While I use addons, myself, I am absolutely certain that they aren't "important". That said, I believe ZOS deliberately left a few things to the imagination in regards to the user interface specifically for the purpose of allowing addons to expand on the existing features. Do you NEED these extra things though? No. But as far as "Information" addons go, compared to those who use them, yes you may be at a disadvantage. EG: An addon that shows on screen when a Cyrodiil keep is under attack without the need to open your map and look around for yourself wondering "Hmm, I wonder if something's being attacked right now".

I think you can definitely play without any addons at all (as several people do, including everyone on consoles), but they do make things easier. Which ones you have is really up to you, if you're looking to keep it minimal I would definitely recommend considering what features you can't do without and then looking for addons that do that.

For me the absolute top of the list is a mini map. I have a horrible sense of direction and it's even worse in games, so if I didn't have a mini map I'd be stopping every minute or so to check the map. That's probably the most demanding one I have but I wouldn't be without it.

A lot of my others are very lightweight, 'invisible' things like Advanced Filters (which adds sub categories to your inventory, bank etc. to make it easier to find specific items), Azurah which lets you move the UI around and adds a few details, and Banker Shutup which does exactly what it says.

Personally, I enjoy the game much more with addons than I would otherwise. It's like a whole other part of the game to fiddle with customization. I use FTC, S'rendarr, Minimap, Skyshards, Lorebooks, Craftstore, Itemsaver, Awesome Guild Store, Master Merchant (probably the heaviest one of the bunch, loadwise), just to name a few of the most important ones. Harven's Harvest map is also another good one that can be a bit heavy, but very useful. I really only use it for chests/troves/lockboxes.

My advise would be to get Minion and try out a few addons and see how your PC responds. It may be able to handle them better than you fear. I run a bunch of addons and don't suffer any ill effects, and my rig is several years old and was not best in class when I built it either.

@Starkman

If you are planning on doing any armor or weapon crafting and researching the traits, I would highly recommend an addon like Research Assistant as it will let you know if you need that piece of gear, if you already have an equivalent piece, and it will even cross check with what you have in the bank.

It's either that or pen and paper excel chart (which is what I used fore the first few months)

Add-ons are really, really important. I run about 15. Let me make a few suggestions to get you started. These are listed in the order that I value them:

Skyshards
Advanced Filters
Destinations
Lorebooks

The add-ons I've listed would be of benefit to almost any player regardless of their play style and preferences. You should seriously consider them.

Starkman wrote: »

Hey all,

Say, I'm wondering if the game can be played and enjoyed fully without addons, at least not a whole slew of them?
I'm trying to keep the load on my CPU / GPU down, so I'm just wondering what the play is like without any addons at all (as well as with just a few).

Thanks very much,

Starkman

well seeing how us on consoles don't get them and we still enjoy the game I'd say they are not a necessity... Some of them I wish we did have!

I use a lot of addons. Probably 30 or more. Most of them I could live without if I lost them all tomorrow. There are a few I'd lose that would actually make the game more stressful to play due to my playstyle. I NEED a minimap. I personally can't function without it. I'd be opening my map every 3 seconds. Mailr and Master Merchant both provide what I consider basic core game functions that really should be in the base game already. Losing them would cause me to waste a lot of time on basic functionality. I also consider some sort of dps tracker a must have.

The only add on that "I" must use is the Greyminds Quick slot Bar. I had trouble accessing my quick slots while in battle and this add on truly helped!

MishMash wrote: »

The only add on that "I" must use is the Greyminds Quick slot Bar. I had trouble accessing my quick slots while in battle and this add on truly helped!

Yeah, for 100% sure on that! The Quick Bar in ESO is an utter nightmare. Some developer should have been shot, fired and buried in space for that one!