Plugs are kind of a nightmare

[xxbiohazrdxx]

This is gonna be a long one, so bear with me please.

Let's say I want to parse all of the plugs for a particular instance of an item. Specifically, I would like to find the Weapon Mods for that item. Let's take a look at a table of the Weapon Mods in the manifest.

displayProperties.name	itemTypeDisplayName	hash	plug.plugCategoryIdentifier	plug.plugCategoryHash	itemType	itemSubType
Kinetic Damage Mod	Weapon Mod	4160547565	v300.weapon.damage_type.kinetic	405287501	19	0
Targeting Adjuster	Weapon Mod	3228611386	v400.weapon.mod_guns	510594033	19	0
Radar Tuner	Weapon Mod	371216963	v400.weapon.mod_guns	510594033	19	0
Freehand Grip	Weapon Mod	736000386	v400.weapon.mod_guns	510594033	19	0
Icarus Grip	Weapon Mod	941997506	v400.weapon.mod_guns	510594033	19	0
Counterbalance Stock	Weapon Mod	1588595445	v400.weapon.mod_guns	510594033	19	0
Weapon Attack Mod	Weapon Mod	4207478320	v300.weapon.damage_type.attack	674045876	19	0
Boss Spec	Weapon Mod	2788909693	v400.weapon.mod_damage	974142739	19	0
Minor Spec	Weapon Mod	4091000557	v400.weapon.mod_damage	974142739	19	0
Major Spec	Weapon Mod	984527513	v400.weapon.mod_damage	974142739	19	0
Taken Spec	Weapon Mod	1513326571	v400.weapon.mod_damage	974142739	19	0
Solar Damage Mod	Weapon Mod	2273483223	v300.weapon.damage_type.energy	1466776700	19	0
Random Damage Type	Weapon Mod	2510923716	v300.weapon.damage_type.energy	1466776700	20	0
Void Damage Mod	Weapon Mod	3728733956	v300.weapon.damage_type.energy	1466776700	19	0
Arc Damage Mod	Weapon Mod	3994397859	v300.weapon.damage_type.energy	1466776700	19	0
Arc Damage Mod	Weapon Mod	4126105782	v300.weapon.damage_type.energy	1466776700	19	0
Solar Damage Mod	Weapon Mod	344032858	v300.weapon.damage_type.energy	1466776700	19	0
Void Damage Mod	Weapon Mod	1837294881	v300.weapon.damage_type.energy	1466776700	19	0
Empty Mod Socket	Weapon Mod	2323986101	v400.weapon.mod_empty	3945646995	19	0
Backup Mag	Weapon Mod	3336648220	v400.weapon.mod_magazine	4087004818	19	0

How would I do that? At first glance it looks like the itemType and itemSubType might work, but the combination of

itemType == 19 and itemSubType == 0

is actually valid for many, many other plugs and not just Weapon Mods (not to mention there's a single 20 in there for itemType).

I can't use the plug.plugCategoryHash even though it looks promising. Pre 4.x/Forsaken mods have a value of 1466776700....except when they don't. Kinetic Damage Mod and Weapon Attack Mod are different. Post 4.x/Forsaken mods have a plug.plugCategoryHash of either 510594033 or 974142739 unless there is no mod, in which case it is 3945646995.

It looks like the easiest way to get only Weapon Mods is itemTypeDisplayName == "Weapon Mod". That's not ideal, but it works.

However, this doesn't carry over to other categories. Let's take Armor Mods (Note that I have significantly truncated this and the proceeding tables because we don't need to see every plug to get the point)

