Proto Tools

The Proto Suite

Core core + shared libraries

LFG + Chat

ServiceShop

Threat

Tools

Roadmap

Rebuild Proto Suite

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UI + Usability

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Threat + Tools

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Expanded Suite

Early days: more tools are on the way. Feedback, ideas and bug reports are all welcome, and a screenshot of any Lua error helps a lot.

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Small quality-of-life tools, each on its own switch. Works on its own (the CurseForge app adds Proto Core, the shared code), and fits right in with Proto LFG + Chat, Proto ServiceShop and Proto Threat.

New in 0.0.2

• Tracking modes (Settings > Tools > Auto tracking > Mode): Improved Tracking (your target's kind), Zone Based (each zone's main mob kind as you enter it; new, feedback welcome) and PvP (always Track Humanoids)

Buff reminders

• See who's missing your buffs: in a group, out of combat, a pop-up names who needs Mark of the Wild, Fortitude, Arcane Intellect or your blessing
• Buff them in one click: click Buff on the pop-up, then the next person
• The right buff for each role: Thorns for the tank, Divine Spirit and Wisdom for casters
• Quiet in fights and boss fights
• Each buff on its own switch (Esc > Options > AddOns > Proto Tools, or type /proto qol buffs)

Auto tracking

• Target a mob, track its kind: Track Beasts, Humanoids, Undead and the rest
• Three tracking modes: your target's kind, Zone Based (each zone's main mob kind as you enter it: graveyards Undead, satyr camps Demons) or PvP (always Track Humanoids). Settings > Tools > Mode
• Herbs and ore out of combat: Find Herbs and Find Minerals, taking turns when you have both
• Dungeons too: each dungeon's main mob kind, and herbs and ore where it has them
• On by default (Esc > Options > AddOns > Proto Tools, or type /proto qol tracking)

Spell announcements

• Tell your group when you use a big spell: "Shield Wall up", "Power Infusion on Bob", "Resurrecting Bob", "Soulstone on Bob"
• Pick your spells: tank cooldowns, saves, resurrects and summons on by default; crowd control and group buffs to add. Click Choose spells…
• Off by default (Settings > Tools > Announce important spells, or type /proto qol announce)

And more

• Quest tracker stays collapsed when you collapse it, each section too, or hide it (Settings > Tools)
• Herbs and ore on the minimap coloured by your skill: red if you can't gather it yet, orange, yellow or green for a skill-up, with the skill it needs (on by default)
• Hide the beta's feedback and survey pop-ups, after quests and bosses (Settings > Tools, off by default)

Developer's Notes

ServiceShop started as EnchantShop, a simple enchanting assistant. I added a trade chat filter so I could find people looking for enchants, kept building, and it became ServiceShop. Then the chat side grew into a full LFG tool, and I wanted it to be useful for players who don't enchant or sell services, so I split it into ServiceShop and Proto LFG + Chat.

While naming LFG + Chat I came up with Proto: short for protocol, and the proto-drake. That's the name for everything going forward. You'll see a lot of changes as I go. I'm building it out based on what works for me.

The suite is now five addons: Proto Core (the core and shared libraries), Proto LFG + Chat, ServiceShop, Proto Threat and Proto Tools. The foundation is rebuilt, and more addons will be built on it.

Underneath is a message bus, Proto Link. It lets shops talk to each other, gives players with the addon extra information, and handles addon messages globally, to your party or raid, or to one player.

Any new addon built on Proto Core can use it. That means someone running Proto Link for the LFG tool can add value for someone using it for something completely different.

New with this release: Proto Threat and Proto Tools.

Proto Threat combines threat plates (without replacing your favourite nameplates) with a threat meter. I've tanked for a long time using damage meters, threat meters, threat plates and ElvUI, so I'm building it around what simplifies and improves on what every good threat meter already does, not another copy of Details. Group members running it share their threat and big moves: taunts, Feign Death and the like, including resists. Blizzard locks addon messages during boss fights, so sharing works on trash and in the open world, not on bosses.

Proto Tools is a set of tweaks and tests too small for their own addon, for now. For example: auto-tracking that switches between herbs, ore and humanoids.