The Spy addon scans for enemy players and announces their presence when they are detected. By warning you about nearby enemy players you can prepare for possible PvP combat.
About Spy
The addon scans the combat log for actions performed by enemy players. If an enemy player is detected the addon will attempt to determine their class, race and level based on the ability that was used. The addon will then sound an alert and add the enemy player to its list.
Spy can be configured to announce enemy player encounters to a chat channel and can also be configured to share data with other Spy users in your party, raid or guild. This allows a group of players to share information and determine the location of enemy players over a vast area.
Usage
Spy should work as soon as it has been enabled through the Addons window on your character select screen.
The Spy window
The Spy window will initially appear under your character portrait, but can be moved by dragging the title bar. The title bar contains the following buttons:
- Clear: Manually clears all enemy players that have currently been detected. Holding the Control key down while clicking this button will enable/disable Spy while leaving it displayed.
- Left/Right: Navigates between the Nearby, Last Hour, Ignore and Kill On Sight lists. Spy is configured by default to switch back to the Nearby list when the next enemy player is detected.
- Close: Hides the Spy window. Spy is configured by default to show itself again when the next enemy player is detected. Alternatively you can type /spy show to manually show the addon.
The Nearby list
As enemy players are detected they will be added to the Nearby list. Clicking buttons in the list will target the enemy player (this only works when you are out of combat). Hovering over entries in the list will display a tooltip with the enemy player's details, including the last seen time and location. Right-clicking buttons displays a drop down menu which will allow you to manually:
- Remove the enemy player from the Nearby list.
- Add/remove the enemy player to/from your Ignore and Kill On Sight lists.
- Announce the enemy player's details to a chat channel of your choice.
- Set multiple Kill On Sight reasons, if the player is on your Kill On Sight list.
If enemy players remain undetected they will be removed from the Nearby list after a configurable amount of time. The Nearby list will always sort by the time each enemy player was initially detected, with those enemy players who are Kill On Sight or actively performing actions being placed at the top of the list.
The Last Hour list
The Last Hour list displays enemy players that have been detected in the last hour. It will always be sorted by the time each enemy player was initially detected, with those most recently detected appearing at the top of the list.
The Ignore list
The Ignore list is where you can place enemy players you have deemed harmless. Spy will not generate any alerts for enemy players on your Ignore list. You can use the drop down menu to add/remove enemy players to/from the Ignore list, or alternatively hold the Control key down while clicking a button in the list to add/remove enemy players.
The Kill On Sight list
The Kill On Sight list is where you place enemy players you especially want to know about. When enemy players on your Kill On Sight list are detected a warning will be displayed and an alarm will sound. You can use the drop down menu to add/remove enemy players to/from the Kill On Sight list, or alternatively hold the Shift key down while clicking a button in the list to add/remove enemy players.
Minimap detection
If you can track humanoids then you will be able to detect known enemies by hovering over their position on the minimap. This does not work in battlegrounds and arenas. The level and class of known enemy players is displayed in the minimap's tooltip.
Players who can track humanoids include:
Slash command list
/spy : shows the list of slash commands.
/spy show : enables and displays the Spy window.
/spy reset : resets the Spy window to the default position below the character portrait.
/spy config : opens the Interface Addons window where the Spy configuration options are located.
How can Spy help you?
Not wanting to be ganked
Because Spy will alert you whenever an enemy player is detected, it will be extremely difficult for them to attack you by surprise. It will give you the time to determine whether you should prepare to fight or run away.
Wanting to be the one to do the ganking
If enemy players are not using the Spy addon themselves then it is likely that you will know about them before they know about you. This will let you prepare for attacking them by surprise.
Know when your enemies are nearby
Spy will sound an alarm when a Kill On Sight enemy player is detected. Usually you would add an enemy player to your Kill On Sight list when you are certain they will attack you. Spy will remember who your enemies are and will make sure you know when they are around.
Know when enemy players become stealthed
Spy will warn and sound a specific alert when it detects that an enemy player stealths. You should no longer be surprised by rogues or druids attacking you out of the blue.
Looking for enemy players
Because enemy players will automatically be added to the Nearby list whenever they attempt any action you can use the addon to locate enemy players as you move around a zone. You can also attempt to locate enemy players you have recently encountered by continually clicking their button in the Last Hour list while you move around a zone. The enemy player will be targeted as soon as you move within range. In addition, because you can use the data collected by other Spy users in your party, raid and guild, you stand a greater chance of locating the enemy player you are looking for if you have friends also using Spy.
Getting help when you encounter enemy players
Spy can be configured to announce encounters to a variety of channels, including your party, raid, guild and local defense channels. In addition, other Spy users in your party, raid or guild who are also in the same zone will have your encounters added to their Nearby lists. This is a great way for a guild to track down their enemies.
Getting revenge on an enemy player's guild
Spy is also capable of displaying a warning when a player in the same guild as someone on your Kill On Sight list is detected. This option can be enabled or disabled vis the Interface Addons window.
Knowing how many times you've won/lost against an enemy player
Spy will record when you make a killing blow against an enemy player. Likewise, it will also record when an enemy player makes a killing blow against you. These statistics can be seen in the tooltip that appears when you hover over the enemy player's entry in the list.
FAQs
Why doesn't Spy work while I am in combat?
The game has security restrictions on what addons can do during combat. Clicking buttons to target enemy players will not work during combat. At the moment, Spy does not display newly detected players in combat either, although this will be corrected in a future release. Spy will still give visual and audio alerts both in and out of combat.