displayProperties.name	itemTypeDisplayName	hash	plug.plugCategoryIdentifier	plug.plugCategoryHash	itemType	itemSubType
Impact Absorption Mod	Arms Armor Mod	2361721165	enhancements.arms	640682011	19	0
Solar Ordnance Mod	Arms Armor Mod	2499197808	enhancements.arms	640682011	19	0
Void Ordnance Mod	Arms Armor Mod	3014957206	enhancements.arms	640682011	19	0
Kinetic Counterbalance Mod	Chest Armor Mod	2565377288	enhancements.chest	383756333	19	0
Arc Paragon Mod	Chest Armor Mod	2782922115	enhancements.chest	383756333	19	0
Kinetic Counterbalance Mod	Chest Armor Mod	2855491837	enhancements.chest	383756333	19	0
Emperor's Blaze	Class Item Mod	3018857481	enhancements.class	1955304674	19	0
Emperor's Balance	Class Item Mod	3511308612	enhancements.class	1955304674	19	0
Emperor's Shock	Class Item Mod	2044767186	enhancements.class	1955304674	19	0
Kinetic Counterbalance Mod	Hunter Cloak Mod	2352344841	enhancements.class_hunter	1425760675	19	0
Solar Impact Mod	Hunter Cloak Mod	2407848812	enhancements.class_hunter	1425760675	19	0
Acceleration Mod	Hunter Cloak Mod	3076431036	enhancements.class_hunter	1425760675	19	0
Solar Ordnance Mod	Titan Mark Mod	2291847593	enhancements.class_titan	397607061	19	0
Power Munition Loader	Titan Mark Mod	3131975519	enhancements.class_titan	397607061	19	0
Kinetic Munition Loader	Titan Mark Mod	3217779897	enhancements.class_titan	397607061	19	0
Energy Bracket Mod	Warlock Bond Mod	2575146041	enhancements.class_warlock	1216445120	19	0
Arc Impact Mod	Warlock Bond Mod	3094848290	enhancements.class_warlock	1216445120	19	0
Void Ordnance Mod	Warlock Bond Mod	3145634685	enhancements.class_warlock	1216445120	19	0
Solar Paragon Mod	Helmet Armor Mod	2365108107	enhancements.head	744326128	19	0
Solar Ordnance Mod	Helmet Armor Mod	2450367421	enhancements.head	744326128	19	0
Impact Absorption Mod	Helmet Armor Mod	2451142299	enhancements.head	744326128	19	0
Energized	Leg Armor Mod	2426323900	enhancements.legs	1175552225	19	0
Void Impact Mod	Leg Armor Mod	2988871238	enhancements.legs	1175552225	19	0
Self-Repairing Mod	Leg Armor Mod	3034612620	enhancements.legs	1175552225	19	0
Empty Mod Socket	Armor Mod	2600899007	enhancements.universal	3347429529	19	0
Transcendent Blessing	Armor Mod	3255036626	enhancements.universal	3347429529	19	0
Riven's Curse	Armor Mod	3300281544	enhancements.universal	3347429529	19	0
Paragon Mod	Armor Mod	3649276740	enhancements.universal	3347429529	19	0
Resilience Mod	Armor Mod	3790655795	enhancements.universal	3347429529	19	0
Empty Mod Socket	Armor Mod	3851138800	enhancements.universal	3347429529	19	0
Recovery Mod	Armor Mod	126924337	enhancements.universal	3347429529	19	0
Mobility Mod	Armor Mod	275671171	enhancements.universal	3347429529	19	0
Super Mod	Armor Mod	444600262	enhancements.universal	3347429529	19	0
Ordnance Mod	Armor Mod	817770433	enhancements.universal	3347429529	19	0
Impact Mod	Armor Mod	1512056643	enhancements.universal	3347429529	19	0
	4072982370	enhancements.universal	3347429529	19	0
Empty Mod Socket		1835369552	enhancements.universal	3347429529	19	0

The hashes are a bit better here, 3.x Armor Mods have a plug.plugCategoryHash that definitively mark this Plug as being an Armor Mod and for a particular item/bucket. This isn't super helpful if we want to find all armor mods for all slots, for that we can instead do a itemTypeDisplayName.contains("Armor Mod") or perhaps plug.plugCategoryIdentifier.startsWith("enhancements").

