My PvE 5 Box Blog [Archive]

Flight

06-13-2007, 05:14 AM

This is going to be a record of my experiences 5 boxing WoW from the ground up. My main aim is to help other folks who might want to do something similar.

I will first establish where I am coming from so you know what I might be able to help with and what I know absolutely nothing about.

1. My History

i) In game

PvP - if you want any advice on PvP I am absolutely NOT the person to get it from. I have never PvP'ed ever, aside from minor forays in DaoC and UO

PvE - this is my strength. I have been playing MMORPGs, in depth, for a decade. I played EQ1 for 8 years and was boxing it from soon after launch. For most of that time I was a member of one of the leading guilds. We worked with SoE in the live game for a few years as we were the guild achieving in game objectives first. The devs would come along on raids with us and see how we approached brand new content to balance and fix it.

My only point is I understand class synergies in depth and what it takes to successfully beat game content and the various challenges encounters can throw at you.

ii) WoW Experience

I played WoW from early US beta and then in US live. When WoW EU went live I started there to join friends. I was first to lvl 60 on Terenas. I did a lot of instances for months with friends and only raided Molten Core. I haven't played WoW for the better part of two years. I have a lot to learn about the post 60 game.

iii) Real Life

My career started with nearly a decade in the armed forces, starting in the mid 80's. I was recruited as an electronics technician, repairing surface to air, computer controlled, missile systems. The point is, over those ten years I got in early on training in computers and digital electronics. I got a couple of HNDs, then did an IT degree, in my own time. I've been playing computer games ever since and CRPGs since Wizardry and the Ultima series.

2. My In Game Objectives

My only aim is to put together a 5 box team capable of beating lvl 60-70 PvE content.

Flight

06-13-2007, 05:35 AM

Getting the Hardware Together

I got my rig finished a couple of days ago. I already had 3 PC's. I read through a lot of advice on this site and the WoW wiki, from Xvin, Ellay and others.

I decided to build two more PCs. I made the sad old mistake of thinking, well I may as well future proof it and spend just a little more than I need to. That is SUCH a slippery slope. I ended up spending two or three times more than I needed to.

It is an option to use laptops and maybe I should have considered that a little more. Overall I am happy with my setup but the lesson learnt was definitely buy just enough to do the job. Check Xvins advice on the WoWwiki and stick to it.

I would add a couple of provisos to that :

i) don't get a cheap power supply; there are obvious and not so obvious reason for this, but just trust me and don't do it.

ii) consider if noise and power consumption are going to be an issue. Look out for power efficient and silent gear, within your price bracket.

As far as mountings, my desk is against a wall so I just put a shelf up behind the desk and put the top bank of montiors on the shelf. The height is arranged so the top monitors just go over the bottom 3. It looks good and does the job.

I was SO dumb with the montors. Make sure to take note of whether the monitors you buy have DVI connections or not. I didn't and my three new monitors turned up with only D-Sub (VGA) sockets. May sound obvious but after not buying a cheap monitor for 6 years this was a surprise to me. Easy enough to fix and very little loss of quality, but make sure you are prepared for it. Most GFX cards will come with a converter to plug into the card, changing the DVI output to a D-Sub socket, so you will need D-Sub cables.

For those going with all PC's the only piece of equipment I would categorically push would be micro keyboards. This picture really doesn't do them justice :
[/url]http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=47313&criteria=keysonic&doy=13m6
. Four of them are smaller than one regular sized keyboard.

Flight

06-13-2007, 06:00 AM

Deciding on the team

There's no right or wrong answer here, but, with the fact in mind that we are aiming for tough instances, there are some things we do need :

i) tanking or ability to deal with mob damage output;

ii) healing;

iii) DPS

iv) should be AE damage and v) should be crowd control.

For my party, DPS needs to be fire and forget - no positioning, single button presses damage, with little management. For this team there is no other alternative than Mage or Warlock. Both have AE damage so that needs no consideration. Crowd control (CC) is a consideration but it is handled very differently and not nearly as straightforwardly in WoW as in other MMORPGs.

Largely due to my past MMORPG experience I have decided on a standard setup :

i) Tank
ii) Healer/Raz/Utility
iii) DPS
iv) DPS
v) DPS

I am not saying this is the best and I am possibly being too narrow minded. I will try other parties in future, like an all cloth group, but first time through I want something that I know will work.

It should be taken into account here that I already have a lvl 60 Warrior and Priest (amongst others) parked ready to swap in, whose classes I know pretty well. This is a chance for me to try out other alternatives in slots i) and ii) that might offer other strengths.

