Stakeout

Watch for the NPCs you choose. When one shows up, Stakeout tells you and gives you a button that targets it in one click.

Rare hunting, patrol watching, event NPCs, a quest mob that keeps hiding: add its name, go about your business, and react the moment it appears. Right-click the button to mark it for your group too.

WoW: Forever (1.60.1). Playing TBC Classic Anniversary? Stakeout 1.0.2 is still in the Files tab.

New in 2.3.0

• Distance in target tooltips: hover a button for an approximate range, updated as the NPC moves.
• Experimental quest targets: /stakeout quests on shows buttons for visible mobs named in unfinished kill objectives. Off by default.
• Live targets: a button skips dead NPCs with the same name.
• Nameplate range setting removed: Forever shows plates at about 40 yards regardless of the higher setting, so Stakeout leaves it alone.

How it works

1. Type /stakeout add Mother Fang (names must match exactly, spaces included). Add several at once with ; between them.
2. Play. Stakeout watches nameplates, your target and whatever is under your mouse.
3. When a watched NPC is found, you get a chat message, a taskbar flash and a sound, and a button appears:
   • left-click targets it;
   • right-click targets it and puts a raid mark on it (click again to clear the mark).

The button stays while the NPC is in sight (its nameplate, your target or your mouse) and goes away when it dies or you lose sight of it. With two NPCs of the same name, one dying doesn't take the button away while the other is still there.

Features

• Watch list by exact NPC name, managed in the window or from chat
• Alerts: chat message, taskbar flash, and a sound you choose (17 sounds, 7 more with DBM-Core; each previews when you pick it)
• One-click targeting and marking, with the marker and the button icon of your choice
• Hover a button to see roughly how far its NPC is
• Optional quest buttons for visible mobs named in unfinished kill objectives
• A small movable frame: lock it (Alt+drag still moves it) and scale it from 50% to 300%
• Two looks, WoW Forever or Glass, and Glass UI's look when it's installed
• Never touches its frame during combat: anything that has to wait, waits for the fight to end

Keep your list between sessions

The Forever beta doesn't load addon settings back after you log out. It's a Blizzard bug that affects every addon, and Stakeout tells you at login while it's happening.

The easy fix: type /stakeout macro on, or tick Save list in a character macro in the settings. Stakeout keeps your list in a character macro called Stakeout List, updates it whenever the list changes, and brings your list back at every login with nothing to click.

• It uses one character macro slot, or up to three for a long list (roughly 30-40 names fit; Stakeout tells you if some don't).
• It only ever touches its own macros, never one of yours.
• /stakeout macro off removes them.

Rather not use a macro slot? Click Export (or type /stakeout export) before you log out. Each line it gives you is a complete /stakeout add ... command: keep the lines somewhere and paste them back after logging in.

Your other settings (sound, marker, look and so on) start from their defaults after a full restart until Blizzard fixes the bug. A /reload keeps them.

Commands

/stakeout                        Open the settings (also /stake)
/stakeout add <Name>; <Name>     Add one or more NPCs
/stakeout remove <Name>          Remove an NPC
/stakeout list                   Show the watch list in chat
/stakeout export                 Copy the list as /stakeout add lines
/stakeout macro on / off         Keep the list in a character macro
/stakeout quests on / off        Show experimental quest target buttons
/stakeout look forever / glass   Choose the look (after a /reload)
/stakeout clear                  Remove every NPC
/stakeout reset                  Clear current detections and look again

Good to know

Blizzard's Forever client doesn't let addons do some of what Stakeout did on TBC:

• No detection beyond nameplates. The old targeting trick that sensed NPCs out of nameplate range doesn't work on Forever. Nameplates (about 40 yards on Forever), your target and your mouse do the finding.
• Marks come from your click. Addons can't place raid marks on their own any more, so the right-click does it.
• It's your list. Stakeout has no built-in rare database: it watches exactly the names you give it.
• Quest targets are experimental. Without quest data, they cover only mobs named in unfinished kill objectives. Turn-in NPCs and item droppers aren't included yet.

Also on

• Wago Addons: https://addons.wago.io/addons/rNkgwjNa
• GitHub (releases, and bug reports): https://github.com/Spotnick2/Stakeout

Found a bug or an NPC Stakeout misses? Open an issue on GitHub, with the NPC's exact name and where it was.