Masterworks?

displayProperties.name	itemTypeDisplayName	hash	plug.plugCategoryIdentifier	plug.plugCategoryHash	itemType	itemSubType
Sturm Catalyst		1824496860	v300_new_hand_cannon0_masterwork	746309217	19	0
Sunshot Catalyst		3617228241	v300_new_hand_cannon1_masterwork	4249350918	20	0
Upgrade Masterwork		223776600	v300_new_hand_cannon1_masterwork	4249350918	19	0
Sunshot Catalyst		354293076	v300_new_hand_cannon1_masterwork	4249350918	20	0
Sunshot Catalyst		1824496861	v300_new_hand_cannon1_masterwork	4249350918	19	0
Upgrade Masterwork		3547298846	v300_new_pulse_rifle0_masterwork	520351532	19	0
Vigilance Wing Catalyst		615063267	v300_new_pulse_rifle0_masterwork	520351532	19	0
Vigilance Wing Catalyst		1620506138	v300_new_pulse_rifle0_masterwork	520351532	20	0
Vigilance Wing Catalyst		1772168355	v300_new_pulse_rifle0_masterwork	520351532	20	0
Tier 4 Armor		2572873168	v400.plugs.armor.masterworks.stat.resistance_1	1514141502	19	0
Masterwork		2572873169	v400.plugs.armor.masterworks.stat.resistance_1	1514141502	19	0
Tier 1 Armor		2572873173	v400.plugs.armor.masterworks.stat.resistance_1	1514141502	19	0
Tier 2 Armor		2572873174	v400.plugs.armor.masterworks.stat.resistance_1	1514141502	19	0
Tier 3 Armor		2572873175	v400.plugs.armor.masterworks.stat.resistance_1	1514141502	19	0
Tier 1 Armor		3130025792	v400.plugs.armor.masterworks.stat.resistance_2	1514141501	19	0
Tier 3 Armor		3130025794	v400.plugs.armor.masterworks.stat.resistance_2	1514141501	19	0
Tier 2 Armor		3130025795	v400.plugs.armor.masterworks.stat.resistance_2	1514141501	19	0
Tier 2 Weapon		2203506851	v400.plugs.weapons.masterworks.stat.draw_time	482070447	19	0
Tier 5 Weapon		2203506852	v400.plugs.weapons.masterworks.stat.draw_time	482070447	19	0
Tier 4 Weapon		2203506853	v400.plugs.weapons.masterworks.stat.draw_time	482070447	19	0
Tier 7 Weapon		2203506854	v400.plugs.weapons.masterworks.stat.draw_time	482070447	19	0
Tier 6 Weapon		2203506855	v400.plugs.weapons.masterworks.stat.draw_time	482070447	19	0
Tier 9 Weapon		2203506856	v400.plugs.weapons.masterworks.stat.draw_time	482070447	19	0
Tier 8 Weapon		2203506857	v400.plugs.weapons.masterworks.stat.draw_time	482070447	19	0
Masterwork		3689550782	v400.plugs.weapons.masterworks.stat.draw_time	482070447	19	0
Masterwork		1639384016	v400.plugs.weapons.masterworks.stat.draw_time	482070447	19	0
Masterwork		2357520979	v400.plugs.weapons.masterworks.stat.handling	199786516	19	0
Masterwork		186337601	v400.plugs.weapons.masterworks.stat.handling	199786516	19	0
Tier 8 Weapon		518224738	v400.plugs.weapons.masterworks.stat.handling	199786516	19	0
Tier 9 Weapon		518224739	v400.plugs.weapons.masterworks.stat.handling	199786516	19	0
Tier 2 Weapon		518224744	v400.plugs.weapons.masterworks.stat.handling	199786516	19	0
Tier 3 Weapon		518224745	v400.plugs.weapons.masterworks.stat.handling	199786516	19	0

Check and see if plug.plugCategoryIdentifier.contains("masterwork") then also see if plug.plugCategoryIdentifier.startsWith("v4") so I know to query the manifest for investmentStats[0].statTypeHash to get the localized name of the Masterwork stat.

