Newbie questions - 2-3 toon comp for leveling alts

Hi all,

I have been getting into the idea of multi-boxing (you can see my first post about finding a good leveling partner for my Mage here)

I have decided I want to get a few alts levelled up in preparation for the release of TBC. Obviously multi-boxing, if I can figure it all out, should save me a decent amount of time!

I am just trying to work out what some good class combinations are. I have tried my best not to make this a "low effort post" (I did read that guidance).

Classes I am interested in:

- definitely want a Shaman, but I am Alliance, so that is on the back-burner for now (but is a factor for Outland leveling, which I intend to multi-box)
- would like a Hunter and/or Warlock as potential new main for TBC
- would like a tank and/or healer alt to try something other than DPSing (Pally or Druid provide the option of either role, but I do also like the idea of a Priest / SP for TBC)

As you can see, I am considering nearly all classes... a common problem, I am sure!

My questions are:

1) I had originally only considered duo-boxing, but now I am wondering, is running 3 toons much more difficult than running 2? (I wouldn't do more than 3, as I don't want that many subs!)

2) Are there any good 3 toon set ups based on the above preferences which would be fairly easy for a complete newbie to all this?

3) What are the best pairs, based on the above preferences? My own guesses / thinking is as follows:

a) Hunter / Druid - both have movement speed bonuses, Hunter pet tanks and Druid goes resto and just buffs and heals

b) Hunter / Pally - could this work with Pally tanking and Hunter Marksmanship doing max DPS? Or would it need to be Pally healing, basically just a worse version of Hunter / Druid as there are less synergies?

c) Does Warlock pair well with any of these classes? In my first post @nodoze suggested Warlock/Pally can be a good pairing for new players. I guess the issue is that both Hunter and Warlock are great solo leveling classes (with pets capable of doing the tanking for them), so they don't really need pairing up. Does Warlock and Priest make any sense, with the Priest wanding to ramp up the DPS and throwing out some heals? Or is Warlock/Pally better?

4) Are Warlock and Hunter just bad choices generally due to the micro management the classes involve (soul shards / feeding pet etc)?

5) With multi-boxing, do people quest? Or is it generally grinding mobs and dungeons?

6) Is ISBoxer the best software option for me, based on the above?

Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated. If other classes would be better, then please do say. My primary goals are to:

i) have 3 alts at max level, so that I have more cooldowns for creating crafted gear in TBC (spellcloth etc)
ii) create 1/2 potential new mains for TBC
iii) have some fun learning to multi-box


Thanks for reading this far!

In a hurry getting to my work stuff but initial thoughts:

6) Is ISBoxer the best software option for me, based on the above?
- I like ISboxer even when using just 1 client for some games as the functionality is just that helpful. I definitely recommend it for 2+ clients.

5) With multi-boxing, do people quest? Or is it generally grinding mobs and dungeons?
Generally leveling via instances is an option 5boxers have with little/no overhead of recruiting team members and what not that others don't. Often the end goal is being able to farm instances at cap. A team with DPS + healing can also grind mobs well. Questing is also an option though it is typically better/faster for a 5boxer to in level instances except for certain level ranges where lots of quests are well laid out. On new servers/expansions questing and starting zones can be very frustrating to progress in (especially if PVP is active). Some quests are not great for boxing (get X of Y drops for example)...

4) Are Warlock and Hunter just bad choices generally due to the micro management the classes involve (soul shards / feeding pet etc)?
After getting the SoulSort addon I don't find Warlocks painful to manage as it keeps my soul shards to a set limit for me. I haven't boxed hunters so can't speak to that but I haven't heard pet happiness being a huge issue. I would be interested in hunter multiboxers thoughts on ammo and pets.

1) I had originally only considered duo-boxing, but now I am wondering, is running 3 toons much more difficult than running 2? (I wouldn't do more than 3, as I don't want that many subs!)
With a good tool like ISboxer I don't find running 3 much more difficult than running 2. Generally I conceptually think a decent multiboxer can run multiple toons in pre-thought-out & practiced scenarious about 80% as effective as dedicated players that listen and work well together. I find it a lot better than when grouping with unskilled people or people who don't work together.