To me this has come down to a combination of 2 from 3 classes. Paladin, Shaman and Druid.

I am pretty much set on trying Pallie as tank, due to easily generated AE aggro. The question of Shammy or Druid is still much up in the air. A strong consideration is wipe recovery. Normally not a biggie in WoW, but I will be doing a lot of recovery at bosses deep in instances.

For my DPS I have decided on 3 x Warlocks. I don't want more than 3 classes in my team and I would have preferred less.

Warlocks have got the nod from me. The most important reason is aggro control at the start to middle of boss fights. The various pet utilites will also be huge.

I've gone with 3 Gnome Warlocks, which I have presently got to lvl 12. Warlocks are comparatively weak for the first 10 levels - I would guess at that point 3 Warlocks is worth slightly less than two mages, but that will change soon :)

My other two chars will prolly be Dranei, so the team won't actually come together until DM in Westfall.

notole

06-13-2007, 09:25 AM

I would suggest making sure one of your chars in an enchanter/tailor for bops disenchants. I spend alot of time camping shards at 70, and this will save you alot of gold in the long run.

Alchemy and jewel crafting are all huge money sinks. If you have the patience, do it up front and dont make yourself go back and work it up.

Enchants, gems, and their corresponding primals will cost you so much for 5 chars.

If you need any help with macros, strats or anything else. Please feel free to send me a message or email.

Bunny

06-13-2007, 10:56 AM

Another advice:
Keep gathering professions you might need (mining and flowerpicking) at level while you progress. Even if you think you will not need them it is a real pain in the ... to find out later that you like to have them. Last weekend I realised that I do want the professions and it was really bad getting them 2xx (my characters are lvl 50 right now).
On my 5 boxes I now have 5 tailors (5 cloth classes), 1 mining, 1 alch, 1 flowers, 1 jewel, 1 enchanter. At first I wanted to have an engineer for repair bots but with 2 locks on my team i can send my chars to town and port them back if i really have to.
Bunny

Xzin

06-13-2007, 01:53 PM

Xvin here :)

Good advise on power supplies and power consumption / noise. I STRONGLY suggest buying name brand power supplies (reviews are out there) as power supplies differ widely and are your first line of defense against fried parts. DO NOT use the power supply that comes with an el cheapo $30 case. For heat and power, I had to run multiple lines in and to deal with the noise, I had to move all of my computers away from my computer room. It got expensive but was well worth it to me.

Nice idea with the shelf, I will add your suggestions to the wiki. Pics would be nice if you are so inclined.

I really can't speak to the PvE game as much as my main goals are PvP. I would imagine that you will have more success at the 60 - 70 levels by having a tank and flexibility. I wholeheartedly agree with you on the locks. Soulstones, non aggro DOTs, INSANE health, PETS, summons, curses, AOEs.... in my personal opinion, 'locks are a bit overpowered relative to other classes for both PvE and PvP, especially as of 2.0 with their dots harder to dispel and their 51 pt talents.

Nice write up! Looking forward to reading more!

trigemina

06-13-2007, 05:18 PM

i) don't get a cheap power supply; there are obvious and not so obvious reason for this, but just trust me and don't do it.

Now this is good advice; which I didn't have in mind when I bought my $25 power supplies... One of which died within 3 months...

Xzin

06-13-2007, 05:24 PM

I have seen / heard horror stories of southbridges catching fire, fried mobos, fried (magic smoke emitting) power supplies and I used to see my fair share go up before I started buying quality supplies for every system. Think about it - the power supply is responsible for taking 120v AC current (in the US) and converting it to 5 and 12 volts (mostly) while keeping everything within range - filtering out noise, over current, under current (which is constantly fluctuating) and preventing shorts or any kind of hazard. This is asking a lot from a power supply made for under $5 - and power supplies have quite a few components - any number of which failing could prove disastrous to your $500+ computer(s). Less likely but they could fail when you need them most - in the middle of a critical PvP match or accepting a quest - etc.

You only think you are saving money when you buy a $30 case with power supply.

Toms did a great review on power supplies:

http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/07/11/stress_test/

Some my work right away but WILL fail eventually. The only question is when and how much damage they will do when they fail. Please, buy good supplies - they are WELL worth the money.

This bears repeating. Don't skimp on cheap power supplies. Especially if you intend to run them continually or at near their rated capacity or want them to protect your system.

cubbs80

06-13-2007, 06:53 PM

Another good bit of PSU information can be found on HardOCP's site. The 450-500w midrange shootout was particularly illuminating.

http://www.hardocp.com/reviews.html?cat=NDUsUG93ZXIgU3VwcGxpZXMgLyBQU1Usa GVudGh1c2lhc3Q=

If that link doesn't work for you, just select Power Supplies from the Main Menu on their homepage.