How about Shaders?

displayProperties.name	itemTypeDisplayName	hash	plug.plugCategoryIdentifier	plug.plugCategoryHash	itemType	itemSubType
Default Shader	Restore Defaults	4248210736	shader	2973005342	19	20
War Cult Scheme	Shader	2296172971	shader	2973005342	19	20
SUROS Tone	Shader	2307426896	shader	2973005342	19	20
SUROS Modular	Shader	2307426898	shader	2973005342	19	20
Crucible Triumph	Shader	2361935691	shader	2973005342	19	20
Metallic Sunrise	Shader	2395477994	shader	2973005342	19	20
Precursor Vex Chrome	Shader	2395477996	shader	2973005342	19	20
Desert of Gold	Shader	2395477997	shader	2973005342	19	20
Descendant Vex Chrome	Shader	2395477998	shader	2973005342	19	20
Mercury Vex Chrome	Shader	2395477999	shader	2973005342	19	20
Rusted Iron	Shader	2448092902	shader	2973005342	19	20
Praetorian Visage	Shader	2543722796	shader	2973005342	19	20
Calus's Shadow	Shader	2543722797	shader	2973005342	19	20
Crucible Solemnity	Shader	2588739576	shader	2973005342	19	20

This one is easy! Every shader in the game has a plug.plugCategoryHash of 2973005342! I wish all the plugs were like this!

I realize that the actual data that the API is retrieving may very well may be beyond your control, but if there was some kind of massaging that could be done before it is returned would make Plugs a lot easier to use. An enumerator for the types of Plugs and honestly just some consistency of which field I should be looking at to determine exactly what the Plug is.

[floatingatoll]

(Cancel that, sorry, I misread something.)

[xxbiohazrdxx]

There's also some inconsistency in the way Plugs/sockets are presented from the instance item. For example

{ "sockets": [ { "plugHash": 2874284214, "isEnabled": true, "isVisible": true, "reusablePlugHashes": [ 2874284214 ], "reusablePlugs": [ { "plugItemHash": 2874284214, "canInsert": true, "enabled": true } ] }, { "plugHash": 1288081798, "isEnabled": true, "isVisible": true, "reusablePlugHashes": [ 1288081798, 1452368632 ], "reusablePlugs": [ { "plugItemHash": 1288081798, "canInsert": true, "enabled": true }, { "plugItemHash": 1452368632, "canInsert": true, "enabled": true } ] }, { "plugHash": 1588595445, "isEnabled": true, "isVisible": true }, { "plugHash": 518224751, "isEnabled": true, "isVisible": true, "reusablePlugHashes": [ 518224748 ], "reusablePlugs": [ { "plugItemHash": 518224748, "canInsert": true, "enabled": true } ] } ] }

This is an excerpt from an actual item.

The vast majority of the time, reusablePlugs is an array of plugHashes representing all of the possible Plugs for this particular 'section' (or whatever terminology you would like to use), including the currently active Plug.

However, this is not always true.

In the case of Masterworks, reusablePlugs contains an array of the next Masterwork upgrade tier but NOT the currently active tier.

Similarly, in the case of Shaders, reusablePlugs contains the 'Default Shader' option but NOT the currently active Shader.

In the case of Mods, reusablePlugs is simply absent.

This is a minor gripe, but honestly the wildly varying/inconsistent nature makes for a lot of boilerplate edge case checking code.

[vthornheart-bng]

Yes indeed, the complexity of the sockets code reflects the complexity of the potential states in which an item can have socket data combined with a desire to minimize the potential amount of data that we have to return. I deeply empathize with your frustration, as we've felt the same working on our own features as well as in creating the API itself.

Sockets were originally intended to be a fairly simple system - a reduction in complexity from the extremely complex Talent Grid system of Destiny 1 - but quickly expanded into something that is - for both you and we - pretty tedious to use. (it is a real textbook example of feature creep: and unfortunately, we have few options for hiding this increase in complexity on the game side without either being less comprehensive or creating a great deal of redundancy in the data we return from requests, which I will try to go into in the write-up so as to give a better understanding for why we don't abstract the game's complexity for these features as well as I wish we would)

I'll try to give a more comprehensive write-up of this information about how Sockets work, and how you can get at the information you're looking for: but indeed, there isn't an easy to use view of sockets. I will do my best to write an article to use as a guide, however: I think it's reached a level of complexity where it's downright frustrating to use without one, and that sucks... and particularly sucks given that we don't have a guide for it.

