Getting serious in C++ - now what do I actually need?

[option]

I've been researching lots of stuff lately and a friend and I are getting closer to actually begin working on a bot. Now, just to make sure, I would appreciate some help figuring out a list of what I am gonna actually need, to be able to start and complete a basic D2XP console chatbot.

-Packet Buffer and Debuffer classes
-Hashing ... BNCSutil? Lockdown? MBNCSutil? (confused  )
-Any other function libraries for various stuff?
-Good tools, packet documentation, (BNETdocs redux, ersan's bnetdocs backup)
-Winsock knowledge
-Good pointer knowledge, memcpy knowledge (for pulling information out of packets and stuff)
-TCP/IP knowlege
-Endian-ness knowlege, Hexadecimal knowledge / Base 2 (binary knowledge) for packets (this is what I've been working on a lot recently)
-Knowledge of structures such as WORDS, DWORDS, BYTES, Filetimes, NTStrings, Non-NT Stings, and their sizes (I.e. unsigned long int for a DWORD, unsigned short for a WORD, char = byte, things like that)
-Byte / bit shifting
-And lastly, ethereal for sniffing, capturing packets, observing their structures, and interpreting information.

Now, this probably seems extremely noob (because it is), but although there is a lot of information for beginners there is no "comprehensive" guide to actually starting out, so this is what I've gathered, and I want to make sure I've got a foot in the right direction. Any other newbie tips for a legit first timer would also be helpful because we are serious about this and are looking for all the information we can get.

Thanks in advance!

-Sam

EDIT: And I might add that I am extra noob because I learned a lot in Visual Basic but was encouraged by many here to stop while I wasn't too far into it, and learn it in C++ for various reasons And that's exactly what I did haha

EDIT 2: Definitely added bit shifting to the list.

[Sorc.Polgara]

Seems about right.

Any other function libraries for various stuff?

Might want to take a look into some of the various functionality available to you in the STL too if you're going to use C++.  And if you're intent on making it a learning process, make sure to understand from at least from a high level the underlying concepts of what you use in the STL.  i.e. the data structures

You have a lot on your plate, and I wish you the best of luck.

[Kp]

Will Ethereal never die?  It was renamed a long time ago, and people are still picking up the old buggy versions.

[MyndFyre]

Will Ethereal never die?  It was renamed a long time ago, and people are still picking up the old buggy versions.

What Kp is trying is to get Wiresharp instead of Ethereal.

[K]

What Kp is trying is to get Wiresharp instead of Ethereal.

In case you have trouble googling Wiresharp: http://www.wireshark.org/.

[Kp]

Myndfyre just has sharp things on the brain.