Flight

06-21-2007, 11:23 AM

Thanks for the advice on trade skills folks. I had all trade skills at 300, but it seems now you have to level Enchanting to be able to disenchant, so one of my Mages is now levelling that.

Which of the trade skills are worthwhile doing for purely Bind on Pickup gear, so I would need to raise them ? I;m guessing tailoring as Bunny mentions having tailoring on all casters ? How is BoP Plate gear at high levels ?

Back to how I've been getting on. I raised all my chars to 21/22. I'm still sure my crew is not the best for non Elite killing or farming, but mobs die in 5-8 seconds. I realised it was too easy and I needed to get my strat in place now for instances and tougher mobs, so for most of the last week I've been reading up on the classes I haven't played before and working on UI's. It took me 3-4 days just to define what I wanted from the UI and to get it all into place. Here is what I have put together so far :

http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/3218/5boxtankuier8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)[/img]

Flight

06-21-2007, 11:27 AM

The UI has pretty much everything I immediately recognised as needing. high visibility of all team members life, aggro alerts so I know who has aggro, quick targetting, visibility of pets. Most importantly, nice large bars for my life and the targets life, with casting and effects enabled.

If anyone wants to know any more about the UI, what other features it has and what is needed to achieve them, feel free to ask.

Flight

06-21-2007, 11:38 AM

As I said, I'm going to write here as though I'm a total new player, so that it can help folks who maybe new players to any of the concepts.

I picked up the following books :

Hacking World of Warcraft

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hacking-Warcraft-ExtremeTech-Daniel-Gilbert/dp/0470110023/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/026-2413013-7682820?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1182439797&sr=8-1

Ignore the 1 star reviews. Its not actually about hacking, its about the UI and macro's. Terrific book and well worth picking up.

World of Warcraft Strategy Collection

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0744008948/026-2413013-7682820

All 3 of the Atlas, the Dungeon Companion and the Game Guide Book (Revised) for 22 pound.

Then I read up on Pallie tanking, as I've never played a Pallie before. I found a good guide to the basics on the offical EU Pallie forums :

http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=198509863&sid=1

Now I need to finish off the Warlock and Shaman UI's and make some more advanced macro's than assist and cast/nuke/pet attack.

Xzin

06-21-2007, 01:37 PM

Of note: It is possible to copy and paste macros, uis, ui frame positions, etc.

With 108+ addons and counting, I REALLY did not want to remake them 9 more times.

Flight

06-21-2007, 02:09 PM

Thanks bud :)

Just to be clear, I'm doing different UI's for each class. 161 add-ons here btw.

Flight

06-21-2007, 03:09 PM

Shaman UI - this is the PC directly to the right of the main PC, so all targetting and health bars are focused around the left hand side of the screen :

http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/291/shamanuigy9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Xzin

06-21-2007, 03:55 PM

I gotcha. Since I am only boxing 3 classes, I am going to push the same UI to all 10 and then turn off the features I don't need (like healing on a mage).

But - on every UI - the core features are in the exact same place. This makes it easier to control things that need to be done on all machines at the same time AND also gives a sense of consistency.

Is there any compelling reason why you are altering each UI, other than to add new class specific features? I assume your "main layouts" are in the same spot - things like targeting, healthbars, etc?

Or do you just plan on learning your new UI as you go and adapting to it?

I have never boxed more than 3 different characters before. Not sure I could and still be successful at PvP - so I have never given it that much thought before.

Flight

06-21-2007, 05:22 PM

The changes I'm making are class specific.

I think we are going to find out, over the coming months, that we can learn from each other about varying mechanics of boxing.

I don't use any synchronised or broadcast mouse, so no need to have targetting in same spaces. Everything is done via macros. So its actually better to have individual UI's centred around the main machine.I'm very used to running everything from two keyboards so I have a G15 on the main char and on the healer/secondary. The main keyboard broadcasts, so each key can fire off a different ability or macro on each machine. Obviously some keys are switched off from broadcasting.

For example, up until now I have only used three or four buttons.

Tab on main for target

1 - Button one is Seal on Pallie, a totem (insta cast) on shammy and a macro on the 3 Warlocks :

/target main
/assist main
/petattack
/cast first DoT (instant cast)

2 - Button 2 is Judgement on Pallie, varies on Shammy, /cast second DoT (insta cast) on Warlocks

3 - Button 3 - seal, varies, wand

Mob is dead in seconds and this is extremely basic and innefficient, but grinding easy mobs and quests it doesn't matter. While its very basic it gives you an idea of options I will use later on. Obviously crowd control later on and off tanking with pets can't be dealt with quite so easily, but the same methodology will be used.

