HitsMode5: Combat Log, Evolved

Since WoW began, HitsMode has been the most powerful combat log available in World of Warcraft. HitsMode5 continues that legacy and improves upon it. HitsMode5 is a total rewrite of the classic HitsMode add-on created in 2005. Utilizing all the lessons learned over the years, it's a feature-complete, mature, optimized combat log.

Features

Split your combat log into separate chat windows
Customize virtually every aspect of the combat log, including colors, unit names, spells, and more
Robust filters
Abbreviate spell names, spell links, unit names, and more
Create your own combat log formats using a tag system
Instant Replay feature allows you to utilize special one-time filters in order to analyze "what just happened?"
Vastly improved configuration system is more advanced and user friendly
Technology builds upon the Blizzard default combat log, improving performance and self-localizing in many cases
Highly optimized for lower CPU usage during heavy combat
Modular design lets you save memory by disabling features you don't need

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Comments and bug reports

General comments and questions can be posted at the WowAce site. Bug reports and feature requests should be made using the ticket system.

Frequently asked questions

How do I configure HitsMode5?

You can get to the configuration in one of three ways:

Open your Interface Options menu and select HitsMode5 from the AddOns tab
Use the command /hitsmode or /hm
Right click the LDB feed icon

Why do I have little vertical lines or other graphical corruption in my combat log?

When the WoW client renders certain textures in chat windows, it can sometimes cause this corruption to occur. Changing your resolution, turning on/off anti-aliasing, changing font sizes, and other things will affect this. HitsMode5 doesn't cause the issue, but turning off Include Spell Icons and Include Raid Icons will fix it.

Why does HitsMode5 use so much memory (especially during raids)?

This version of HitsMode has been rewritten from scratch to be highly optimized. It will use significantly less CPU time and memory compared with earlier versions. That being said, HitsMode5 is still fundamentally all about your combat log. In order to display combat, HitsMode5 must process hundreds to thousands of strings every second, generating the pretty combat log text you're used to seeing. This temporarily uses a certain amount of memory.

The WoW client is great at cleaning up after this sort of thing. During combat, you'll see HitsMode5 use several megabytes or more of memory. This will clear itself up naturally in a few minutes, and is nothing to be concerned about. If you're worried about memory usage, consider upgrading your computer - RAM is cheap!

How can I improve performance during a raid?

Make sure you aren't showing events from your party and raid members. A typical boss fight in a 25 player raid can generate over 65000 combat log entries! That's just one fight. There is no possible way a human can read that much in a few minutes of time, and it will definitely slow down your frame rate. If you raid, you should only use filters that correspond with your events. Under both Source Units and Destination Units, under Affiliation, only select Mine.

HitsMode5 is extremely good at exiting early when a combat event doesn't need to be shown in your chat window. The best way to improve performance is to eliminate events from your filters.

What are some typical performance benchmarks for HitsMode5?

Benchmarks taken with one filter ("Default")

Solo (with all events on): 0.5-2 MB, no frame rate drop
5 player heroic dungeon (with all events on): 3-5 MB, no frame rate drop
25 player raid (with all events on): 8-10 MB, frame rate drops considerably
25 player raid (just your events on): 0.5-2 MB, no frame rate drop

Memory usage will drop back down to 0.5 MB or less after a few minutes of inactivity.

Why is this add-on named HitsMode5?

The name HitsMode comes from the EverQuest /hitsmode command, which also allows you to configure your combat log. This is the fifth major version of HitsMode since it's initial release in early 2005.

Can HitsMode show timestamps, right align text, remove my chat window buttons, allow mouse wheel scrolling, change the font size of the combat log, allow my chat windows to be more resizable, etc?

Nope. You need to use a separate chat add-on such as Prat or Chatter.

Why isn't the default Blizzard combat log going away?

HitsMode5 doesn't do anything to the default Blizzard combat log. Simply dock it behind another window, or create a filter with no events in it.

Migrating from HitsMode4 to HitsMode5

Will my settings be transferred from HitsMode4 to HitsMode5?

Nope. In order to make a clean break from the old (and messy) configuration system, it was necessary to start all over. The new system uses the standard Ace3 user interface; you should find things much easier to setup now.

Is HitsMode4 still supported?

No. As of patch 4.2, HitsMode4 was discontinued.

What's new in HitsMode5?

See the feature list above for a short list of some of the new features. HitsMode5 was written from the beginning to encompass nearly every feature that users have asked for over the past five years.

What's been removed in HitsMode5?

The "Combat Summary" feature has been removed for now. It might be added back in at a later date. There are other (better) add-ons that do this job.

HitsMode5 doesn't do something that HitsMode4 did!

Other than anything listed in the previous question, HitsMode5 implements nearly every option and feature from HitsMode4. That being said, certain features may have been simplified slightly, or redesigned to be easier to use. If something's missing that you just can't live without, open a ticket.