ACT Statter by Reapp

If you've been playing EverQuest II for a while, you've surely come into contact with Advanced Combat Tracker (ACT). Combat performance, even for casual solo players, is measured and compared every day using this app. Other combat-oriented functions such as the ability to set conditional alerts and review encounters in a VCR-style time lapse make ACT an essential supplement for our favorite game.

Gearing up for, and understanding, the complexities of combat stats have become more and more necessary for improving performance. And so it makes sense that players should have some way to track and evaluate the effects of changes in their own stat values during encounters.

At least that was the observation of Darq Side member Naviaz when he posed the suggestion that we leverage the DarqUI Stat Monitor to collect and parse stat changes in the same way that DPS and HPS are parsed within ACT. Several solutions were considered, including the use of chat logs to create some kind of visual representation in the DarqUI Utility, and of course using ACT which seemed like a perfect match for the request. But that would also mean building a plugin.

Enter Darq Side member Reapp, who responded to my request for comment earlier this year. His ACT Statter plugin is ideal for what Naviaz was looking for: an easy-to-customize parser for combat stats that fits neatly within the ACT ecosystem. On its own, ACT Statter is a great solution. So what exactly would be improved by integrating the DarqUI Stat Monitor?

The result is a simple checkbox in the Window Manager to begin logging any stat on the Stat Monitor page, and optionally to set a custom color for graphical output in ACT. Your only setup chore is to choose or create a private chat channel for logging stat changes -- which are going to be abundant whether you use Statter's native logging technique or DarqUI's.

To get started using the plugin, you can visit the ACT Downloads page, or get the plugin directly from this link. Instructions for installing plugins are located inside the ACT app, or on Reapp's readme page.

On that page you can also find out how to turn on and use Statter's native logging method. Using Statter logging, a group of stats is selected directly within the plugin, and logging is done with a simple command that's bound to a dedicated hotkey, or to any spell button, directional key or macro button that you commonly use in combat. Your stat values are logged as a group each time you fire off the command.

To use DarqUI logging, save the name of the private channel you want to use, and make sure you have joined that channel. Then simply check the Log stat box to begin logging a stat (see image above.) Individual stats are logged in the background automatically whenever there is a change to the stat's value while in combat. One bonus is that DarqUI will report when a stat is at cap or overcap, and the Statter graphical display will indicate the overcapped condition.

I hope you'll give this plugin a try along with the new logging controls in the Window Manager. In testing it over the last few weeks I already consider ACT Statter a must-have for my own combat styles. A very big thank you to Reapp for generously making major adjustments to his code to accommodate the DarqUI logging format, and to Naviaz for making the initial request.

Reapp is also a member of our Darq Side Discord, and I'm sure he will welcome your comments and questions!