PitBull. The mod to end all mods?

[PapaSmurf]

So i was playing around with some mods the other day. I had read an article off wowinsider where someone had mentioned PitBull as being a good mod. I decided I'd give it a shot and wanted to give a quick summary of my impressions.

First: what is it? It's a Unit Frame mod build on Ace. I love Ace, the WowAceUpdater is great and it seems that a lot of the mods built on it are very high quality. It is a replacement for the standard blizzard unit frames and competes with mods such as x-perl (which I used to use) and sRaidFrames.

When I first installed the mod, my initial impression was "meh". It didn't look all the special with the default configuration. So I said, well let's see how I can change things around to work a little better. I moved my mouse over to the new configuration button siting on my mini map. When I hit right click I nearly fell off my chair. Holy Cow! take about a TON of options. At first I was a bit overwhelmed, and with my initial impression being less than favorable, I nearly uninstalled the mod. Then I got to thinking. You know the biggest complaints I hear about the existing mods is that this mod can't do this or this mod can do that. Everyone is nitpicking little details about how they wish something worked slightly different. Maybe having so much configuration is a good thing. So, I rolled up my sleeves and starting digging in.

First thing I did was put the mod into solo configuration mode. I saw all the standard frames displayed that I'm used to. Player, Target, Target's Target, Focus, Focus' Target. I also saw where all the slots are reserved for buffs and debuffs. I really like the mods configuration mode. You see everything that is either enabled or disabled so you know where all the information is going to go. I also noticed a casting bar, deficit health bars, Range check, a FSR timer on the mana bar (nice!). There is a wealth of information available on each of the different frames. I started playing around with making changes. Want the health bar on bottom? Put it there. Don't like the font? Change it to one of a dozen different possible fonts. You can change the scale, width, height. Where the buffs and debufs are located. How many buffs/debuffs show up. How big they are. How you filter it. Don't like the default health information? Change it! it even has custom text where you use variables for currentHP/maxHP and setup a health string EXACTLY like you want it. Want a portrait? Add it!

Well after spending some time in solo configuration mode, I switch to party. To my delight I have every option available to me on party frames that were available on player/target frames. There are Party Target and Party pet frames too. Each type of frame is independently configurable so you can have your pet frames be just the health bars with the names of the pets. You can turn on/off buffs/debuffs on the pets.

Finally I switched to raid configuration mode. Holy frames batman! there are the standard raid frames, but then you have tank frames, MA frames, target frames for MA/TANK. Target's target for MA/TANK. There are even raid target and pet frames! You can enable/disable these frames to customize what is available, but EVERYTHING is there. In addition, every capability that is on Player/Party frames is also on raid frames. You can have casting bars, range check, everything you could possibly want to see.

Are you tired of having separate mods for party and raid frames? Are you tired of missing that one key piece of information that one mod lacks? Do pets die in raids cause you can't see them? Pitbull may just be the answer for you. Be prepared to spend some time configuring the mod, but once you learn all the configuration options there is nothing it can't do.

D

[vor_lord]

I looked at PitBull. To me it looks like TBC's DUF. It's insanely configurable and powerful, but takes a ton of work to get set up. If, like DUF, you have to redo it nearly every patch... I'll continue to stay away. I don't want to go back into that hell again.

[RTM]

I don't want to rain on your parade, but from what I've read the original author of PitBull is no longer working on it. There are a few outstanding bugs with the Aura module that cause some significant slowdowns in raids where a lot of buffs/debuffs are at work. It was originally presented as a lightweight alternative to AG_UnitFrames but has succumbed to the typical Ace bloat, where every feature anyone requests gets implemented (and sometimes poorly).

That said, I've been using it for a few months now and I love it.:)I tried going back to AG_UF or the default UI frames but there was always some missing feature that I had gotten used to PitBull having.

Some tips for an enhanced PitBull experience:

**Disable any modules you don't need. PitBull comes with a crapload of modules, some for specific classes (Rogue/Druid energy ticker, etc.). If you aren't using it, disable it to save some memory usage.

**Download SharedMedia. It adds a ton of custom textures and fonts (to other ACE addons also), some of which are quite nice.

**Take the time to poke around in the options. The default setup is pretty bland. There is an option for moving/removing/resizing/recoloring pretty much everything, it's insane.


Edit for vor_lord: It's not nearly as bad to configure as DUF (that mod was TRULY insane), and as it's an ACE mod it gets updated for a patch very very quickly. I've never had to redo all my settings except by choice.

[VinnieJones]

Ag_uf. Nuff said.:)

[Bolty]

Ag_uf. Nuff said.:)

Seconded. Pitbull is the "cool" mod to use but it's gone from "lightweight and low memory use alternative to AG_UF" to "more bloated than AG_UF." I tried it once a while back, didn't see anything that my IceHUD/AG_UF setup didn't already have, and dropped it.

Then again, I'm one of those guys who can't get used to Grid either, so I'm just curmudgeonly. :)

-Bolty

[oldmandennis]

It's definitely not the mod to end all mods. I use it and like it though.

I still use grid for raid frames. That and click make any kind of random healing a breeze. It's easy to see when the raid is in trouble to shift and start spamming renew. It also makes dominating the healing meters a breeze in BG's, even when not speced for it.

I have never had to reconfigure it after an update or patch. I haven't noticed any bloat or slowing, but then I use grid for raids and installed it at the same time I got rid of the last vestiges of ctmod.

[Icebird]

PitBull seems to be the unit frame de jour but I'm still pretty happy with ag_unitframes.

I used to use PerfectRaid as my raid frames, but recently switched to Grid when I began playing my priest more in raids. If I only needed information about the raid I would choose PerfectRaid - it's easier to display stacking buffs and debuffs, you get mana bars by default without looking for additional modules, and the green health bars are slightly more intuitive.

However for healing, I found Grid's compact 5x5 layout meant less cursor movement when playing spot heal whack-a-mole, plus Grid takes up a lot less screen real estate - important when you have a dozen mods clamoring for screen space, and you still want to actually see the game itself.

Chris

[Taelas]

I still use DUF. I tried PitBull, but I don't like the textures and it's not nearly configurable enough for my liking (but then, I use DUF, so I'm used to a LOT of configurability).