World of Warcraft
What Is a Parse in World of Warcraft?
Your performance on a boss as a percentile on Warcraft Logs, compared with other players of the same spec.
What does parse mean in WoW?
A parse is a ranking of your performance on a boss kill, usually your damage or healing, uploaded to Warcraft Logs. It is shown as a percentile from 0 to 100 against every other player of the same spec, on the same boss and difficulty. A 95 parse means you did better than 95% of those players.
Where parses come from
WoW can write every combat event to a file when combat logging is turned on. Someone in the raid uploads that log to Warcraft Logs, which breaks each fight down by player and compares the results with millions of other kills. The word comes from the act of parsing that combat log.
What the parse colors mean
| Color | Percentile | What players say |
|---|---|---|
| Gray | 0–24 | “Gray parse”: well below the average for the spec |
| Green | 25–49 | Below average |
| Blue | 50–74 | Solid, above the middle |
| Purple | 75–94 | Very good |
| Orange | 95–98 | Excellent, the “orange parse” many raiders chase |
| Pink | 99 | Elite |
| Gold | 100 | The best log for that boss and spec |
Overall parse vs. item level parse
Warcraft Logs also compares you only with players at a similar item level. The ilvl parse is useful early in a tier, when your gear is still behind: a blue overall parse can be an orange ilvl parse, meaning you are playing very well for your equipment.
How to improve your parses
- Learn your rotation and cooldown timings on a target dummy until they are automatic.
- Align cooldowns with Bloodlust and with the boss phases where damage matters most.
- Stay alive and keep casting. Deaths and unnecessary movement cost more than small rotation mistakes.
- Compare with top logs. Open a high parse of your spec on the same boss and see when they used each ability.
- Keep your gear close to [BiS](term:bis), with the right stats and enchants for your spec.
Example
A Fire Mage gets a 62 on a boss in their first week. They review a top log, notice they held their main cooldown too long, and use it on the pull and with Bloodlust next time. The following kill is an 88, a purple parse.
Parse is not everything
A parse measures DPS or healing against your spec, not your full value. Interrupts, soaking mechanics and staying alive help the raid kill the boss, even when they lower your number. Raid leaders look at both.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good parse in WoW?
Above 50 is above average. Many guilds consider blue or purple solid for progression, while orange and above usually means a player has mastered their spec on that fight.
Do tanks and healers have parses?
Healers are ranked by healing. Tanks are usually ranked by damage, which is why their parses say little about how well they actually tanked.