with custom Texture management both because our bars have two textures and because Blizzard can't set their texture coordinates correctly any more. Fixes ticket 51
- Fixed a bug with the double-bar feature when resizing the group. This was done automatically for the main texture before, but not for the second. Now it's done for both, yay.
- Small memory optimization
- The second texture gets image and color updated the same time the primary one does, meaning it will update without a /reload
- Updating the bar appearance was being shortcut if the bar was currently blinking, so had to set the color twice.

3.1.1
- Fixed: Auto Shot CD reset on every spell cast, not just Auto Shot

3.1.0
- Fixed: All the numeric dialogs in the config menus were using the same help text.
- New option for buffs/debuffs: Show all stacks. Can be used to watch a category of spells (like HoTs), or to watch procs from Berserker
- Auto Shot now works as a spell cooldown
- Fixed bar texturing tiling instead of stretching in 3.3.3
- Fixed "infinite" duration buffs not correctly displaying
- Add new bar type: Usable. Designed with Victory Rush in mind.

3.0.3
- Watching the offhand enchant would display the name of the mainhand enchant, which could cause a lua error if there was no mainhand enchant
- Reverted a partial import/export feature that snuck in

3.0.2
- Fixed a bug with blink. It defaults to 0.5 alpha and disabled, by the legacy loading code saw the 0.5 and figured it should enable blink. Worked great if you still had old settings, but starting from scratch was a bit of disaster. Sorry new users!

3.0.1
- Fixed a bug with the "Unit" setting from a buff or debuff bar causing other bar types (like spell cooldown)
- Removed the display of charges from buff cooldown bars. Easy enough to put back if people miss it, but it surprised me.
- Fixed a small pef bug: every bar was doing one extra loop checking for the presence of the buff ""
- If the internal buff cooldown was shorter than the duration of the buff, the bar wouldn't disappear (and the spark would go negative)

3.0.0
- Created a "Settings" submenu whose contents depends on the BuffOrDebuff variable. This should allow for more bar types without confusing the menu too much.
- Added new bar type: "internal cooldown" for proc cooldown timers
- Added new bar type: "spell cooldown" for tracking spell and item cooldown timers
- Fixed: Temporary weapon enchants now use a substring search. "Poison" will pick up all rogue poisons. This also fixed a lua error that could occur when watching weapon buffs
- Added: Can show an asterisk when the bar is tracking a spell cast by the player
- Improved: Added a blink enable besides just setting the alpha to 0. The alpha thing confused too many people
- Added more blink options: only in combat, only if boss, and a label for blinking bars

2.8.6
- Improved: Blinking bars try to be a little smarter about when to blink and when to just be hidden. Especially the case of debuff bars blinking when no target.
- Improved: Weapon imbue names now capture (I hope) the full name from the tooltip to compare against. The name to watch for (in the NTK config) is then regarded as a substring search. So you could configure NTK to watch for Poison to catch all poisons.

2.8.5
- Added: Option to show a spell icon to the left of active bars
- Added: Option to change the font used on NeedToKnow bars (in the interface options dialog)

2.8.4
- Added: Option to show certain bar elements: aura name, time remaining, and the "spark" (ticket 8)
- Added: Option to blink the bar when it would otherwise be missing (ticket 7)
- Fixed: Weapon imbue bars disappear on teleport (ticket 9)
- Fixed: Spark incorrectly visible on weapon imbues (ticket 6)

2.8.3
- Fixed some problems upgrading from older versions of NeedToKnow (ticket 5)

2.8.2
- Beta Support for temporary weapon enchants. Only tested with elemental and restoration shaman (not enhancement or rogues.)

