Can you guys share what boxing EQ2 is "like"?

[Redbeard]

Howdy,

I have been playing WoW exclusively and have thus put blinders to all the great EQ2 posts on this board, but I am now going through and trying to read them all.

Is boxing EQ2 just like boxing WoW? I read that Keyclone wont work and youll need innerspace. I am not familiar with that software, will it have a similar feel?

Do you face different issues boxing EQ2 than you do WoW? Etc. Basically I know what boxing WoW is like, I want to know if boxing EQ2 is similar so I dont get my hopes up if its a lot more difficult, etc.

Thanks for any info.

[Khatovar]

Boxing in EQ2 is not too different at the basic level. You make your slaves follow you, assist you, kill what you kill. The big differences come in with macros and classes.

Obviously macros are vastly different in that you can't create things like /click macros, and you don't write them like you do in WoW {modifiers, conditionals etc}.

Classes really matter in EQ2. You're going to have like 0 luck trying to play 3 of the same DPS. You want different classes to stack different buffs and debuffs. You want groups that are made to compliment each other.

Also, you're going to find very little in the way of mods. All you're going to get is a different look to the default interface, maybe a few things like click-to-cure and such.

Keyclone will not work, EQ2 need to be locked to foreground and that functionality does not work in Keyclone. You'll need IS for that. You may be able to get Keyclone to work ontop of IS, but I had no luck with that at all. If you can, great, you won't see any difference. If not, Lax put up some nice walkthrough videos for setting up ISBoxer here ('http://www.dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=Thread&postID=177981&highlight=#post177981'). It's not too hard to set up.

EQ2 has quirks like WoW. WoW, autofollow breaks in a light breeze...EQ2 it takes a crowbar to break follow. Hotkey mapping is very limited in EQ2 compared to WoW. There's 3 mapped hotbars, 1-=, ctrl + 1-= and alt +1-=. You can add additional maps to these buttons {IE 1 and g can both be used to activate spell/macro in slot 1 of hotbar 1} but for the most part, you're going to be stuck swapping your banks to get more spells accessable via hotkeys as you need them. If you used the default WoW interface and used pgdwn pgup to swap your primary bar, this is the same deal. Shift + 1-0 will swap the primary hotbar, alt + shift + 1-0 will swap the secondary, ctrl + shift + 1-0 will swap the tertiary.

There's probably more, that's just the stuff that stuck out the most coming from a boxing perspective. I'd already played EQ2 before, so some of the stuff doesn't even register as different from a gameplay perspective. Hopefully some more advanced stuff will make it's way here to work around all the default stuff.

[Frosty]

I'm having a lot of fun right now 6-boxing EQ2.
I mostly just jumped in..and I probably need to research a few more things to do it the "right way".

Macros are limitted, but, I'm slowly devising a plan to get more out of them using InnerSpace/ISBoxer with the FTL setup.
Just like KeyClone, you can send specific commands to other windows depending on which one is in focus.
So, if you have toon1 in focus you leave everyone's bars the same. Swap to toon2, and you might send the modifier to change to hotbar 2, and thus be able to update all your assists to the new leader.
It's all in my head right now..If I can make my kids sit still for more than 5 minutes, I'll work it out and post it. (assuming I get it working).

I noticed that, just like WoW, there is a delay when making your slaves assist you. To get around this, I have the tank's Taunt macro set to the 1 key, and I have an addition /assist macro on all slaves in that same slot. So, the tank picks the target, Taunts, and by the time the mob gets to me, all slaves have the correct target.
Another thing I found handy, was to add "/autoattack 1" to all my DPS type macros so that the slaves will face the target (not that it seems to matter too much).
And then I added "/autoattack 0" to my /follow macro to stop any of them from attacking if I need to run. :P

One thing about the macros in EQ2 I do like is the "target" box inside each spell icon. Using this lets you heal a selected toon without losing your current target.
I know you can get the same results in WoW..I just like their idea here. :P

Another thing I like is that I can gather/mine EVERYTHING on my main toon.. But, at this point I don't know if there will be some sort of cap and you have to choose one down the road (...need to research...)

