Guild Wars 2

I think this issue has kind of flown under the radar, but the current combat log is nowhere near good enough. It’s hard to navigate (no indicators to show when you were downed/killed), and doesn’t show nearly enough information (no condition damage? really?).

The combat log may not be as gamebreaking as many of the other issues facing the game, but it really does need some improvement. Any plans to make it better?

It has to have far more options.
We have to be able to see what we did and what others did. Allies and opponents.
Having also different colours for different effects it also good as it lets you visually comprehend stuff easier. So Confusion may be purplish while bleeding is red. Poison green.
It would also be nice to set colours for yourself.
And please let a tab be put as complete chat somewhere else. Like combat log can be put on the right side of the screen.

when ?

Evan Lesh.3295:

There are a lot of really cool things we could do with the combat log that would benefit the entire game. This could include making sure all combat events show up, color coding, and even skill links. This polish could be rolled into the death breakdown as well.

I like how you said “could do”, and not that you “will do”. In other words, nothing will be done and it will not be added.

That sounds like a post to incite interest in this subject. I’m assuming they havent rolled anything out so far, as there hasnt been enough publically voiced interest in the combat log compared to the rest of the things they have in the works.

Evan Lesh.3295:

There are a lot of really cool things we could do with the combat log that would benefit the entire game. This could include making sure all combat events show up, color coding, and even skill links. This polish could be rolled into the death breakdown as well.

Thanks for the response. I’m glad you guys are already thinking about ways to improve it. One thing though, if possible, I’d really like to see some short term improvements to bring it up to functional rather than waiting a really long time to roll out a fully polished version.

One thing I’d like to see on the combat log is healing done/received. I often can’t see healing procs and figure out their source (in the case of me running more then one) which can make it harder to theorycraft.

Evan Lesh.3295:

There are a lot of really cool things we could do with the combat log that would benefit the entire game. This could include making sure all combat events show up, color coding, and even skill links. This polish could be rolled into the death breakdown as well.

Everything is a “could”, when are you guys actually going to implement some of the things into the game? Everything is talk when it comes to Guild Wars 2…

I “could” at some point spend more money towards this game. But seriously, when I noticed that condition damage didn’t show up in the log I had to do a triple take, making sure I wasn’t just blind. I don’t know how many times I go to look at the combat log to figure out what killed me (you know, an attempt to learn something), add up the damage done, and scratch my head because the damage done totals less than my health.

bjchase.3074:

I “could” at some point spend more money towards this game. But seriously, when I noticed that condition damage didn’t show up in the log I had to do a triple take, making sure I wasn’t just blind. I don’t know how many times I go to look at the combat log to figure out what killed me (you know, an attempt to learn something), add up the damage done, and scratch my head because the damage done totals less than my health.

Too much to ask…you need to fraps everything and then replay it and grab a calculator.

Good to hear that this is on your list. You should consider looking at the floating combat text as well IMO. For instance, I’d really like to see more clearly when, and most importantly which, conditions affect me. Also, maybe I’m a slow reader, but I think the combat text disappears a tiny bit too quickly to easily register incoming damage when attention is elsewhere.

Evan Lesh.3295:

There are a lot of really cool things we could do with the combat log that would benefit the entire game. This could include making sure all combat events show up, color coding, and even skill links. This polish could be rolled into the death breakdown as well.

This is one of the things that highlights why Anet is beyond frustrating. We are now 7 months post-release and we are talking about ways to implement features that are in EVERY SINGLE GAME IN THE LAST 10 YEARS. The only other game I can think of that didn’t have basic combat log features was SWTOR….that game did super well.

When it’s ready? If this is ready, then maybe my definition of ready is totally skewed.

felivear.1536:

The only other game I can think of that didn’t have basic combat log features was SWTOR….that game did super well.

Good thing GW2 has a basic combat log then.

Any chance while we are at it if we could add a summary for the last combat? Would be great to be able to look at the combat log and after you leave combat, it lists the time in combat and how much of each damage type was dealt to you and by you. Maybe even number of blocks and evades could be useful. And heals on both sides of course

The log is useful at times for looking at one or two hits but most times the summary is what we need. Taking time with a calculator dissuades often.

And say you leave combat during a fought for what ever reason you just add the summaries

Instead of caring about combat logs, fix the combat first.

Yes! Healing in combatlog would be nice!

felivear.1536:

Evan Lesh.3295:

There are a lot of really cool things we could do with the combat log that would benefit the entire game. This could include making sure all combat events show up, color coding, and even skill links. This polish could be rolled into the death breakdown as well.

