Having trouble with my mages :(

[Connorthemasta]

So I am dual-boxing two mages and it's been a not so good experience so far. They are level 28 right now but I die so much on atleast one of them. Is there something I'm doing wrong? It seems like I'm spending more time walking to my bodies then leveling. Can anyone maybe give me some tips on 2 mages? Thank you for your compliance! :thumbsup:

[Naysayer]

i got nothin. :(


Have you ever played a single mage before? Did you train frost nova and blink, or frostbolt? Nothing should even touch you with two frostbolting mages with frostbite.

[Connorthemasta]

Yeah well I'm speced for fire because I was told it's better for leveling ?(

[Naysayer]

Fire is fine.

Start with pyro, then fireball, then fireblast. Should be dead, but if not just frost nova, take a few steps away from the mob, turn around and finish it off with a fireball or fireblast. You could also just spam scorch if you have the 70% pushback resist talent. Always start with a pyro or a fireball though.


What is your current cast rotation?

[Naysayer]

Yah also, don't forget you have sheep for the moments you overpull. Put it on round robin if you can.

[Connorthemasta]

Cast rotation? What is that? Well if you mean what spells I use in order I usually do Fireball, Fireball, Fireblast

[Connorthemasta]

Whatdya mean round robin? Round robin lootin?

[Naysayer]

So what are you attacking that is living through 4 fireballs and 2 fireblasts? Are you starting your first fireball from a decent distance from the mob?

[Naysayer]

Whatdya mean round robin? Round robin lootin?Round robin is an option in keyclone. If you want to learn more go to http://www.solidice.com/keyclone/

[Connorthemasta]

Yes. My problem isnt so much taking mobs one on one its the over pulls. And when i frost nova something I have to like run in a half circle so my follower is facing the enemy and that wastes like 4 seconds of the nova. X(

[the GHON Crew]

you can round robin cast in a macro as well

see the wiki on mage boxing... i'll find you a link in a little bit

I currently run a paladin tank and 3 mages and it can get a bit tricky to move around, i've found that if you ONLY keybind follow and your move backward key(i use x or down arrow) you can get agro with one mage, run THROUGH the mob and back up... this makes it so one mage is facing the back of the mob, and your leader you just spin around and dps from the front dpsing crisscross so to speak. it works well if you spam your targetnearestenemy key and also macro follow to that key... that way every time you target a new enemy your clone is following... then you just hit your x key and he stops following and then use the leader to position the mob where he can hit it:)

gratuitous use of frost nova would work wonders too :D

http://dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=12585

http://www.dual-boxing.com/wiki/index.php/Multiboxing_101_%285_Mage_Tutorial%29 <-- this link is the good one, learn how to write your round robin macros here!

[Naysayer]

Yes. My problem isnt so much taking mobs one on one its the over pulls. And when i frost nova something I have to like run in a half circle so my follower is facing the enemy and that wastes like 4 seconds of the nova. X(Work on your crowd control skills and make sure you separate them per mage. Don't use simultaneous novas or sheeps on a mob. This way you avoid cool downs and diminishing returns. Look into round robin and learn to use it one way or another. You don't have to have keyclone to round robin, you can create macros yourself and other keystroke replicating software have similar options.

When you run away from a mob and want to have your clone able to turn and fire back, don't use a half circle pattern. Just stop your main, turn around, and run right through your clone stopping one step passed your clone towards the mob. Your clone will auto turn 180 degrees.

[the GHON Crew]

another tip i got from another boxer is, spec arcane, you should use arcane missles too :) when you start casting the spell and channeling it the spell auto turns if the mob moves !

[TheBigBB]

When I move my other guys for a frost nova, I use the arrow keys to back them up instantly. I don't rely on follow for that.

[Yamio]

I use the arrow keys to back them up instantly. I don't rely on follow for that.
Exactly!

I leveled two mages and rarely did I get hit and I hardly ever had to cast frost nova, but if I did I'd back them straight up. If you're casting two fireballs from each mage and a mob is still giving you a beatdown then there's a couple of things that could be wrong;

1. You're taking on mobs that are too high. Like 4 levels too high cause they're resisting but even then you should be killing them fine.
2. You're standing way too close. Max range is where casters live and fight from.

As far as your toons not facing the right direction after Frost Nova, I don't have an answer for that. Mobs never lived long enough for me to ever have to worry about that. My two mages could take on 3 mobs and they would maybe take a couple of hits and I'd never cast Frost Nova. Mana Shield FTW .

My 3 mob rotation?

Sheep x2 As others have said DON'T have both mages sheeping the same mob. Two mages = two sheeps.
Frostbolt the third mob. (Slows him down a bit. Protip: While you're in the process casting sheep, go ahead and target the next mob. As soon as your first target gets sheeped then you have already targeted the next mob. Lots of folks don't take that into consideration)
Fireball x2 (If he's still alive then Fireblast)
Resheep the two mobs again even if they're both still sheeped.
Pick one to kill
Frostbolt Fireball yada yada yada.

There's no reason you should be having problems mowing thru stuff with two mages. Get your spell rotation down pat! After that, you'll be learning how to ad-lib fights that have adds and such.

[Yamio]

another tip i got from another boxer is, spec arcane, you should use arcane missles too :) when you start casting the spell and channeling it the spell auto turns if the mob moves !Unless Blizz has changed things, Arcane Missiles has never been mana efficient. No mana equals dead mage.

[Zub]

Currently dual boxing mages (one level 29, the other 25). They are both frost (Pyro is too slow for my playstyle), and mobs never ever reach me. 1-2 frostbolts, then a fireblast, x2. Nothing in Hillsbrad survives. And that's if nothing crits. If i get a crit or a frostbite, i don't use the blast.
I've got no gear whatsoever (just some random quest greens and level 10-15 stuff)

I tried as Fire, but 6 seconds for the Pyro is more than i need to cast my 2 frostbolts. So overall it was slower for me, and a pain if the mob moves out of range or whatnot.

[OogaJiggaWooga]

If you have specced fire, then you will start to see that fireball damage becomes not too much lower than Pyroblast, so you end up just firing off two fireballs then a fire blast from each toon to drop anything up to 3 levels higher than you. I found that a frost bolt followed by arcane missiles (and fireblast to finish if they are still alive) worked really well (even though I was specced fire, so I imagine it is much harder hitting if you are specced for them) and it also helps that the arcane missiles keep you facing your target at all times. Two things to note; the first is that channelling arcane missiles drops follow so be sure to press your follow key afterwards in drawn out fights. The second was that I was rarely if ever having to turn or move in any direction other than backwards and forwards.



I leveled two mages and rarely did I get hit and I hardly ever had to cast frost nova, but if I did I'd back them straight up.

- Yamio

When you open up on a new target they will run directly at you. When they are almost at you, hit frost nova and see if they made it in range. If they did, press your backup key (which is mapped for both your toons) just for long enough to get you to a comfortable distance to pull off another fireball. If they didn't make it to you, then start casting fireball straight away. If they survive that followed by another fire blast, you hit your second frost nova and do these steps again. /castsequence on frost nova is brilliant for multiboxers because you can keep the target immobilised for a very long time, without wasting time running too far away to begin your next double, triple, 4 or 5x cast.

I've now levelled 2 sets of dual box fire mages, and once you get the hang of them I'm sure you'll have an absolute blast like I do. :thumbsup: