Musca Auras · Guide

How to build auras for WoW Forever

Every part of an aura, when to use it and why, with step-by-step recipes. Written for Musca Auras and the aura builder.

How an aura works

An aura is a small element on your screen that reacts to the game: an icon that lights up when a buff is on you, a bar that fills with your mana, a text that warns you when a spell is ready. Each aura has six parts:

Display: what it looks like.
Triggers: when it shows.
Conditions: how its look changes while it is shown.
Actions: what happens when it shows or hides.
Animations: how it moves when it appears, stays and leaves.
Load: where and for whom it runs.

An aura is shared as a text string that starts with !WA:2!. To use it in game, type /wa, click Import and paste the string.

The aura builder builds that string for you and checks every setting against WoW Forever. Press “Take the tour” on its page for a short walk through the screen.

Combat and secret values

WoW Forever runs on the 12.1 game engine. In combat, the client turns most aura data into secret values: an addon can display them, but it can't read them to make a decision.

Timers, bars and the %p and %s text codes still show in combat.
Logic and thresholds that depend on secret data can't be checked: the aura keeps its last state until the data is readable again.
The combat log is not given to addons: combat log triggers never fire.

The rule to remember: display on secret data, decide on readable data. A buff timer counts down in combat; custom code that reads that timer gets a secret value and must test it with issecretvalue first.

Displays

The display is the visual part of the aura.

Icon: A spell or item icon with a cooldown swipe. The best choice for buffs, debuffs and cooldowns.
Progress bar: A bar that fills or empties. Good for durations, health and power.
Text: Plain text with codes. Good for counters and short warnings.
Texture: An image, for big visual alerts.
Progress Texture: An image that fills like a bar, in a line or a circle.
Model: A 3D model from the game.
Stop Motion: A flipbook animation made of frames.
Empty Region: An invisible anchor to place other auras around.

Only Icon, Progress bar, Text and Progress Texture can show a Buff or debuff trigger.

Text codes

%p: time left.
%s: stack count.
%n: name.
%c: custom text from code.

On a Buff or debuff trigger, only %p, %s, %n and fixed text work, one code per text element, and %c is not available.

Triggers

A trigger decides when the aura shows. Pick the trigger that matches what you want to watch.

Buff or debuff

Use it for any buff or debuff, on you or on another unit. It is built to keep working in combat, so it is the first one to try for auras.

Aura: Buff or Debuff.
On unit: Player, Target, Focus, Pet, Target of Target, Smart Group, Party, Raid, Boss, Nameplate or a Specific Unit.
Spell IDs: the spells to watch. Search them by name or ID in the builder.
Show: when the aura is there, when it is missing, or always.
Match every rank: one spell ID covers all ranks of the spell.
Only cast by me: ignore the same buff cast by other players.
Remaining Time, Total Duration, Stack Count (0 to 100): filters. Remaining Time needs Show set to “there”: on an Icon it watches a single unit; on other displays it can't be combined with Total Duration = or >=, or with Approximate Match. Stack Count works when Show is set to “there”, without Remaining Time.
Approximate Match: for debuffs on player, pet, group, party or raid. In combat, the client hides these debuffs from spell ID lookup; this option finds them anyway.

Spell cooldown

Use it for a spell you want to press as soon as it is ready. Show it always, only when ready, or only while on cooldown.

Health and Power

Use it for a health or resource bar of Player, Target, Focus or Pet. “Show only below (%)” turns it into an alert, such as low health; on Power, tick “Above the threshold” to show it only above. The game reads this threshold itself, so it stays right in combat.

Cast

Use it for a cast bar of a unit, for example to interrupt your target.

Aura (legacy)

Use it for an aura by name or spell ID on Player, Target, Pet or a specific unit, with Cast by, Stack Count and Remaining Time filters. It misses the auras the game hides in combat: prefer a Buff or debuff trigger. Packs made in WeakAuras often use it, so the builder opens them.

Custom code

Use it only when no other trigger fits. Types: Status, Event or Trigger State Updater. Checks run on events or every frame, with a Trigger code and an Untrigger code.

WoW Forever removed UnitBuff, UnitDebuff, UnitAura and GetSpellInfo: custom code that calls them stops with an error. Use a Buff or debuff trigger instead.

Other triggers

The Other category holds many ready-made triggers. They run on readable data, so they decide well, but some data turns secret in combat.

Cooldowns: Global cooldown, Spell cooldown ready, Spell charges changed, Item cooldown, Item cooldown ready, Equipment slot cooldown, Equipment slot cooldown ready.
Combat: Swing timer, Totem, Stance form or aura, Weapon enchant, Spell in range, Range check, Threat, Crowd controlled.
Events: Chat message, Spell cast succeeded, Encounter start or end, Other aura shown, Combat log.
Character: Unit characteristics, Item count, Player conditions, Spell known, Money, Location.
Classic Era: Ammo, Bag space, Equipment durability, Role, Tracking.
Cooldown Manager: Cooldown Manager spell, Cooldown Manager buff, Cooldown Manager item. Only spells active in the Cooldown Manager show: type /cdm in game and add them first.

