Damage Meter

Damage Meter

The Damage Meter is a user interface in World of Warcraft that tracks and displays combat performance statistics such as damage dealt and healing done. Introduced with Midnight, the built‑in meter provides players with performance information such as whether a new build or item choice is effective, replacing the need to use addons.

The system is tracked server‑side, improving accuracy compared to earlier addon‑based meters that relied on client combat logs. It is integrated directly into the default user interface and is intended to receive ongoing iteration.

Addons

For most of the game's history, damage meters existed exclusively as third‑party addons such as Recount, Skada, and Details!, which implemented their own combat‑log parsing and provided customization and analysis tools. These addons were the primary way players accessed performance data prior to Midnight.

With the introduction of the built‑in damage meter, addons no longer supply their own independent tracking systems. Instead, they now focus on customizing the presentation of the built-in meter while the underlying data collection and calculations are handled by the servers. This ensures consistent results across all players while preserving the ability for addons to extend or restyle the interface.

During the pre-expansion era (2004-2007), damage meters functioned much differently and were often not accurate due to the limited API of the combat log. Popular addons during this time included DamageMeters and others. This would change with The Burning Crusade as the combat log received updates, including improved API support, where popular addons like Recount were introduced. As the game received updates, so did the addons improve with graphs and details for stats of the overall instance or a specific encounter, and other features to help with combat data.

• 

  DamageMeters (vanilla addon)
• 

  Recount
• 

  Recount's details window

Patch changes

• Patch 12.0.0 (2026-01-20): Added.