SkulInsight QoL

See the real numbers behind Skul: The Hero Slayer. Damage numbers that tell you where damage came from, item and skull descriptions with your actual damage, a combat log that explains every hit, and a preview of what picking up an item would do to your build.

A quality-of-life mod: it changes nothing about the game's balance or saves. It only shows information the game already uses internally. Every feature can be switched off in the config.

Version 0.9.2: first public beta. Please report bugs and ideas (see Feedback).

Features

Damage numbers with their source

• Every damage number shows where it came from: an icon or a colour-coded tag.
  • Basic attack, skill, item, essence, dash, swap, dark ability
  • Poison, burn, bleed and other statuses
• Numbers stay on screen a little longer and fade out smoothly (both configurable).

HP numbers on big health bars

Bosses, dark elites, veterans and the adventurer party show current / max HP (and shields) on their health bars.

Real numbers in every description (League-of-Legends style)

Descriptions of skulls, skills, swaps, items, essences and inscriptions show the damage with your current stats, e.g. 60–94 Physical (7–11 skull dmg x 530% x 160% phys. atk).

• Skulls: every hit of the basic combo, jump and dash attacks, charge levels (uncharged / charged / charge N) and passives.
• Items and essences:
  • their damage and when it triggers ("On dash, 7 s cooldown")
  • summons and spirits
  • items that transform into another item
• Inscriptions:
  • the damage each step unlocks (Arms armaments, Brawl shockwaves, Artifact meteors, Oberon's attacks, ...)
  • status numbers (poison ticks, burn, bleed including severe bleed and crits, freeze and stun durations)
  • the tuned (upgraded) versions, including the witch's "Tuned" box
• Explains mechanics the game only hints at, e.g. how Strike's "deadlier strikes" really multiply crit damage.

Pickup and swap preview

• Items on the ground and in shops show their numbers as if you had already picked them up. The item's stats and every inscription step it would activate are included.
• The popup says what changes: If picked up: Arms 1 > 2 · Courage 1 > 2 · Phys. atk 191% > 355.2%
• With a full inventory, the swap menu shows the numbers after swapping the selected item.

Combat log (press L)

• Every hit, grouped by room, updated live.
• Filters: dealt / taken, room / all rooms, enemy type, damage type, source, crits only, minimum damage.
• Pie chart of your damage by source or damage type.
• Hover a line to see its full calculation. Click to pin it. Each step shows its icon, its multiplier and the running total:
  • base damage
  • your attack stats
  • crit
  • every item, inscription and dark ability that changed the number
  • effects on the enemy
  • the final rounding
• Every hit is named after what dealt it, e.g. "Shadow Spirit Death dealt 14 ...".
• Every session is saved to BepInEx/DamageInsight/CombatLogs/ (JSON lines), so you can look at a run after closing the game.
• Optional mini log: a few fading lines above the minimap.

Cooldown ticker

Item and ability icons at the bottom of the screen show their remaining cooldown, WoW style: 83s, 2m+, 10m.

Installation

With a mod manager (recommended)

1. Install r2modman or Gale.
2. Select Skul: The Hero Slayer, create a profile and install SkulInsight QoL. The required BepInExPack Skul is installed automatically.
3. Start the game with Start modded.

Manual installation

1. Install BepInExPack Skul into the Skul folder (the folder containing Skul.exe).
2. Start the game once and close it (BepInEx creates its folders).
3. Copy DamageInsight.dll into Skul/BepInEx/plugins/SkulInsight_QoL/.
4. Start the game.

Configuration

The settings file is created on the first start:

• BepInEx/config/docrun.skulinsight_qol.cfg
• in r2modman / Gale: Config editor

Compatibility

• Made for Skul: The Hero Slayer 1.9.x (Steam, Windows) with BepInExPack Skul (BepInEx 5.4.21+).
• Doesn't touch saves, balance or content; safe to add or remove at any time.
• Should work next to content mods. Items the mod doesn't understand simply show no extra numbers. Please report anything odd.
• After a game update the mod checks all of its hooks at startup and switches off only what broke. The results are in BepInEx/LogOutput.log as [SelfTest] lines.

Known limitations

• A few item effects that aren't direct damage (buffs, heals, chances) show no extra numbers yet.
• The pickup preview covers item stats and plain stat inscriptions. Conditional buffs and bonus-inscription items are not included yet. Skulls and essences on the ground have no preview yet.
• Shock and ember damage from some sources may be labelled with a generic tag.

