Section 02·WoW Combat Log Reference

Event Type Catalog

Every event type a real combat log parser has to handle: damage, healing, auras, casts, special events, encounter and metadata events, and the _SUPPORT suffix for Augmentation Evoker.

This is the catalog of event types a real parser handles. Field layouts for each are documented in the dedicated reference pages — this page just maps the names to what they mean.

Damage Events

Event	When
`SPELL_DAMAGE`	Direct spell damage
`SPELL_PERIODIC_DAMAGE`	DoT tick
`SPELL_BUILDING_DAMAGE`	Damage to destructibles (rare in modern content)
`RANGE_DAMAGE`	Auto-shot and ranged abilities
`SWING_DAMAGE`	Melee auto-attack hit
`SWING_DAMAGE_LANDED`	Same melee swing reported with the target's advanced block. Do NOT count both — pick `SWING_DAMAGE`.
`ENVIRONMENTAL_DAMAGE`	Falling, lava, fire, slime, drowning, fatigue
`SPELL_ABSORBED`	Damage absorbed by a shield. The shield-caster gets credit.
`SPELL_HEAL_ABSORBED`	Healing absorbed by a heal-absorb debuff
`DAMAGE_SPLIT`	Damage split among multiple targets (defensive/support mechanic). Exclude from offensive damage totals.
`SPELL_INSTAKILL`	Forced kill effect (e.g., Purgatory expiring). Use for death analysis.

Healing & Resource Events

Event	When
`SPELL_HEAL`	Direct heal
`SPELL_PERIODIC_HEAL`	HoT tick
`SPELL_ENERGIZE`	Resource gain (mana, rage, etc.)
`SPELL_PERIODIC_ENERGIZE`	Periodic resource gain
`SPELL_DRAIN`	Resource drain
`SPELL_LEECH`	Leech effect

Aura Events

Event	When
`SPELL_AURA_APPLIED`	Buff or debuff applied
`SPELL_AURA_REMOVED`	Buff or debuff dropped
`SPELL_AURA_REFRESH`	Buff refreshed before expiry
`SPELL_AURA_APPLIED_DOSE`	Stack added (e.g., Conflagrate)
`SPELL_AURA_REMOVED_DOSE`	Stack consumed
`SPELL_AURA_BROKEN`	Aura removed by damage (Polymorph, Sap)
`SPELL_AURA_BROKEN_SPELL`	Aura broken by a specific dispel/cleanse

Cast Events

Event	When
`SPELL_CAST_START`	Caster started a non-instant cast
`SPELL_CAST_SUCCESS`	Cast finished — this is what fired the ability, not damage events
`SPELL_CAST_FAILED`	Cast interrupted, out of range, etc.

Special Events

Event	When
`SPELL_INTERRUPT`	A cast got kicked
`SPELL_DISPEL`	Magic / curse / poison / disease removed
`SPELL_STOLEN`	Spellsteal
`SPELL_SUMMON`	Pet/totem/guardian summoned. Critical for pet attribution.
`SPELL_RESURRECT`	Combat resurrection
`SWING_MISSED` / `SPELL_MISSED` / `RANGE_MISSED`	Whiff. Includes miss type: dodge, parry, immune, absorb, evade, deflect, reflect
`UNIT_DIED`	Something died. May or may not have a killing blow event nearby.
`UNIT_DESTROYED`	A pet/totem/object was destroyed (not killed)
`UNIT_DISSIPATES`	Like UNIT_DIED but for things that fade out (totems expiring)

Encounter & Metadata Events

Event	When
`ENCOUNTER_START`	Boss pull. Includes encounter ID, name, difficulty, group size, instance ID
`ENCOUNTER_END`	Boss kill or wipe. Includes success flag
`CHALLENGE_MODE_START`	M+ key started. Includes dungeon name, map ID, level, affixes
`CHALLENGE_MODE_END`	M+ key finished. Includes success, total time, timer info
`ZONE_CHANGE`	Zone change. Includes zone ID, name, instance type
`MAP_CHANGE`	Sub-zone change. Includes coordinate bounds (useful for routing)
`UNIT_HEALTH`	Boss / unit HP update. Useful for HP timeline.
`WORLD_MARKER_PLACED`	Raid marker dropped at a world position
`WORLD_MARKER_REMOVED`	Raid marker cleared
`COMBATANT_INFO`	Per-player gear/talents/stats dump. Fired at encounter start.
`COMBAT_LOG_VERSION`	Header line. Can appear mid-log if the logger restarted.

The `_SUPPORT` Suffix (Augmentation Evoker)

Aug Evoker buffs other players' damage via Prescience and Ebon Might. The combat log encodes this with parallel _SUPPORT events:

Event	When
`SPELL_DAMAGE_SUPPORT`	Bonus damage attributed to an Aug Evoker
`SPELL_PERIODIC_DAMAGE_SUPPORT`	Same, for DoTs
`RANGE_DAMAGE_SUPPORT`	Same, ranged
`SPELL_HEAL_SUPPORT`	Same, for healing

The supporting Aug Evoker's player GUID is stored as the last field of the event. To match the de-facto community standard, support damage is credited to the original DPS — the Aug separately gets a "damage enabled" tally.

The _SUPPORT event is the SAME damage instance, not extra damage. Each buffed hit produces two events with identical baseAmount values: the underlying SPELL_DAMAGE and the parallel _SUPPORT. Naively summing both double-counts the hit. Pick a stream (the DPS's normal event, or the _SUPPORT for Aug attribution) and ignore the other.

Field layout

The damage and healing suffix offsets are identical to the base event — same advanced-block placement, same baseAmount / overkill / amount / overheal offsets. The only structural difference is one extra trailing field: the supporting Aug Evoker's player GUID, always the last field.

Variant	Total fields	Aug GUID at field	Other change vs base event
`SPELL_DAMAGE_SUPPORT`	42	41	`ability_hint` slot (field 41 in base `SPELL_DAMAGE`) is consumed by the Aug GUID; `_SUPPORT` events carry no `ST` / `AOE` tag.
`SPELL_PERIODIC_DAMAGE_SUPPORT`	42	41	Same as above.
`RANGE_DAMAGE_SUPPORT`	42	41	Same as above.
`SPELL_HEAL_SUPPORT`	37	36	Aug GUID is appended after the standard 36-field `SPELL_HEAL` layout (heal events have no `ability_hint` slot to repurpose).

Reading the supporting GUID is therefore safest done by index from the end: fields[fields.length - 1]. Don't hard-code an absolute offset that differs between the damage variants (41) and the heal variant (36).

Citing this page

If this reference helped, please link back so others can find it. Suggested citation:

Event Type Catalog — WoW Combat Log Reference (WowCoach.gg). https://wowcoach.gg/docs/combat-log/event-types