Grandivory's Mods Optimizer for Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes is a single-page application built in React.js to help answer of the question of "how can I distribute my mods to get the most out of all of my teams?" It works by applying constant weights to every potential stat that a character can get from a mod, and then summing up the value of all stats included in a full set of mods. The set that has the highest total value will be the best set to equip. This only works, of course, if the weights for each stat are also optimal, so reasonable defaults are provided for all characters in order to make using the tool as easy as possible. Users can also adjust the stat weights themselves to tweak their results to whatever they wish.
- Installation and Local Setup
- External dependencies
- Project Structure
- Linting and Testing
- Using the optimizer
- Other resources
To get started with the Mods Optimizer, you first need to have Node (and NPM) installed. You can get Node from its
official site at [https://nodejs.org/en/download/], or use a tool such as Homebrew on a Mac to install it
(brew install node) if you already have Homebrew available.
Once node is installed, you should be able to run npm install from the root directory of the repository. That will
install all of the correct versions of the dependencies for you, so that your environment is set up to run the
application locally.
At this point, if you want to run the application, simply type npm start from the terminal. This will start up a
local server running at https://localhost:3030 (It uses a self-signed certificate, so you'll need to tell your
browser to trust it), and you're up and running!
Almost all of the relevant files in the project are in the src directory. This folder is further subdivided into
components, constants, containers, domain, and utils.
The components directory holds objects that handle most of the in-page display of different bits in the app. For
example, there is a component for ModDetail, which will show all of the details about a mod, and a component for
CharacterAvatar, which will display an image for a specific character. Many of these components reference each other
to render different parts. For example, ModDetail has references to ModImage, Pips, and CharacterAvatar.
The constants directory holds values that are static during the operation of the application, but that might need to
be referenced by multiple parts. This includes the list of characters, what each set bonus does, etc.
The containers directory holds objects for each "page" of the app. There is App itself, which is the outer shell
in which everything else is rendered, then containers for each view - Explore and Optimizer, which
is further subdivided into CharacterEdit and Review
The domain directory holds objects that are used to represent the data that the app needs to work on. These objects
are data holders only, and have no display information included in them at all.
The utils directory holds code that needs to be accessible from various points in the app, but is purely functional.
Like domain, there is no display information included anywhere in utils. Probably the most important piece of code
for the whole application lives here, in Optimizer. This is the utility that will actually take a list of characters
and mods and find the best mods to equip on each.
There are npm commands for linting the code (making sure that its style conforms to the rest of the project) and
for running tests. These commands are npm run lint src (to run linting on the src directory) and npm test,
respectively. While neither is strictly necessary right now, both will eventually be run as part of the merge process,
and will therefore need to pass prior to any code contributions!
The mods optimizer will start out by considering all mods equipped on any character other than those that are "Locked". Then, it will go down the list of selected characters, one by one, choosing the best mods it can find for each character, based on the selected target. As it finishes each character, it removes those mods from its consideration set. Therefore, the character that you want to have your absolute best mods should always be first among your selected characters. Usually, this means that you want the character who needs the most speed to be first.
I suggest optimizing your arena team first, in order of required speed, then characters you use for raids, then characters for other game modes, like Territory Battles, Territory Wars, and events.
Every character in the game has been given starting values for all stats that can be used by the optimizer to pick the best mods. These values have been named for their general purpose - hSTR Phase 1, PvP, and PvE, for example. Some characters have multiple different targets that you can select from. These targets, while directionally good for characters, are only a base suggestion! There are many reasons that you might want to pick different values than those listed by default in the optimizer: you might want to optimize for a different purpose (such as a phase 3 Sith Triumvirate Raid team, where speed can be detrimental), you might want to choose something different to optimize against, or you might simply have a better set of values that you want to employ.
The easiest way to get started with the optimizer is to choose from the pre-programmed character templates. These are set up with sets of characters and targets that should fit various game modes. If there's no template to fit your exact needs, you can use one as a starting point or create one from scratch. For each individual character, if no target exists that matches what you want, you can select "Custom", or simply hit the "Edit" button to bring up the character edit modal. Most characters will have the "basic" mode selected by default. In basic mode, you select a value for all stats that is between -100 and 100. These values are weights that are assigned to each stat to determine its value for that character. Setting two values as equal means that those stats are about equally important for that character. In basic mode, the optimizer will automatically adjust the weights to fit the range of values seen in-game for that stat. For example, giving speed and protection both a value of 100 means that 1 speed is about equivalent to 200 protection (since you find much more protection on mods than you do speed).
If you want more fine-tuned control over the stat values, you can switch to "advanced" mode. In advanced mode, the values given are the value for each point of the listed stat. In advanced mode, if speed and protection are both given a value of 100, then the tool will never select speed, because it can more easily give that character much more protection. I suggest sticking to basic mode until you have a strong sense for how the tool works.
Check out my discord server to talk to other users of the tool, give feedback, or ask questions!