Character Builder Lite

[EllisDee37]

Character Builder Lite is designed with a minimalist philosophy -- thus the "Lite" -- and is intended to be useful for any DDO player, from new players to seasoned vets.

This thread was created early in the development of the utility, soliciting feedback and suggestions. Discussion of the most recent major version (3.0) begins in post 779.

Two companion programs are included the the download zip, as well as complete source code for all the tools in the SourceCode zip:
- Cannith Crafting Builder Lite
- Compendium Lite


Downloads

Files are hosted on Google Drive. When you open one of these download links you'll see a list of the zip file contents. There's a little down-arrow button at the top of the screen for downloading.

DDO Lite Tools 2019-05-25

Source Code 2019-05-25 (VB6)

All Downloads

NOTE: For some reason, my Windows 10 is no longer letting these programs open web links unless I set them to Run as Administrator, so if you click a link and nothing happens, try running as admin. (Right-click the exe files, choose Properties, click the Compatibility tab, then check the box at the bottom that says Run as Administrator.)


New Installation

Unzip the "DDO Lite Tools" zip anywhere under your Documents folder.

NOTE: If you save them anywhere else, you must right-click the exe files and set them to Run as Administrator, even if you're using an administrator account. Otherwise the character builder will crash when it tries to auto-save backup copies of the active build whenever you change screens.


Updating

Copy the "DDO Lite Tools" zip into the same folder where the exe files are. Then right-click the zip file and choose "Extract Here." Answer Yes to All when asked to overwrite. That's all you need to do.


Compatibility

Written in pure VB6 native code, all programs should run on any version of Windows, no installation required.

Mac and Linux users have reportedly been able to run it using Wine with the following tweaks:

winetricks vb6run
winetricks native_oleaut32
winetricks allfonts


Source Code

There are no dependencies (references and components) of any kind used in any of the programs; just pure native VB6. if you can run VB6 you should be able to compile all programs without issue.

The source code zip also contains the many hundreds of bitmaps and icons used in all programs. (Most of them are for the crafting planner.)

[EllisDee37]

Updated May 25th, 2019



Character Builder Lite v3.1.5 complete release notes:

• NEW: Tiefling
• NEW: Tiefling Scoundrel
• NEW: Inquisitive global tree

Compendium v1.3.1 complete release notes:

• NEW: Masterminds of Sharn
  • Quests, Sagas, and Wilderness area
• Added Schism Shard Crafting links to context menus for WPM, ToEE, and Tethyamar (quests and packs)
• Added Named Items link to context menu for Lost at Sea
• NEW: Abbreviate columns (Tools => Options)
  • Tools screen is a development version, not polished
  • Changing the font for the quests list works but is not saved

Cannith Crafting Builder Lite v3.0 release notes:

• (no changes)

Descriptions updated by wiki crawler:

