How to Use Thottbot

Guide Note

Thottbot.com is an online database for the popular MMORPG World of Warcraft. The site offers detailed information on spells, items, quests and professions, as well as videos and message boards.

Fast Facts

  1. Owned by: Affinity Media
  2. Site created: March 31, 2001

Information is provided to the website using an external program called Cosmos Patcher, which collects data directly from within the game. Information can also be provided by using a World of Warcraft addon and manually uploading data to Thottbot.com.

The parent company of Thottbot, Affinity Media, also owns Allakhazam and Wowhead. The three sites offer similar content on World of Warcraft.

Table of Contents

What is Thottbot?

  • Thottbot, after several years online, has become essentially a one-stop shop for all World of Warcraft information needs. Its primary and original purpose is to provide an online database of detailed information on in-game items, weapons and armor, quests, professions and class specs.
  • Thottbot now provides a wide range of services in addition to the online database. There are forums for class, profession and general discussions, as well as a collection of posts made by Blizzard employees on the official World of Warcraft forums. Videos by the Project Lore team introduce players to the various Burning Crusade instances.

Getting Information to the Database

Cosmos Patcher

  • The Cosmos Patcher interface
    The Cosmos Patcher interface
  • From Thottbot.com:
  • "WoW Server > WoW Client > Thottbot Client Plugin > Thottbot Patcher/Uploader > Thottbot Server > Thottbot Website > You"1
  1. An external program, Cosmos Patcher, gathers game data and uploads it to the Thottbot website.
  2. Install the program to the root folder of the World of Warcraft directory on your computer.
  3. From the "Cosmos Configure" dialog box, select "Thottbot Only" from the drop-down menu.
  4. Start Cosmos.exe every time you play WoW. Cosmos runs in the background to gather and upload information.
  • Note: Cosmos is a complete package of World of Warcraft addons, and the Patcher is used to keep those addons updated and patched. For this reason, the Patcher has some features that may or may not be useful to the average WoW player.

Thottbot Addon

  1. The World of Warcraft Thottbot addon is an alternative to the Cosmos Patcher.
  2. The addon saves game information to a .lua file, which can be found in the following directory: C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft\WTF\Account\<Account Name>\SavedVariables\Thottbot.lua</Account>
  3. Manually upload the file to Thottbot.com.
  4. The commands for using the addon in-game are:
    • /tloc - Toggles x,y coordinates under minimap.
    • /gcinfo - Toggles AddOn garbage collection info under minimap.
    • /tsize - Display size of collected Thottbot data.
    • /tprofile - Collect Thottbot profile.
    • /tstate - Display current Thottbot settings.
    • /treset - Reset Thottbot data collection.
    • /tver - Display Thottbot version.

Getting Information from the Database

Thottbot's home page
Thottbot's home page

Thottbot.com

  • Thottbot.com's homepage, although it looks barren, provides immediate access to the entirety of the Thottbot database.
  1. Mouse over any of the blue links at the bottom and a drop-down menu appears.
  2. Click on any link to launch the primary page of the website.

Thottbot Search Plug-ins

  • A number of search plug-ins, widgets and gadgets provide quick access to the Thottbot database directly from your web browser's search bar or from your desktop.

The Sections of Thottbot

  • Icon fly-out tooltip
    Icon fly-out tooltip
  • Note: Mouse over any item icon throughout the site to view a tooltip that provides a wealth of information on the fly.

News

  1. Thottbot - Gathers "blue posts" from the official World of Warcraft community forums. "Blue posts" refers to posts made by Blizzard community employees, whose name and message appears in a blue font.
  2. Site News - The occasional noteworthy updates or changes to Thottbot.com are announced here. This section receives new content every month or so.
  3. Blizzard - Links directly to the official World of Warcraft website.

Forums

  • A fairly simple but highly frequented message board, with sections for class-specific discussions, professions, player-versus-player gameplay, raiding, macros and interface mods.

Find

  1. Weapons - The "Find Weapons" interface presents a seemingly endless number of ways to narrow down your search for weapons. Specify weapon type, stats, quality, level required, damage per second, whether the item is a quest reward, crafted or vendor purchased. And, of course, if you already know the name of the item you seek, simply type it in the search box.
    The "Find Weapons" interface
    The "Find Weapons" interface
  2. Armor - In addition to offering the same options as those for weapon searches, the "Find Armor" interface allows searches by gem slot.
  3. Quests - Search for quests based on type, level, faction, location, reputation and class.
  4. Profiles - Search for other World of Warcraft players based on name, class, race, server, level and stats.

Browse

  1. Zones - Offers information on different zones in the World of Warcraft based on continent, level and instances available. Click on a specific zone name for access to a zone map, as well as a list of quests, quest NPCs, vendors, chests, rare mobs and items exclusive to the zone.
  2. Gems - Browse all the gems available in the game, sortable by color, source and level.
  3. Sockets - Browse all game weapons and armor based on socket color: blue, red, yellow or meta. This section seems incomplete, since there are other socket colors that are not listed and random unsocketed items pop up frequently in search results.
  4. Items - Another way to browse all the items available in the game, ranging from armor to weapons, quest items, gems, keys, trade goods and more.
  5. Item Sets - A number of weapons, armor and rings in World of Warcraft give bonuses when worn in a set. Browse through the different item sets based on weapon or armor type, level, and other criteria.
  6. Item models
    Item models
    Item Models - If you want to select your character's weapon and armor based on appearance, browse through this section. Click on any of the images to learn which items use the selected item model in-game.
  7. Factions - Browse through the numerous factions available in the World of Warcraft. Click on any faction name for detailed information on quests, NPCs, as well as quest and faction rewards.
  8. Pets - Browse this section for information of hunter and warlock combat pets, including diet, skills, armor, health and damage output. Click on any pet name for more detailed information on a pet's specific abilities.
  9. Ranged Weapons - Provides information, in spreadsheet format, on the various ranged weapons available in the game, organized by DPS and weapon type. Wands are not included. At the bottom of the page is a link that reorganizes the information into a sortable list. This provides additional information such as level requirement, weapon speed and how the item is obtained.
  10. Newest Items - Keep track of all the items added most recently to the game.
  11. Newest Quests - Keep track of all the quests added most recently to the game.
  12. Newest Creatures - Keep track of all the creatures added most recently to the game. The term "creatures" includes objects, NPCs, non-combat pets, critters and mobs. Click on any of the names to view a 3D model of the creature.

Classes

Professions

Secondary Skills

  • Access detailed information on the secondary professions. This includes data on recipes, skill levels, item components and forums.
  • Cooking
  • First Aid
  • Fishing

Misc

  • This section provides links to all the extra tidbits on Thottbot.com, such as the terms of service, data uploads and suggestions. The first link leads to a section containing videos by the Project Lore team, a group of five guys who have recorded their escapades in the various Burning Crusade instances.

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