3 Elemental Shaman Team Needs Criticism/Assistance

[Desolate21]

Greetings. First off, I'd just like to say that I love the videos and how amazing the multi-boxing community is doing. I'm trying to work toward the point of having a 4 elemental shaman team + a healer friend, and if anyone has the time/patience and feels like helping a fellow multiboxer out, I'm looking for some advice/help.

My Background:
I started single boxing PS2 on EQoA and quickly got bored with the simplicity of the game. Built up to quad boxing and then finally quit to play WoW. Ever since WoW came out I have almost always either (crudely) dual-boxed or at least dual cliented via clicking each individual client back and forth...really lame. Wasn't until about a year ago I ran into the real "multiboxers". I have leveled up 12-15 70s just single/dual client as I said before, raided up to Illidan and got 1950 2s on my Shadow Priest, etc. Kind of getting bored. I'd like to say I have a pretty good grasp of the game, and just wish to take it to the next (and more fun) level.

My Plans:
Basically, I want to copy the 4 elemental shamans + healer setup for use in arenas and maybe even raiding if my guild is short on dps some night. For the moment I am running on a non-existent budget, so any hardware upgrades would be a tad difficult. I do have available accounts and have a running version of keyclone. Currently running the following: (I know it's pretty bad, but it seems to perform decently in AV/Shat triple-boxing with no tweaking - just low settings.)

Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00 GHz(2CPUs)
Memory: 2030 MB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 6200 TurboCache - Approx Total Memory: 128 MB.

Current: Right now I have 3 elemental shamans that I have recently got up and running at level 70 and grinded about 30k honor. I did a crude setup of macros and key-bindings and a very plain user interface as shown in this picture:MyUi ('http://img523.imageshack.us/my.php?image=myuivz5.jpg').
I will be the first to admit I know little about macros and keybindings beyond the basics. I'm still trying to learn about Focus. :(
The macros I use are as follows:

Lightning Bolt/Chain Lightning/Earth Shock/Frost Shock/Flame Shock (for alts) - /assist <main> /cast <spell>
Bound to keyboard keys 1-5. Very simple and lacks focus targets. If my main gets killed, I'm screwed.

Follow/Invite Macro - (on main) /invite <alts> /ffa (on alts) /follow <main> /assist
Bound to the ` (left of 1) key. I like positioning because it's close to my left hand, but I think I need two different macros/bindings for Assist and Follow (maybe Caps Lock?)

Accept All - Standard accept all macro that includes group invites, releasing, auto-joining battlegrounds (still looking for auto-leave at the end).
Bound the the \ key.

Target Macros:Just recently made F1-F5 individually make each character /target <name> (where name is each one of my alts and friends that frequently bg with me) to focus heals on them. Made this because F1 was targeting self of course, and that wasn't what I wanted when I wanted to focus heals on my main. I kind of like these, but I think I'd like to add a /target self macro to spam chain heal if everyone is taking damage.

Cooldown Macros:

EL/Trinket/CL - /cast elemental mastery /use Vengeance of the Illidari /cast chain lightning
NS/LB - /cast Nature's Swiftness /cast Chain Lightning
Last Resort - /cast elemental mastery /cast nature's swiftness /use Vengeance of the Illidari /cast Lightning Bolt

These are bound to Alt+1,2,3 so they are close to my normal attacks.

Unless I forgot about any, those are my only current macros that I have set up. Moving to key bindings. In addition to the key bindings I have set for macros, I have some set for individual addons.

Key Bindings:

Chaman2: This is a recent addon I found for dropping/keeping track of totems, weapon enchantments, and elemental shields. I have a very left focused key-binding area at the moment, especially with this addon.

Alt+Q/W/E/R - Drops current air, earth, water, fire totems.
Alt+A/S/D - Casts current weapon enchantment / elemental shield / totemic recall.
...I also use Alt+Z/X/C to Epic Flyer/Ghost Wolf/Ground Mount.

