Q/A - How we fix core related issues.

[Senpuria]

Okay so, me and TheLuda have been talking and we think it would be a great idea for the MaNGOS community if we gave you all more information about the core as a whole and how it works.

We will be going through one known core issue a week in mangos and publicly fixing the issue so everybody can get a better understanding of how the core works and how you might go about fixing issues that arise, this thread should also prove valuable for people who want to find out information since there isn't much information on core related issues at the moment

I have decided to start with Shadow Spike from Kil'Jaeden, anybody is welcome to help out and join in, so please do so if you wish!

Here is the following information on the spell:

Shadow Spike is a 28 second channeling spell, periodically triggering another spell that targets the current target coords, if the triggered spell hits a target within range of the area effect another spell is triggered which applies an aura debuff to the target(s)

46680 (28 second channel)

Effect 0: Id 6 (SPELL_EFFECT_APPLY_AURA)

BasePoints = 0

Targets (1, 0) (TARGET_SELF, NO_TARGET)

Aura Id 23 (SPELL_AURA_PERIODIC_TRIGGER_SPELL), value = 0, misc = 0

(0), miscB = 0, periodic = 3000

Trigger spell: 46589 - Shadow Spike. Chance = 101

46589 (Periodic trigger)

Effect 0: Id 32 (SPELL_EFFECT_TRIGGER_MISSILE)

BasePoints = 1

Targets (53, 0) (TARGET_CURRENT_ENEMY_COORDINATES, NO_TARGET)

Radius (Id 36) 0.00

Trigger spell: 45885 - Shadow Spike. Chance = 101

Description: Inflicts $s1% Shadow damage to an enemy and leaves it wounded, reducing the effectiveness of any healing by $s2% for $d.

ToolTip: Healing effects reduced by $s2%.

46680 works correctly, channeling the spell from the caster, when we get to 46589 this is when we hit a problem, the spell is supposed to get a random target from the threat list, target their coords and cast. Currently the spell does not get any target coords and instead hits the caster.

SpellWork:

I found the following spell information by using SpellWork, you can find a copy of SpellWork here;

https://github.com/LordJZ/spellwork_cs

Please note this version of SpellWork is only compatible with 3.3.5a client versions.

Websites:

You can also find some spell information on www.wowhead.com, for example if we type in Shadow Spike it brings us up this list

http://www.wowhead.com/search?q=Shadow+Spike

Which is all available spells with the name "Shadow Spike" that exist in the game at the moment, remember that wowhead is updated to match the current client version so if you are working with an earlier version some information might be incorrect for your version, however this is unlikely to change with spells.

If we click on Shadow Spike with the spell ID 46680 it brings us to this window

http://www.wowhead.com/spell=46680

Here you can find some very simple information on spell 46680 including the effect it triggers, the cast time, the duration, range and cooldown, this could prove very useful information on how to go about fixing your spell.

One of the other useful ways to find information about spells that might not be readily available on the website is to read the boss comments, usually there is a few good posts about strategies for the bosses that may go into detail about some of the spells.

If you cannot find the information you are looking for on wowhead you can always head over to wowwiki.com. Wowwiki is another great website you can check out that goes into great detail about bosses, and their spells.

To get a more visual approach to the way the spell works I always check youtube for boss fights so I can view the mechanics of the spell and learn about the things that I can't read about.

[Schmoozerd]

Suggestion:

You posted already lots of detailed information: Focus also on how to get them

That would be likely

1) Basic information (wowwwiki, wowhead, videos own experience)

2) Available informatioon - SpellWorks

3) Interpretation of spell.dbc data with current mangos

4) Detailed information if available (combat logs and similar logs from real life servers)

[NickWalker12]

Sweet idea! I'm sure a ton of people will find this useful. Respect to TheLuda and Senpuria for doing this, too!

Speaking of which, Senpuria did you pick Shadow Spike after moving my topic? Otherwise just a nice coincidence. A great point by Schmoozerd.

[Senpuria]

I only have a mangos one core running at this time so the bugs I know most about are from mangos one But I am sure that Shadow Spike is not fixed on the master branch either so it shouldn't matter.

I have updated the thread with some of your suggestions Schmoo thank you for that, I will continue to update the main post with ideas so please if you have any suggestions or think more information needs to be added just post here

[glowingeyesofdeath]

Seems like there is a skill disconnect,

Most people can get basic info easily and with a decent volume, but transforming that into fixes is beyond most of us. Even knowing what areas to focus on and what information is needed for which issues would probably help. For something like vehicles for example, I know many many people wish to see it fixed, but where to begin? Which parts of the database and core are missing or not working or need to be reworked?