Pulse Haptics: Feel Azeroth

Customizable controller vibration for World of Warcraft.

Feel combat impacts, spellcasting, footsteps, mount movement, gathering, loot, and interface interactions through your gamepad. PulseHaptics uses WoW's native gamepad support, with 190 configurable cues, 35 vibration modes, and 12 built-in profiles.

Choose the feedback you want, adjust its strength and timing, and keep the rest quiet. Presets are available for Xbox, PlayStation DualSense and DualShock 4, Steam Deck, Steam Controller, Nintendo Switch Pro, and 8BitDo controllers. These presets are calibration starting points; use the in-game test controls to tune your controller. Motor behavior varies by hardware and connection method.

New in v0.4.0

• 11 languages: fully translated into every language WoW supports: English, German, Spanish (Spain and Latin America), French, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Korean, and Simplified and Traditional Chinese.
• Your choice of language: follows the game client automatically, or pick another in Quick Setup step 1 or Advanced Settings. One reload applies it, and Quick Setup reopens where you were.
• Readable vibration modes: mode pickers show translated names such as Double Tap or Thud instead of internal IDs.
• Setup wizard fits every language: buttons and hints size to their text, and effect descriptions show in full.

Introduced in v0.3.4

• Calibration stops when settings close: motor ramps and one-shot motor tests no longer continue after closing Advanced Settings.
• Preview cleanup: temporary continuous effects and multi-step previews are cancelled on close, including Escape and switching to Quick Setup.
• Gameplay feedback is preserved: cleanup leaves normal gameplay haptics, saved profiles, and calibration values intact.

Introduced in v0.3.3

• Six-step guided setup: choose controller hardware, combat feedback, world and interface cues, continuous effects, and overall strength.
• Conservative continuous-effect defaults: new setups enable casting, crafting, low-health heartbeat, and breath depletion. Other continuous effects start off. Existing profiles keep their saved choices.
• Controller navigation: move between controls, adjust sliders, select dropdown choices, and read contextual button prompts.
• Settings handoff fixes: improved cleanup when settings close after being opened from the Game Menu. The wizard and Advanced Settings no longer capture gameplay keys through hidden click targets.
• Experimental extra-attack cues: Windfury-related feedback on the Experimental page, disabled by default. One cue detects unusually close swings; the other depends on the client receiving the relevant spellcast event.

Feedback you can tune

• Combat and defense: swings, critical hits, parries, blocks, incoming damage, combo points, and execute alerts.
• Casting and channels: cast build-up, channel feedback, completion, interrupts, and failure alerts.
• Movement and mounts: distinct footstep and gait styles, galloping, takeoff, landing, and flight feedback.
• Environment: weather, swimming, underwater breath, and exploration cues.
• Professions and loot: crafting rhythms, gathering, fishing, item collection, and inventory interactions.
• Interface and targeting: radial menus, panel transitions, soft targeting, and selected combat alerts.

Enable or disable individual cues or whole categories without clearing the settings underneath. Collapsible sections and Simple View keep Advanced Settings manageable. The engine coalesces overlapping events and keeps high-frequency haptic loops allocation-conscious.

Profiles and vibration modes

Start with Default, Questing, Raiding, PvP – Tactical Radar, dungeon-role profiles for Tank, Healer, Melee, Caster, and Hunter, or the three Immersion profiles for Melee, Caster, and Ranged. Customize any profile to suit your playstyle.

The vibration library includes short transients, physical impacts, rhythmic pulses, continuous textures, and ramps. Examples include SNAP, MICRO_TAP, THUD, DOUBLE_PULSE, HEARTBEAT, RUMBLE, HUM, WAVE, and CRESCENDO.

Four motor schemas are available: Standard, High Motor Only, Low Motor Only, and Inverted. Supported dual-motor devices can use alternating left/right footstep emphasis.

Quick start

1. Install the PulseHaptics folder in your WoW Interface/AddOns/ directory, or install through CurseForge.
2. Enable WoW's gamepad and vibration options. If needed, run:

    text     /console GamePadEnable 1     /console GamePadVibration 1    

1. Complete the setup wizard on first login. Run /pulse setup to revisit it. Saved choices are preserved.
2. Open /pulse for Advanced Settings. Try /pulse test thud to check controller output.

Useful commands

Compatibility and project status

Current release: v0.4.0. PulseHaptics uses WoW's native gamepad and vibration APIs. The TOC declares client interface versions 16001, 120100, 110200, and 110100. Individual cues depend on APIs available in the client; the listed interfaces are compatibility declarations, not a claim of live testing on every build. This release keeps those entries unchanged.

Haptics supplement the game's visual and audio cues. Actual feedback depends on the controller, connection, client support, and enabled effects.

PulseHaptics is a free, open-source hobby project. Feedback, bug reports, and contributions are welcome. The source and developer tools (PulseDebug, PulseChecklist, and PulseProfileReview) are available in the GitHub repository.

Credits

• Author: codingdoctorbot
• AI-assisted development: Claude Code (Anthropic), Google Antigravity (Google DeepMind), and Codex (OpenAI)
• Tremor: precursor project that supplied initial inspiration, structural ideas, and foundational accessibility cues
• Libraries: LibStub, CallbackHandler-1.0, and LibDataBroker-1.1; see the source and included license notices for their authors

PulseHaptics is a community addon and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Blizzard Entertainment. World of Warcraft and Blizzard Entertainment are trademarks of Blizzard Entertainment.