The only thing the three (five) UI's have in common is three rows of spells/abilities, each assigned the same hotkeys. Each machine also has an additional, unique set of 12 keys.

Not all hotkeys will have an application on each machine. The core abilities of each class are spread over 12 keys per class, so three rows of keys gives the vast majority of what needs to be done in a party in a combat situation.

The mouse doesn't broadcast but I do move about between the machines sometimes, for group admin or accepting quests etc. The mouse pointer skipping the middle PC is a big inconvenience for me at the moment.

Xzin

06-21-2007, 08:34 PM

What an interesting setup. I never tought to do it that way but I think the reason is because you are PvEing and I built this to PvP.

Not that we HAVE to do our respective targets but I do think we can learn quite a bit from each other.

My goal really is to spend what it takes to give me the ultimate setup possible for PvP success. I don't care what it costs (within reason) as long as it gives me the functionality I need with a near 100% reliability rate. 10 computers, battery backups, hardware broadcasters, redundant internet etc. My whole setup has been designed for maximum PvP effectiveness. That means highly focused damage, instant response times, ability to react to nearly any situation instantly - be it movement impairment effects, fear, damage, silences, etc.

In order to do that, I need instant response times and the ability to cast almost any spell. I even have slowfall mapped out - just in case :)

You see though, to me, I just would not be able to do that with 5 different classes. I can heal and dps just fine - I practiced that for 2 years with the Zins. Adding locks makes things a BIT more complicated but the way I set everything up - there is so much overlap. Sure, I will be casting fireball AND shadowbolt but both are ranged based DDs with a cast time. There is significant overlap while bringing summons, dots, pets and soulstones to the table. Adding even 1 more class would be far more than I think would be feasable though - I am stretched enough as it is.

Which is most likely why you (so far) are limited to simple actions. Of course, you will take it further but how do you plan on dealing with fears, individual movement, dynamic repositioning requirements, silences, multiple MTs, etc? Have you given that any thought, as many of the 60 and beyond dungeons require these kind of things to progress through them.

Flight

06-22-2007, 10:43 AM

In order to do that, I need instant response times and the ability to cast almost any spell. I even have slowfall mapped out - just in case :)

Don't get much more instant than synchronised macro casts. Tab, 1, 2 and some poor schmuck has 19 insta-cast DoTs on him and is feared. I can only imagine the poor joy of running around spamming 10 arcane explosions by just pressing 1,1,1,1,1,1, :lol:

Got my Walock UI about done. Just need to distribute it to 3 PC's and make minor layout changes on each. Now to set up the hot keys and macros.

http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/9717/warlockuiqt3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Flight

06-22-2007, 12:49 PM

And here's a picture of the setup.

http://img466.imageshack.us/img466/479/wowsetupdi1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Xzin

06-22-2007, 12:57 PM

Very nice! Hehe @ G15 kb - those things are huge!

Don't get much more instant than synchronised macro casts. Tab, 1, 2 and some poor schmuck has 19 insta-cast DoTs on him and is feared. I can only imagine the poor joy of running around spamming 10 arcane explosions by just pressing 1,1,1,1,1,1,

Yes, I will give you that :) I am not talking about going up against a single target or spamming AoEs though. (Although there is a time and a place when thats fun - hi 2 u AV) :) I am talking about arenas or large scale PvP when you might have multiple targets engaged at the same time - and multiple effects going off on you at the same time to boot. Which also sometimes happens in PvE - in which you can't just spam stuff and expect to stay alive.

hapiguy314

06-22-2007, 01:18 PM

Does the G15 Keyboard work with the Vetra multiplier if you get the USB to PS/2 Adapter?

Xzin

06-22-2007, 05:44 PM

No. I really really doubt it would. Not saying I am 100% certain though as I have not tested it.. but I really don't think it would work.

I wish it would - it would make it much easier to multibox and MUCH cheaper.

But due to the nature of how they work (different signals, signal clocks, etc) and the fact that the USB to PS/2 is a host based device, I highly doubt it.

Flight

06-23-2007, 09:49 AM

To be honest I haven't had the chance to test the G15 with any kind of multiplier, but I doubt it would work easily.

I've got most of my macro's done now. The BC macro system is very new to me so feel free to offer advice through this thread, on alternatives or ways of doing things better.

Focus target is new to me. For those who don't know it, it sets a secondary target which you can reference.