Problems I have here: I use WSAD for movement (and q and e for strafing, which I can't live without) and I don't like to put these on the DNP list on Keyclone because it doesn't allow me to turn in combat on all my characters for those pesky dancing melee. Because of this, I have to use arrow keys or the only the mouse to move...which is annoying. It's also hard to drop totems while moving, although cast current totems are also binded to 9/0/-/=, so it's not a huge issue.

TrinketMenu: A fairly popular addon that allows me to use my pvp trinket at ease without having to put another button on my screen just to key-bind it. I use F9 for my Main's pvp trinket and F10/11 for alts. Not something I'm having an issue with at the moment, however.. I would like to figure out how to make key bindings set to macros/spells that I don't necessarily have on the screen. (I'm currently running out of room, but I suppose an addon such as Bartender or Bongos would be able to fix that)

That's about all I have for key-bindings at the moment. I'm confused beyond the very basic (without changing anything) functions in keyclone other than DNP. I'm also still looking for something to make mini formations. One of my major problems (as is for almost all multi-boxers I assume) is the "Target Must Be in Front of You" business. As mentioned above, using WASDQE causes some problems with DNP list and whatnot. Between auto follow breaking using WASD, rogues dancing on my face with Cloak of Shadows and Cheat Death, and those damned jumping arcane explosion mages, it's almost enough to make me just want to do triple Restoration for triple chain heal spam without having to worry about which way I'm facing. Really need some help with this one.

That's about it for now I guess. I need to get back and get to farming honor so I don't get owned quite so easily. I really am in need of some assistance if any knowledgeable person that has a great deal of patience wishes to take me under their wing, please send me a message on these boards, post on this thread, message me ingame on Gorgonnash-Horde (US) Ragê/Serayne/Darknez or more preferably contact me via Skype, just search for bradly.streetman on Skype. Vent would also be great. Sorry for being a little lengthy, just looking for some real feedback so I can get into really multi-boxing without getting completely stressed/overwhelmed about it. Done quite a bit of reading and just having some problems understanding it all. Thanks all and I hope to get some major feedback/criticism.

[Elili]

While by no means do I consider myself an expert (I've almost reached level 40, but I am happy with my progress) five boxing shamans, I think I might be able to help you with macro's. First of all, and this is something that I found out before I made my team, is it's very hard to do things if your going by name. I go by Party1-4, this only works though providing you know what each character will be. Blizzard determines party #, but whoever the "youngest" character is on the server. Once you've figured that out you can start to do more with macro's. right now I currently use a macro with

/target party1target

To get everyone focused when I need to, otherwise I use a combination of macro's. This is a lightning bolt macro that works pretty well, because even if my main has no target / dies, it will look down the line for anyone else with a target, or find it's own I'm not sure on the number of characters this macro is, I use an addon called Infinibar that uses Pseudo Buttons and macro's so they can be of (As far as I've seen) infinite length.


#showtooltip
/cast [mod:alt] Purge;
[mod:ctrl] Chain Lightning;
[exists,harm,nodead] Lightning Bolt;
[target=party1target,exists,harm,nodead] Lightning Bolt;
[target=party2target,exists,harm,nodead] Lightning Bolt;
[target=party3target,exists,harm,nodead] Lightning Bolt;
[target=party4target,exists,harm,nodead] Lightning Bolt
/startattack

I'm not an expert in macro's, but what it's "supposed" to do is cast a lighting bolt on it's current target, untill that target dies. then it will look for a new target by going through each other characters target until it finds one that exists, is bad, and isn't dead. this works really well if my main does die, I can quickly switch to another character and his target's (I will follow from Party1 to 4) will become everyones new targets.

Another type of macro that may help you, is castsequence. At my level I don't have the full range of totems you'll have at 70 obviously, but the concept remains the same (As does the idea of "staggering" totems like Tremor).


