Tulkas, the strongest and most warlike 'Champion of the Valar.'
Introducing the Tulkas plugin for LotRO..
What is Tulkas?
Tulkas is designed to help you plan your character builds by comparing items against one another, and creating hypothetical builds to preview the stat changes.
It has a built-in database of approximately 31,000 items covering all levels 1-85. However in the event that your item has not been added, there is the option to add yourself.
Why should I use Tulkas?
If like me, you often find yourself overwhelmed with the choices in equipment and uncertain in which to take, using Tulkas will help you determine which item will closer realise your stat ambitions, whether that be for a greater physical/tactical mastery rating, in-combat power regen, or just more morale etc. Tulkas breaks the stats down and converts them into the actual stats you would see if you were to equip that item. Case example: You are crafting a new cloak for yourself but with the different outputs, you aren't sure which one you would prefer. Load up Tulkas, set the item you are currently wearing, then set the first cloak you would like to compare, then the second. After that hit 'Compare' and you will get the stat results for each item for you to review.
You can also use Tulkas to preview entire builds, helping you get a better idea of which items you really want to go after.
Tulkas main search window:
Features and how to use them:
Tulkas has been designed to be straight-forward to use. Once you have downloaded and installed the plugin, use the command /plugin load tulkas to start the plugin in-game (alternatively use the plugin manager to load). Once loaded you can use the command /tulkas to re-open the main window if you close it.
You can search for items in the panel on the left. Searching is easy, you have a number of options to filter the results. Search by name, level, slot, color, or stat. The search results are updated as you make changes to the filters, so no need to keep clicking a search button. Searches are restricted by class and armour type (heavy,medium,light), so a Captain for example will not see items for a LoreMaster etc. To make searching and adding items even easier, you can copy and paste items linked in the chat window with their brackets like [Avorchol] into the search text box and it will strip the brackets for you to search for the item.
Search results are displayed into a recognisable format on the right-hand side (see images).
To preview an item, right-click it in the search results to get a menu of options for where you want to preview it, whether that be item by item, or as part of a larger build.
Build window:
Stat results window:
When you hit 'Compare' you will be presented with a long table showing your current stats, and each of the items selected. For each item/build you have the values broken down (e.g. depending on class, +Might may be transferred into +Block Rating, +Parry Rating, and +Physical Rating), a preview of what your new stat total would be with this item equipped, and the variation between this item and what you are currently wearing.
There is also a wishlist you can use to help make notes for certain items. The option to add to wishlist is available from right-clicking an item. You can use this to help plan for items you want to acquire and make notes on where to get them etc.
Other windows:
Where do the items come from?
Unfortunately it is not possible yet with the LoTRO API to pull item stats directly from the game, therefore the plugin relies on a built-in database listing all the items and stats. The database will be updated frequently and available for download, however you may find that the item you are wanting to use hasn't been added yet. In this event you are able to add new items to your local database which will be saved when the plugin unloads for future use.
To do this is simple, click the 'Add Item' button and you will be presented with a new window. Here you enter the items name, select the slot (head, ear, shoulder etc), color, level etc.. then add the stats individually.
From v.1.3.0 onwards there are a couple of ways to try and get the items ID when adding your own item (if successful it also adds the item name for you). If you have the item in your inventory you can drag it to the quickslot that is there, this will pull the item name and hopefully the ID (there are some cases where the item IDs are in an unusual format, in which case the plugin will ignore it.).
The other method is for items that you don't have, such as those that can be crafted or bartered for. For this you can link the items to a chat channel and the plugin will read the data from the chat log.. this method tends to be more successful than the quickslot method.
Having a valid ID means that these items you add yourself can also be linked to the chat window - it will also make things a lot easier for myself if you plan to share the items you have added.
You can access the items you have added manually through the 'My Items' button. Here you can edit items, delete items you no longer need, or more importantly, export your saved items so they can be included in the main database in future updates. To do this click 'Export'. You will then be presented with a text box of code. This code can be copied and pasted here, either as a comment, or PM'd to me. This way I can paste it directly into the main database without needing to make any further adjustments. All shared items will be most appreciated.