• Aasimar Scourge Tier 3: Strike Down
• Angel of Vengeance Tier 4: Intense Faith
• Divine Disciple Tier 4: Prophetic Zenith
• Divine Disciple Tier 5: Prophetic Zenith
• Drow Tier 0: Spell Resistance
• Eldritch Knight (Sorcerer) Tier 0: Eldritch Strike
• Eldritch Knight (Sorcerer) Tier 0: Spellsword
• Eldritch Knight (Sorcerer) Tier 2: Improved Shield
• Eldritch Knight (Sorcerer) Tier 4: Force's Point
• Eldritch Knight (Wizard) Tier 0: Eldritch Strike
• Eldritch Knight (Wizard) Tier 1: Arcane Siphon
• Eldritch Knight (Wizard) Tier 2: Improved Shield
• Enlightened Spirit Tier 0: Eldritch Aura
• Enlightened Spirit Tier 0: Celestial Spirit
• Enlightened Spirit Tier 3: Eldritch Burst
• Enlightened Spirit Tier 5: Spirit Blast
• Falconry Tier 4: Deadly Instinct
• Falconry Tier 5: Death from Above
• Half-Orc Tier 2: Lock Bash
• Harper Agent Tier 2: Know the Angles
• Kensei Tier 0: Power Surge
• Kensei Tier 0: One Cut
• Kensei Tier 0: Alacrity
• Kensei Tier 5: Deadly Strike
• Knight of the Chalice Tier 0: Slayer of Evil III
• Knight of the Chalice Tier 3: Vigor of Life
• Knight of the Chalice Tier 4: Vigor of Life
• Knight of the Chalice Tier 5: Vigor of Life
• Nature's Protector Tier 5: Force of Nature
• Nature's Warrior Tier 4: Ferocity
• Ninja Spy Tier 0: Diversion
• Occult Slayer Tier 5: Vampiric Bond
• Pale Master Tier 3: Cloak of Night
• Radiant Servant Tier 5: Positive Energy Aura
• Renegade Mastermaker Tier 2: Converter
• Sacred Defender Tier 4: Reinforced Defense
• Sacred Defender Tier 4: Swift Defense
• Spellsinger Tier 4: Sustaining Song
• Spellsinger Tier 4: Frolic
• Spellsinger Tier 4: Song of Arcane Might
• Stalwart Defender Tier 0: Stalwart Defense
• Stalwart Defender Tier 4: Swift Defense
• Tainted Scholar Tier 1: Feigned Health
• Thief-Acrobat Tier 0: Cartwheel Charge
• War Soul Tier 5: Divine Vessel
• War Soul Tier 5: Divine Intervention
• Warchanter Tier 0: Skaldic
• Warchanter Tier 0: Weapon Training
• Warchanter Tier 0: Song of Heroism
• Warchanter Tier 0: Fighting Spirit
• Warchanter Tier 0: Victory Song
• Warchanter Tier 0: Warmaster
• Warchanter Tier 2: Boast
• Warchanter Tier 2: Words of Encouragement
• Warchanter Tier 2: Arcane Shield Chant
• Warchanter Tier 3: Ironskin Chant
• Warchanter Tier 3: High Spirits
• Warchanter Tier 3: Frozen Fury
• Warchanter Tier 4: Reckless Chant
• Warchanter Tier 5: Movement Booster
• Warchanter Tier 5: Chant of Power
• Warchanter Tier 5: Spinning Ice
• Warchanter Tier 5: Kingly Recovery
• Warpriest Tier 5: Divine Vessel
• Warpriest Tier 5: Divine Intervention
• Water Savant Tier 0: Hypothermia
• Exalted Angel Tier 4: Blood and Radiance
• Exalted Angel Tier 6: Divine Wrath
• Fatesinger Tier 6: Turn of the Tide
• Fury of the Wild Tier 3: Ward Against Weird
• Legendary Dreadnought Tier 1: Attack Boost
• Legendary Dreadnought Tier 2: Damage Boost

[EllisDee37]

Here's a quick demo of both programs, essentially just showing the main screens. Forgive my cheapo freeware screen capture program; it leaves artifacts in several places, and freaks out (artifact armageddon) whenever any scrolling happens.




Here's sample output for both a character build and a gearset:


Kensei Warpriest
12/8 Fighter/Cleric
Human


Level Order

1. Fighter. . . . .6. Fighter. . . . 11. Cleric. . . . .16. Fighter
2. Fighter. . . . .7. Cleric. . . . .12. Fighter . . . .17. Fighter
3. Cleric. . . . . 8. Fighter . . . .13. Cleric . . . . 18. Fighter
4. Fighter. . . . .9. Cleric. . . . .14. Fighter . . . .19. Fighter
5. Cleric. . . . .10. Fighter . . . .15. Cleric . . . . 20. Cleric


Stats
. . . . . . . .28pt . . 32pt . . 34pt . . 36pt . . Level Up
. . . . . . . .---- . . ---- . . ---- . . ---- . . --------
Strength. . . . 16. . . .18. . . .18. . . .18. . . .4: STR
Dexterity . . . .8. . . . 8. . . . 8. . . . 8. . . .8: STR
Constitution. . 14. . . .14. . . .14. . . .16. . . 12: STR
Intelligence. . 12. . . .12. . . .12. . . .12. . . 16: STR
Wisdom. . . . . 10. . . . 8. . . .10. . . . 8. . . 20: STR
Charisma. . . . 14. . . .14. . . .14. . . .14. . . 24: STR
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28: STR

