We also ask a lot of questions, and read questions others have asked.
My advice:
You see an effect in the game, like the spell Alchemy which turns Mana to Gold and say "Wow! Too bad it doesn't make crystal turn to gold!" Looking at the spell, you realize you can create a file called "Conjure Crystal" and put it in the My Games\LegendaryHeroes\Mods. You cut-paste the spell Alchemy, and change some tags.
<SpellDef InternalName="ConjureCrystals">
<DisplayName>Conjure Crystals</DisplayName>
<Description>Convert 150 mana into 50 Crystals.</Description>
<Image>S_Alchemy_Painting.png</Image>
<IconFG>S_Alchemy_Icon.png</IconFG>
<SpellBookSortCategory>World</SpellBookSortCategory>
<SpellBookSortSubCategory>Other</SpellBookSortSubCategory>
<SpellType>Strategic</SpellType>
<SpellClass>Other</SpellClass>
<SpellSubClass>Other</SpellSubClass>
<SpellTargetType>Self</SpellTargetType>
<AutoUnlock>1</AutoUnlock>
<Cooldown>20</Cooldown>
<CasterMustBeSov>1</CasterMustBeSov>
<Prereq>
<Type>Tech</Type>
<Attribute>Enchantment</Attribute>
</Prereq>
<SpellResourceCost>
<Resource>Mana</Resource>
<Amount>150</Amount>
</SpellResourceCost>
<GameModifier>
<ModType>Resource</ModType>
<Attribute>RefinedCrystal</Attribute>
<Value>50</Value>
</GameModifier>
<AIData AIPersonality="AI_General">
<AIPriority>5</AIPriority>
</AIData>
<HitSoundFX>Spell_Alchemy_01</HitSoundFX>
<SpellDefEffect>
<EffectName>S_Alchemy_Particle</EffectName>
<LocalPosition>0,0,0</LocalPosition>
<EffectScale>.75</EffectScale>
<EffectDelay>0</EffectDelay>
<SnapToTerrain>1</SnapToTerrain>
</SpellDefEffect>
</SpellDef>
You will learn certain commonalities. Everything has an InternalName and DisplayName, some things have Prerequisites. GameModifiers are fickle, this is where you actually do your effect.
How to get started?
Copy CoreAbilities, CoreItems, CoreWeapons, CoreArmor, CoreSpells into a folder called Modname, or MyMod or whatever. make this folder on your desktop for easy access. Open a file, and play the game. When you see something like a cool item or ability, or whatever, a building... look it up in the file inside of your folder.
There are a lot of helpful threads here for you to look through about <ArtDef> and the way the game loads the Core Files vs the Mod Files, for example you want to change an existing sword vs making a new one with a similar name.
