The DarqUI Experience window has been updated. The new window will be mostly familiar to DarqUI users, but there are some changes and new features that I think you'll like. The Experience window offers a variety of controls and conveniences beyond simply displaying experience levels. Depending on what your character is doing at the moment, the window can be configured to display appropriate character stats, controls and other useful information along with the Experience ("XP") progress bar display.

For example, if you are harvesting or crafting you can display the Tradeskill XP bar to show harvesting and tradeskill stats along with controls to open the Recipe book and the DarqUI Harvesting Helper which includes links to online harvesting guides. If you are adventuring, choose the Adventure XP bar to show buttons for your quest journal and Character window as well as pertinent combat stats depending on your class.

The new DarqUI Experience Window uses dramatically fewer resources than its predecessor, while offering more customization options and a much friendlier interface.

Basic navigation

From left to right, the Experience window has three major sections:

Nav Bar

Static controls and special displays separated into "pages." Use the + and - buttons to scroll through the available pages. The first Nav page is the Command Bar which has ten configurable control icons. You can associate a specific Nav page with each of the various XP bars. The Nav Bar can be hidden if you don't find it useful.

XP Bar

This is the main progress bar display for various forms of XP accumulated during game play. You can cycle forward through the XP types by clicking on the gold gem to the left of the bars. Or you can scroll forward and backward using the mouse scroll wheel over the gold gem. The color-coded right side gem displays your current numerical level for that type of experience. Each right side gem can be clicked to toggle the appropriate game window -- the green Alternate Advancement gem toggles the AA window, for example.

Next to the color-coded gems is the sizer handle which adjusts the proportion between the adjacent XP and Stat Bar sections. The handle can be used to resize the bar temporarily at any time during game play, and you can set a default size to remember between logins. You can optionally collapse the XP bar to show only the left side gem if you prefer to use the space for stats.

Stat Bar

On the right hand side of the window the Stat Bar displays character, combat, zone, guild and tradeskill statistics. Each XP bar can have its own set of up to 30 stats that you customize for each character, or you can display the same set of stats with all XP bars.

If you use Quick Setup to configure your characters, the stat bars will be populated with "starter" stats. On the Experience window page of the DarqUI utility there are some additional controls to import stat sets from other characters, or duplicate stats to all bars. In game you can make new stat choices directly on the stat bar by entering Edit Mode (see below).

Stat spacing If you find the stats are too crowded, or if you want to pack more stats into the space available, you can adjust the distance between them. Use the Stat spacing slidebar in the Window Manager to set the spacing to an amount you are comfortable with.

Shorter abbreviations Choosing this setting in the Window Manager will shorten the stat labels so you can use the stat spacing control to see more of them at once. For example, the RUN SPD label changes to RUN, the STRENGTH label changes to STR.

Configuring the Experience window

Although there are quite a few ways to customize the XP window from the Window Manager or from the DarqUI utility, there are four configuration changes that can be made directly from the window itself by entering Edit Mode.

On the far right end of the Stat Bar, click the blue Edit button. The background of the window will change to indicate that you are in Edit Mode. The Nav Bar will also switch temporarily to the configurable Command Bar. While in this mode, several persistent customizations can be done:

Command Bar icons Click any of the ten icons and choose a different command from the dropdown. There are a number of system, Start menu and DarqUI custom window commands.

Nav Page associations Choose an XP bar by clicking the gold gem, then use the + and - buttons to scroll to a different nav page. When the desired nav page is displayed with this XP bar, record the association by clicking the small Save button that appears near the gold gem.

XP Bar size Using the sizer handle while in Edit Mode will save the new width as a default for future logins.

Stats Mouse over a slot on the Stat Bar and choose a stat (or replace an existing one) from the dropdown. You can cycle freely between XP bars while configuring stats. Each XP bar can have its own group. To remove a stat, choose BLANK from the top of the dropdown list. If you want all your XP bars to have the same stats, you can do this easily using the DarqUI utility.

Tithe alerts

In the Window Manager you can configure a colored background to appear when you accumulate Tithe (Deity System) points. Choose flashing or non-flashing alerts. To disable alerts, set the point value to zero.

Tithe Snooze feature The alert feature may become annoying if you are busy with something else when the flashing background displays. To disable the alert temporarily, click the small "moon" button on the XP bar area, or open the Window Manager and click the Snooze button. The alert will be hidden until your Deity point value changes or you log in again.