Commands:
/tulkas - Shows the main window if it has been closed.
Known Issues:
Most of the items are pulled from LoreBook, unfortunately as LoreBook isn't always up-to-date you may come across items in Tulkas that are no longer in game (if you link these to the chat the name will be in white and no tooltip will display). If you can let me know the item name and level if you come across any, I'll have them removed in the next update. Thanks.
Languages:
This first build only supports English. The file Strings.lua contains the translations for French and German. If anyone is able to provide translations I would really appreciate it.
Please do let me know if you have any comments, suggestions or requests. Thanks.
Lastly, remember to keep checking back for database updates.
--- Download at LotroInterface
When adding new weapons, you can now set the min/max damage and the damage type. Any weapons you have already saved can be edited to adjust to the change.
You can now edit items you have added yourself. This can be achieved from the 'My Items' window.
When you select a new slot to search from, Tulkas will try to fill the 'Equipped' slot for you. The plugin will only search for your equipped item within the set level range, if your item is outside that range then you may have to change the level parameters to find it.
Items that have been added officially can be linked to your chat window, there is a new settings icon at the top of the screen which will allow you to set the output channel. Items that can be linked will have a red speech icon in the search results display.
Added approx 19,000 thousand items to the database
Made some changes to the items database structure.
Due to the size of the database I had to make some changes to how it searches. When you first load and when you change the level to search within it may take a few seconds to load. After this it shouldn't be too bad.
A big thank you to everyone who has submitted their items so far, it's really appreciated
I like this plugin so far, it show you at a glance what the differences will be for different items. Nice work. A suggestion I have would be to extend that to whole builds. Let me create a build in the plugin, save it with a name, and then compare that to my current setup with the results displayed similar to the item diffs.
I like this plugin so far, it show you at a glance what the differences will be for different items. Nice work. A suggestion I have would be to extend that to whole builds. Let me create a build in the plugin, save it with a name, and then compare that to my current setup with the results displayed similar to the item diffs.
Soon™
It's something I've been wanting to implement, and have already started on..
Added the option of comparing complete builds. You can use this to preview the stats on an entire build and compare against another.
Builds 1 & 2 can be renamed to something else if you wish - click the title text in the middle/top of the screen.
Added a new wishlist feature so you can bookmark your favourite items and add notes.
New options available in the menus when you right-click an item to allow you to add to wishlist or build.
Included support for set bonuses which are displayed as part of the build set-up. You can also search directly by set name in the main search box, or click the orange set name to search for other pieces from that set. Set bonuses are added into the stat totals for each build.
I was able to test it for a bit when I went to lunch.
1) The item database is already out of date. Check Wood-Bound Boots. The item database shows them as having the old Ranged Offense rating while as of Update 5.1 they've been changed to Physical Mastery. There's several pieces that have had this change.
2) Could there be a way to load/save the comparison slots for gear? That way we could have more than just 3 to mess with.
3) As of right now there's no way to equip legendary items as far as I can tell. It'd be nice to be able to equip those plus slot relics and whatnot get a real total of our stats
Fantastic tool! I have already spent hours with it just standing around in Galtrev searching for items I wasn't aware of. Now with the equipment setups I am going to be spending even MORE time playing with the plugin!
I was able to test it for a bit when I went to lunch.
1) The item database is already out of date. Check Wood-Bound Boots. The item database shows them as having the old Ranged Offense rating while as of Update 5.1 they've been changed to Physical Mastery. There's several pieces that have had this change.
2) Could there be a way to load/save the comparison slots for gear? That way we could have more than just 3 to mess with.
3) As of right now there's no way to equip legendary items as far as I can tell. It'd be nice to be able to equip those plus slot relics and whatnot get a real total of our stats
Fantastic tool! I have already spent hours with it just standing around in Galtrev searching for items I wasn't aware of. Now with the equipment setups I am going to be spending even MORE time playing with the plugin!