#showtooltip
/castsequence reset=15 Mana Spring Totem, Strength of Earth Totem, Grounding Totem, Searing Totem

#showtooltip
/castsequence reset=15 Tremor Totem, Healing Stream Totem, Grounding Totem, Searing Totem

#showtooltip
/castsequence reset=15 Healing Stream Totem, Tremor Totem, Grounding Totem, Searing Totem

#showtooltip
/castsequence reset=15 Healing Stream Totem, Grounding Totem, Tremor Totem, Searing Totem

#showtooltip
/castsequence reset=15 Healing Stream Totem, Stoneskin Totem, Grounding Totem, Searing Totem


This allows me to use one key to drop a standard set of totems on each character. Breaking down how the macro works is simple, There is a reset based on time, in seconds, reset=15, and each spell that is part of the macro is listed with a space in between. You'll notice tremor totems are staggered, with one dropping in the first 3 totem drops, so I have no more then 1 second of fear when I am feared.

Another macro to try out is something that uses "empty" cast sequences. This one in paticular I use to "run away" from someone.


#showtooltip Earthbind Totem
/stopcasting
/castsequence reset=15 Earthbind Totem, , , ,

#showtooltip
/stopcasting
/castsequence reset=15 ,Earthbind Totem, , ,


Each blank space between the comments, will drop nothing, but move the sequence forward, and each character will cast earthbind at a different time. This allows me to run away, push one key every 3 seconds, and drop earthbinds indefinitly. I also use this for stoneclaw totems, and heals.

Healing is a little bit trickier. As a shaman, once you hit 40 you get chain heal. I have two chain heal macro's, one that has all 3 shamans cast chain heal on the main character. I need to rewrite this to make it cast like other macro's I have so it cast on whoever the main is, that i'm playing, even if the first one on the list is dead (I'll post it when I write it). I also have one that will cast chain heal on my mains "target" using party1target. This is good for PVP especially because it makes it very easy to target a character running around in AV, cast 5 chain heals, and pretty much full heal him and everyone near him.

I think the most important macro to have is Grounding Totem, on each character, as having enough of them can make you almost immune to casters (Combined with earthshock it's quite powerful).

Another idea is to use Keyclones Round Robin for certain tasks, as opposed to cast sequences with spaces. I find the cast sequences to be more reliable though, and having a Reset timer on it is nice, as it allows me to return it to the main casting first, when I want. I do however use a Round robin for an earth shock macro.


#showtooltip
/stopcasting
/cast [target=party1target,exists,harm,nodead] Earth Shock;
[target=party2target,exists,harm,nodead] Earth Shock;
[target=party3target,exists,harm,nodead] Earth Shock;
[target=party4target,exists,harm,nodead] Earth Shock;
[exists,harm,nodead] Earth Shock

This just simply casts earth shock on the target of the first person on the list that is alive. This isn't 100 percent effective as it doesn't allow you to cast it on a very wide variety of targets, and it also causes, when using a character other then your Intended main to direct fire, that character not to cast on the correct target, unless someone else in the party is targeting it. At the end of it there is a command to cast on your own target, in case no one else had a target. It's not perfect but using the same concept it wouldn't be difficult to design something that works for you.

One thing I would note, is that /stopcasting shouldn't be used in a castsequence macro like the earthbind one, as it will make everyone stop casting even if they aren't supposed to. I would love to figure out a way to make only the person casting something stop, but I'm thinking it would be impossible, short of using just a round robin and making it a normal cast.

As far as keybindings go, I use numbers 1-7 regularly, the letters R, T, F, G, and V, as well as Alt + CTRL modifiers for some of them. I also have a XKeys, Which I use for a lot of keys that I need quickly enough to macro, but not regularly enough to put where I can hit them without moving my hand. I use "F" as my lightning bolt / chain lightning macro, and T as my "assist" macro to set everyone on target.

So far I haven't found alot of things I want to focus target for 'yet' but I have already determined how I'm going to do it. I have 4 individual keys, each with /focus party1target. I target a target with my main, then hit the key for the character I want to focus it. Works fine, beyond that you would call it up again with something like /target focus or /cast [target=focus] Lightning Bolt.

