Learning Curve

[wowunderachiever]

I've been trying to play two for about a week. When things are going good, things go good. If you know what I mean.

However my frustration factor multiplies when I get adds or something else goes awry.

My system works well enough, my broadcasting is set up best it can be, and so is jamba. The weak link is me.

Question: How long does it take to get to where playing multiple characters is second nature? Sometimes I'm thinking "this would be easier if I were just playing the one" but I need to take advantage of the RAF bonus. I'm guessing I just need more practice or some tips on actual gameplay - I've already implemented all the technical stuff like keybinds and addons and all.

Incidentally I've enjoyed my pair of disc priests most and am experimenting with druids now.

Question: I know this is one of those "play what you like' questions but is there a standard class/spec that is sort of like the training wheels for dual-boxing?

[Ughmahedhurtz]

Good questions. I'm sure we all have variable opinions. I'll share my 2 cents.

How long does it take to get to where playing multiple characters is second nature?
As you noted, some of it is setup (ISBoxer makes things a LOT easier) but a lot of it is relearning how to play a new game. The base mechanics are the same but, for example, your weaknesses as a 5-boxer are not the same weaknesses you would have as 5 individual players. For example, 5-man PUGs have trouble coordinating attacks and burning cooldowns when needed. As a 5-boxer, you never have to question whether someone is going to assist the tank when needed or wonder when someone is going to burn cooldowns and pull aggro. You also have a much easier time predicting when an alt is going to pull aggro or your tank is going to lose aggro because your rotations are 100% consistent versus random players.

Healing is another area where you don't have the same weaknesses as a 5-man PUG. You know when random adds spawn and you're casting certain spells that certain players constantly get aggro, so you can plan ahead for which one will need heals and which parts of the fight are going to need specific types of heals.

It's fascinating stuff. I would guess most people probably take about 3-4 weeks of play to get familiar with a single class multibox setup (e.g.: all 5 elemental shaman or 5 blood DKs or 5 hunters). The complexity goes up significantly when you start throwing multiple classes together. If you're not already familiar with the class mechanics in WoW solo and in groups, it will take that much longer.

Is there a standard class/spec that is sort of like training wheels for dual-boxing?
Well, not really, though Hunters are awesome questing classes as you have both tanks and ranged DPS and healers and crowd-control all rolled into one class, more or less. They don't scale so well in instances but for questing and farming, I can't think of an easier class to start with. I'll admit to some bias as I've always loved my WoW hunters, in spite of all the buff/nerf/buff/nerf/LOL/nerf/WTF/nerf/buff/redesign/nerf/buff/nerf/OMG SCREW YOU GUYS I'M GOING HOME crap they've done to them over the years. If you'd prefer casters, shaman is a great choice as you have 15-minute hearth, rez, heals, dps/AoE, tanks on cooldowns, some crowd-control, and a pretty good melee option for speeding up questing. Plus, shammies have been done to death so there isn't much new under the sun to learn about them that you can't find referenced here on our awesome forums.


In the end, you'll find it gets easier to play different classes as you get better at figuring out your weaknesses and strengths as a multiboxer, and everyone is slightly different depending on your playstyle and chosen screen layouts/macros/etc. Don't get too wrapped up in using any one person's setup as gospel -- you might discover something nobody else thought of, or tweak something everyone thought was the best way to do something so it's a bit more efficient.

That's half the fun of multiboxing: discovering what works and what doesn't. :)

Good luck!

[MiRai]

Question: How long does it take to get to where playing multiple characters is second nature?
I mean... this is entirely up to the player, their skill, the software they use, and the amount of effort that
is put in. The same question can be applied to say... learning the guitar. How long does someone need to
practice the guitar in order to be able to be good? I realize that it is just a game and shouldn't be
considered to be hard work to just play 2 characters but, it is what it is.


Question: I know this is one of those "play what you like' questions but is there a standard class/spec that is sort of like the training wheels for dual-boxing?
I always recommend starting off with any caster/ranged and keeping their specs the same to make things
simple.

[Ualaa]

An easy setup for PvE stuff would be:
- Prot Paladin tank.
- Priest Healer
- 3x Elemental Shaman

Or drop the Priest, Heal with the Shammies and add either a Boomkin or Warlock (for the +SP boost).

[wowunderachiever]

I like hunters too but I really need to get a class that can heal on my second account leveled. Also - I'm only playing two chars, not five.

I like the dynamics on my pair of disc priest so far and think it will only improve once they can smite heal. But I also really would like a 85 that can heal or do DPS and melee.

So I'm looking at Druids. Anything I should know about leveling two druids?

Thanks for all the answers, I really like this community. I'm guessing I just need to give it more time - I certainly have made an improvement since last week.

[ibrforfun]

Two druids; If you want to get fancy, roll feral and you have a tank + dps for dungeons (if you would like to do that) or roll double boom or double kitty for questing, double kitty has no downtime which is nice. Just depends on how you plan to level. Dungeons go double feral or resto/boom, questing go double kitty

[Ualaa]

Ferals level quite easily.

I was using:

#show
/castsequence reset=5 Mangle(Cat Form), Rake(Cat Form), Mangle(Cat Form), Mangle(Cat Form), Rip(Cat Form)



Whatever you play, level them in 2x DPS spec, unless you're doing instances.

[traedoril]

Question: How long does it take to get to where playing multiple characters is second nature? Sometimes I'm thinking "this would be easier if I were just playing the one" but I need to take advantage of the RAF bonus. I'm guessing I just need more practice or some tips on actual gameplay - I've already implemented all the technical stuff like keybinds and addons and all.

