Atlas

An instance map browser for World of Warcraft

About Atlas

Atlas is an addon for World of Warcraft that includes detailed maps for every instance in the game. Originally, Blizzard neglected to include maps for instances. However, after a number of years Blizzard began to include official maps for some instances. These official maps are in the same hand-drawn style as the built-in world maps. Conversely, the Atlas maps are based on data used by the minimap, which provides a more detailed, accurate, and colorful representation. You can think of this as the difference between a street map and a satellite image.

Furthermore, while the built-in maps mark the locations of some major bosses, Atlas provides detailed and accurate information about all of the creatures, NPCs, objects, and events you’ll encounter in each dungeon. General information about each zone is provided as well, including its location, level range, player limit, attenuation requirement, and associated faction. All entrances, exits, portals, and connections are labelled clearly. Because there are so many instances in the game, you can categorize them by type, level, number of players, continent, or expansion.

Finally, in addition to instances, Atlas comes with a handful of optional components that add even more maps. These include outdoor encounter maps, global transportation maps, dungeon location maps, and battleground maps. Each optional component can be enabled, disabled or removed individually. A number of third-party Atlas extensions are available as well, which further augment the functionality of Atlas. AtlasLoot is the most popular of these, providing detailed drop and item information for every encounter, but there are also packages for quest information and major city maps as well.

What’s more?