Stakeout

Stakeout is a lightweight World of Warcraft: Forever addon that watches for the NPCs you choose. When one appears, it tells you and gives you a button that targets it in one click.

It's useful for rare hunting, patrol watching, event NPCs, or any time you want to react fast when a specific NPC shows up. The target button was inspired by RestedXP's targeting system.

Forever only. Stakeout 2.0 targets WoW: Forever (1.60.1). TBC Classic Anniversary players can use Stakeout 1.0.2, which stays available on CurseForge.

Features

• Watch a list of NPCs by exact name
• Detects them on nameplates, as your target, or under your mouse
• A small frame with one button per NPC found: left-click targets it, right-click targets and raid-marks it
• Chat message, taskbar flash and sound alert (17 sounds, plus 7 more with DBM-Core)
• Raises your nameplate range so plates reach further (Forever's default is 45 yards)
• Two NPCs with the same name keep their button until both are dead
• Movable, lockable, scalable frame

The Forever beta and your settings

The Forever beta client currently doesn't load addon settings back after you log out. It's a Blizzard bug that affects every addon. Your watch list and options start empty each session. Stakeout tells you at login while this is happening. To keep your list between sessions:

1. Before you log out, while your list is still there, open the config (/stakeout) and click Export, or type /stakeout export. Export copies the list you have now; it can't bring back a list that is already gone.
2. Each line in the box is a complete /stakeout add ... command that fits in one macro. Put each line in its own macro, or keep the lines in a text file.
3. After logging in, click the macro(s), or paste the lines into chat. Your whole list is back.

Usage

/stakeout                        Open the config panel (also /stake)
/stakeout add <Name>             Add an NPC
/stakeout add <Name>; <Name>     Add several at once
/stakeout remove <Name>          Remove an NPC
/stakeout list                   List the watch list in chat
/stakeout export                 Copy the list as /stakeout add lines
/stakeout clear                  Remove every NPC
/stakeout reset                  Clear current detections and rescan

NPC names must match exactly, spaces included (/stakeout add Captain Flat Tusk).

Configuration

• Detection: raise the nameplate range.
• Alerts: taskbar flash, sound on/off, and which sound (it previews when you pick it).
• Raid marking: turn the right-click mark on or off, and pick the marker. Right-clicking again clears the mark.
• Target frame: lock the position (Alt+drag still moves it), the button icon, and the scale.

What changed from the TBC version

Blizzard's Forever client doesn't allow some of what Stakeout did on TBC:

• No proximity scanning. The targeting trick that sensed NPCs outside nameplate range fires for every name on Forever, so it can't detect anything. Nameplates, target and mouseover do the detecting now.
• Marks come from your click. Addons can't place raid marks by themselves any more, so right-click a button to mark.
• The combat log is closed to addons. Deaths are tracked another way, with the same result for you.

Notes

• Stakeout never moves, shows or hides its frame during combat. Changes wait for the fight to end.
• It's designed for your own list, not a built-in rare database.