Skills
. . . . . F. F. C .F .C. F. C .F .C. F. C .F .C. F. C .F .F .F .F .C
. . . . . 1. 2. 3 .4 .5. 6. 7 .8 .9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
Concent . . .1 .4. . .3. 1. 1 .1 .1. 1. 1 .1 .1. 1. 1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1. 23
Heal. . . 2. . . . . .1. . .3. . .3. . .3. . .3. . .3. . . . 1. . .3. 22
UMD . . . 2. . . . 1. . .1 . . 1. . .1 . . 1. . .1 . . 1. 1. . .1 . . 11
Jump. . . 4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Balance . 1. 1. . .1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Tumble. . 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . .16. 4. 4 .4 .4. 4. 4 .4 .4. 4. 4 .4 .4. 4. 4 .4 .4 .4 .4 .4


Feats

.1. . . . : Power Attack
.1 Human. : Least Dragonmark: Passage
.1 Fighter: Cleave
.2 Fighter: Stunning Blow
.3. . . . : Weapon Focus: Slashing
.3 Deity. : Follower of: Sovereign Host
.6. . . . : Great Cleave
.6 Fighter: Weapon Specialization: Slashing
.9. . . . : Empower Healing Spell
10 Fighter: Improved Critical: Slashing
12. . . . : Extend Spell
13 Deity. : Unyielding Sovereignty
14 Fighter: Greater Weapon Focus: Slashing
15. . . . : Two Handed Fighting
17 Fighter: Improved Two Handed Fighting
18. . . . : Greater Two Handed Fighting
19 Fighter: Greater Weapon Specialization: Slashing
21 Epic . : Tactical Mastery
24 Epic . : Overwhelming Critical
26 Destiny: Perfect Two Weapon Fighting
27 Epic . : Heavy Armor Master
28 Destiny: Perfect Two Handed Fighting
29 Destiny: Dire Charge
30 Epic . : Tactical Combatant
30 Legend : Scion of: Arborea OR Astral Plane


Spells

Cleric

1. Cure Light Wounds, Nightshield, Remove Fear, Protection from Evil, Divine Favor, <Any>
2. Cure Moderate Wounds, Resist Energy, Eagle's Splendor, <Any>, <Any>
3. Cure Serious Wounds, Magic Circle Against Evil, Protection from Energy, Prayer, <Any>
4. Cure Critical Wounds, Death Ward, Freedom of Movement, <Any>

Enhancements (80 AP)

Kensei (35 AP)

• Kensei Focus: Axes, Spiritual Bond, Strike with No Thought, Power Surge
  1. Extra Action Boost III, Weapon Group Specialization, Haste Boost III
  2. Tactics III, Weapon Group Specialization, Ascetic Training: Conditioning I
  3. Weapon Group Specialization
  4. Opportunity Attack, Weapon Group Specialization
  5. A Good Death: Melee, Weapon Master, One with the Blade, Deadly Strike, Keen Edge

Warpriest (22 AP)

• Smite Foe
  1. Divine Might III, Toughness III
  2. Smite Weakness, Wall of Steel III, Inflame III
  3. Inflame: Energy Absorption III, Strength
  4. Ameliorating Strike

Stalwart Defender (14 AP)

• Toughness, Stalwart Defense
  1. Durable Defense III, Stalwart Defensive Mastery III
  2. Resilient Defense III
  3. Strong Defense III

Human (9 AP)

• Damage Boost
  1. Dragonmark Focus: Orien I, Action Surge: Strength III, Improved Recovery
  2. Lesser Dragonmark: Dimension Door