Just to make sure I'm covering all the bases of what you're interested in when I make this write up, you're wondering about:

---

• How you can determine what plugs are actually available for use on any given particular item

• Why there's a difference between reusablePlugs where you always have all options available (such as how "Scopes" usually behave) and ones that don't have all options available (such as Masterworks tiers),

• Why the currently selected item isn't always in the list of reusablePlugs, such as with Masterworks tiers

• Why inventory-sourced plugs aren't returned in the reusablePlugs list

• Why some items have both reusablePlugs and inventory-sourced plugs, and why other items have only one or the other

---

Does anyone else (yourself included) have any other questions/topics on the subject that you'd like me to cover in this writeup? I'm eager to share what I can!

[vthornheart-bng]

Also, on a completely unrelated side topic, I love your Github icon. Tecmo Bowl for life.

[floatingatoll]

It would be invaluable to have a complete walkthrough for two or three wildly different items that, between them, make use of all known sockets 'features'.

On Fri, Oct 19, 2018 at 3:21 PM Alex Tennant notifications@github.com wrote:

What do the “empty” sockets represent? i.e. not initialHash, reuseable and random plugs.

How are curated rolls represented? Is it always the initialHashes? What’s the best way of identifying something with a curated roll?

How can you tell which masterworks an item can actually roll with? It seems the item definitions contain a lot of “impossible” masterworks.

I’m sure have more, these are what come to mind right now.

— You are receiving this because you commented. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/Bungie-net/api/issues/735#issuecomment-431516072, or mute the thread https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAFqDEIU_QeBU0T96qldN9Y7ejdzMzGNks5umlBggaJpZM4Xxapn .

[adtennant]

What do the “empty” sockets represent? i.e. no initialHash, reuseable and random plugs.

How are curated rolls represented? Is it always the initialHashes? What’s the best way of identifying something with a curated roll?

How can you tell which masterworks an item can actually roll with? It seems the item definitions contain a lot of “impossible” masterworks.

I’m sure have more, these are what come to mind right now.

[vthornheart-bng]

Yes, thank you both for your input! Anyone with more, please bring them forward here!

[ArkahnX]

Tacking on to adtennant here, when an item is a curated roll ( no changeable perks, fully masterworked) it appears to be that the curated roll is represented by the initial plug hash values. Are these values also capable of being random rolls? Or is it limited exclusively to the random list of plugs provided (forgot the property name, can't look it up right now)

This was asked earlier on GitHub, but there isn't a way to have in the api how many random rolls a given column can contain correct?

[vthornheart-bng]

Thank you, good questions as well!

[vthornheart-bng]

Okay, this is my outline so far for what needs to be covered. It's going to take me some time to fill this all out, but where I could I tried to include info in this summary that might help with some of the more direct questions:

• Concerning the Nature of Sockets
  • Parts/Features of the Socket
    • Overview of a Socket
      • Explain Sockets and Plugs, encourage reader to go to Roles of Sockets to learn more about the types of plugs and sockets
      • What can a socket do for an item?
    • How to identify a socket: the Socket Index and its role in the API
    • Intrinsic Sockets
    • The Infusion Socket
    • Reusable Plugs
    • Randomized Plugs
    • Inventory-sourced Plugs
      • Include an explanation of Socket Type/plug validation
    • Socket initialization, and the randomization that can occur
    • Plug Sets, and their role in available plugs
    • Null Sockets
    • Socket Types and their use at runtime
  • Parts/Features of a Plug
    • Insertion Rules
    • Visual Styles
    • Ability to override Parent Item properties
    • Additional properties granted to the item in which it is socketed
      • "Perks"
      • Stats (such as reload speed, impact etc...)
      • "Intangibles": changes to a character or accounts' internal state that can affect anything, and for whom the API cannot know for certain what it will affect, such as when a Plug on a piece of armor increases the stat of your equipped weapon indirectly. I really hate these.
    • Item Categories for Plugs
      • Their limitations and uses, including DestinyItemCategoryDefinition
  • History
    • Sockets intended as a simplified replacement for Talent Grids
    • The pivot to customization (DLC1 timeframe: enabled/disabled sockets, sockets and plugs gain objectives)
    • The Emote Wheel and its lasting impact on sockets
    • The pivot to even more customization (Forsaken timeframe: randomized sockets, curated sockets, enabled/disabled plugs, vendor and reward overrides)
  • The Roles of Sockets
    • For each of these, link to an explicit example of an item with this socket, these plugs, and the meaning of and configuration of each
    • Roles:
      • Sockets as fixed properties of an item (intrinsic sockets)
      • Sockets as fixed sets of variation choices (reusable plugs)
      • Sockets as type-restricted modding (mods)
      • Sockets as visual customization (Shaders, Spawn Effects, Ornaments)
      • Sockets as pseudo-equip slots (the "Emote Wheel")
      • Sockets as pseudo-quests (Masterworks cores and other uses of sockets and plugs that involve Objectives)
        • In here, explain why it wouldn't make sense for sockets used as pseudo-quests to have the current quest step in the reusable plug list
      • Sockets as randomized item variability (randomized plugs)
      • Sockets as exclusivity gating (Korean Internet Gaming Room plugs)
      • Sockets as a "God Roll" reward to override randomization (curated rolls)
        • Talk about the limited ways that currently exist to find out what these rolls are programmatically
        • (More investigation needed to determine if it will be possible to provide this data more consistently/in a future-proof way in the API, as indeed it is possible for these curated rolls to be chosen from random data, or consistently from data meant to be used for randomization at initialization time: in which case the singleInitialItemHash will be insufficient to determine what will roll. I do not know if any curated roll has been abused in such a way currently)
      • Sockets as source point for Infusion
      • Sockets as challenges (such as the "Five of Swords")
  • How to use Sockets across all roles
    • Determining whether a socket should be shown
    • Determining the visual/interactive appearance of a visible socket
    • Determining whether a plug should be shown as an available option for a given socket
    • Determining the visual/interactive appearance of a visible plug
  • Frequently Asked Questions about Sockets
    • How can you tell which masterworks an item can actually roll with?
      • Only so much I can go into here: we're not allowed to and in some cases wouldn't even be able to show information on what can actually roll. But I can try to give an overview about what's happening under the surface if possible/permitted
    • Why aren't inventory-sourced plugs returned in the reusable plugs list?
      • Explain the bandwidth limitations and potential permutations of inventory-sourced plugs that would make this a prohibitively expensive duplication of data. See Emote Wheel as an example
    • Why do some items have reusable AND inventory-sourced plugs, and others don't?
      • Explain the situation where designers want the user to always have certain options available, such as choosing to have "no mod inserted" which is represented as a reusable plug

[vthornheart-bng]

Ah, there's one more thing in here too not relevant to the documentation: it sounds like we're having issues with item category hashes. Those ought to be a reliable way to find out what items are mods, and at least in some vague level what type of mods they are. If you're finding miscategorized ones, something's broken there that we can fix! We won't support the old/obsoleted mods anymore, but we can fix any miscategorized 4.x plugs!

[ckhicks]

This. Is. Epic. Dropping a comment here to cheer everyone on and make sure I get notifications about this one in case I miss something later. 👍

[floatingatoll]

The object “Five of Swords” is a stellar example of maximum plaid, in case it comes in handy later on.

On Oct 19, 2018, at 20:52, CK Hicks notifications@github.com wrote:

This. Is. Epic. Dropping a comment here to cheer everyone on and make sure I get notifications about this one in case I miss something later. 👍

— You are receiving this because you commented. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or mute the thread.

[xxbiohazrdxx]

On another note, is there a particular reason why plugs are in the DestinyInventoryItemDefinition table in the manifest instead of having their own table?

[vthornheart-bng]

@floatingatoll Good call, that's another whole way that sockets are being used! I'll add that to the list.

