[align=center]Dual-Boxing Multiple Characters with Keyclone Setup Thoughts.[/align]
Using Keyclone.
5 Copies of Wow Running at once on one machine.
Shift F1-F5 to change PiP between toons.
6 Sets of quick key banks accessable via Shift 1-6 on each character.
Logitech G15 Programmable keyboard.
4 Macros on each toon for setting focus and follow placed in each of the number 1 slots on the bar. 1 Macro placed in the slot for when they are the focus character.
Step 1: Follow Macros and Set Focus
Character 1 (Main when Focus)
Hot bar 1 Key 1 Macro
/p Everyone Set focus and Follow Me
Character 2-5 (When in slave Mode)
Hot bar 1 Key 1 Macro
/focus Character1
/follow focus
Character 2(When set as main or Focus, incase of death CC etc.)
Hot bar 2 Key 1 Macro
/p Everyone Set Focus to Character2 and Follow
Character 1, 3-5
Hot bar 2 Key 1 Macro
/focus Character2
/follow Focus
Repeat for other characters until Hot bar1-5 Key 1 has a macro for each.
Step 2: Change Characters on the fly
Now that this is setup you have 5 banks of hot bars with 1 macro setup for each character of those macros 4 will look similar to character 2 macro above and one will just be a party chat statement,. You can reasonably change who is in control of your party as your main by simply pressing a combo of buttons for example.
Shift F3 would change the PiP of Keyclone(this is customizable button) to Character #3, then a simple Shift 3 to change all clones to the correct hot bar and then press the number 1 and just like that you have changed the display to your third character set all slaves to focus on that character and enact the follow command.
Or As I do program the Logitech Keyboard to hit those keys for you in one press. I just stop all movement (If your holding a movement key when this change happens one of your characters may continue running after the swap that could be very bad)for about a second press one key and it does the Shift F#, Shift #, 1 command and the F# and # depend on which key I press. This allows me to pretty much swap which character I am playing on the fly though it did take 5 macros on each character to do this they were mostly a copy and paste deal with very minor changes.
So now you have 5 dedicated banks of keys one for each character in your 5 man multi-boxing group. Don’t forget you have Shift 6 bank for things like food, drinks, buffs etc.
So now every one of your clones has 11 hotkeys left not many I know so we need a useful way to create more slots or make more than one thing happen per slot. Enter Macro’s 101
Step 3, DPS & Damage Macros
I am running a 5 warlock group so keep in mind this is pretty simple since all the locks can match up or you can get a little fancy and change stuff up a little bit.
Each Character will need two macros (atleast the way I do it) one for when they are the Focus and one for when they are the slave.
When Focus is set to your current character
Macro Key 2
/petattack (correct me if I am wrong but no target needs to be given cause you will select one yourself)
/castsequence spell1,spell2,spell3,shoot,etc
When Character is a slave
Macro Key 2
/petattack [target=focustarget]
/castsequence [target=focustarget] spell1,spell2,spell3,shoot,etc
/follow focus
I like to use the general macro slots for my follow and focus commands that way I can just click drag them and it allows me to swap out characters on my main account if say I need a tank or healer instead of a lock. I also tend to group instant cast spells in one macro and channel or cast time spells in a second macro so if I want to run around and dot 5 mobs I can do so.
I know that I can make the macro’s much more complex using harm and other options but I am still a multi-boxing noobie who just happened to start with 5 accounts instead of a few less for complexity reasons. I am not so worried about the code as the execution and playability of this setup.
I am currently playing on a PvP server so being able to swap my characters on the fly seems reasonably important. I have so far only used this setup in PvE settings and thus far has worked out pretty well though I do understand 5v1 PvE or even groups of non-elite mobs is hardly an indication of success. What do you guys think of this setup does it work or not, do you see weaknesses and drawbacks to setting up like this. Obviously it is not complete and needs to be perfected with additional macros for things like CC etc. But also keep in mind you get total control of 5 characters that you can potentially use mouse clicks to do intricate things and the PiP switches pretty fast on my computer so I don’t see that as much of an issue. The actual switch takes place about as fast as I spend not pressing movement keys, I would estimate that the entire character swap with PiP and follow focus commands takes maybe two seconds.
The Machine
2.5 Ghz AMD Quad Core
8 GB 1066Mhz Memory
512 MB Junk ATI video card (looking at upgrades)
Video and Sound set either low or off in the case of Sound
Opinions and Thoughts please?
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