Leveling Guide

1. Hum0 Damage Boost; Hum1 Dragonmark Focus: Orien I; Hum1 Improved Recovery
2. Ken0 Kensei Focus: Axes; Ken1 Haste Boost I, II, III
3. Hum1 Action Surge: Strength I; Hum2 Lesser Dragonmark: Dimension Door; War0 Smite Foe
4. War1 Toughness I, II; Ken1 Weapon Group Specialization
5. War1 Toughness III; War1 Divine Might I, II, III
6. War2 Smite Weakness; War2 Wall of Steel I, II
7. War0 Resilience of Battle; War2 Wall of Steel III; War2 Inflame I, II
8. War3 Strength; War2 Inflame III; War3 Inflame: Energy Absorption I
9. War3 Inflame: Energy Absorption II; War4 Ameliorating Strike; Ken0 Spiritual Bond
10. Ken2 Weapon Group Specialization; Ken2 Ascetic Training: Conditioning I; Ken0 Strike with No Thought
11. Ken3 Weapon Group Specialization; Ken2 Tactics I
12. Ken2 Tactics II, III
13. Ken1 Extra Action Boost I, II
14. Ken4 Weapon Group Specialization; Ken1 Extra Action Boost III
15. Ken4 Opportunity Attack; Ken2 Ascetic Training: Conditioning II; Ken5 One with the Blade
16. Ken5 Keen Edge; Ken5 A Good Death: Melee; Ken5 Weapon Master; Ken5 Deadly Strike
17. SD0 Toughness; SD1 Item Defense I; SD1 Durable Defense I, II
18. SD1 Durable Defense III; SD0 Stalwart Defense; SD2 Resilient Defense I, II
19. (Bank 4 AP)
20. Reset All Trees

Destiny (24 AP)

Legendary Dreadnought

1. Legendary Tactics III, Extra Action Boost III, Strength
2. Momentum Swing III, Imp. Power Attack, Strength
3. Lay Waste, Critical Damage I
4. (none)
5. Devastating Critical
6. Master's Blitz, Headman's Chop

Twists of Fate (15 fate points)

1. Sense Weakness (Tier 4 Fury)
2. Rejuvenation Cocoon (Tier 1 Primal)
3. Boulder Toss (Tier 1 Fury)

Gear

Head: ML34 Sheltering 38 Helmet of Accuracy 23 w/Ins. Fortification 79
Eyes: ML34 Wisdom 15 Goggles of True Seeing w/Ins. Seeker 7
Neck: ML34 Constitution 15 Necklace of Devotion 159 w/Ins. MRR 18
Back: ML34 Charisma 15 Cloak of Dodge Bonus 15 w/Ins. Charisma 7
Wrist: Greensteel Smoke
Hand: ML34 Melee Alacrity 15 Gloves of Deadly 12 w/Ins. Accuracy 11
Waist: ML34 Doublestrike 17 Belt of Stunning 17 w/Ins. Constitution 7
Feet: ML34 Seeker 15 Boots of Strength 15 w/Ins. Combat Mastery 6
Ring: Epic Ring of the Stalker
Ring: ML34 Wizardry 310 Ring of False Life 57 w/Ins. PRR 18
Trinket: ML34 Resistance 12 Trinket of Armor Piercing 23 w/Ins. Devotion 79
Body: ML34 Combat Mastery 12 Armor of Healing Amp 61 w/Parrying 7

[Impaqt]

I am a big fan of less is more.

This seems like a great interface and output for the more advanced ddo player/character builder.

I wish I had some good suggestions on enhancements as I'm sure that will be very difficult to get squared away. Feel free to contact me though if you need someone to do some testing.

[Stoner81]

I really like what you got going in post #3 dude and I am really liking the idea of having the levelling order as an optional thing so you can just list the final build AP distribution. I have no idea about how to do the enhancements the only idea I can think of is why do it something similar to how the output in post #3 is like? Other than that not a clue

Stoner81.

[Munkenmo]

I like how quick n easy this is to use over Ron's current version.