Roadmap

• In-game options menu for all settings
• Codex / Bestiary: a book with every enemy, boss, item and inscription, unlocked by playing (kill counters, attack animations, boss patterns)

Feedback / bug reports

Please open an issue on GitHub: https://github.com/Umut-Aslan99/SkulInsight_QoL/issues. Attach BepInEx/LogOutput.log and tell us the mod version and what you did. Screenshots help a lot.

Credits

• DocRun: idea, design and testing
• Built with BepInEx and Harmony
• Thanks to MrBacanudo's Skul mods (SkulHardModeMods) for showing how Skul modding works, and to the Skul modding community on Thunderstore.

Skul: The Hero Slayer is made by SouthPAW Games and published by NEOWIZ. This is an unofficial fan mod and not affiliated with them.

License

GPL-3.0. You may use, change and share this mod. If you publish a changed version or a mod built on this code, it must also be GPL-3.0 with its source available, and keep the original credits.

Changelog

0.13.1 (package fix)

• The 0.13.0 package on Thunderstore was built wrongly (its DLL wasn't inside the plugins folder) and was taken down. Same mod as 0.13.0, packed correctly; the package description now mentions the optional online daily run.
• README: pictures of the run history, the records and the daily run.

0.13.0 (run history, records, daily run)

• Run history (Codex → You → Runs): every run is kept, like a match history. A row shows how the run ended (the boss or the killer in a frame), the kind of run (Normal, Dark Mirror level, Rookie mode), your skulls and items, kills, damage, gold, time and date. A run's page has Overview (how it went, the bosses defeated, the build with every inscription, the numbers and your stats at the end), Damage (each piece of gear's share) and Timeline (skulls, items and inscriptions as they came, map by map). Every name links to its Codex page. End screen shows the game's own result panel again with the run's numbers. Star a run to keep it whole forever; older runs without a star keep only their summary. New settings Run history (on) and Runs kept whole (100).
• Records (Codex → You → Records): your bests over all runs: totals, best runs, per skull, against bosses, deaths and the game's own counters. A record links to its run.
• Daily run (Codex → Daily; online, off until you turn it on): every day one run for everyone with the same seed and the same difficulty (a weekday schedule from Normal to Dark Mirror 10), and one try.
  • You play it in a separate daily save slot made from your game: every gear unlocked, the Witch at her top, every Dark Mirror level open, 15,000 dark quartz, no DLC gear, so everyone starts equal. Your own game waits as it is; Back to my game returns to it.
  • After the run you enter a name (12 characters) for the daily and monthly boards. Points for the result, stages, bosses, kills, damage, little damage taken, gold left and a fast win, times the day's difficulty, plus bonuses for the day's records (first win, fastest win, most damage, least damage taken, most gold, most kills) and a daily streak.
  • Click a run on the board to see it like your own run history (build, damage, timeline), how its points came about part by part, and give it a thumbs up.
  • Fair play: a daily run can't be continued (closing the game or going back to the title screen ends it as it was); runs with other mods loaded or gear the game doesn't know stay off the boards; no Steam achievements from the daily slot.
  • Sent to the daily run server (skul.umut-aslan.dev): a random player id made by the mod, the name you enter and your daily run (its numbers, build, damage and timeline). Nothing else, nothing from your own save slots. New setting Daily runs (online) (off).
• All new texts in every game language.

0.12.2 (crash reports; skill details beside the box)

• Crash reports: the mod keeps a report of every game session in BepInEx/DamageInsight/CrashReports (the newest 20). It lists what happened (chapters, maps, your build per map), every error with where it came from, and says whose code it was in: the game's own, SkulInsight's, a game method SkulInsight hooks into, or another mod. If the screen stays black for 20 seconds (a level that never finishes loading), a message says so and the report notes the game's state and a verdict. If the game closes unexpectedly, the next start says so and adds Unity's log of that session. Please attach the newest report to bug reports (settings page: Crash reports folder, Open). New setting Crash reports (on).
• Skill details beside the box: holding the details key on a skull or item on the ground (or in a shop) shows the mod's numbers in its box since 0.12, and the game's skill / inscription boxes opened right on top of them. They now open next to the box (left and right, where the screen has room).
• 11 boss move names met since 0.12 are translated.