Why does Spy only show a maximum of ten enemy players?
While the ten enemy player limit at any one time could easily be changed, I believe that displaying any more than ten enemy players will make it more difficult for the user to use the information Spy reports. Long lists of enemy players will either take up too much real-estate on screen, or require the introduction of list paging functionality which I believe would make the addon more cumbersome. The limit may be an issue for some users, but it is alleviated by the fact those enemy players who are actively performing actions or who are on your Kill On Sight list will always appear first.
I was just attacked by an enemy player who was stealthed. Why didn't Spy warn me?
If an enemy player doesn't perform any actions reportable in your combat log then Spy will not know they are there. In this case, the enemy player may have gone into stealth far enough away from you that it isn't reported in your combat log. Or the enemy player could have already been stealthed before you arrived in the area you were attacked.
Why can't I target an enemy player Spy has just reported?
The most likely explanation for this - if you aren't in combat - is that a buff has been applied or removed from one enemy player that was granted to them by another enemy player. This may happen, for example, when an enemy player gains the Leader of the Pack buff from a stealthed druid in their party. Spy will alert you to the possible presence of the enemy druid even though that druid did not perform any active action. This may also happen when a buff expires from an enemy player, in which case the other enemy player that granted the buff may not be in the vicinity at all.
Why doesn't Spy work in sanctuaries?
Spy doesn't work in sanctuaries such as Dalaran or Shattrath City because in those places there is no possibility of PvP combat. Any information reported by Spy will be of no use. Unless you like to try to emote your enemies to death...
How can I turn off Spy temporarily?
This can quickly be done by holding the Control key while clicking the Clear button in the title bar, or alternatively by enabling/disabling Spy via the Interface Addons window. You may want to do this when there are a lot of players around and you don't want the list to fill up or to continuously alert you.
I don't want a warning to be displayed or any alerts to sound. How can I turn them off?
Go to Spy's options in the Interface Addons window and open the Alerts section. Both visual warnings and audio alerts can be turned on or off.
Localization
Currently enUS only. Please contact me on this site if you are able to provide translations for other languages. I will introduce other languages in a future release.
Author
Written by Immolation from Cho'gall (US).
Installation Guide
- Exit "World of Warcraft" completely
- Download the mod you want to install
- Make a folder on your desktop called "My Mods"
- Save the .zip/.rar files to this folder.
- If, when you try to download the file, it automatically "opens" it... you need to RIGHT click on the link and "save as..." or "Save Target As".
- Extract the file - commonly known as 'unzipping'
Do this ONE FILE AT A TIME!
- Windows
- Windows XP has a built in ZIP extractor. Double click on the file to open it, inside should be the file or folders needed. Copy these outside to the "My Mods" folder.
- WinRAR: Right click the file, select "Extract Here"
- WinZip: You MUST make sure the option to "Use Folder Names" is CHECKED or it will just extract the files and not make the proper folders how the Authors designed
- Mac Users
- StuffitExpander: Double click the archive to extract it to a folder in the current directory.
- Verify your WoW Installation Path
That is where you are running WoW from and THAT is where you need to install your mods.
- Move to the Addon folder
- Open your World of Warcraft folder. (default is C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft\)
- Go into the "Interface" folder.
- Go into the "AddOns" folder.
- In a new window, open the "My Mods" folder.
- The "My Mods" folder should have the "Addonname" folder in it.
- Move the "Addonname" folder into the "AddOns" folder
- Start World of Warcraft
- Make sure AddOns are installed
- Log in
- At the Character Select screen, look in lower left corner for the "addons" button.
- If button is there: make sure all the mods you installed are listed and make sure "load out of date addons" is checked.
- If the button is NOT there: means you did not install the addons properly. Look at the above screenshots. Try repeating the steps or getting someone who knows more about computers than you do to help.
Translations
When you download a mod, please be sure that the mod is compatible with your translation of wow. Some mods only work on the US versions, while some only work on some of the various European versions. These variations are called "Localizations".
TOC Numbers (Out of Date Mods)
When Blizzard patches WoW, they change the Interface number. This means that all mods will be "out of date" unless or until the author releases a new version for that interface. Some people go into the .toc files and update the numbers themselves, but this is STRONGLY advised against as it will cause problems locating possible incompatibilities addons. When you log into WoW after a patch, you DO NOT have to delete your interface directory. All you have to do is simply tell WoW to ignore the interface numbers and load all the mods anyway. All you have to do is, while at the "character select" screen, look in the lower left corner and click on the "addons" button. A window will pop up listing all your installed mods.
If you look in the upper left corner of that window there should be a box that says "Load Out of Date AddOns". You want to CHECK this box. Now simply go into WoW normally and all your mods should load. As of the 1.9 patch, you will have to do this after EVERY patch/update that Blizzard posts! If you encounter any problems with a mod after a patch, please be sure to let the author of the mod know so they can fix it.
See also: About "Out Of Date AddOns"
Mac Support
WoW addons are not platformed based. As such, they can be used on either Mac or PC. You can extract both .zip and .rar files on a Mac using StuffitExpander.
Directory Structure
World of Warcraft
|_ Interface
|_AddOns
|_*AddonName*
|_ *AddonName*.toc
|_ *AddonName*.xml
|_ *AddonName*.lua
|_ (possibly others as well)...
