Cooldown Manager Guide for the War Within

Cooldown Manager is a feature first introduced in Patch 11.1.5 that informs you of the state of your important class and specialization cooldowns in a consolidated space on your UI.

Cooldown Manager is disabled by default. To enable it, you must go to the Game Menu (Escape), select Options, then open Advanced Options to see the new feature Enable Cooldown Manager. Toggling this on will display ability cooldowns automatically in the center of your screen and include visual countdown of when your ability is available to use once again.

The Cooldown Manager consists of four components. To customize it, open the Game Menu (Escape) and select the Edit Mode to access the HUD Edit Mode, then select Advanced Options. Now pick Cooldown Manager from the options then adjust the Utility Cooldown Options bar, Essential Cooldowns bar, Tracked Buffs bar, and Tracked Bars by clicking on them and adjusting their visual elements to your preference.

The Essential Cooldowns sections contains the abilities you use most often or that have a big impact. These are your main combat skills like Crusader Strike, Judgment, and Avenging Wrath.

The Utility Cooldowns section tracks abilities you use in specific situations, not all the time. This includes interrupts and movement abilities. Spells like Counterspell, Blink, and Ice Block belong here.

Tracked Buffs show important effects where knowing the exact duration matters. These bars help you manage abilities that impact your spell rotation, like Mage's Combustion, Paladin's Shield Block (for maximum uptime), and Druid's Eclipse (so you know exactly when it ends).

Finally, Tracked Bars shows icons for important effects you need to know are active, but where the exact timing is not as critical. Buffs like Nether Precision for Arcane Mages, Backdraft for Destruction Warlocks, or Maelstrom Weapon for Enhancement Shamans can be found here.