0.12.1 (hotfix: the What's new button)

• What's new: the "Got it" button now closes the window with a click (before, only Esc or Enter did), and the mouse cursor stays visible while it is open. Players who already saw the 0.12 window don't get it again.
• Buttons: every button of the mod (Codex, combat log, What's new) lights up under the mouse and plays the game's own menu sounds when you move onto it or click it. New setting Menu sounds (on) turns the sounds off.

0.12.0 (the Codex becomes a full reference; short descriptions, all numbers on Shift; save slots)

Highlights

• The Codex is your reference book: three sections (You, Bestiary, Arsenal) with every skull, item, quintessence, inscription and dark ability, all their numbers, and clickable links between them.
• Short descriptions in the game, every number in the Codex: the game's description boxes stay short and show the mod's numbers while you hold Shift, as one compact line per attack. The Codex keeps every hit with its calculation.
• Save slots: keep up to 5 whole games side by side, each with its own Codex, and switch between them from the settings page.

Codex

• Sections on the title row: You, Bestiary (enemies, bosses, dark enemies) and Arsenal (skulls, items, quintessences, inscriptions, dark abilities), each with its own tabs.
• Links and Back: names in page texts are clickable (an item's inscriptions, an inscription's items, a skull's awakened forms, what an item turns into). "< Back" (top right), Backspace or the mouse's back button returns to the page before.
• Arsenal pages with real numbers (without your items, so pages compare): skulls (type, passive, awakening path, every attack, each skill with cooldown and damage, swap, transformed bodies, summons), items (inscriptions, damage per part, what they turn into), quintessences, inscriptions (every step, the tuned form, every item that carries it) and the Dark Mirror's dark abilities (each level's values, price and, for the damaging ones, their damage per level).
• Boxed pages: every section of a Codex page (Attacks, Skills, Swap, Damage, Inscriptions, Steps, the stats sheet, ...) is a framed box with an icon, so pages read at a glance.
• Skill boxes on skull pages: each skill gets a box with its icon, name, description and numbers. A skill stays a "?" until you win a run with it: beat a boss of chapter 5 or later (normal or Dark Mirror) while the skill is on one of your skulls. The You page always shows the skills you hold.
• Every number with its whole formula: each hit on a Codex page shows base x hit % x attack % (also when a factor is 100 %), so every page reads the same way. Arsenal pages use neutral stats (100 % attack) to compare gear; hold Shift on a page to see the numbers with your run's stats instead: what that item or skull would do in your build.
• You page: your run as a Codex inventory: both skulls, the quintessence, your dark abilities, the 9 items, your inscriptions with what the next step needs ("2 more for step 3") and a stats sheet (the game's stats plus the hidden damage stats, each explained). Click anything to read it in full with your current numbers. During a run the book opens on this page (setting Codex/OpenOnYou).
• Dark enemies (Bestiary): the 15 abilities dark elites can have (Protection, Immortal, Intense Cold, Tornado, ...) with what they do and their numbers; met and killed are tracked like other entries (unlock numbers on the settings page).

Save slots (Esc → SkulInsight QoL → Save slots)

• Up to 5 slots (setting: 3 to 5), each a whole game: story, NPCs, the witch's upgrades, the Dark Mirror, currencies and the run in progress, with its own Codex.
• Play switches: the game you were playing goes into its slot (a run in progress waits at the room you entered last), the other game comes in through the title screen; an empty slot starts a new game. Copy my game here copies your current game (with its Codex) into a slot; Clear empties one.
• Each slot shows a summary (run, story, NPCs, witch levels, dark quartz, Dark Mirror, deaths, last played). Keys, sound and language stay the same in every slot. The game's save is backed up before every switch (the newest 5 backups are kept).

Descriptions in the game

• Hold Shift for the numbers (player request): the inventory, items on the ground and in shops, and the swap menu show the game's own text plus "Hold Shift for damage numbers" (also on skills, swaps and inscriptions in the detail views); hold Shift and the mod's numbers appear. Either Shift key works. Settings: Descriptions/HoldToShow (on) and Descriptions/HoldKey.
• Compact numbers: one line per attack with its hits side by side ("Basic attack: 10–12 · 22–24 · 36–42 Magic"), equal hits merged ("4 x 11–13"), one line per summon, a transformed body's basic, jump and dash attack, and "All numbers: Codex (K)" under skull texts. The longest skull texts went from 79 lines to 10 and now fit their boxes in every language. Setting "Compact numbers" (on; off: every hit with its formula). It replaces the "Short descriptions" setting.
• Summons have real names (Recruit, Archer, Assassin, Man-at-Arms, Hamlet, King Lear, Clone, Crew, Turret...) instead of internal ones like "Recruit 4 Swap BuddyArcher"; a quintessence's summon uses the quintessence's name, and a transformed body's skills use the game's own skill names.
• Inscription texts in the game's boxes are compact too: status numbers (burn, poison, bleed...) and each extra attack on one line without the calculation (a long German burn text ran into the next step); the Codex keeps it.
• Chain attacks are numbered "Part 1, 2, 3" (parts without damage were counted before: "Part 3, 5, 7").