Encounter start or end and Cooldown Manager item are not tested in game yet. WoW Forever does not give the combat log to addons: a Combat log trigger never fires.

Combining triggers

An aura can have several triggers. “Show the aura when” decides how they combine:

All: every trigger must be active. Use it to narrow the aura, for example a buff that matters only while a cooldown is ready.
Any: one active trigger is enough. Use it to show the aura for several different reasons.
Trigger expression: trigger numbers with and, or, not and parentheses, for example (1 or 2) and 3.

Watch out with Any and a Buff or debuff trigger: that trigger stays active as long as its unit exists, so the aura can stay on screen.

Conditions

Conditions change the look of a shown aura without hiding it. Each condition checks one or more triggers, combined with All are true or Any is true, and applies one or more effects. Else if makes a condition apply only when the one above does not.

Buff or debuff: Aura is missing, Remaining time below, In pandemic window.
Aura (legacy): Aura is found or missing (with Show set to Always), Remaining time below, Stacks (compared with an operator).
Spell cooldown: On cooldown, ready, out of range, not enough resource.
Health and Power: Active, not active, percent at or above, percent below.
Cast: Active, not active, can be interrupted.
Custom and Other: Active, not active.
Stance, form or aura: Active, not active, current form.
Player and target: Player in or out of combat, player has a target or not, target can be attacked or not.

On Health and Power, percent checks can't be read in combat: the look keeps its last state. For an alert that must work in combat, use “Show only below (%)” on the trigger.

Effects: Glow, Grey out, Change color and Fade out, depending on the display.

Glows: add them in Display with “Add glow”. Each glow has a type (Action Button Glow, Pixel Glow or Autocast Shine), a color and a size. Tick Show Glow to keep it on, or leave it off and pick it in a condition's Glow effect to light it only then.

Why use them: one aura that turns grey on cooldown and glows when ready is easier to read than two auras. On a Buff or debuff trigger, Remaining time below and In pandemic window only offer Glow, on an Icon, and Fade out is never offered. A Buff or debuff check can't be combined with other checks or use Else if, and one glow follows a single source: seconds left or the pandemic window.

Actions

Actions run when the aura shows (On Show), when it hides (On Hide), or once when it loads (Custom Init).

Play Sound: a sound file or a Sound Kit ID, on a sound channel.
Chat Message: to your chat frame, as an error, in Say or Yell (only inside an instance), Party, Raid, Guild or Whisper.
Glow a Frame: show or hide a glow on a parent frame or a unit frame, in Action Button, Pixel or Autocast style.

On a Buff or debuff trigger, sounds accept sound files only, and there is no glow and no custom code in On Show or On Hide. Custom Init stays available. Chat messages are not verified there yet.

Animations

Three phases: Start when the aura appears, Main while it is shown, Finish when it leaves. Each phase offers a list of presets.

The builder lists only the presets a display can play: Text and Empty Region can't zoom or rotate, and only Texture, Progress Texture and Model rotate. A Buff or debuff trigger has no animations.

Load

Load decides where and for whom the aura runs. An aura that is not loaded costs nothing in game, so load only what you need: a Warrior aura has no reason to run on your Mage.

Location: Zone names and zone IDs, boss encounters, instance type. Search a place by name or ID in the builder.
Group: Group size, group type, role, raid role, group leader.
Character: Classes and Forever specializations, race, faction, minimum level, known spell, equipped items.
State: In combat, mounted, alive, in a vehicle or on a taxi, PvP.

Talents are not offered in the builder: set them in game, in the Load tab. If you tick classes, tick at least one specialization of those classes, or the aura never loads.

Groups

A group holds several auras so you move, load and share them as one block. Pick the type by how the auras should be placed. The group's X and Y Offset move the whole block from the center of the screen.

Group

Each aura keeps its own position. Use it for a hand-made layout, such as a cooldown on the left and a buff on the right. Drag each aura in the builder preview to set its X and Y. Anchor picks the point of the aura pinned to the center of the group: Top Left keeps the aura's corner in place when its size changes.

To keep an aura next to another one, such as a bar under an icon, pick that aura or a subgroup in “Anchored To”, then the point to pin with Anchor and To Frame's. Tick “Set Parent to Anchor” so the aura also hides, fades and scales with its anchor.

Dynamic Group

Auras line up on their own and fill the gaps when one hides. A Buff or debuff aura keeps its place even when hidden: use a Modern Aura Group for those.

Grow: Down, Up, Left, Right, Centered row, Centered column, Grid, or circles with a radius.
Sort by remaining time, and cap the number of auras shown.

