Pufferfish's Skills in FTB Evolution 2

Same as in the FTB Skies 2 1.22.0 guide

Pufferfish's Skills is a framework for building fully configurable skill systems. On its own it doesn't hand you a ready-made set of skills. It gives pack makers and creators the tools to design skill trees, and gives you the screen to spend points in them.^[1]

The pack includes version 0.19.0, built for 1.21 on NeoForge.^[2]

Who it's for

• Players: the mod is just a framework, so skill trees have to be installed separately. The mod page suggests the Default Skill Trees mod and Pufferfish's Attributes as the easiest way to start in a general setup.^[1]
• Creators: skill layouts are JSON driven, and there is a dedicated online editor to make designing them easier. There is also an API for extending the functionality and managing skills.^[1]

Handy things to know

The mod's default keybinding for opening the skills screen is K. Check your controls menu if it doesn't respond, because I can't confirm from the sources whether the pack rebinds it.^[1]

The mod also comes with commands for managing progress per player and per category. You can add or set points with /puffish_skills points, add or set experience with /puffish_skills experience, and unlock skills with /puffish_skills skills unlock. Resetting skills refunds the points, and /puffish_skills category erase resets points, experience and skills together.^[1]

Where it fits in progression

Unverified The sources I have don't say which skill trees the pack ships, if any, or where the skills system fits into the pack's progression. Check the skills screen in your own world to see what is available.

Good news first: there is nothing to craft to get going with Pufferfish's Skills. It is a framework for skill systems, so the mod itself adds no starter item you need to make. The skill trees you actually play with are separate from the mod.^[1]

Your first steps

1. Press K, the default key, to open the skills screen. In the controls menu the binding is called "Open Skill Tree", so you can rebind it there if K is taken.^[1][3]
2. Watch the chat for the message "You have a new skill point. Press %s to open your skill tree." It tells you a point is waiting and shows your bound key.^[3]
3. If you hover over experience in the skill screen, the tooltip shows your progress as experience, a total needed and a percentage.^[3]

What this pack's config says

The pack ships config/puffish_skills/config.json with categories set to an empty list, show_warnings set to true and version set to 3.^[4]

The mod has a warning toast that reads "No skill trees provided, make sure to add one." If you see it, the mod is telling you it has no skill tree to show. A second toast, "Invalid configuration, check game logs.", means a config has a problem and the game logs will say what.^[3]

Handy commands

If you are testing on your own world, the mod has commands to hand out progress. For example /puffish_skills points add gives skill points and /puffish_skills experience add gives experience, each for a player and a category. /puffish_skills skills reset locks all skills in a category and refunds the points.^[1]

Config files for the mod are JSON, and the project page says you can reload them without restarting the game using the /reload command.^[1]

Pufferfish's Skills doesn't add machines, multiblocks, power or fluids, so there is nothing to pipe or automate here. It is a framework for building skill systems, and the mechanics below are the parts the sources actually describe.^[1]

A framework, not a skill tree

The mod only provides the system. Skill trees are installed separately, and the mod page suggests the Default Skill Trees mod and Pufferfish's Attributes mod as an easy starting point. If no skill tree is provided, the game shows a toast telling you to add one. If the configuration is invalid, it shows a toast telling you to check the game logs.^[1][3]

Points, experience and skills

Each skill tree is a category. Per player and per category, the mod tracks points, experience and unlocked skills. When you earn a skill point, a chat message tells you that you have a new skill point and which key opens your skill tree. Your experience progress in a category shows in a tooltip as current/needed experience plus a percentage.^[1][3]

Levels also exist as a separate setting. If a category doesn't have levels or experience enabled, the level and experience commands tell you so instead of working.^[3]

Opening the skill tree

The key binding is called "Open Skill Tree", and by default it is bound to k.^[1][3]

Commands

Everything is managed through /puffish_skills. These are the subcommands the mod page lists:^[1]

• points add and points set: give or set a player's points in a category.^[1]
• experience add and experience set: give or set a player's experience in a category.^[1]
• skills unlock: unlocks a specific skill for a player in a category.^[1]
• skills reset: locks all skills in a category and refunds the points.^[1]
• category lock and category unlock: lock or unlock a whole category for a player.^[1]
• category erase: resets points, experience and skills for that category.^[1]

The language file also has messages for getting points, experience and levels, for adding and setting levels, for locking a single skill, and for opening the skills or category screen for a player. Those are the only details of them the sources give. If you use a wrong category or skill ID, the game says there is no category or skill with that ID.^[3]

Configuration in this pack

The mod's configuration is JSON driven, and you can reload it without restarting the game with the /reload command. In this pack, the main file sets version to 3, show_warnings to true, and categories to an empty list.^[1][4]

Compatibility

The mod supports both Forge and Fabric, and a client can use a different loader than the server.^[1]

Pufferfish's Skills has a very small main config in this pack, so there isn't much to tweak. The file is config/puffish_skills/config.json, and it holds just three options.^[4]

• categories is set to an empty list in this pack.^[4]
• show_warnings is set to true.^[4]
• version is set to 3.^[4]

The sources here don't show the mod's own defaults for these options, so I can't tell you whether the pack changed any of them. What you see above is simply how the pack ships the file.^[1][4]

The mod describes itself as a framework for building skill systems, and its configuration is JSON driven. You can reload changes without restarting the game by using the /reload command.^[1]

FTB Evolution 2 1.1.0 ships Pufferfish's Skills 0.19.2. The mod was already in the pack in 1.0.2 or earlier, so it has been part of the pack for a while.^[5]

0.19.2

• Fixed item icon rendering.^[6]
• Switched to mixin accessors and added prefixes to injected methods. This is an under-the-hood change.^[6]
• Fixed possible concurrent modification errors.^[6]

0.19.1

• Fixed some experience sources not working on players.^[7]
• Fixed player conditions in the criterion experience source.^[7]

Both of these are bug-fix releases. If you were on 0.19.1, the 0.19.2 update in this pack is mostly about stability and display fixes.^[6][7]