Combat log

• Damage table (View: Damage table, in the combat log's filter bar): your damage per piece of gear instead of only per source: each skull split into basic attack, skills, dash and swap, every item, quintessence, inscription and dark ability on its own row, statuses and summons, each with damage, share, hits and the biggest hit. Follows the log's filters (room, enemies, type). Needs "Record calculations" (on by default) to know which item dealt a hit.

Damage numbers fixed

• The transformed King Arthur (King of Heroes) no longer lists "+ 24-28 Magic + 24-28 Magic" on every hit: gaining mana was counted as his sword wave's damage.
• The Mummies' "Passive" line no longer adds up every gun's hits (the guns are listed as basic attacks).
• Damage numbers for the last skull skills that had none: the Genie's lamp punch, the Golden Gargoyle's statue burst, Davy Jones' special cannonballs (plus the enhanced cannonball of every 3rd reload), Minotaurus' Blunt Strike follow-up hit, the Glacial Skull's swap shards; The Chosen Mage's Badge shows its fireballs and their explosions. Davy Jones' normal attack no longer lists every cannonball type.

What's new window

• The first time 0.12.0 reaches the castle, a small window lists these highlights once (setting "What's new"), so you see what changed even when you update through a mod manager.

Other fixes

• The mini log no longer covers the inventory or other game menus: it hides while one is open.
• Typing in a text field (the Codex search, the game's developer menu) no longer opens the combat log (L) or closes the Codex (K); the letter goes into the text.
• On the settings page, a section heading no longer shows over the page frame below the list.

Languages

• Every new text in all game languages, including enemy projectile and move names met in the Dark Mirror.
• Every description was checked in all 11 languages: in the game (each skull, item and quintessence on the ground and in the inventory) and offline (every text the mod writes).

0.11.0 (cleaner films and animations, move notes)

• Codex films: a take now waits for what the move leaves behind (falling bones, meteors, javelins, a thrown head) instead of stopping when the boss's own motion ends. Short takes filmed by older versions are filmed again once.
• Codex moves: a windup and its hit are one move (Dark Skul's "Special move"), long and short dashes are one "Dash", and the setup at the start of a fight ("Initialize") is no longer listed. Your progress is updated automatically.
• King Alexander's second phase: his heart's attacks are read and filmed (21 moves: its patterns and the machine's lasers, drill missiles, buzz saws, oil and bouncy balls).
• First Dark Hero: the attacks he makes beside his other moves (thorns, dark orb fragments, wall blasts, the big dark orb) are listed as moves of their own.
• Codex pictures: sets that only showed the idle pose ("Jump", "Fall" of enemies that never jump) are hidden; pieces that appear twice (Pope's two dark crystals) are shown once; an enemy's projectile is added to its pictures the first time it fires one.
• Codex move notes: every boss move now has a short note in all languages: what it does and how to deal with it (Yggdrasil, Leiana sisters, Chimera, St. Joan II, First Hero, the adventurers, Dark Skul, First Dark Hero, King Alexander), including numbers from the game (cooldowns, health thresholds, Dark Mirror differences).
• Codex "When:" line: cooldowns written as cool-time blocks are read too (First Hero's Big bang, St. Joan's Super baptism and Divine cross) and "while you are in the air" is shown where a move needs it.
• Clean films (new setting, on): boss films leave out your damage numbers, your skill and item effects, your summons and status effects on the boss (poison, burn, freeze, ...).
• Compact films (new setting, on): new films take about a quarter of the space (JPG instead of PNG).
• Entrances, sleeping and deaths are no longer filmed (the book never showed them); existing ones are removed once.
• Reset Codex (settings page, Codex section): deletes everything the Codex gathered at the next game start, so you can fill it again; the move notes stay.
• Damage numbers: the counter hit of parry skills (Shield Bash, Evading Slash, Ready to Charge), Minotaurus' Stomp and Headbutt, Nature's Grip and more skull skills now show their damage (about 50 more skill parts).
• Transformations: skulls that change into another body (Nightmare's Hell Bike, Devil Berserker, King Arthur, Archmage, Yaksha, Dominator) list that body's attacks with damage numbers in their description.
• Short descriptions (new setting, off): popups show one line per attack part with its total damage instead of the full calculation (player request, GitHub issue #3).