[Redbeard]

From what I recall gathering isnt restricted, you should be able to do all 5 (i think there were 5) up to max level. The gathering was one of the things i really enjoyed about EQ2 when I played before, I would just run around and gather when I should've been leveling haha =)

So I looked on the IS page, it looks like its a yearly subscription to use it, that seems.. not as good as Keyclone. You say you can use keyclone AND IS, do you need both? Or is IS a keystroke broadcaster like Keyclone is. I will try to research this issue more on my own too.

I am actually one of the few people (i think) who liked to try and keep his WoW interface clean so the lack of mods doesnt bother me that much.

Ill have to see.

I really liked my little berserker dude before so I think I will make him again. I will probably make the 2nd account a dirge or some sort of healer, will have to do some reading at work today.

[Owltoid]

You can use Hotkeynet for all these applications, including EQ2. HKN doesn't care what the program is, it just broadcasts the keys in a way that you tell it to broadcast the keys. You can set window size, extremely nice PiP functionality, and mouseclicking that works like a charm.

[Frosty]

You probably wouldn't need Keyclone and IS together.

As Owltoid mentioned, there are other options too, so pick one you like. ;)

I picked up IS to use with a few other games in an attempt to box them.
I can tell you that windowsnapper alone is worth it all by itself IMO.
ISboxer is a huge help too.

[Redbeard]

You mentioned a few different programs it sseems... are these all modules of innerspace that come available with the sub?

[Frosty]

You mentioned a few different programs it sseems... are these all modules of innerspace that come available with the sub?

Yep. Your subscription entitles you to all lavishsoft.com software and support.
I'm using: Innerspace with ISboxer. ISboxer contains several of the other items all in one bundle including windowsnapper.

I think there is a free trial too.

[Redbeard]

I just signed up and was approved for the trial. I need to go read a list of what each module does.

Thanks for your help.

[Frosty]

I just signed up and was approved for the trial. I need to go read a list of what each module does.

Thanks for your help.Sure thing. But I highly recomend just using ISboxer to set everything up. :thumbsup:

[Lyonheart]

i have not been able to resize my eq2 windows.. i run with them in Windows mode and they kind of over lap each other. And can not "PiP' them. Am i missing something? I set it all up via istoolbox videos, no luck. I can make them smaller.. just cant get them small enough to have two windows not over lap on one screen ( using two screens )

[Redbeard]

My friend is trying to convince me to come box LOTRO now lol.

Damn these games.

[Noxxy]

Harvesting
- Anybody can level up all harvesting skills to cap - there is no specialisation
- There is a benefit to leveling to cap (400 atm) - from memory - nearly all classes have a harvesting component to get their class epic/fable (i.e., the quest series will have a few steps which will be gather 'x' items to make the handle, etc, these steps will require high harvesting skills as the gathered items are in the end game zones)
- Another benefit, having high harvesting skills in a low tier area means more rares for you - i.e., the area is a starter zone requiring say 50 skill to harvest, you have 400 skill = lots of rares for you to make stuff with

Tradeskilling requires you specialise - i.e., weaponcrafter

Boxing EQ2
Easy - the only downside being as per Khatovar's comments - only 3 hot bars so a total of 36 spaces to put spells - a few classes have more than 36 (rogues) requiring a fair amount of dbling up (via in game macros)

The only downside to EQ2 is PVP - I do miss WoW PVP

[Frosty]

i have not been able to resize my eq2 windows.. i run with them in Windows mode and they kind of over lap each other. And can not "PiP' them. Am i missing something? I set it all up via istoolbox videos, no luck. I can make them smaller.. just cant get them small enough to have two windows not over lap on one screen ( using two screens )When you go into ISboxer to setup your window layout, you should be able to set your screen sizes there.
Try using the Autolayout button. it won't let you go below 3 instances....BUT.. you don't have to assign anything to the 3rd window and it will work for you.