Using too many addons will impact your game’s performance a lot.
That is why I am making this list of the top 10 essential ESO addons that will cover 90% of you needs in ESO without bloating your game or adding too much clutter.
My preference is to get very lightweight addons that do one thing really well. I am not a big fan of huge kits that have tons of features that I am only using a third of.
I’ve split this list into two parts, 5 essential addons you absolutely need, and another 5 that you might want depending on your play style.
In the first list I will talk about addons that anyone should get, beginners included. They are addons that could have been core features of the game.
The second list will feature extremely useful addons which could according to some people be considered cheat, which is why I would not recommend them to everyone, and if you are a beginner you might want to enjoy the purity of the game first.
I wrote an article on the best way to install addons in the Elder Scrolls Online in case you are unsure of the process. If you are installing them manually, I definitely recommend you check it out as there is a much better way.
5 Essential ESO addons you absolutely need
1: Votan’s Minimap
I have tried a few other mini maps, Votan’s minimap is simply the best. It does not slow down your game at all and it never bugs out. Many other minimap plugins try to do fancy things which breaks them and makes your game run slower.
I mean come on.. This is something that should have been a core feature of the game and how Zenimax overlooked this feature is absolutely beyond me. Anyways, rant over.
Being without a minimap in a game like ESO is like eating bananas with the peel on.
I really feel for you console players who can’t get a mini map 🙁
2: Kyoma’s Repair ‘n Recharge
This handy addon will automatically repair your armor with repair kits and recharge your enchanted weapons as they deplete with soul gems.
You can set a threshold for when the repair kit and soul gem should fire. It’s a very nice and lightweight plugin that does one job and one job only.
Kyoma’s Repair ‘n Recharge on ESOUI
3: Master Merchant
Warning: Master Merchant is heavy and definitely impacts your game’s performance. Especially upon login.
While it has a heavy impact on your machine, it is too good an addon to not feature on this list.
Master Merchant will tell you the average sale price in the guild stores of ANY item you hover on. This makes it easy to decide whether something is worth keeping or not.
Not only that but also when you are buying things off guild traders, you can immediately see whether you are being overcharged or if you have a bargain on your hands.
I usually play with Master Merchant turned off, I then go in and activate it when I know I will be doing some trading. After a while, you kind of memorize the prices of things as well which allows you to rely less on Master Merchant.
4: Dustman
Dustman puts all your undesired items in your junk bag. You can set up which kind of items you want Dustman to mark as trash etc so no worries, you won’t lose any particular items you would like to keep.
Why is this so great? Well, instead of spending 5 minutes at the merchant selling stuff after an adventure, you simply click “Sell all junk” and you are done.
5: Dolgubons Lazy Writ Creator
This is only really needed if you do writs. But I assume most of you do so, I am featuring it here because I could not play ESO without this addon.
Lazy Writ Crafter allows you to craft the items needed for your writs with the click of a single button. No more fumbling around trying to remember what was on the list, crafting the wrong thing and on it goes.
It also take this process from being a 10 minute thing to 30 seconds.
Not only that, but it also opens up all the loot you get when turning in your writs, so now you don’t need to go looking for the shipment boxes and all that anymore in your inventory.
It’s a fantastic addon and I highly recommend it!
Dolgubon’s Lazy Writ Creator on ESOUI
5 ESO Addons you probably need
Ok, this list will carry more specific addons that you may or may not find useful depending on what you like to do in the game.
As mentioned above, some of these may be considered cheating by certain folks which is also why I won’t say that you HAVE to get it.
6: Skyshards
This addon will mark every skyshard that you have not yet collected on your map.
Yeah.. There was a time when I refused to install this because got damn it I wanted to find them myself!!!
But as I was running low on skill points I caved in…. And so will you.
7: Combat Metrics
Combat Metrics records all your actions during a battle. It shows your DPS (damage per second) live along with your group’s total DPS.
You can also see healing done, damage taken etc.
At the end of a fight, you can open up the main window for Combat Metrics and get tons of useful information about how you performed.
It can see your up time of abilities, how much damage each ability dealt etc.
I know the interface is a little scary at first but if you want to increase your DPS and you are practicing on a dummy you need to get this addon.
Without this addon you are completely in the dark regarding how efficient you are with your damage output.
If you don’t really care about damage, well maybe skip this one 🙂
Note: I also tried Recount but I prefer Combat Metrics, it is cleaner, has more information and seems more consistent.
8: Code’s Combat Alerts
This is also a little bit cheating, but it makes veteran dungeons and trials a LOT easier.
It will warn you of incoming one-shot kill attacks so that you have time to dodge. It also warns you of upcoming events during boss battles etc.
It is really handy for doing hard dungeons, but I do agree that this is definitely in the cheating realm.
9: Srendarr
S’rendarr allows you to set up custom tracking for buffs and debuffs on your interface. It is a little complicated to understand at first but it’s worth taking the time setting this up.
You can decide which abilities you would like to track and have those show up anywhere you want so that you can keep track of how much time you have left on, ie Power Surge for Sorcerers.
You can also set up notifications for when certain abilities proc, Crystal Fragments being a good example.
You can set this addon up pretty much any way you like, just spend a little time with it and you will have a nice setup that works just for you.
If you feel like adding more things to your interface would just confuse you, you might want to skip this one for now.
10: Alpha Gear
Alpha gear lets you set up presets for different gear and ability setups. If you have one set up for PVP and one for PVE, you can switch between the two with a single button click.
Alpha gear will automatically take off and replace all your armor, weapons and swap out your skills based on your preset.
If you are switching between sets this is a must-have. If you tend to stick to the same equipment then skip this one.
Honorable mentions
Lorebooks
Yeah, that’s right another cheat addon but I don’t feel bad about this one! Leveling up the mage’s guild was by far the worst experience for me in ESO, and I was using this addon.
I don’t even want to know how painful it must be to do it by just searching for those books! I would have still been looking! And the mage’s guild skill line is ESSENTIAL to many classes.
Anyways the addon will show you where are the lore books are located on your map 🙂
Lost Treasure
Marks your map with an X for every treasure map and crafting surveys you currently hold in your inventory.
I hope you found some nuggets on this list that you will enjoy! If you feel like there is an addon missing on this list that I need to know about, please drop a comment!
Thanks for reading!
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