This is useful for healing while fighting, without changing melee target, amongst other utlitity abilities.

For example, on the Pallie (main tank) I have set a macro for each character in the party using this to heal them, mid fight.

/focus Alight - sets Alight as my focus target, without losing my attack target

/cast [target=focus] Holy Light - casts Holy Light on my focus target

Its extremely useful for using the new Paladin taunt ability, Righteous Defense. This is a targeted spell, that taunts three attackers off your target and on to you. It also recalculates the aggro table and puts you on the top. Without focus target we would need to change target to use it, but with Focus we do :

/focus Clight - sets Clight as focus target without losing attack target

/cast [target=focus] Righteous Defense

This instantly taunts the attackers off one of your party without having to lose your attack target.

This is a good place to mention the #show command. Put at the top of a macro it defines the icon your macro will be displayed at if you select the question mark icon. Its useful initially to not have to look through many icons to get the one you want, but later it is essential for more complicated macros.

So our Taunt macro is now :

#show Righteous Defense
/focus Deelight
/cast [target=focus] Righteous Defense

This sets Deelight as our secondary target, keeps our attack target and instantly taunts the attackers off of Deelight and puts us at the top of the aggro table.

Again, I have a hot key for each member of the party. Together with aggro alert addons, this is invaluable for 5 man tanking.

Flight

06-23-2007, 09:56 AM

You can see the 4 hot keys for Righteous Defense, one for each party member by name, at the bottom of this screen shot. They are the four buttons in the bottom centre left of the main body of spell icons.

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/9692/pallieuihkmu9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

At the bottom right are 5 Holy Light keys, one for each party member, including the Pallie (the blue cross icon hotkeys - I didn't use the default Holy Light icon as it was too hard to see the name texts on them).

I've taken Xvins advice and I'm going to try some limited mouse broadcasting. The bank of twelve keys off to the right are shared with the Shaman and the bank to the left are shared with the 3 Warlocks. Each of these can now either be cast by a hot key or by quickly switching the mouse to broadcast and clicking on the icon (the mouse does not permanently broadcast to all PCs - this can be instantly turned on or off by key press).

The bank of Shaman keys are all heals, targetted by party member name.

You can see in the main bank of keys, in the top two rows, that each Pallie attack is in both rows. The top row is shared attacks. What that mean is that they are assigned a hot key. This is broadcasted. The centre row are now. This means that in each case I can choose to either attack from all members of the party at once, or choose to just use those attacks on the Pallie.

Flight

06-23-2007, 10:06 AM

Here you can see the Shaman UI, complete with macro's. The top row of the centre bank are hot keyed to synchronise attacks with all members of the party, when needed. The bank of 12 heal macro's can be seen off to the right hand side, synchronised with the same keys on the Pallie screen.

The top left of the main bank are simply, follow Elight (Pallie) and assist Elight, for targetting.

Further macros will be added to enable different party members to become main assist and for placing the party, as skills develop through the levels.

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/7357/shammyuihkkn1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Flight

06-23-2007, 10:16 AM

Two very helpful introductions I found on macro's are the WoW Wiki macro write up and a post by Bitten on the official forums :

http://www.wowwiki.com/HOWTO:_Make_a_Macro

http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=83118355&sid=1

Macro and Scripts FAQ :

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=11381238&sid=1

Runiat

06-24-2007, 05:05 PM

Don't forget:
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=102812453&sid=1

After reading this I haven't been able to find someone who knew enough about macros to answer any of my questions.. oh well.. LUA next, I suppose.

Flight

06-30-2007, 09:39 AM

I've now done my first instances a few times each, Wailing Caverns and The Deadmines. Everything is going smoothly (zero deaths).

In a number of obvious ways, the Pallie/Shaman combo is inferior to Warrior/Priest. THE major pain, as expected, is no ranged pull from the Pallie. Less HP hurts - both from the Warrior having more HPs anyways and missing the Priest buffs. Group heal will be missed once the Warlocks start using Hellfire.

On the other side of the coin, there is a lot to be said for the Pallie/Shammy. Both classes have mana regen buffs (totem from Shammy Blessing of Wisdom from Pallie), Shammy healing and utility is stronger than expected, with limited multiple person heals and ae totem HoT. I was originally worried about crowd control, but this party set up is actually very strong, in this respect. Succubus is one recourse, but what was really surprising is how useful the Shammy taunt totem is in a party. I have it hot keyed to lay down at the start of every elite fight.

