FFXIV - Logging & IINACT
It's time to get serious about performance. It's time to log.
(Last updated: Dec. 2023)
So, you're buckling down and starting to get serious about getting good at the game, huh? You've seen all the big raiding YouTubers/streamers and seen their flashy DPS overlays. You've heard of the mysterious "parse" term being thrown around every now and then. And you want to be a part of it all. Then this guide is for you.
What is Logging/Parsing?
Logging is the process of saving your network logs while you play the game, and parsing is the act of uploading said logs to FFLogs and reviewing the analysis it generates for you.
FFLogs has a whole suite of tools you can use to look at your DPS over time, your rotations, an entire replay of your pull, and more. Most importantly, FFLogs also goes through each of your replays and gives your performance a percentile ranking in comparison to the rest of your peers who play your class. This number is generally what players are referring to when they talk about a parse.
For example, if you get a parse of 4 during a pull of P10S, your performance is only better than about 4% of players, which means there's lots of room for improvement. However if you get a parse of 93, it means you're better than 93% of other players that play your class and most likely very competent.
If you're any serious about endgame content and you're on PC, then you'll see logging come up a bunch as some statics will use your logs as a means to vet you and see if you're up to their performance standards. For lower level or outdated content this may not matter much, but for top-tier endgame content like ultimate raids, you should care at least a little bit about your logs.
Also, if you're playing on console, don't think you're out of the woods just yet. If you're playing with a PC player that has logging enabled, your performance will still be recorded and uploaded. So you should always play with intent!
How to Configure Logging (via IINACT)
Logging is done through a third party tool called Advanced Combat Tracker (ACT) or any of its derivatives. I personally prefer IINACT, a lightweight alternative that runs via the Dalamud plugin engine, and does not require the download of a separate application.
IINACT is managed via a third-party repository, which you'll need to add to your Dalamud configuration if you want to install it. Here are the steps to do so
- First, copy the link below to your clipboard:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/marzent/IINACT/main/repo.json
- Then in game, open up the Dalamud Plugin Installer window, and click on the settings button at the bottom.
- In the window that appears, click into the Experimental tab and scroll all the way down to the Custom Plugin Repositories section.
- In this section, paste your link, then click the + icon that appears next to the text box after you've pasted it.
- Finally, click the save button to load your new repository.
- Go back to the plugin installer, and you should now see an entry for IINACT, which you can install normally.
Once installed, IINACT will do two things. First, it'll host a WebSocket server restricted to your local machine that other tools (like overlays) can use to communicate with it. Second, it'll try to start saving logs to a location on your computer. By default, the filter prevents anything from being logged, but changing this drop-down to "party" will start saving your party's combat information.
The Status and Parser tabs within IINACT
How to Add an ACT Overlay to FFXIV
Now that IINACT is installed and logging is configured, we need to devise a way to show this information in-game. This is done via plugins/tools that allow you to render websites in the game.
If you've ever used OBS to stream before and are familiar with the Browser Source element, this is essentially that. Another cousin to this topic is the Steam overlay browser when its pinned. This is just a way of rendering websites onto the game, which we can use to make custom HUD elements.
Depending on your platform, there are several plugins that you can use to render Browser elements in-game. These are listed on IINACT's website. For this guide, I'll be focusing on the solution for Windows computers, called Browsingway.
Browsingway is another plugin that you can install via Dalamud, but this time it's available through official channels so no custom repo is needed. Shortly after installing it, you might see a popup asking you to install CEF. This is short for Chromium Embedded Framework, and is the browser that Browsingway uses under the hood to render everything. Go ahead and click on the install button and let it do its thing!
After CEF is installed, use the command "/bw config" to open up the settings menu. Here, you can make a new inlay for the game. Now, you just need a link to your favorite ACT overlay.
There are lots of overlays that people have developed for ACT over the years, but the one that I prefer the most is Kagerou's Overlay. Luckily, IINACT has a tool built in that generates a link to the overlay automatically! Simply open IINACT and under the Status tab, change the URI dropdown to "Kagerou." Your custom link will appear in the text box below, which you can copy and paste into your Browsingway Inlay's URL box to get it to render.
From here, you can resize your overlay and customize it to your heart's content! Every time you enter an instance and damage an enemy, your overlay will update in real-time with all of the statistics you'd care about, like your DPS, Crit Rate, etc.
How to Upload Logs
In order to upload your logs to FFLogs for analysis, you'll need two things: an account, and their app. Both can be acquired from their website:
Before you upload, you'll also need to link your in-game character with your FFLogs account via lodestone, which the website has a walk-though for. Just make sure that's done before you proceed.
Uploading logs is as simple as logging into the FFLogs Uploader app, and pointing it towards the folder that you configured IINACT to save its logs to! From there, you're off to the races.
There are two ways you can upload your logs using the app: either manually, or by using live logs. Manually uploading is pretty simple, just select the log file you want to upload after you're done playing. However, most players prefer live logging, which watches the logs as you're playing the game and uploads everything in almost near-time.
After uploading your logs via either of those means, you can see your logs appear on the FFLogs website!
Wrapping Up
By this point you should be all set up to log your gameplay and get better! If you're still new to the game and want to learn about some advanced combat mechanics that might help with that goal, I might recommend my guide on more advanced combat mechanics that everyone should know:
Andrew Augustine