Getting acclimated to multiboxing is actually on a person to person basis. I started by dual boxing a blood DK and Disc priest from level 60 - 85. Once I learned how to heal it took me 2-3 hours to get used to it. When I turned to 5 boxing it was like relearning the game again. It still took me only about a week of research and practice to get comfortable with it.



Question: I know this is one of those "play what you like' questions but is there a standard class/spec that is sort of like the training wheels for dual-boxing?
I am weird in this aspect. I acutally play 5 different classes and with a little research found this not to be much more difficult than playing with all of the same class.
The cast sequence macro's and the 2-step keys don't change for boxing different toons and you dont get kicked from LFR/LFG because I have a different name for every toon and I do good DMG/Healing/tanking on them.

Everything you do is gonna take practice. You can be better than 5 individual players or you could be the worst boxer in history. Keep working with macro's and key maps and you will perfect your playing style.

[Ualaa]

Take my recent two setups.

One was 5x Resto Druids.
I have the same key for follow, and use similar keys for DPS.
1 is an attack.
2 is another attack.
7,8,9,0 are targeted heals.

In that regard, the team is consistent with every other team I've ever played.

The click based heals (are a similar mechanic), but the clicks were much more so.
For a typical team I have 2-4 clicks to learn.
For the Druids (who were all healer spec), I had 13 clicks to learn.

I started off with:
Left Click = Rejuvenation
Right Click = Nourish

And added other heals over time.
Rather had all of them configured, but forced myself to also do Scroll Wheel Up over and over for a few Battlegrounds.
Until that was "learnt".






I had previously played my 4x Death Knight, 1x Paladin team.
Quite a lot... because they had over 20,000 honor kills on each already.

The basics were still the same.
Target something with the healer (their mouse clicks whatever).
And spam "1".

But the hotkeys or specials took a while to re-learn, although I had "known" them intimately for over a year a couple years back.
Things like:
- Anti-Magic Shell
- Lichborne
- Summon Pet
- Pillar of Frost

Adding those and getting used to clicking one (that prevents a knockback effect from moving me), when I see a Druid or Shaman running at me while I'm on a ledge.
And they still get me, but I negate their ability often, by pressing Shift + K, or clicking that ability in time...
And then kill them rather easily, now that they're a caster in melee.

Ditto on Lichborne, when a Priest or Warlock runs at my group.
I will target them, and attack with the DK's... who because of IWT... will run at the person.
My healer runs away, to get out of the AoE.
And I use Shift F, to negate the fear (and sleep/charm).
And kill the pesky fear class quickly.
But it is also a learning process.



The DK's have Strangulate.
Which requires facing (which isn't always there).
I've set up my key for Focus.
DK's A & B, Focus on Press 1, of my key "0" (which is far enough over, to not accidently push it).
DK's C & D, Focus on Press 2, of the same key.
With a delay in there, so I cannot accidently spam it.
It is actually set up, so the appropriate toons assist me on Push down.
And Focus on release of the key.
So I can push and hold it, to account for latency, etc.

Strangulate is another hotkey, which will be spammed sort of.
Because of IWT, my toons are circling about their targets quickly.
And will likely be facing their Focus target (who will be Strangulated at the key press) at least some of the time.
I have it set up to not advance until "x" time after my most recent press.
So I can spam it a few times, as I spam my IWT.
And on the initial spam:
DK's A & C, each Strangulate their target.
On the second set of spam presses, it is DK's: B & D.

In an ideal world:
- A/B focus Healer one.
- C/D focus Healer two.

And on Presses:
Press 1 - A Strangulates Healer one; C strangulates Healer two.
Press 2 - B Strangulates Healer one; D strangulates Healer two.

So two different targets are both strangulated, one after the other.

It takes a while to add the tool to the arsenal, and to get used to it.
Eventually it is second nature.




If I went back to the Druids (as Resto), they're a new team again.
I'd pick them up much faster, but they'd be new for a short while.

Meanwhile my other teams have not been played in a long time.
They're still 80th, meaning they have not made a Cataclysm debut yet.
So I'll have to configure them (similar in the basic mode to other teams), to get them how I like.
And then will have to "learn" them again too.
If I'm just leveling, I won't go fancy like Strangulate or AMS/Lichborne/Pillar/IceboundFortitude etc...

[confusedtx5]

Think of your team as 1 toon - if you run tank and dps, then the tank just has extra high damage output. eg. spamming 2 activates your single target macros, 3 activates aoe macros. tank/heals - you have a tank that can heal itself. heals/dps could be different depending on how you set up your healing.
Especially when starting out, you don't need to have all abilities available on all toons. Keep it simple to start, and add abilities as you see the need.

[d0z3rr]

If you're two-boxing you really should be running a tank/healer combo. You need to get practice in tanking and healing. Once that is sorted out adding 3 dps will be a no brainer afterwards because all you have to do is hit one key for them.

The hard part for me was healing while running instances, took a long time to figure out the best setup and binds for my healer, many iterations.

I didn't jump right into 5boxing though. Back in vanilla I two-boxed first, with no special software. Then eventually 3box, and once I discovered keyclone shortly after I did 4boxing. So I had quite a few stepping stones along the way.

I'd say it took several months before it felt second nature. As in, I could set up any group I wanted and jump right in without making stupid mistakes or being dumbfounded.