0.10.2 (cooldown seconds everywhere, screenshots)

• Player request: cooldown seconds now also on the skill icons of both skulls, the swap icon and the quintessence icon, with your cooldown speed bonuses included (the number is real seconds, not the base cooldown).
• Cooldown opacity changes without a restart.
• Settings page: the mouse wheel now scrolls the list while the pointer is over a setting too (it stuck there).
• README and guide: screenshots.

0.10.1 (settings in the game, all game languages)

• New: the mod speaks every language the game has (English, 한국어, 日本語, 简体中文, 繁體中文, Deutsch, Español, Português (Brasil), Русский, Polski, Français). It follows the game's language setting and switches live; the settings page has a Language row to pick another one. Descriptions, combat log, calculations, damage tags, the Codex (incl. boss move names and hints) and the settings page are translated, using the game's own terms. Translations can be corrected without an update: put a file with your changes into BepInEx/DamageInsight/Lang/<code>.json (see the guide).
• New (player request): settings page in the game. Pause (Esc) → SkulInsight QoL, right under the game's own Settings. Every setting of the mod in one list, styled like the game's options, with keyboard, mouse and controller. The right side explains the selected setting and shows its default. Changes apply at once and are saved right away; a key is changed by selecting it and pressing the new key. Also: reset the combat log window position, reset everything.
• The Codex unlock numbers (runs to ★★ / ★★★, boss wins, pickups) can now be changed by everyone (settings page or the config section Codex balance).
• Combat log background and opacity now change without a restart.
• Codex: boss moves show when the boss uses them (HP range, distance, cooldown, chance...), read from its AI, once you have beaten it (can be switched off: Move hints).
• Codex: cleaner move names (designer notes removed, split parts of one move joined, "(enhanced)" versions).

0.10.0 (Codex)

• New: Codex (key K), a bestiary of every enemy, boss, adventurer, skull, item, essence and inscription you have met, with your own stats (kills, damage dealt and taken, deaths) and descriptions.
• Pictures unlock as you play: outline when met, silhouette, then colour and every animation. Thresholds are balanced per enemy from the game's level data (about one run's worth of an enemy for ★★, five for ★★★).
• Bosses and adventurers: the complete move list, read from the game's AI and grouped by fight phase. Unseen moves are shown as "???".
• Fight films: each boss move is filmed the first time it happens; switch between posed animations and films, and mark a take for a refilm.
• Normal and Dark Mirror versions of bosses are kept apart.
• Known gaps (see README): parts of Dark Mirror (Dark Skul phase 2, King Alexander) are not fully analysed yet; some move names are rough.

0.9.3 (important fix)

• Fixed: bosses whose intro opens their health bar during a cutscene (e.g. the chapter 1 boss) could stay invulnerable in phase 2 and show no health bar. The HP-number feature crashed inside the cutscene.
• Every hook of the mod is now guarded: if something in the mod fails, it logs a warning and the game continues normally. An automated test makes sure this stays true.

0.9.2

• Fixed an error that could make an attack fail when the combat log looked up which item dealt it (spirits, summons).
• The combat log calculation and the cooldown ticker can no longer break the game if something unexpected happens; they log a warning instead.

0.9.1

• Fixed broken special characters (dashes, dots) on the Thunderstore page.

0.9.0: first public beta

• Damage numbers with source icons/tags; longer, smoother fade.
• HP numbers on boss, dark elite, veteran and adventurer health bars.
• Real damage numbers in skull, skill, swap, item, essence and inscription descriptions:
  • charge levels, summons and spirits, item transformations
  • Oberon, statuses, tuned inscriptions and the witch's "Tuned" box
• Pickup and swap preview: items on the ground, in shops and in the swap menu show the numbers you'd have after taking them.
• Combat log (L): filters, pie chart, per-hit calculation on hover (with icons), hits named after the item/skull that dealt them, log files per session; optional mini log.
• Cooldown ticker on the HUD's item and ability icons.