Getting started

Open the options

There are three ways:

1. Type /vg (or /vanguard) in chat. Type /vg again to close it.
2. Left-click Vanguard on the game's addons button by the minimap. Right-click it instead to turn move mode on or off.
3. Press Escape to open the game menu, then click the Vanguard button at the top of the Escape menu, or just under it where your client's menu can't take new buttons. Next release

The options window has a page for each area. To find a setting, type in Search settings at the top: pages that don't match fade, and Enter opens the first match. Some changes need a reload; the window then says “Some changes need a reload” and shows a Reload now button. In v0.3.0, type /reload in chat instead: that release's button asks the game to reload directly, and WoW Forever blocks that for addons (see Troubleshooting). Every page and setting is listed on Settings.

The setup wizard Next release

The setup wizard isn't in the current release. It's ready for the next release, and this is what it will do.

The first time you log in on an account, a window called “Set up Vanguard” opens. It has 4 steps: Layout, Screen, Look, Move things. The line under the title says where you are, for example “Step 1 of 4 · Layout”. Next goes on (on the last step it reads Done) and Back goes back a step.

It never opens during a fight. If you're in combat it says “Setup opens when combat ends.” and waits. If a fight starts while it's open, it gets out of the way and comes back on the same step when the fight is over.

Step 1 · Layout

It asks: “How do you mostly play? You can change it all later in /vg.” Centered: damage and tanking is picked when the window opens. Click a layout to see what it does under the list. Your choice takes effect when you click Next.

• Centered: healing also turns on the raid frames and click casting if they were off.
• Each layout first puts back anything another layout moved, so picking Centered: damage and tanking later undoes the others.

Step 2 · Screen

It asks: “Sizes for your screen. You can change them later in /vg.” The wizard picks the preset for your screen when it opens and marks it “your screen”: Ultrawide for a screen at least 2.2 times as wide as it is tall; otherwise by height: 4K from 2000 pixels tall, 1440p from 1300, and 1080p from 1000. On a screen under 1000 pixels tall, Keep my current sizes is picked. Your choice takes effect when you click Next.

The UI scale a preset sets is the game's own UI scale (the one in the game's graphics settings). It changes once you're out of combat, and choosing a preset turns off Pixel-perfect scale (crisp 1-pixel lines) under General → Look. The new raid tile size shows after a reload.

Step 3 · Look

• Accent: click a swatch to change the accent color right away. They're the same colors as in Pick an accent color below.
• Raid frame style: three small raid tiles, each drawn in its style. Click one to switch to it right away: Softened (Class colors, softened), Dark (Dark, class-colored names), Bright (Class colors, bright).

Step 4 · Move things

On this step your frames are unlocked, and the wizard says:

• “Your frames are unlocked: drag a handle to move that frame.”
• “Click a handle, then the arrow keys nudge it (Shift: 10 px).”
• “Done locks them. /vg unlock moves them any time.”

Arrow keys are ← ↑ → ↓; hold Shift to move 10 px at a time.

Finishing

With the defaults it takes four clicks: Next, Next, Next, Done. Done, the window's close button and Escape all end the wizard and lock your frames again. It doesn't come back by itself; type /vg setup to run it again.

If setup changed something that needs a reload, it then asks, with Reload and Later buttons:

• “Setup turned on a module that was off. Reload the UI now to apply it?” (for example after Centered: healing turned the raid frames on)
• “The new raid tile size shows after a reload. Reload the UI now to apply it?”

Move your frames

1. Type /vg unlock (or /vg move), or click Move frames under General → Layout. Every Vanguard frame gets a drag handle.
2. Drag a handle to move that frame. Or click a handle, then use the arrow keys to nudge it (hold Shift to move 10 px).
3. Right-click a handle for its exact anchor and offsets; the next release adds its scale (50% to 200%) and opacity (10% to 100%) there too Next release.
4. Type /vg lock when you're done.

While you're moving frames, /vg grid [size|on|off] shows a grid (8 to 256 px) and /vg snap on|off makes frames snap to each other. /vg frames lists the frames you can move, and /vg reset <frame|all> puts one frame (or all of them) back. You can't unlock frames during combat.

Pick an accent color

Click a swatch under /vg → General → Look, or type /vg accent <name> with one of these names (or any color as six hex digits, like ffcc00). /vg accent reset puts the default back.

• brass (default) #d9a441
• arcane #5aa2f0
• fel #5bcb7e
• void #a47bf0
• ember #e0664b

Keep the game's version of something

Every part of Vanguard is a module you can turn off under /vg → Modules (or type /vg disable <module>, then /reload). The options say: “A module that's off builds nothing and costs nothing.” The list is on Features.