Mobmap – Powerful Ingame Database
I’ve long thought the main strength of World of Warcraft’s game design lies in its ability to be easily customized. The numerous and varied addons that have been created over the past 3 years attest to this.
I have already covered Cartographer and Lightheaded in the Addon section and now I would like to introduce another resource I use that I have found to be very helpful in speeding up the leveling grind.
Mobmap is an in-game database of quests and items, similar in spirit to Cartographer QuestObjectives. The main difference is that MobMap is not simply a database file that displays icons on your map – it is a fully-searchable database similar to Wowhead available to you in-game.
The main download for Mobmap is an executable file (a separate program) that runs similar to Wowecon, meaning you run a small program to upload and download database information. This of course represents a security risk, though as of this writing the software is legitimate. If you don’t want to take this risk, you can also download the addon and current database and manually install them. I believe the trade-off is that the information won’t be quite as current. The manual install link is at the bottom of the MobMap page.
But which ever path you choose to install the addon you will not be disappointed with the result. The database is much like having a Thottbot or Wowhead database available to you in-game and integrated into your quest log so you can easily find information and locations.
Mobmap is divided into the following categories which you can search:
- Mobs/NPCs – a list of all the quest-related mobs and NPCs the database has picked up so far (most or all of them) along with their locations.
- Quests – A list of all the quests picked up by the database (again, most if not all the quests in the game).
- Merchants – all the NPC merchants in the game and what they sell.
Recipes – all the recipes in the game along with their skill requirement and materials needed for each one. - Drop Chances – A list of various items in the game along with who they drop from and the chance the item will drop. This can also be displayed as a list of bosses, showing what each drops and the chances he/she will actually drop it.
- Pickups – a list of all the items you find throughout the game that are not looted from a dead mob. This is actually a pretty solid resource for finding ore and herb nodes.
- Quest Events – A comprehensive list of actions taken to complete quests. You can search for the action (example: Peons Awoken) and it will show you the location(s) where the action is taken on your map.
So how it works in the game:
There are three ways to access the database in the game: mini-map icon, quest tracker and the quest log. The mini-button is located on the ring of your mini-map and ? buttons will appear next to the objectives in your quest log and tracker.
Clicking a button next to a quest objective will bring up the MobMap database with the value for that objective already filled in. It will also open your map and flash the relevant locations so you know exactly where to go. The location markers will stay on your map until you choose a different objective, so you can always close your map and look at it again later.
It works the the same basic way if you are looking up non-quest-related information like recipes or epic drops. You can type in the name of what you are looking for, or simply click through the lists.
This simple addon will make your life in WoW sooo much easier. It will help with a lot more than simply finding quests and their objectives. Of course, it won’t tell you the fastest order to complete those quests, for that you need a walkthrough like the Elite WoW 1-70 Guide. Following that will definitely make the levels fly and you help get you into epics in no time.
First Posted on: August 23rd, 2008 by Fortuente 2 Comments »
Tags: Addons