2) Are there any good 3 toon set ups based on the above preferences which would be fairly easy for a complete newbie to all this?
Will have to think on this as most Classic/TBC teams are based on 5 boxing. As long as you balance DPS with Healing/mitigation you can go far. Note that the Hybrid Tax is much less in TBC than it is in Classic so Hybrids like Paladins, Shaman, & Druids are even more viable in TBC though Druids have a harder time doing more than 1 role at the same time due to forms and can't leverage consumables and engineering as much. Personally I plan to have Paladin+4Shaman as my main team again and if 3boxing would maybe do Paladin+2Shaman (or 3 shaman) as core team(s). If you stay with a Mage main a Paladin+Mage+Priest/Shaman/Paladin each has some merits.

3) What are the best pairs, based on the above preferences? ...
A little confused here. Are you looking for a 3 box team or a 2 box team? Hunters & Warlocks are mini-trinities (tank+dps+healing) unto themselves and can scale well by adding a 2nd or 3rd of themselves (IE 2-3 Hunters or 2-3 Warlocks) though one pain point is rezzes (though Warlocks can leverage soul-stones and both can try RNG engineering rezzes). 2 Pet classes and a Shaman is pretty nice due to Totems and the Shaman being able to switch on the fly between DPS and healing (and being able to be soulstoned, ankhed, and able to rez).

I think there's limited options in classic where 2-3 boxing offers improvement over 1 or 5-boxing. I wouldn't recommend it personally, but perhaps someone will have a different approach than I do and will make it work for them.

It seems when 2 or 3 boxing you end up performing as a sort of "super spec" individual with either more dps, or more tankiness compared to single players, but instead you give up fine control over each toon. So questing is a bit easier, but it was generally easy enough to start with. You're killing a bit faster, but traveling just as much, so now you're actually leveling slower than a single player because you're getting 1/2 the exp/kill. Multi-boxing 2-3 while leveling is still a faster than single boxing 2-3 chars in sequence, but not by much.

Once you jump up to 5-boxing (possibly 4-boxing), instead of mostly open world questing, you switch to primarily running your own dungeons. You actually kill dungeon mobs faster than 5 uncoordinated single players, and by sticking to dungeons you minimize travel as well, so you end up leveling faster than some sub-optimal leveling specs, although not as fast as a AOE spec'd solo mage.

That is say that in most cases 2-3 boxing doesn't really gain you any additional options either while leveling or in end-game that you wouldn't have if you were playing 1 char at a high level. And 2-3 boxing classic may limit your dungeon options if you can't find groups that are multiboxer friendly. Going from 2 to 3 (or 4) boxing may be enough to let you tank, dps and heal on your own, but I think you'd struggle to integrate into a 5-man with other single players. I struggle to heal multiple dps at the same time while tanking and keeping up my dps. It'd work good enough for world elites and hyper spawn farming, but those opportunities are fairly rare in classic. I wouldn't want to 2 or 3 box any dungeons with other players unless I just had multiple dps performing the same functions - and even then you're ability to keep multiple targets cc'd or interrupted while keeping up your dps is rough.

To answer your specific questions:

1) Running 3 chars of the same class and spec isn't any harder than it is to run to run 2 - it's arguably a bit easier to run 3 than 2. The only complexity comes in when you run different classes or specs.

2/3) My fist thought is 1 Paly + 2 Mages. I would recommend against 3 different classes to start with - instead try 2 of the same + 1 of something different to add some functionality.

4) I can't really comment on Locks or Hunters. I have 3 Locks in my 2nd 5-man group now, but I've never really played them (level 30ish at the moment). Currently they seem like inferior mages, but with summons instead of portals which is a nice complement to the mage portals.

5) Multiboxing (5-boxing) is all about running your own dungeons - very little questing.

6) I hear its nice - never used it myself.

Thanks for both your responses chaps - they were both super useful.

For now, I have decided to just solo level the warlock and hunter in parallel (rotating the rested exp). Maybe when TBC comes around I will step up to boxing, as there is a lot of value in dungeon running with the introduction of heroics.

Thanks taking the time to help me! :)

No problem. Regarding Hunters and concerns with Pet maintenance, in case it helps you, I saw on Mad Season Show's youtube him mention the following 1 button Hunter Pet maintenance macro:

https://pastebin.com/FqM5Yh7y

He discusses it here:

https://youtu.be/fAxAQOO5Fik?t=107

Also found this one on Hunter macros in general:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SiSQXfGwkU