Any way to edit buffs and .slk files without losing data you've already done.

Okey, how do you/or can you even, extract the ability.slk file from a map itself? That way it shows you all of the modified things in it? This way, I could modify buffs and things AFTER I've already made most of the spells using the new TFT editor... Make sense? Help please.

Well, as far as i remember, you can treat .w3x files just like
.mpq, thus open it with WinMPQ or similar.

W3X files are in fact MPQs. Blizzard has done the same thing with map files ever since StarCraft, and perhaps even WarCraft II.

Unfortunately, Blizzard wasn't so kind as to stick modified data in SLKs in maps. I know of a project that converts modified data to SLK form, but it's still being written at the moment.

dont you only need the txt files for buffs? why would u need slks? so all you have to do is copy and paste ur tooltips, which wont take as long if u turn off the brush list (its a stickied post in the map development forum, something about reducing lag)

In TFT, the skills that you make in the TFT editor are stored in the .w3o file. In order to change your buffs, extract the <race>abilitystrings & <race>abilityfunc txt files from the MPQ and edit. If you dont want them to clash with the tooltips you have already done in the TFT WE, edit the BASE SPELL's bufftips and buffart. This will change the buff for your custom spell as well, but it will not affect the tooltips and icon that you have set for the spell in the first place.

(note that this will only work if you made a custom version of the base spell and edited THAT. If you edited the base spell itself, you'll have to copy over your tooltips into the txt file =/)

Also, in the TFT editor theres no way to make negative variables...
And... besides that, using the TFT editor is kinda cheap... heh, doesn't require as much skill. Also... for some reason, it won't let me use the "town burning fire emitter thing" as a ability projectile... so heh.

If you mean negative variables as in reversing spells like aerial shackles to heal instead of damage, you can go to File >> Preferences >> Enable Negative Values in Object Editor. If you meant negative integer values, then yeah =/.

For the ability projectile, you can try using txt editing to change the art. It tends to be more versatile than the editor.