Complete step-by-step

How to use GearSmasher

Follow every step in order the first time. Nothing important is skipped below — install → hub → export → paste → every site tool → wear the set → wishlist → vault. The website ranks and sims; the free GearSmasher addon exports your character and applies plans in-game. Heavy sims run on a worker (host SimulationCraft), not inside WordPress.

Start here: (1) In-app tour (highlights on the live site), (2) this page — Master checklist then Parts A–Q, (3) Quick loop once you already know the path.
Words you’ll see:
Export / snapshot = JSON from the addon (/gs export) with equipped + bags/bank/warband (+ vault when available).
Best In Bags (BiB) = best set from gear you already own.
Find Upgrades = where to farm next — not BiB.
Wishlist (GW1) = farm list copied from the site into /gs wish.
Smash Vault = rank weekly vault picks vs equipped.
Worker = PC running the GearSmasher worker + SimulationCraft that claims jobs.
Trademark / affiliation: GearSmasher is an independent product. Not made by, endorsed by, or affiliated with Blizzard Entertainment or other addons. World of Warcraft® is a trademark of Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. Others charge. This one’s free.

★ Master checklist (do not skip)

  1. Install & enable addon → /reload → /gs version shows 0.3.4+
  2. Open bank (and warband bank if you use it)
  3. /gs Hub → 1 Export (or /gs export) → copy all JSON
  4. Site → paste → Use pasted export → confirm inventory badge
  5. Sim defaults → Fight = Raid or M+ · consumables as you like
  6. Best In Bags → Intent preset → run → copy Equip all plan
  7. Bank open → /gs equip → paste → Equip all → later /gs bibset
  8. Crest upgrades (optional) → pick DPS / HPS / survive → Rank
  9. Rank gems / Rank enchants (optional) → copy shop list → /gs shop
  10. Find Upgrades → difficulty · track preview · instances → run → Copy wishlist
  11. /gs wish → paste GW1 wishlist
  12. Smash Vault when you have weekly picks (open vault once → export anytime on 0.3.5+, or paste rows)
  13. Quick Sim after you wear a set (equipped-only check)

A What you need

  1. A browser on gearsmasher.com
  2. World of Warcraft retail (Midnight) on PC
  3. GearSmasher addon 0.3.4+ (releases\GearSmasher-0.3.4.zip or CurseForge)
  4. A working internet connection — sims run on gearsmasher.com
  5. About 15–20 minutes the first time

B Install the addon

  1. Unzip so the folder is exactly World of Warcraft\_retail_\Interface\AddOns\GearSmasher\ (you must see GearSmasher.toc inside that folder).
  2. At character select → AddOns → enable GearSmasher for this character.
  3. Log in.
  4. Type /reload once after install or update.
  5. Type /gs version — confirm 0.3.4 (or newer).
  6. If chat shows nothing / unknown command: addon not enabled or wrong folder name.

C Open the Hub

  1. Type /gs (or click the minimap button).
  2. You should see branded buttons: 1 Export, 2 Equip all, 3 BiB set, 4 Shop / AH list, 5 Wishlist (paste), plus Stats / Help.
  3. Commands also work without the Hub: /gs export, /gs equip, /gs bibset, /gs shop, /gs wish, /gs stats, /gs help.

D Export (bank open)

  1. Stand at a bank (or open warband bank UI if you use it).
  2. Keep the bank window open for the whole export.
  3. Hub → 1 Export, or type /gs export.
  4. Select all text in the export box → Ctrl+C.
  5. Do not edit the JSON by hand.
  6. Great Vault: open the vault UI once when rewards are up (addon 0.3.5+ caches picks). Later exports still include great_vault with the vault closed.
Why bank open? Best In Bags can only rank pieces in the snapshot. Closed bank → bank/warband omitted → BiB mostly ranks Equipped.

E Paste on the website

  1. Open gearsmasher.com.
  2. (Optional) Click Tutorial in the header for the live coach, or stay on this Help page.
  3. In 1 · Load your character, click the snapshot box.
  4. Ctrl+V to paste the export.
  5. Click Use pasted export.
  6. Wait until paste status succeeds (not an error).
  7. Confirm the inventory badge shows bags / bank / warband counts when you exported with bank open.

F Armory load (optional — equipped only)

  1. Under Or load from Armory, pick Region.
  2. Type Realm (e.g. Garona).
  3. Type Character name.
  4. Click Load from Armory.
  5. Use this for a quick equipped look / Quick Sim.
  6. Do not rely on Armory for Best In Bags — Armory has no bags/bank. Prefer addon export for BiB, crests, gems, vault.