Anyhow, like I said i'm no expert, and it's all still learning for me, but hopefully that will help a bit, and give you an idea of what to look into trying. Good luck =D

[Desolate21]

Thank you very much for your time and help, will definitely implement some of these into my system. Keep 'em comin guys. :)

[Mendicant]

I'm not an expert either but I do not believe the party1target type commands will work properly in raids (read: BGs). I would avoid using them for that reason. They would be useful in arena though, where you don't want the enemy to know who you are targeting, but I believe you can just use /cast [target=focustarget] spell anyway.

My macros look something like this:

Invite macro, accept macro, follow/stopcasting macro

focus macros:
fm1
/focus charname1
fm2
/focus charname2
fm3
/focus charname3
fm4
/focus charname4
fm5
/focus charname5
clearmacro
/clearfocus

character 1:
F1 - clearmacro
F2 - fm2
F3 - fm3
F4 - fm4
F5 - fm5

character 2:
F1 - fm1
F2 - clearmacro
F3 - fm3
F4 - fm4
F5 - fm5

and so on. You must clearfocus the character you are focusing or, if you have them focus themselves you will experience an annoying (and crippling) target re-target problem caused by latency.

All my offensive spells are simply
/assist focus
/cast spell


For heals...
F8 - /target charname1; /stopcast; /cast lesser healing wave
F9 - /target charname2; /stopcast; /cast lesser healing wave
F10 - /target charname3; /stopcast; /cast lesser healing wave
F11 - /target charname4; /stopcast; /cast lesser healing wave
F12 - /target charname5; /stopcast; /cast lesser healing wave
I am provably going to take the stopcast out since it occationally causes me problems with the GCD. It is nice though in an emergency, you know that in 1.5 sec that person will get healed.

And then simple
/assist focus
/cast lesser healing wave

and
/assist focus
/cast chain heal

I still need to work with my own macros... I think I should make a /cleartarget macro.

I have not macro'd EM+CL because I frequently do not use CL with EM. Like in PvP, if the guy is about to flee, EM+Earthshock is an insta-kill for me anyway and no cast time... though I imagine at some point I will make one ><



There are many benefits to the focus method. It is flexible... works in parties, works in raids, works in BGs. You can switch your main with 1 button push, so there is very little time lost. Also the macros are pretty simple and short.

Hope this helps.

[Tasty]

You are lame.
I am assuming you want constructive criticism :P

[Desolate21]

Preferably, yes. :o While I appreciate all the -positive- feedback, could we get any of the "PvP Shaman MultiBoxers" to take a look and shed some insight? Cough, Aelli, cough. :)

[Elili]

As of tonight i've tested, and Party1 does work in raid (As I thought it would) and so, there is no need to physically use your characters name. In fact I have found that assist macro's, and even /target party1target tends to lead to occasional bad targets, or no targets, where as spells with [target=party1target] always go through.

Anyhow, I'd like to say i'm almost a PvPer. And your welcome Desolate

http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/3539/firstbgwinrz4.th.jpg ('http://img339.imageshack.us/my.php?image=firstbgwinrz4.jpg')

[Desolate21]

Mainly just looking for one of the 70s out there to answer some questions. :s

[Elili]

I went ahead and tried setting up a focus system, using /focus on my main, and [target=focustarget], and have had great success. Now I simply make everyone use the same macro's, which look to see if they have a target, and if they don't it fires on the focustarget.

#showtooltip
/cast [mod:alt] Purge; [mod:ctrl,exists,harm,nodead] Chain Lightning;[mod:ctrl,target=focustarget,exists,harm,nodead] Chain Lightning; [exists,harm,nodead] Lightning Bolt; [target=focustarget,exists,harm,nodead] Lightning Bolt
/startattack

Got to say it's much quicker, more streamlined, and effective when it comes down to it, and i'm glad I put the time into reworking it.