The problem is that most of the data is from Lorebook, which unfortunately lags behind. If only they made the API available in-game that would make such a difference. I will look to adding an 'edit' option on official entries so you can adjust the stats if you need to.
The plugin saves whatever builds are set when it unloads, so it shouldn't be too difficult adding an option to save builds separately to reload at a later date.
Someone else asked me in-game to add legendaries, which I will do at some point in the future most likely.. You could add them yourself through 'Add Item', entering the base stats, and maybe add up the total stats from your relics onto the item. I know it's not ideal but it should do as a temporary fix until LIs work their way in.
The problem is that most of the data is from Lorebook, which unfortunately lags behind. If only they made the API available in-game that would make such a difference. I will look to adding an 'edit' option on official entries so you can adjust the stats if you need to.
Ahh good to know. Very cool idea to add an edit button
The plugin saves whatever builds are set when it unloads, so it shouldn't be too difficult adding an option to save builds separately to reload at a later date.
Very nice. Thanks for your hard work.
Someone else asked me in-game to add legendaries, which I will do at some point in the future most likely.. You could add them yourself through 'Add Item', entering the base stats, and maybe add up the total stats from your relics onto the item. I know it's not ideal but it should do as a temporary fix until LIs work their way in.
Oh wow, I didn't even think of that! Very nice idea and a good temporary fix.
Can you make it so we can search for items with Stealth on it? I was trying to find a pocket item with stealth on it but there was no option for that to search for.
The one thing I'd like to see is the default search option to be from 1-75. I think it should be more open since I'll be typing in a request to populate my equipment build and if it happens to be one level lower than the range you provide, it won't show in the search. I'd rather have to limit it myself than "unlimit" it, if you know what I mean.
The one thing I'd like to see is the default search option to be from 1-75. I think it should be more open since I'll be typing in a request to populate my equipment build and if it happens to be one level lower than the range you provide, it won't show in the search. I'd rather have to limit it myself than "unlimit" it, if you know what I mean.
Thank you for your suggestion.
When you are searching for an item, you are not searching within the main items database itself, instead you are searching from a copy of it. The items contained in the copy depend entirely on the selected level. If the default was set to 1-75, the copy would contain every single item (18,000+) and all the information that goes with them. From testing the plugin during development I found that to search the entire database takes significantly longer than if I copied just the items within the selected level range and searched this new database instead. This set-up helps a tonne with performance. The option is there though to change the level range if a player needs to.
I designed the plugin default to be +/- 3 levels from your current level because I assumed most players would be focussing on items that are close to their level. Of course I understand this isn't perfect for getting your equipment if the item falls outside that range, in which case yes you will need to adjust the level range yourself for now.
In future when I get around to adding a settings window, I may include the option to set a default min and max level yourself, but because of how the level range impacts performance, I won't be adjusting the built-in default. Sorry.
I understand. Perhaps you might increase the range a little, in that case. Some quest items don't have a level attached (as a reward) and the level put in place is the one at which the quest either is run or could be run. Sometimes those items last a bit longer than the range at which you've placed. Alternately, perhaps allowing us to type in something without it automatically searching after each letter which is typed?
Alternately, perhaps allowing us to type in something without it automatically searching after each letter which is typed?
While you're continuously typing it shouldn't be searching, the plugin is designed to wait a second or two after it detects you have stopped typing before it attempts the search.
It doesn't seem to be working that well on my rig. I think it's clever, but sometimes I think things like that are better left out. I would recommend taking that feature out. It's just not working that well and I think a button which would activate the search might be better for everyone.
Added about 12,000 more items to the database that were previously missing - database now contains 31,071 items.
Added a couple of methods for grabbing the item's ID when manually adding a new item.
Audacity is now a recognised stat that you can include in items you add manually, and also for within your search parameters.
Made the compare window taller so you no longer need to scroll to see all the stat comparisons.
Added a copy button to the build windows so you can easily copy builds from one to another.
Started to manually add some of the Rohan missing jewellery items - until these are added to Lorebook you may find you need to add some yourself - sorry.
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Originally Posted by Pengoros
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