G Character & gear panel

  1. After a successful load, 2 · Character & gear appears.
  2. Check name, class, spec, item level look right.
  3. Hover paperdoll icons for item tips (Wowhead-backed where possible).
  4. Read any warnings under the paperdoll (e.g. missing EffAP → re-export).
  5. Note the Gems & enchants block — empty sockets / missing enchants shortcuts appear here.

H Sim defaults (Fight + consumables)

  1. Find the Sim defaults card (shows after a character is loaded).
  2. Set Fight:
    • Raid — 1 target · 300s (default)
    • M+ — 5 targets · 60s
  3. Set Consumables: Flask only, or Flask + food + potion.
  4. This fight preset applies to Quick Sim, Best In Bags, Crest, Find Upgrades, gem rank, and enchant rank.
  5. You can still override fight length under Advanced on some tools.

I Best In Bags (owned gear)

  1. Go to 3 · Best In Bags.
  2. Move the Intent slider, or tap a preset: Ironwall → Delve Steady → Balanced → M+ Comfort → M+ Push → Glass.
  3. Tanks: tougher presets may enable death / DTPS gates (see Advanced).
  4. (Optional) Open Advanced: gates & sim size — iterations, fight length, max swap depth, max candidates.
  5. Click Best In Bags.
  6. Wait for the worker (rate limit ~3 jobs / minute / IP).
  7. Read the report: recommended set, scores, swap notes.
  8. Click the site’s Equip all / copy control when offered — that copies the equip plan JSON.
What BiB optimizes: wearable first → item level → primary for your spec → secondaries → relative sim ranking. It does not invent drops you don’t own.

J Equip all in-game + bibset

  1. Return to WoW on the same character you exported.
  2. Open the bank again and leave it open.
  3. Hub → 2 Equip all, or type /gs equip.
  4. Ctrl+V the plan into the paste box.
  5. Click Equip all.
  6. First pass may only move bank → bags; click Equip all again to wear.
  7. If a piece stays in bank, run Equip all once more.
  8. Closing the Equip window clears the paste text — start fresh next time.
  9. After one successful apply, the addon saves Equipment Manager set GearSmasher BiB.
  10. Later: bank open → Hub 3 BiB set or /gs bibset to wear that set again.
Same-name duplicates: if bank has two copies at different ilvls, GearSmasher moves/equips the highest one you can wear (required level first).

K Crest upgrades

  1. Stay on the site with your export loaded (prefer addon export so crest costs are live).
  2. Open 3b · Crest upgrades.
  3. Choose optimize for: More DPS, More HPS / self-heal, or More survivability.
  4. Choose depth: Next rank (+1) or To track max (full remaining ranks on that piece; crest cost from season table sum).
  5. Click Rank crest upgrades.
  6. Read the table: which owned piece to bump next (worn / bags / bank), crest cost, ΔDPS / ΔHPS. Bag/bank rows mean crest that piece and equip it.
  7. Free watermark steps (0 crests) that still gain are pinned toward the top on DPS/HPS ranking.
  8. Spend crests in-game on the recommended piece; re-export if you want a fresh rank.

L Rank gems & Rank enchants + Shop

  1. In Character & gear, the Gems & enchants block sits directly under the character header (above the paperdoll).
  2. Pick Rank gems / enchants by — DPS, HPS, or DTPS (soft default by role; override anytime), then click Rank again so the list rebuilds for that metric.
  3. Read empty-socket / missing-enchant shortcuts (MID2 suggestions when catalog loads).
  4. Click Rank gems for this toon — waits for worker; table sorts by your metric with icons + tips.
  5. Click Rank enchants — same idea for slot enchants (icons when mapped).
  6. Purchase list fills empty sockets/slots always. Worn enchant swaps buy when the combined package is ≥0.5% better on your chosen metric (per-slot crumbs stay off the list).
  7. Use any Copy for addon / shop copy control the report offers.
  8. In WoW: Hub → 4 Shop / AH list or /gs shop → Import → Search / Buy at the AH.
  9. Socket / apply enchants in-game, then re-export if you want updated sims.

M Find Upgrades (farm next)

  1. Open 4 · Find Upgrades (this is a farm planner — not BiB).
  2. Pick Difficulty (Mythic+ key band, raid difficulty, Delve / Prey tier).
  3. (Optional) Set Min upgrade % to hide tiny gains.
  4. (Optional) Set Track preview ilvl — Champion / Hero / Myth max — to preview a higher track than the difficulty default.
  5. Use Instance filter (always open) — Select all / Deselect all / Dungeons / Raids / Delve-Prey / Crafts, or tick individual instances. Crafts = profession Spark epics; set Track preview ilvl (caps 305 / 318 / 331).
  6. (Optional) Set iterations / fight length / max candidates.
  7. Click Find Upgrades and wait. Drops you already own at/above the preview band (bags/bank/warband/worn) are skipped.
  8. Hover result icons for tips; read upgrade % and sources.
  9. When the button appears, click Copy wishlist for addon (copies GW1;…).

