Getting the Most out of Hekili

Documentation hasn't been the strongest part of this addon's life cycle.  Aside from Installing and Getting Started, I haven't provided a great deal of guidance about how to make use of some of the addon's more complicated features.  This will be an attempt to rectify some of that, and I'd appreciate your feedback in terms of what you'd like to know more about.

Before getting into it, bear in mind that "how to install" is covered in the first linked article above, while positioning, display modes, and toggles are covered in the second.  I'll assume you're aware of those details and move forward from here.  Additionally, keep in mind that I use ElvUI, WeakAuras, and a significant number of other addons.  My screenshots will likely include elements from those addons and look a bit differently because of it.

WeakAuras

So yeah, WeakAuras.  While Hekili is fully functional all on its own, the addon does communicate with WeakAuras with regard to Toggles and their status.  This allows you to make a more visual heads-up display to see what the addon's current settings look like.

The WeakAura depicted above (available via wago.io) shows the current Display Mode (Automatic), as well as Cooldowns (clock), Interrupts (kick), Defensives (shield), and Essences (azerite).  These are even clickable, though you can also continue to use your keybindings to toggle these instead.

DataBroker

If you use ElvUI or another addon that supports LibDataBroker, the datatext for Hekili will also include similar information.  (BugSack is a separate addon, that works with BugGrabber to capture errors.)

In the first screenshot, you can see that the Display Mode is Automatic, and that Cooldowns, Interrupts, and Defensives are all enabled.  In the second, I disabled the Cooldowns Override option for the Essences toggle, so Azerite Essences show in the list rather than Defensives.  

If you click the text here, the minimap menu will let you select specific options and even interact with any specialization-specific options that would normally be found in /hekili > Specialization, on the Core tab.  In the case below, a Balance Druid option appears. 

I wouldn't recommend a clickable WeakAura or a dropdown menu over using the Toggle keybindings that are available to you, but they are there as options whenever you need them.

Abilities, Gear, and Trinkets

I often get questions about how to prevent a particular ability or trinket/item from showing in the addon's recommendations, or for it to show only when additional criteria are met.  For instance, maybe you have Galecaller's Boon, which creates an area effect that you need to stand in and get the bonus.  Because that can be problematic with regard to movement and so forth, you're going to exercise more discretion about its usage than your specialization priority does by default.

Originally, the answer to this would've been that you need to edit your priority.  People tend to find that intimidating, and the priority entries are based off SimulationCraft's syntax, which takes time to learn.  Instead, you can use the Abilities or Gear and Trinkets sections of the addon options to disable abilities or set a few additional requirements.

As you can see, these settings are per-specialization (the screenshot shows Feral specialization).  I can check Disable [Galecaller's Boon] and the addon will never recommend the trinket, even if the conditions for its usage in the Feral priority are met.  Alternatively, I could make it only available during boss fights, or I can make it require that a particular toggle is active.  By default, most trinkets are linked to the Cooldowns toggle, and that is the case here.  I could move it to a custom toggle or make it not require a toggle, as well.

Keep in mind, there are risks related to disabling an ability.  In order to make the internal logic for most priorities work, the addon treats disabled abilities as though they are on their maximum cooldown without ever ticking down.  If you're a Retribution Paladin, and you disable Avenging Wrath / Crusade entirely, you may have a bad time because your priority involves holding some abilities so that they line up with your wings.

So what is a good use-case for these kinds of options?  Again, assuming we're not comfortable editing our priority directly, let's say that we're fighting the Hivemind in Ny'alotha, and we don't want Blood of the Enemy to be recommended when there are no adds nearby.   (Note:  I'm not saying this is an optimal decision, but perhaps your raid has assigned you to help burst down adds.  It's just an example.)

There are 2 boss enemies in the Hivemind fight, so if a third target (or more targets) are detected, it's safe to say that at least one add is up.  I open /hekili > Abilities, make sure my specialization is selected, and then select Blood of the Enemy at the upper right.  Then I set Minimum Targets to 3.  Or more.  It's up to you.

Now go play with the target dummies.

Above:  Blood of the Enemy would've been recommended after Tiger's Fury, if the number of enemies didn't matter.  Below:  With 4 enemies in range, Blood of the Enemy appears in my recommendations.

Remember, it's safe to toy with these changes.  You can always start with a fresh profile or revert your changes when needed.  Keep that in mind.  If you disable an ability, or make it require more enemies before a fight, you may want to revert the change after the fight.

In Conclusion

There are a few interesting tweaks you can make that may help you get recommendations that are more in line with what you want for a particular fight.  Toggling your Cooldowns or Interrupts, whether via keybinding or WeakAura or minimap menu, may help you to do a better job of holding cooldowns for key moments during a fight.  Or, if you don't want the addon to recommend a particular ability, you can disable the ability completely.  Finally, if you don't want to learn to modify APLs, you can adjust some of the conditions used to determine if an ability is recommended through Abilities or Gear and Trinkets.

Feel free to post any questions you have about these features.  Should there be more options for these abilities without having to edit priorities directly?  What other features could help make the addon more useful to you?  Mahalo.