I know you said you wouldn't distribute it, but should you change your mind I'd love to get my mits on it (even without enhancements), it's a lot quicker than the manual spreadsheet layout I work with.

[EllisDee37]

it's a lot quicker than the manual spreadsheet layout I work with.

I feel your pain. That's my main motivation; my character building folder has officially reached "spreadsheet hell" proportions, so in the long run this planner will save me endless headache.

I'm softening on the idea of distributing it, thanks mostly to Ron's encouragement. I do have some logistical issues to work out, though. Where do I host the files so people can download them? Figure 2 megabytes tops for any given download -- the current version would be a 200k download -- plus the download zip would include an exe file. Some hosting sites automatically strip out exe files for virus prevention. Ideally there'd be some kind of discussion board feature so I could post release notes, get feedback (bug reports) etc...

My price range is $0. Anyone have any ideas?

[mikarddo]

I feel your pain. That's my main motivation; my character building folder has officially reached "spreadsheet hell" proportions, so in the long run this planner will save me endless headache.

I'm softening on the idea of distributing it, thanks mostly to Ron's encouragement. I do have some logistical issues to work out, though. Where do I host the files so people can download them? Figure 2 megabytes tops for any given download -- the current version would be a 200k download -- plus the download zip would include an exe file. Some hosting sites automatically strip out exe files for virus prevention. Ideally there'd be some kind of discussion board feature so I could post release notes, get feedback (bug reports) etc...

My price range is $0. Anyone have any ideas?

This looks cool, thanks Ellis.

As for sharing files I suggest Dropbox and the Public Share link to file method. As far as I know you can handle quite large files (2 GB) for free that way.

[RD2play]

This looks cool, thanks Ellis.

As for sharing files I suggest Dropbox and the Public Share link to file method. As far as I know you can handle quite large files (2 GB) for free that way.

Nice work Ellis!

This would work great in conjunction with "Ron's" planner, make a quick plan to see if it has merit and then go to Ron's for the details!

awesome if you could share ;p

[UurlockYgmeov]

I do like the grid formatting of the output - might want to suggest that to the chargen folks. time to get out of the 1980's in visual presentation of information.

[Grailhawk]

For enhancements until you work out what you are going to do you can use this http://ddoenhancmentsplaner.weebly.com/

Its incomplete and I don't think it will ever be finished but it can get the job done and is "lite" when compared to Ron's Character planner IMO.

[Cordovan]

Very cool!

[EllisDee37]

Speaking of enhancements, I've entered the following data in my data files:

Races - Done
Classes - Done (includes spells)
Feats - Done (I think)
Destiny - six trees done, six to go
Enhancements - three trees done, a bajillion to go

It's too early to have anyone try and enter any data, but if anyone wants to volunteer to help enter enhancement trees, that'd be awesome. Destiny trees take around 10-15 minutes to enter, so I'm fine finishing those myself. Enhancement trees take a little longer, figure 20-30 minutes each, and there are just so many of them that any help would be appreciated.

Note that anyone helping out with tree entry would need to be a good speller, have good attention to detail, and also be able to identify when something will or won't work with the data file layout. (And then PM with me and we figure out if I can adapt the program to support it or just don't support it.) The trees I have done so far are swashbuckler, kensei and warpriest. Nothing in those trees was particularly problematic, but there are trees I've never even looked at, ever, (barbarian? artificer?) so who knows what issues might creep up that I haven't planned for.

[EllisDee37]

Also, I think what I'm going to do is start with a basic "pick 80 AP" approach to enhancements, designed pretty much exactly like the destiny screen, and then worry about the leveling plan (with tree resets) later. The idea being to get at least something there instead of a blank screen. I can for the most part just copy & paste the destiny screen logic, since enhancement trees and destiny trees are stored in the same data structure.

[Vargouille]

Cool stuff!

Note that anyone helping out with tree entry would need to be a good speller, have good attention to detail, and also be able to identify when something will or won't work with the data file layout. (And then PM with me and we figure out if I can adapt the program to support it or just don't support it.) The trees I have done so far are swashbuckler, kensei and warpriest. Nothing in those trees was particularly problematic, but there are trees I've never even looked at, ever, (barbarian? artificer?) so who knows what issues might creep up that I haven't planned for.