In summary at this point ( remembering I know Warrior and Priest inside out, but have never played Pallie, Shammy or Warlock before) :

i) Paladin has no ranged pull; I'm going Prot spec so this will change at lvl 50 when I pick up Avenger Shield talent.

ii) Paladin has less HP than Warrior.

iii) I was expecting to have problems with CC, especially early on. I have been surprised at how powerful the taunt totem is. Together with Succubus, CC will certainly not be a problem for this party.

iv) Its a lot easier to generate and keep aggro on the Pallie than on a Warrior, right from the start of the fight. I can lay down 9 DoTs on a mob right at the start of a fight, then go to town with wands or dd, with zero chance of pulling aggro. The only thing that does pull aggro is if I lay down a Healing totem right at the start of a fight.

To help facilitate this, I'm going full Affliction talents on the Warlocks, full Prot on the Pallie and full Resto on the Shaman. Once I get Blessing of Salvation (reduce threat generated by 30%) on everyone, from the Pallie, this will only be stronger.

As an aside, I've taken peoples advice and have enchanting, jewellerycrafting, tailoring, mining and herbalism in the party. From the little I can tell, its not worth raising armorcrafting again, just for BoP crafted gear, but its very much worth doing tailoring on all cloth classes.

I have dropped all mouse broadcasting; it just doesn't work for me.

Copying the latest UI setup for completeness :

http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/7430/wowui2alphacs7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

1. Focus target - I use this for a lot of things

2. Four targetted hot keys, one for each party member, using the Paladin iinstant ability Righteous Defence. This taunts up to 3 mobs off a targetted party member. Because the ability is used by targetting a party member, I'm using focus as target, so I don't have to change my attack target.

3. Five targetted hot keys, one for each party member, doing Pallie heals. Again uses focus target.

4. A bank of hot keys linked to the Shammy, doing targetted heals.

5. This add on displays which party member has aggro, amongst many other things.

6. An add on that tracks how much aggro each party member generates.

7. Two banks of hot keys linked to all PC's. I'm using keyboard broadcast but not mouse broadcast, so if I use the mouse then only the main PC (Paladin) abilities are used. If I press the hot key then all PC's use their relevant abiltiies at the same time.

At this instant, you can see from 5 and 6 in the screenshot above, that Deelight (Shammy) has aggro. I need to click on the Deelight hot key in 2.
This hot key will instantly set Deelight as my focus target and use Righteous Defence on my focus target (Deelight). This taunts the mobs off of Deelight and on to my Pallie and resets the aggro table, putting the Pallie at the top.

I can recommend All Deuce UI; its a compilation of Addons that gives the majority of the functionality I use, plus it works with the one click updater app. The guys over there put a lot of work into it.

http://alldeuceui.osgamers.com/forums/

hapiguy314

07-02-2007, 12:58 PM

Flight

07-03-2007, 06:24 AM

Hmmm - Just wondering.

Rather than using the /focus XXX /cast target=focus Heal or Righteous Defense, have you considered just using clique?

In my set up, If I need to heal with my pally rather than my priest, I just Shfit LeftClick for Holy Light and Alt Left Click for flash heal and alt right click on any guy being agroed for Righteous Defense.

I then just use AHK for constant renew using numberpad key from priest to heal pally. First page of priest (all controlled by number pad 1 - 0) are set up with Gheal, Renew, Shield for pally, and flash heal for all 5, and PoH/PoMending.

page 2 is just Gheal for everyone else (though I rarely use it) and some buffs.

You probably have a wide array of hot keys and a great X-keys set up to be able to heal using a different keyboard. I'm more curious how you heal with your shammy than how you play the pally :D

I haven't used clique. Thanks for that - I'll check it out. Have any links to it ?

I don't use the second KB. I just use alt1 to alt= on the primary KB, using broadcast KB across the network, to do targetted heals and totem heals etc from the Shammy.

Sounds like the Clique thing wouldn't work for my Shammy (on 2nd PC) as all I am using is macro's, fired by keystrokes broadcasted from the main PC. I really don't like broadcasting mouse.

For future reference, I just want to list the basic Seduce macro I'm using for CC. This is not really for boxing, but putting a separate focus hot key on each Warlock using a Succubus as well will make it a very powerful tool.

/clearfocus [modifier:alt]
/focus [target=focus,noexists]; [target=focus,dead]
/clearfocus [target=focus,help]
/petstay
/petfollow
/stopcasting
/cast [pet:succubus,target=focus,exists,harm] Seduction; Seduction

It's Felbringers work; discussion on it here :

http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=276808148&sid=1

Flight

07-10-2007, 08:39 AM

I've found I'm sometimes casting totems and other spells, before the old ones have expired. I've found an answer to this using the /castsequence command.