@xxbiohazrdxx That's a very good question with a very unfortunate answer. The short answer is that, very early on, the game designers decided that almost anything they wanted in the game could be represented as either an Item or a Vendor. The implication of this original decision made before Destiny 1 went public lives on today in features that are more-or-less bolted onto both concepts.

The long answer is that Plugs reuse a lot of properties shared between the various types of things that the game considers to be items: enough that they didn't want to build separate systems to handle the very similar functionality, so Plugs became a "feature" that an item can have rather than its own entity. Though in practice, any item that is a Plug doesn't get treated in any context other than as a plug (even though plugs themselves get treated in very different ways, as eluded to in the outline above). Theoretically, some cruel designer could someday make a weapon that could be plugged into another weapon, or a ship that could be plugged into a sparrow. Thankfully, they haven't done that yet.

As to why we don't hide that in the API, there's a couple of reasons: most of them having to do with our own time and maintenance constraints, that also make it easier for us to treat them the same way as the game's content treats them.

If I had my druthers, or a larger staff working on the API, or even a promise that the concept of Plugs won't expand further than it already has (I have no such promise, and thus can't make that promise), I'd love to look into making our own "derivative definitions" that treat plugs as separate entities to external users.

However, we have two problems with that: (1) breaking backward compatibility, and (2) derivative definitions have often bitten us in the butt in the API: and I'm very hesitant to do so unless I get solid assurances that the given feature is likely to not change in such a way that it breaks our derivative definitions.

Milestones are an interesting example of where we attempted to create a derivative definition because the source items were basically unusable for the stated purposes from an API perspective, and the fact that we've done so has bitten us in the butt over and over again as the concept of what a milestone is and the data it holds changes, leaving us scrambling to try and maintain backwards compatibility while exposing whatever new functionality or variability has been introduced. Users of the Destiny 1 API will remember that we made the same mistake with "Advisors," as well as when we tried to hide some of the complexity of the original talent grids only to have core assumptions change out from under us at the whim of game design: changes that required us to make sudden backwards-compatibility breaking changes in order to fix the data we were returning.

[vthornheart-bng]

If you want a good laugh, I go into the Vendor side of this bolting-on here: https://bungie-net.github.io/multi/schema_Destiny-Definitions-DestinyVendorDefinition.html

[xxbiohazrdxx]

@vthornheart-bng

Hey since you brought up potentially miscategorized plugs

displayProperties.name	hash	itemTypeDisplayName	plug.plugCategoryIdentifier	plug.plugCategoryHash
Boss Spec	2788909693	Weapon Mod	v400.weapon.mod_damage	974142739
Minor Spec	4091000557	Weapon Mod	v400.weapon.mod_damage	974142739
Major Spec	984527513	Weapon Mod	v400.weapon.mod_damage	974142739
Taken Spec	1513326571	Weapon Mod	v400.weapon.mod_damage	974142739
Empty Mod Socket	2323986101	Weapon Mod	v400.weapon.mod_empty	3945646995
Targeting Adjuster	3228611386	Weapon Mod	v400.weapon.mod_guns	510594033
Radar Tuner	371216963	Weapon Mod	v400.weapon.mod_guns	510594033
Freehand Grip	736000386	Weapon Mod	v400.weapon.mod_guns	510594033
Icarus Grip	941997506	Weapon Mod	v400.weapon.mod_guns	510594033
Counterbalance Stock	1588595445	Weapon Mod	v400.weapon.mod_guns	510594033
Backup Mag	3336648220	Weapon Mod	v400.weapon.mod_magazine	4087004818

I think it's a little silly that an empty mod and damage mod have a different category hash, but I can kind of understand why. However, it makes no sense why Backup Mag is completely different and in it's own category.

[floatingatoll]

I would guess it has to do with magazine scripting being especially special (since D1).

[vthornheart-bng]

Just as an update on this, I've had 0 time to work on the aforementioned article. I'm hoping to loop back to this as work begins to settle down for the holiday season. My plan is to bring back the winter wishlist and make the creation of this document a priority on that list.

[thepoofy]

What's the current best documentation or example of Plugs? Trying to build a tool that relies heavily on this functionality and the caveats with the far simpler Perks are giving me migraines.