N Wishlist in the addon

  1. After Copy wishlist on the site, return to WoW.
  2. Hub → 5 Wishlist (paste), or type /gs wish.
  3. Paste the GW1;… string → Import.
  4. Confirm the list shows ranks / slots / ilvls / instances.
  5. Clear anytime with /gs wish clear (or the UI clear control).

O Great Vault (Smash Vault)

  1. When weekly vault rewards are available: open the Great Vault UI in-game once (0.3.5+ caches picks for later exports).
  2. Bank open → /gs export again so the snapshot includes great_vault.
  3. Paste that export on the site → Use pasted export.
  4. Open 4b · Great Vault.
  5. If export has vault options, leave the paste box empty and click Smash Vault.
  6. If export has no vault block (or you’re dry-running mid-week), paste rows one per line: item_id,slot,ilvl,name (example placeholder on the site), then Smash Vault.
  7. Read the ranking — take the top ΔDPS (or HPS for healers) pick that fits your plan.
  8. Choose that reward in-game; re-export after you claim if you want a fresh BiB.
Mid-week: if you already claimed / have no choices, the live vault path waits until reset. Paste rows still work for practice anytime.

P Quick Sim (equipped only)

  1. Wear the set you care about (after Equip all, or Armory-equipped).
  2. Confirm Fight preset under Sim defaults (Raid / M+).
  3. Open 5 · Quick Sim.
  4. (Optional) Advanced → iterations / fight length.
  5. Click Run Quick Sim.
  6. Read mean DPS (and tank fields when present) under Results.
  7. Absolute DPS will not match Details exactly — use it for relative before/after checks.

Q Next time (short loop)

  1. Bank open → /gs export → site paste → Use pasted export.
  2. Fight preset → Best In Bags → Equip all (or /gs bibset if the set is unchanged).
  3. Optional: crests, gems/enchants, Find Upgrades → wishlist, Smash Vault, Quick Sim.
  4. After addon updates: /reload → /gs version.

⚡ Quick loop (after you’ve done A–Q once)

  1. Bank open → /gs export → Ctrl+C
  2. Site → paste → Use pasted export
  3. Fight preset → Best In Bags → copy plan
  4. /gs equip → paste → Equip all (bank open)
  5. Farm: Find Upgrades → Copy wishlist → /gs wish

⚙ Worker & sims

  1. WordPress queues jobs; the live site worker runs SimulationCraft.
  2. If a sim stays queued, wait ~20–60s and try again.
  3. Rate limit: about 3 jobs / minute / IP.

? Problems?

  1. BiB only ranks Equipped — re-export with bank open; check inventory badge.
  2. Sim stuck / queued — worker offline or rate-limited (wait ~20–60s).
  3. Equip put the wrong copy in bags — update addon; same-name items pick highest usable ilvl.
  4. Armory looks fine but BiB empty — Armory has no bags; use addon export.
  5. No vault candidates — open Great Vault once (caches on 0.3.5+), re-export, or use paste rows; mid-week may have nothing to claim.
  6. Wishlist won’t parse — paste the full GW1;… from Copy wishlist for addon.
  7. Enchant row has name but no icon — some SimC ids (e.g. DK runes) are not mapped to scroll items yet; tip still shows the name.
  8. Paste box still has old plan — close Equip window (clears) or Clear.
  9. Wrong addon version — /gs version; reinstall zip / CurseForge update → /reload.

📋 Cheat sheet

/reload → /gs version (0.3.4+)
Bank open → /gs → Export → site paste → Use pasted export
Sim defaults: Raid or M+
Best In Bags → Equip all → /gs equip (bank open) → later /gs bibset
Crests · Rank gems · Rank enchants → /gs shop
Find Upgrades → Copy wishlist → /gs wish
Vault open once → export anytime (0.3.5+) → Smash Vault (or paste rows)
Quick Sim = equipped check
Help: gearsmasher.com/help · Tutorial button on site

✉ Need help?

  1. Re-run the master checklist with one clean export.
  2. Note addon version (/gs version), class/spec, and which button you clicked.
  3. Email TracyLeeHoward@gmail.com (Tracy Howard / Dez).