2.8.1
- Fixed: Watching totem by spellid did not work
- Fixed: Logging in when the character was in the second spec would use the first spec's setting

2.8.0
- Added the ability to track increases in spell duration, especially useful for dps druids
- Marked as being a 3.3 addon
- Fixed: Took advantage of a new 3.3 API to get the spell id of active buffs and debuffs. Bars that check spellid should be much more reliable and, for example, be able to tell the difference between the two different Death's Verdict procs
- Fixed: Totem timing is much more accurate
- Fixed: Visual cast times now updates based on changes in haste and other casting-time-affecting abilities
- Refactored the internal structure a bit, which results in easier hooking by other addons

2.7.1
- Fixed: Accidentally removed the background color picker

2.7.0
- Added options for how the time text is formatted. The current style is the default, with mm:ss and ss.t as other options
- Added "visual cast time" overlay which can be used to tell when there's less than some critical amount of time left on an aura
- Hid the spark when the aura lasts longer than the bar (either an infinite duration, or using the Max duration feature.)
- Hid the time text when the aura has an infinite duration

2.6.0
- Added support for a new "Buff or Debuff" type: Totem. Type in the name of the totem to watch for (can be a partial string.)
- Fixed a parse error in the DE localization
- Slightly improved performance of "target of target"
- Added two new /ntk options: show and hide. They can be used to temporarily show and hide the ntk groups.

2.5.2
- Changed event parsing to try to be more robust (see autobot's errors)

2.5.1
- Trying a different strategy for identifying "only cast by me" spells
- When editing the watched auras, the edit field starts with the current value
- Configuring by SpellID is automatically detected and does not need a menu item checked

2.5
- Fixed ToT issue
- Added support for SpellID

2.4.3
- Added SharedMedia support, uses LibSharedMedia-3.0
- Greatly improved performance

2.4.2
- Fixed a bug with the multiple buffs per line
- Fixed a small bug with resize button showing
- Optimized performance slightly

2.4.1
- Fixed character restriction on buff names, no accepts up to 255 characters.
- Added Russian localization

2.4
- Brought up to 3.2 API standards
- Added multiple buffs/debuffs per bar
- Dual-Specialization support

Version 2.2
- Added option to show bars with a fixed maximum duration
- Fixed an issue with targetoftarget
- Added koKR localization. Thanks, metalchoir!
- Added deDE localization. Thanks, sp00n & Fxfighter!

Version 2.1
- Updated for WoW 3.1
- Can now track spells cast by player's pet or vehicle
- Can now track buffs/debuffs on player's vehicle
- Added options for background color, bar spacing, bar padding, bar opacity
- Fixed a problem with buff charges not showing as consumed

Version 2.0.1
- Updated for WoW 3.0
- Can now track (de)buffs applied by others
- Added option to only show buffs/debuffs if applied by self

Version 2.0
- Added support for monitoring debuffs
- Added support for variable numbers of bars
- Added support for separate groups of bars
- Added support for monitoring buffs/debuffs on target, focus, pet, or target of target
- Bars are now click-through while locked
- Reminder icons have been been greatly expanded in functionality and split off into their own addon: TellMeWhen
- Cleaner bar graphics
- Users of older versions will need to re-enter settings

Version 1.2
- Updated for WoW 2.4 API changes

Version 1.1.1
- Icons should now work properly with item cooldowns.
- Reset button should now work properly when you first use the AddOn.

Version 1.1
- Icons will now show when reactive abilities (Riposte, Execute, etc.) are available.
- Added options for bar color and texture.
- Added graphical user interface. Most slash commands gone.
- Added localization support. Translations would be much appreciated.
- Users of older version will need to re-enter settings.

Version 1.0
- Hello world!

Comments

First Previous Page 1 of 51 Next Last
  • #983

    Hey there, love the addon, I use it on all of my toons :)

    I recently acquired the Madness of Deathwing weapon [Rathrak, the Poisonous Mind], and I'm wondering whether it's possible to track the ICD of its proc. The issue I'm running into is that it procs a debuff instead of a buff.
    Do you have any advice on how I'd work around this issue? Thanks in advance :)

  • #984

    There's not currently a way to change what NTK watches for ICD tracking; it only watches buffs on the player.  Rathrak is especially tricky since it would be a debuff on the target, but should still be doable.  Is there actually a use to knowing when the ICD of rathrak is up?

