Combat Log

The Combat Log is a log of combat actions and results, but may also show the results of the profession activities of nearby characters.

By default, it is accessible via a Combat Log tab on the General chat window. Combat Logs may be written to a file using the  command. The resulting file may be found at Logs\WoWCombatLog.txt. The complexity of the combat logs content since the patch 2.4 changes means that logs are best used when analyzed by one of the available parsers which analyze combat logs to generate raid statistics.

The first such parser of wide popularity was Wow Web Stats. Other emergent parsers include WowMeterOnline, World of Logs, MMOStories and Recount.me all of which demonstrate compatibility with logs from patch 2.4 and beyond.

World of Logs and WowCardioRaid are currently the only parsers offering real time combat log analysis.

MMOStories was (until recently) the only parser which stores data in a database for single data comparison.

Recount.me is an all new parser designed to give players a fresh look at the combat log data by providing a feature toted as Reply. This feature replays the data of the encounter back as it happened in game. The site is in the early alpha stages but is already starting to prove popular with the range of features that other sites do not currently offer.

Details of the changes made to the combat log in patch 2.4 can be found in the documentation for COMBAT_LOG_EVENT.