This is one of the things that highlights why Anet is beyond frustrating. We are now 7 months post-release and we are talking about ways to implement features that are in EVERY SINGLE GAME IN THE LAST 10 YEARS. The only other game I can think of that didn’t have basic combat log features was SWTOR….that game did super well.

When it’s ready? If this is ready, then maybe my definition of ready is totally skewed.

Well there is a combat log and most people probably never use it at all, or if they do, the information given is sufficient for them (e.g. “wtf did just kill me”). There are surely way more important things that have to be fixed first instead of wasting resources on such a minor issue.

Evan Lesh.3295:

There are a lot of really cool things we could do with the combat log that would benefit the entire game. This could include making sure all combat events show up, color coding, and even skill links. This polish could be rolled into the death breakdown as well.

The more information you add, the better. It can’t be hard to implement filters for those who couldn’t care less.

What I’d like to see:

1. Each and every entry of an ability used by me and used against me
2. Death Breakdown to be accurate and contain every damage ability
3. Damage dealt and received on top of healing received and produced at the end of the match
4. Number of kills made by me and everybody else participating in the match. Total number of kills for my team and the enemy team
5. Ability to scroll back in the combat log farther than we currently can. I’d like to be able to go back after a match and be able to look up what happened at the beginning of the match
6. Status display in the combat log. I’d like to know whether I was disabled etc. and a simple line like “you died”, in order to separate battles easier
7. Critical hits, glanced hits should all be displayed as such (during beta critical hits would be displayed as “CRITICAL”, then you remove that out for no reason)

All I really want is conditions being linked to their sources.
For example, showing the skills that created the different stacks of a condition that defeated by by hovering the mouse over that condition damage entries in the combat long and defeat summary panel.

This is off topic, but as long as you are reading this thread Evan, is there any word about being able to turn off spell queuing? I would so very much like to turn it off, or at the very least have some adjustments to make it less frustrating.

Evan Lesh.3295:

Next level necro: Although there wasn’t a blog post, we did announce the new combat at Gamescom coming in Feature Pack 2. Some details are listed here: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/September_2014_Feature_Pack#Combat_log
I figured it’s worth spreading the word since I haven’t seen it listed on any feature pack summary threads.

Ya, I was finding it weird how none of the blog posts mentioned the combat log yet. Did the writers forgot about it at the “game improvements” page? xD

Is there anything else left forgotten aside from this?

Evan Lesh.3295:

Next level necro: Although there wasn’t a blog post, we did announce the new combat at Gamescom coming in Feature Pack 2. Some details are listed here: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/September_2014_Feature_Pack#Combat_log
I figured it’s worth spreading the word since I haven’t seen it listed on any feature pack summary threads.

I actually have a question about the combat log that you may or may not be able to answer.

Regarding outgoing condition damage – will it show the actual damage the target takes or will it be based on the potential damage the caster puts out? More specifically, what will the log show if I try to apply three bleed stacks to a target with 24 stacks already? Will it register in the log as me outputting damage equal to three stacks or just show the damage from the one stack I was able to apply?

Evan Lesh.3295:

Next level necro: Although there wasn’t a blog post, we did announce the new combat at Gamescom coming in Feature Pack 2. Some details are listed here: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/September_2014_Feature_Pack#Combat_log
I figured it’s worth spreading the word since I haven’t seen it listed on any feature pack summary threads.

thank you for OFFICIAL word on these forums concerning this. i was seeing mention of combat log changes but somehow failed my google-fooOOoo while looking for official source. i chalk it up to bacon deficiency, either mine or my PC’s

a simple but huge thank you. I now #believeinevan.

Over a year ago on a post and he comes back, necros it, and makes the changes he “could” have made

Razor.6392:

when ?

All i read is ‘’we could’‘….He didn’t say anywhere we will do it when it matters….

Those look like pretty awesome changes, you really should tell someone to put those on the front page with all the other changes, im sure pvp players would be more excited about this than about miniatures and collections.

I didnt see it in the screenshot there, but is it also going to be possible to see timestamps in seconds as well as minutes? That would make it all perfect.

Not PvP related but will the change do anything about “Unknown hits you for ____ using .”?

Evan Lesh.3295:

Sizer.5632:

I didnt see it in the screenshot there, but is it also going to be possible to see timestamps in seconds as well as minutes? That would make it all perfect.

Nah, time stamps haven’t changed. Would be an easy update to do later though.

how about saving the combat/chat log to a text file?

Edgar Doiron.2804:

how about saving the combat/chat log to a text file?

This will be very useful. Combat log saved to file mean also the possibility to post-analyze data. This could, in example, be used to effectively compare different build in a very objective way.