    Glad you like NTK :)

  • #985

    I have a use for it, a rather minor one but a use nonetheless :P
    Playing a boomkin, the proc gets buffed by Solar Eclipse, and I think there'd be a situation or two where if the ICD is 1-2 seconds off finishing and I'm about to leave Eclipse, it'd be worth stalling the extra 1-2 casts.

    A very niche situation as you can see, not high on the priority list :P

  • #980

    Would it be possible to add an option to capture current SP (or haste, or mastery, or all 3) for a debuff when applying it to an enemy?  For instance, if I cast "Bane of Doom" on my target, I might want it to show my spellpower at the time the spell was applied:

    [Bane of Doom (10000 SP)   45s]

    Later, let's say Power Torrent procs and I use my tier bonus, my spellpower jumps up to 12k, so I refresh the spell:

    [Bane of Doom (12000 SP)   74s]

    Any thoughts about rolling this into the add-on?  It would be helpful for DoT classes like priests and warlocks, as to avoid overwriting more powerful DoTs with less powerful.

  • #981

    Started some brainstorming on this topic in Ticket 118.  Feel free to add your own thoughts :)

  • #977

    can u add a function to copy the set up from one bar to another? it would be awesome

    EDIT: and how can i use spell id instead of names? i couldnt figure it out :P

    Last edited by Loduro on 1/18/2012 8:19:57 PM
  • #978

    Being able to export/import a bar's settings to/from a string is something that's been on my personal wishlist for awhile.  I'd love to be able to have folks paste their settings when they're having trouble, share them with friends, etc. So maybe some day :)

    To use spell id, just enter the number as the buff/debuff to watch.  Like if you want to track Foul Gift but not Foul Gift, type in 102663 as the buff/debuff to watch.

  • #979

    tkx :)

  • #975

    First off I want to say what a fantasticly helpful addon this is.  Great work.

     

    What I would like to know though is if there's an easy way to transfer settings from one character to another, IE when you do a race change, it resets settings to default. 

     

    thanks!

  • #976

    Hrm.  If you'd known to do so ahead of time, you could have made that profile shared, and then it would be available to you after the race change.  As it is, try copying the WTF\Account\you\server\character\SavedVariables\NeedToKnow.lua to the new character name.

  • #972

    Does this addon track talents? Talents like Blessed Life, so when it can be procced again.

  • #973

    NTK tracks buffs, debuffs, spell cooldowns (cooldown sweep on the action bar button), item use cooldowns, weapon imbues, and totems right now.  Blessed Life doesn't appear to use one of those.  In fact, I'm not sure any addon can tell that Blessed Life procs.

    Last edited by Kitjan on 1/12/2012 10:01:47 AM
  • #970
    Hunter Focus

    Question: How do I set up a bar to track the amount of focus I have - preferably with a visible number?

    And is it possible to have that on a separate bar that can be moved and sized independently of the other bars I have set up?

  • #971

    Re Focus: Ticket76.  I completely understand the desire to consolidate UI/Addons, but a bar that isn't a timer may be a bit of an odd fit code-wise.  It's still something I should look at some day.

    Re moving bars: You can only move groups, and currently can have 4 groups (though I want to change that limit.) If you haven't enabled other groups yet, that's in the Interface->Addons->Need To Know options.

  • #968

    I created a secondary profile, but when I switch specs, it said "G7 profile does not exist".

    I deleted the secondary profile I created because it wasn't swapping when I swapped specs. I cannot delete the primary profile.

    I deleted the NeedToKnow folder from interface in an attempt to reinstall from scratch, but this did not work.

    How can I start over with this addon without wrecking my whole interface?

    Thank you.

    Last edited by galapogosian on 1/10/2012 5:38:34 AM
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