ArmorCraft by Vincent of Blackhand (D.A.Down)

  1. Intro:
    ArmorCraft is a WoW add-on for scanning an armor crafting window and displaying the highest armor that can be crafted for a given level. This makes it much easier to see if you can craft a better piece of armor for yourself or another player. You can also compare a specific armor or weapon with the one in use by a target player and your alternates. Blacksmiths and Engineers will also show the best melee weapon or gun that can be crafted.

  2. Installing:
    Just unzip ArmorCraft into your "World of Warcraft\Interface\AddOns" folder. You can create the sub-folders if they don't already exist.

  3. Configuration:
    After you install ArmorCraft, you can configure a key mapping to open the ArmorCraft window. You may also want to change the default values for attributes with the '/acv' command (see below).

  4. Use:
    First, open one of the Trade Skill windows for crafting armor (Blacksmithing, Leatherworking, Tailoring or Engineering). Then click on the AC button in the title and it will open the ArmorCraft windows. If the window is already open, then it will be closed. By default, ArmorCraft displays the best armor that you can craft for your current target with your current trade skill. If you don't have a target or it is not a player, you will be the default target. If a weapon can be crafted, it will be displayed too.

    If you change targets, reopen the AC window to update the armor selections. If you play other characters and have CharactersViewer installed, there will be a second drop-down menu where you can select one of your other characters as the target. If you also have GuildCharactersViewer installed, you can change your target to a GCV guild member with the command '/ac <name>'.

    The crafted armor names are color coded. Grey names are not as good as the target armor. White names are similar but probably not better. Green names are likely an improvement in some way. The comparison depends on the values assigned to the attributes (see below).

    The equipment type (such as plate instead of mail) is based on the class and level of the target. The class can be selected from the drop-down menu and a different maximum level can be entered in the edit box. The armor list will be updated whenever either selection is changed.

    When you mouse-over the displayed armor items, a tooltip will appear describing the item. EquipCompare and CharactersViewer will enhance the tooltip information, making comparisons easier.

  5. Craft selection:
    To craft any of the displayed craftable items, just left-click on it and the corresponding item will be selected in the trade skills window. It will also display the calculated armor values in the chat window.

    If the displayed item isn't one that you want to craft (the components may be too expensive or not available), right-click it and it will be added to a list of items to be skipped. An alternate item will then be displayed if one is available. The skipped item list will only be kept until the ArmorCraft window is closed.

  6. Armor & weapon comparison:
    A Shift-LeftClick on an inventory or bank item that is an armor or weapon will open a comparison window (thrown weapons and tools are excluded). It will list what your character and you target player currently have equipped in the slot that the clicked item equips to. If the data for the add-in CharactersViewer is available any other alternate characters on the current server will also be listed. Mousing over the list will display double tooltips to compare the clicked on item with the equipped item.

    The label for each item shows the character name, level and the class of the item used. For armor, it will be the best armor type that can be used; cloth, leather, mail or plate (blank for items worn on the back) and for weapons, it will be the equipped weapon type (melee or ranged if none is equipped). If the click item has too high a level requirement, the level will be colored red. If the class of the clicked item can't be used, the class will be red and if the class is the same, it will be green.

    For off-hand items, if the target character is using a two-handed weapon, the weapon will be shown and the class will be displayed as 'Two-Hand'. This indicates that the off-hand item can't be equipped. A ring or trinket or one-hand weapon will display with radio-buttons '#1' and #2' which let you select between the 2 slots for those items.

    Finally, if the class or level is red, or the clicked item is inferior to the clicked item, the character name will be grey. If the clicked item could be used (training may be needed), the name will be white if it is similar and yellow if it may be better. Thus a quick glance at the window colors will indicate if a detailed comparison is worthwhile.

    When you are in a group, other group members will be listed after your character. If you also have other CharactersViewer characters, a Party option button will let you switch between party members and alternate characters.

    The same comparison can be done for any crafted armor or weapon by clicking on the I button in the title of the crafting window and it will compare the currently selected craft item. If you select a new item or target and click on the button again, the comparison will be updated, otherwise the window will be closed.

    You can check wearable items that are displayed in loot windows or are linked in the chat window with a shift-leftclick on the item. This also works in groups when rolling for a loot item. Thus you can not only see if your other characters can use it but if group members really have a need for an item.

    Notes: When checking to see if a player can use a weapon, it only considers if the player class is allowed to use the weapon, not whether the weapon skill has been trained yet. When comparing equipable Engineering items, no check is made to see if the engineering skill requirement is met. For off-hand weapons, a check is made to see if dual-wielding could be possible. Two-handed weapons are valued at 80% of one-handed weapons due to the loss of the other slot.

  7. Commands:
    These are the available chat line commands:
    /ac – Toggle the ArmorCraft window.
    /ac <name> – Change the ArmorCraft window target to the GCV name.
    /acv – Display the attribute value settings for the current class.
    /acv <attr>=<value> – Sets <attr> weighting to <value>.
    /acv default – Reset the values to the defaults.
    /acv list – List the custom armor values.
    /acv 0 – Delete the custom armor value for the current craft item.
    /acv <value> – Set the custom armor value for the current craft item.

  8. Attribute values:
    When comparing armor with attributes like '+4 stamina', the increase in the attribute will be multipled by the attribute value and then added to the armor value to get an effective worth. The attribute of 'Other' is the value applied to any other attribute that isn't on the list of names (things like Fire Resistance). *Special use features are not considered.*

    Each character class has its own set of attribute values. Select the desired class from the AC drop-down menu before using the '/acv' commands to examine or change these values.

  9. Custom values:
    Some armor items have special features that change their relative value. You can specify a custom armor value by selecting the item in the crafting window and using the command '/acv <value>', where <value> is the new custom value. If the value is zero, the custom value will be deleted. To list all custom values, type '/acv list', If you want some item to be ignored, set its value to 1.

  10. MarsProfessionOrganizer support:
    ArmorCraft will work with MPO, but there are some limitations. If you change a crafted item category while the AC window is open, clicking on an AC item may no longer select the correct craft item (re-open the AC window to fix this). If you move an item out of an armor class category (such as Cloth, Mail, etc.) AC will no longer consider it when looking for the best item to craft. Sometimes this can be useful, such as moving an item that requires a special component such as murlock scale so that it will be ignored.


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Last update: 3/2/06