Rotation Assist Coming in The War Within Patch 11.1.7; More Addon Replacements Planned for the Default UI

• Author: Luxrah
• Date: April 30, 2025
• Updated: April 30, 2025
• Expansion: World of Warcraft

In the latest episode of WoWCast, Blizzard has shared some UI features they have planned for World of Warcraft, especially a new Rotation Assist tool that is planned for the next content update, 11.1.7, which we now know is titled Legacy of Arathor.

In the video, content creators Dratnos and Maximum chat with Game Director Ion Hazzikostas, who reveals what the devs have planned for the UI going forward along with discussing how addons have changed their approach to encounter design over the years.

It’s no surprise that the evolution of addons such as WeakAuras has changed the way the developers approach mechanics in the game. Hazzikostas admits they have leaned more heavily on twitch reaction mechanics, such as moving out of fire, because they can’t be trivialized with addons. At the same time, the game has evolved alongside these addons in such a way that playing without them leaves players at a severe handicap. Outlaw Rogues are given as an example of a class that virtually requires addons to play properly, even in casual content, due to its complexity. The Rotation Assist and other planned features are intended to bridge that gap, giving players functionality that has become required without the need to seek out and download 3rd party tools in order to play the game.

Along with the Cooldown Manager that was just added and the incoming Rotation Assist tool, they are also working on damage meters, nameplate improvements, and raid encounter info presentation (timelines of upcoming boss abilities, such as those given by Deadly Boss Mods or BigWigs). Anything that is currently considered mandatory for competitive play is on the table, although they don’t have any concrete timeline for when we may see these implemented.

Once these default tools are implemented, the devs plan to place broader restrictions on addons, primarily around accessing real-time combat events. The idea is that this will allow them to take some of these addons out of the equation when it comes to designing encounters, so they can get more creative with mechanics without fear of fights being trivialized by an addon. They aim to do this with minimal impact to cosmetic addons that only change the way your UI looks, or other addons that don’t affect combat like RP addons, profession and economy addons, and accessibility tools.

Patch 11.1.7 Legacy of Arathor will be making its way to the PTR “in the very near future.”