Modern Aura Group

Built for Buff or debuff auras in combat. Those auras must be Icon or Progress bar displays.

Group by Frame: Screen, Unit frames or Nameplates. Use Unit frames or Nameplates to show debuffs next to each unit.
Blizzard sort order, limit and grid options.
Buff or debuff auras line up after the first one and move together. Other auras keep their own position.
Remaining Time is not available inside this group yet.

Subgroups

A Group can hold subgroups, each with its own type and layout. Use them to mix layouts in one block, such as a Modern Aura Group of buffs next to a Dynamic Group of cooldowns.

In the builder, set the group type to Group, click “Add subgroup”, then pick the subgroup of each aura.
X and Y Offset move the whole subgroup inside the group.
A subgroup of type Group can hold other subgroups: pick its name in “Inside”. A Dynamic Group or Modern Aura Group can't hold a subgroup.

Import and check

Already have an aura string? Paste it in “Check an aura” on the aura builder page. You get a verdict for every setting, and “Open in builder” loads it for editing.

“Changed on import” lists the settings the builder removed or converted because the game never uses them, such as an old form ID filter. The rest of the aura stays as it was.

Musca Auras converts ForeverAuras and Wago strings when you import them in game.

Forever limits

The builder shows these messages when a setting can't work on WoW Forever. Here is what each one means and how to fix it.

The first time you open the page, the message reads “To do”: the new aura still needs a spell ID. After your first change, open problems read “Error”. Fix each one in the tab that “Show in” opens.

Select a Buff or debuff trigger as the progress source of an Icon, Progress bar, Progress Texture or Text.: Pick the Buff or debuff trigger as the source of the timer or stacks.
Modern aura groups only hold Icon or Progress bar displays.: Switch the aura to Icon or Progress bar, or use a Dynamic Group.
Remaining Time is not available yet inside a modern aura group.: Drop Remaining Time, or move the aura to a Group or Dynamic Group.
Remaining Time can't anchor to unit frames or nameplates.: Anchor the aura to the screen. In a Modern Aura Group, set Group by Frame to Screen.
Animations are not available on a Buff or debuff trigger.: Remove the animations, or use another trigger type.
Only Chat Message and Play Sound can run in On Show/On Hide for a Buff or debuff trigger. Custom Init is available.: Keep Chat Message and Play Sound only: Musca Auras refuses any glow action, even one that hides glows. Move custom code to Custom Init.
Buff or debuff sounds accept sound files only, not Sound Kit IDs or Stop Sound.: Pick a sound file.
You can only use %p, %s, %n or hardcoded text. Put each code in its own text element. Custom text (%c) is not supported.: Split the text, one code per element.
WoW Forever does not give the combat log to addons: combat log triggers and CLEU events never fire.: Use a Buff or debuff, Cast or Spell cast succeeded trigger instead.
The custom code calls UnitBuff, UnitDebuff, UnitAura or GetSpellInfo: WoW Forever removed them, the code stops with an error.: Use a Buff or debuff trigger instead of custom aura code.
In combat, the client hides your own and your pet's debuffs from spell ID lookup. Enable Approximate Match.: Tick Approximate Match on the trigger.
Never loads: a specialization belongs to a class that is not ticked.: Tick the class of that specialization, or untick the specialization.

Recipes

Six common auras, step by step.

A buff on yourself

Display: Icon.
Trigger: Buff or debuff, Aura Buff, On unit Player, add the spell ID.
Show: when the aura is there. Keep Only cast by me ticked for a self-buff.
Condition: Remaining time below a few seconds, effect Glow, so you know when to refresh it.
Load: your class.

Your damage over time on the target

Display: Icon or Progress bar.
Trigger: Buff or debuff, Aura Debuff, On unit Target, add the spell ID, keep Only cast by me ticked.
Text: %p for the time left.
Load: your class; State: Combat, Only in combat.

Approximate Match is not offered for the Target unit.

A cooldown to press

Display: Icon.
Trigger: Spell cooldown, type the spell ID or name, Show Always.
Conditions: on cooldown, effect Grey out; out of range, effect Change color to red.

A proc alert

Display: Icon or Progress Texture, large and centered.
Trigger: Buff or debuff on Player with the proc spell ID, Show when the aura is there.
Action On Show: Play Sound with a sound file.

A resource bar

Display: Progress bar.
Trigger: Power, unit Player.
Condition: percent below 20, effect Change color. In combat this color keeps its last state; for a combat alert, make a second aura with “Show only below (%)” set to 20.

A row of buffs

In What to build, pick “A group of auras”, then Group type Modern Aura Group.
Add one Icon aura per buff, each with a Buff or debuff trigger.
Group by Frame: Screen, then set the grid or the limit.

Open the aura builder