ESO Addons Guide

ESO addons are third-party modifications to the game's UI and systems, written in Lua, hosted mostly on ESOUI.com. They are legal, free, and supported by ZeniMax. They do not touch game servers: only your local interface. Console players get none of this. Condolences.

The base game ships without a minimap, without buff timers, without any meaningful inventory sorting. Zenimax's philosophy on UI design is apparently "figure it out." Addons exist because the community got tired of waiting.

Only download from esoui.com or through the Minion manager. Third-party random downloads are how you collect malware alongside your debuff tracker.

Installation: Two Methods, One Obvious Choice

Method A: Minion (Use This)

Minion addon manager is a desktop app from minion.mmoui.com. It integrates directly with ESOUI, handles updates in bulk, and does not require you to know where your Documents folder is.

1. Download and install Minion from minion.mmoui.com. Create a free ESOUI account first.
2. Launch the game at least once. ESO creates the AddOns folder on first login: Minion can't find it before that.
3. Open Minion, point it at Documents\Elder Scrolls Online\live\AddOns.
4. Use "Find More" to search and install. Click "Update All" whenever you open Minion.
5. In-game: type /reloadui or use the Addons menu at character select. Enable "Allow Out of Date AddOns."

Method B: Manual

Download a zip from ESOUI, extract it, paste the folder into Documents\Elder Scrolls Online\live\AddOns\. Repeat every time there is an update. This method exists for people who enjoy repetitive suffering.

Libraries (Libs): Many addons require shared library files to function. They are listed as dependencies on each addon's ESOUI page. Install them the same way, or Minion will handle it. Missing libs = addon silently does nothing.

The Addons That Matter

Best ESO addons for beginners and veterans alike. No ranking debates: just what actually solves real problems. Install all of these and you will be ahead of 80% of the playerbase 

The default ESO combat UI ESO shows health bars and a vague sense of dread. That's it. You will not know which DoT fell off, which skill is off cooldown, or why your DPS is embarrassing until you install the right tools.

Combat Metrics is the starting point. After each fight it shows a breakdown: damage by skill, uptime percentages, incoming damage sources. It is a mirror, and the mirror is usually unflattering. Hodor Reflexes runs during the fight itself: it tracks active buff and debuff durations and alerts you before they expire. Running both simultaneously is how you improve instead of just blaming lag.

Bandits UI replaces the default bars with a compact, information-dense version that actually communicates something. Six UI themes, skill timers, reticle options. It works out of the box with zero configuration, which is the exact standard all addons should meet and very few do.

Inventory: Because 200 Slots Aren't Enough

ESO's default inventory is a flat, unsorted list. ESO inventory management addons turn it into something a rational person can use. Advanced Filters adds subcategories the base game forgot to include. Auto Category groups items by type automatically. FCO Item Saver lets you lock items so you never accidentally vendor a set piece. Dustman auto-marks junk for sale.

• Auto Category: defines item group priority in your bag
• CDG Bank Stacker: auto-deposits inventory items that already have a stack in the bank
• GearSetsSort: sorts gear by set name; relevant once you have more than two builds
• Inventory Insight: cross-character item search; stops you from crafting duplicates

Exploration: The Map Was Hiding Things From You

Skyshards, lorebooks, treasure maps, survey reports: the vanilla map shows you nothing useful until you are standing on top of it. ESO map pins addon solves this entirely. Combine Map Pins with HarvestMap and LoreBooks and you will never wander aimlessly looking for a survey node again.

Votan's Minimap keeps a persistent overhead view on screen with POI markers. Lost Treasure is specifically for treasure map chests. Lead List is the definitive antiquities companion: it tells you which leads you have, where they drop, and how many codex entries are missing.

QuestMap places pins for all available and completed quests on the world map. Completionists install it and immediately feel worse about themselves.

Trading: Stop Losing Gold

ESO has no auction house. It has guild traders scattered across the world with inconsistent stock and zero price standardization. Tamriel Trade Center ESO is the fix. It pulls live price data from the community and shows you what items actually sell for. Install it, update the database regularly, and stop underselling everything you pull from a dungeon.

The addon has a companion website for verifying high-value items. For anything worth over 50,000 gold, check the website before listing. The addon database lags slightly behind peak market shifts.

Libraries: The Invisible Infrastructure

ESO addon libraries dependencies are shared code packages that multiple addons use simultaneously. They are not optional side-installs: without them, dependent addons silently break. Common ones: LibAddonMenu, LibMapPins, LibGPS, LibCustomMenu.

Minion handles library dependency flagging automatically. Manual installers must check each addon's ESOUI page and install required libs separately. The game will display an error at login if a lib is missing: read it, install the listed dependency, move on.

Performance: How Many Is Too Many

ESO addon performance impact is real but manageable. Each addon adds a small overhead. Fifty poorly-written addons can produce noticeable frame drops and bloated memory. Best practice: install what you need, disable what you don't use, and use Circonians Addon Selector to save profiles for different playstyles: one set for PvP, another for housing, another for crafting.

BugCatcher suppresses error spam from outdated addons so your chat window doesn't fill with Lua errors mid-fight. Install it. Outdated addons often still function: the error is just noise.

After any major game patch, some addons will break. Check ESOUI comment sections before assuming an addon is dead: fixes usually appear within a day or two.

Housing Addons: An Entire Second Hobby

ESO housing addons Essential Housing Tools is mandatory for anyone who has spent more than ten minutes in a home. EHT enables fog effects, precise numerical placement, water pools, interactive mechanisms, and animations impossible to produce otherwise. Magic Carpet lets you build at any height without scaffolding by giving you flight inside your home. Go Home adds up to ten keybindings for direct house travel without opening menus.