This makes a hot key change to a different spell after using the initial one. You define how many seconds can pass before it automatically reverts to the default.

For example :

/castsequence reset=15 Mana Spring Totem, Stoneclaw Totem

The first time this hot key is used it will cast Mana Spring Totem. For the next 15 seconds it will change to Stoneclaw Totem. After 15 seconds, it will change back to Stoneclaw Totem.

I've worked this command into a number of macros and its very useful.

An aspect of this which can be used, further, is that the macro will reset the hot key every time it fires. However, it won't if the 'live' ability cannot fire. Thus, if Stoneclaw Totem is used just after this hot key (it has a recast of 30 seconds) on a separate hot key, then this macro cannot fire it - you get a 30 second countdown on the macro hot key.

I use this macro on key 3 and Stoneclaw on key 4. I use both at the start of every fight. This stops me repeatedly firing mana totems in fights where Imay want to use relevant hot keys on other characters, but have this hot key only fire the once at the start of a fight sequence. Its also useful in a number of other situations.

I've done Gnomeragan now and have am working my way through Scarlet Monastry. The end fights of Gnomeragan are obviously a bit more complicated for solo play and I had my first wipes. Shaman self rez or/and soulstones are essential for nstance running, in my mind.

Flight

07-18-2007, 08:23 AM

Things are going very well. The Shaman is much stronger than imagined. I will probably not swap her out for my 60 Priest, when I hit that level.

The 2 x Succubus are superb crowd control. Target a mob, press a key to make first Succubus Seduce it, target second mob, press another key, second Succubus Seduces it. You can see from the pet casting bar the Seduce being channelled, so you just repress the hot key when its running low and the Succubus immediately recasts Seduce. Very easy to either set two targets for Seduce before pulling, or if you get adds mid fights to set them as focus targets and immediately Seduce them then. Third Warlock is running an Imp for DPS and Stamina buff. At tough bosses there is the option of swapping out the Succubus for Voidwalkers (usual) or Felhunters (they can dispell Mind Control etc).

My first clearance of the Cathedral in Scarlet Monastery, death free, was at level 37, 5 levels lower than the bosses, and it was extremely comfortable. I should have done it a level or two before.

In summary, I am very happy with the party set up. Shaman and Paladin, which initially looked weaker than Priest and Warrior, is the equal of it with lots more utility. 3 x Warlocks is considerable DPS, with, again, massive utility.

The synergies between these classes are superb. Between the Pallie Blessing of Wisdom buff and the Shaman Mana Totems there is never the need to drink or rest. Only the Pallie is in melee range so mob AE isn't a problem.

Another 10 levels to go until I hit the 41 point talents. The Warlocks will receive a big DPS boost (Unstable Affliction), while the Shaman will get the Earth Shield.

My aim has been and is to create one of the best 5 man boxing teams for high end instances and bosses. At this point, I am very happy with the choice of Paladin, Shaman and 3 Warlocks.

Wilbon

07-18-2007, 11:17 AM

Shogun

07-18-2007, 11:21 AM

Wilbon

07-18-2007, 12:11 PM

Flight

07-18-2007, 02:04 PM

Great read Flight. Look forward to more posts on your journey. I have a couple of questions for you.

1. Guessing by your last post it looks as though you are lvl31 (?) on your team; what instances have you done to date and have you come across any problems?

2. I am very interested in your UI setup. Would you mind giving a little more info on what you are using?

Thanks in advance!

Thanks Wilbon; nice to know I'm not wasting my time discussing what I'm doing :)

1. Yes, I'm 40 now. Instances done so far - Scarlet Monastery, Gnomeregan, Wailing Caverns and Deadmines. The only problem I've come across was with the last boss in Gnomeregan where he activates lots of little bombs. Wasn't a problem once you wrk out how to face it.

2. I use a UI package called AllDeuce UI. There is a forum dedicated to it at http://singularity.osgamers.com/forum/

It is highly configurable. The art bits on the main bar are downloaded separately in a UI utility called Sunn Art.

Its important to note I don't use any broadcasted mouse. All my macros and abilities are fired by pressing hot keys on the main keyboard. The keyboard commands are broadcast across the network.

As an example, let me list the first 12 hot keys, utilised by pressing keys 1 through = on the one keyboard. Each of the 5 PC's (Pallie, Shammy, 3 x Warlock) have different abilities or macro's on those 12 hot keys.

I'll then reply explaining what happens in a typical fight.