If you already support the up to 7 multiple choice enhancements with requirements (which can be feats, anti-requisites with feats, other enhancements, class levels, etc.), it's probably got most things covered. Divine Disciple, including the cores, might be one of the more complex ones, in addition to maybe Human or Half-Elf (but you got those!).

[painkiller3]

the demo looks awesome...keep up the good work. if you could find a way to port that to a tablet you could make a few bucks i bet

[Seikojin]

I am surprised no one said host on sourceforge. You don't have to open it up for everyone to edit.

Also is your data manually being entered to a file the program reads? Why not make it a web app and pull from the wiki?

[EllisDee37]

If you already support the up to 7 multiple choice enhancements with requirements (which can be feats, anti-requisites with feats, other enhancements, class levels, etc.), it's probably got most things covered. Divine Disciple, including the cores, might be one of the more complex ones, in addition to maybe Human or Half-Elf (but you got those!).

Yeah, currently I don't support selector prereqs, but I'm already thinking about ways to implement it. Some of the additional complexity comes from streamlining feats. For example, I made both "Skill Focus" and "Epic Skill Focus" single feats, with the list of skills as selectors. Works great for Skill Focus, but Epic Skill Focus has that "20 trained ranks in same skill" requirement, which is a bit tricky to enforce for a selector.

I have run across a few super annoying unique features, so I empathize with the complexity you guys have to deal with when changing stuff. Specifically:

Deflect Arrows
Can only be taken as a monk bonus feat, not a regular feat even if you're a monk. Every other bonus feat in the game (as opposed to class feat) can be taken as a regular feat, so this was irritating. I did manage to fully support it.

Deity Feats
You just HAD to let clerics and paladins take these as regular feats, didn't ya? Grrrr. I currently do not support that. (I don't even know what happens to deity feats if you multiclass 6/6/6 paladin/cleric/favored soul as, say, a warforged. I guess you just stop getting offered deity feat slots, since warforged only qualify for a single deity line? And what if you're human? Can you take both silver flame and sovereign host? No need to reply, I can test it in-game with iconics.)

Artificer bonus feats
You can take selector feats (improved critical, exotic proficiency, weapon focus) as artificer bonus feats, but the selector list is limited to only two choices. Gah! This is also not currently supported.

[dunklezhan]

the demo looks awesome...keep up the good work. if you could find a way to port that to a tablet you could make a few bucks i bet

A smartphone/tablet app would be awesome. I'd have thought android would be most achievable but I know nothing about code or app stores. And its probably far too massive a commitment due to uncontrollable OS updates and stuff.

But if anyone from Turbine is reading this? I would definitely pay for something like that. To be fair, I'd pay for Ron's character planner on the PC (I've donated before in fact, and will do so again when the completely new version is ready). But I would also pay you, Turbine, for something like this. You have an amazing, but complicated character building approach in DDO compared to other MMOs, and it's always bewildered me how little help you give folk with that. A web app, or something, is long, long overdue. I don't really expect one, but it would be right up there on the 'if money and priorities were no object' wishlist.

Edit: also, forgot to give feedback for the OP, which was careless - thus far the interface looks really nice and clean (a benefit of not including explanations of everything I expect), easy to follow, instant output, lots of well thought out shortcuts (like level ups having an all levels option which prepopulates, but which you can thereafter tweak - that's some lovely "best of both worlds" UI management, right there). Good work. I'd recommend Ron's planner to new players, but yours is, actually, possibly maybe better if you already know the game and don't need explanations and whatnot. So I guess what I'm saying is: so far, mission goals accomplished. Good luck with the rest!

[Ancient]

I LOVE your build output format so much better than the "other" one that everyone seems to use. Easy to read, like information is grouped together!

Please keep us in the loop when this is available and I'll revamp my current build write-ups to use that format and to link to your tool.