Paladin main bar (1 through =)

1 BLANK
2 BLANK
3 Seal of the Crusader
4 Judgement
5 Seal of Righteousness
6 BLANK
7 Stun
8 BLANK
9 BLANK
0 BLANK
- BLANK
= BLANK

Shaman main bar (1 through =)

1 follow/stop follow
2 assist Pallie
3 macro to cast Mana Totem then lock key for 30 seconds (prevents repeat cast by mistake)
4 Earthbind Totem on recast macro
5 Windfury Totem
6 Flametongure Totem
7 BLANK
8 BLANK
9 BLANK
0 BLANK
- BLANK
= BLANK

Warlock main bar (1 through =)

1 Follow/stop follow
2 assist Pallie
3 macro firing Amplify Curse then Curse of Agony
4 Corruption
5 pet attack (only on Warlock 3 if using Succubus for Seduce)
6 BLANK
7 Fire Wand
8 Drain Mana
9 Drain Soul
0 set target as focus (Warlock 1 only)
- Set target as focus (Warlock 2 only)
= Seduce Macro

Flight

07-18-2007, 02:09 PM

Firstly, I operate everything from the main PC/Keyboard, which runs the Paladin. Because I have keyboard set to broadcast, but not the mouse, I have two options.

If I use an ability on the Paladin, by clicking on it with the mouse, only the key on the main PC will fire. So I can operate the Paladin abilities without using anything ese.

Or, I can operate the Paladin abilities by perssing the relevant key on the keyboard. In this case the relevant hot key on each of the other 4 PCs will also fire.

As an example, if I click on 3 using the mouse, only the Paladin will use that abilitiy (Seal of the Crusader).

If I press 3 on the keyboard, Seal of the Crusader will fire on the Pallie, but the three 'locks will cast Curse of Agony and the Shaman will cast Mana Totem.

Flight

07-18-2007, 02:18 PM

Combat then. I target a mob using the Paladin. If there is no AE threat (eg Wizards in Scarlet Monastery) it doesn't matter if all of the party are on follow. All of the abilities they use, particularly initially, are instant cast.

If there is an AE threat, I park the characters 20 yards behind, by pressing 1.

SINGLE MOB FIGHT

I target the mob I want to fight. I press 2 on the keyboard. This instantly makes all characters assist the Pallie and acquire the same target.

I can body pull or use the locks to pull. If I want to, I can go through a couple rounds of melee to build up aggro using only Paladin abilities (not usually needed). I then go through the following sequence :

Press 3 - Pallie fires Seal of the Crusader, Shammy lays down Mana Totem, 3 x Warlocks fire Amplify Curse (if it is up) then Curse of Agony

Press 4 - Pallie uses Judgement, Shammy lays down Earthbind, to ensure noting can run, Warlocks cast 3 x Corruption

Press 5 - Pallie casts Seal of Righteousness, Shammy lays down Windfury Totem, Warlocks send in pets to attack

Press 6 - Shammy lays down Flametongue Totem

By quickly pressing 4 buttons, the Pallie has established aggro, the mob has 6 DoTs on it, the pets are attacking and the Shammy has laid down its maximum of four Totems (one per element).

Depending on how tough the mob is, how everyones mana and life is etc, I can either lay more DoTs down very quickly, fire a lot of immediate DPS, or cast mana or life drain to replen them as necessary.

Bar 2 (Shift 1 to =) has more non shared ability keys. eg Shift 2 and Shift 3 just fireImmolation and Siphon Life on the Warlocks. Shift 9 is just Consecration on the Pallie, Shift 0 is just Holy Shield.

Alt 1 to Alt = fires targetted heals, chain heals and totem heals from the Shammy.

Flight

07-18-2007, 02:24 PM

MULTIPLE MOB PULL

The Paladin can handle multiple mobs and easily maintain aggro. However, the option exists to use the Succubus for crowd control.

For example, a three mob pull. The option is there to keep two of the Seduced by the 2 Succubus for as long as necessary.

Target first mob, press 0. This sets mob 1 as focus target only on the first Warlock. Target second mob and press -. This sets mob 2 as focus target on second Warlock only. Press = to fire the Seduce macro on both Warlocks. They cast Seduce on their respective focus targets and take them out of the fight using the channelled Seduce ability.

The third mob is pulled, with very low aggro on the Succubus. The Pallie can easily pull it off, establish aggro, then we go through the same process as a single mob fight.

The pets bar has a cast bar enabled. This means you can see when Seduce is about to run out. Press = again and the Succubus that has live focus targets will recast Seduce, further taking them out of the fight.

If you get adds during the fight it is just as easy to immediately set adds to become focus target and be Seduced.