To 2 box or 3 box, that is the question!

[uberfail]

Alright, I have loved dual boxing this past week with a Raf and my ainchient main acount. I have 3 sets of hunters at lv 20 (2 ally and one horde) and a set of locks at lv 14 (Horde). Was planing on a shammy/rogue set up as well. My budget in the end can be around $30-45 bucks a month, just built a new computer (can you check if this setup will run x a WoW clients? kk thanks! ... j/k) which could easily run 5 clients up.

So just like I did when I wanted to dual box I used that little bar at the top right corner there to try and see if anyone had discussed which is better, to dual or tri-box.
I couldn't find much at all! I was thinking I could have fun with a dualbox but with a tri-box I might get to do a pally and two dps classes, a warrior and a priest and a dps class, 3 shammys, etc.

I will never want to 5 box unless blizz decides to drop subscription from $15 to $5 (fat chance in hell) so I NEED INPUT!!! I will totally trash the trial Raf I was using this past week and make 2 new trial accounts and use them this next week if I see that 3 boxing could be more rewarding (possibly soloing mid lv instances, not for gear but for fun, I can't 5 man I get that lol, or pvp > 3 mages makes me drool at the thought).

So please for my sack and others, begin a discussion about pros and cons of a 3box setup, I have seen much about dual, not much about tri! Thanks in advance!

[Halo]

I first started 3 boxing and the only advantages over 2 in PvE content are that you get group XP when questing (will be significant after 60 when RAF no longer applies) and you can max out more professions. Sure, there are a handful of quests that 3 can complete but 2 might have trouble. I doubt the ability to use a summoning stone (with 3 but not with 2) is going to make a big difference.

But, like you said, you still can't run instances (unless you're way over the recommended level). For battlegrounds, I don't see why 2-boxing would be any less fun than 3. Basically BG plays out like this: If you have X toons and run up against a group of X toons, you will lose. So, whether that's 2 or 3 or 5, the story is the same. With 2, you may occasionally lose against a single well-geared opponent who gets the drop on you (hint: don't let them get the drop, play defense) but most of the time 2v1 with the ability to focus fire, you should be OK. Arena, I can't speak to because I don't do it.

If you do the numbers, you can actually run 5 boxes for just the cost of the battlechests for a couple of months with no recurring fee. (Because of the free month included in the game and the free RAF months). So, you could still give 5 boxing a try and then cancel the subscriptions before the monthlies start rolling in.

Good luck!

[Boylston]

I think the better question is why aren't you quad-boxing...

I have never seen a good reason to tri-box. If your hardware can handle 3, it almost certainly will handle 4. (Jumping to 5 can be problematic on a dual-core).

Four has a lot of advantages, five allows you to run your own group... Three is just an awkward number.

[keyclone]

3 can work... be all dps and bring along 2 friends... a healer and a tank

[uberfail]

you get group XP when questing (will be significant after 60 when RAF no longer applies) and you can max out more professions. Sure, there are a handful of quests that 3 can complete but 2 might have trouble.

See I knew the group xp would be better with 2 Raf accounts and a main but didn't know that after lv 60 it helped. Good info thanks!

So, you could still give 5 boxing a try and then cancel the subscriptions before the monthlies start rolling in.

Still, money is the BIG issue for me, all in all I am a tight wad with cash and I don't have excesive amounts of it either. THe main reason for not 5 boxing I suppose

Four has a lot of advantages, five allows you to run your own group... Three is just an awkward number.

How did you guess I had a duo core XD good call, it simply out performs the quads out there right now, and I do play other games that wow so I wanted the boost and went for an E8400 at 3.0, been nice so far, haven't needed to OC it yet. (then again I am not playing Crysiss XD )

Back on track though > why is 3 awkward? I can see compaired to 5boxing why, but compaired to quad boxing? And if there were enough really good "advantages" to quad boxing it would be VERY tempting, almost enough to try it. Depends though... in pvp an dual boxing can have a fun advantage ("can" but not always, there are certain issues I can see already), are a quad of shaman able to do a 5 man instance if tehy gear up enough the instance before it? Not heroics or anything but just curious. Of course this will then get another poster who says "heck if you 4 box then why not 5 box, you are right there and that is where it is really at etc."

Anywho thank you much on the info so far!

EDIT: Keyclone got in while I was typing, and I like his idea initially. Though I wonder if a tank and 2 dps would wotk then find a dps healer for my group? or one of each "classic" role (tank,dps,healing) and then 2 other dps witch is easiest to find. more random thoughts.

[Gadzooks]

3 can work... be all dps and bring along 2 friends... a healer and a tank

Or variations on that theme. I run a Druid/Lock/Mage team, and I have fun.

Since we know you won't be going 5 (I'm in the same boat, I want 5, my comp can handle it, but my budget can't, right now), here's my 2 cents:

3 is a blast. You're just strong enough to handle just about any group quest while leveling, and with the right setup you'll sail through quests - my guys are 3 shotting everything in Storm Heights right now, and the only things they can't handle are the "boss" quests in Dragonblight. I nuked the Lich in Shalozar Basin, tho, it was laughably easy. You're not going to have the money issues a 5 man team has, and if you do your profs right, you can make a nice profit by doing all gathering profs.

I like my team. I have a tanking pet, free food, portals, heals, buffs, resses, and a fire mage that is doing insane amounts of damage with FrostFire. The Lock is getting weak, as I need to examine my rotations, but overall I'm having fun and don't see any need to replace any of them. Doing collection quests is a lot less painful.

The downside: Instances are a no-go, unless I pug. Since I loathe pugging (I started MBing to get away from pugs), that means I havent done many instances. I can clear mid level BC instances no problem, but Heroic, forget it - at 79 (gear and no tank). I can clear normal Ramparts in about 10 minutes, taking my time, but Heroic I can wipe on the first mob (and have).

Now, if you have the right team, you could probably do a lot better than me. I admit, my group is about the worst you can make for instances, so when these guys get to a certain point (80, specific crafted gear goals), I'm going to level some more characters with them to make more instance ready groups, and try to do better with 3, with an idea of trying Northrend instances with 3, eventually. Since this is tank and heal stuff, I'm looking at my priest, and probably a pally. DKs could be an option, too.

Don't know about PvP, I'm avoiding PvP, as I don't really care for Arena, and BGs right now are clotted with idiotic Death Knights, and the usual AFKers.

[Boylston]

3 can work... be all dps and bring along 2 friends... a healer and a tank

Yes, this can work. I actually do this from time to time as some of my best friends in the game are a healer and a tank. However, I still think that the number of times you're going to be able to magically find a healer and a tank is pretty slim, given the shortage of people playing these roles on almost every server.

If you had a regular group of people that you played with that were dedicated to healing and tanking, it's a great idea. Personally, if someone was hellbent on doing PvE with a tri-box situation, I'd recommend a Healer/Tank/DPS combo, personally, probably all druids...

[Boylston]

Take shamans as an example:

Quadbox shamans is part of a proven Healer + 4xShaman 5v5 Arena team.
Quadbox shamans allows you to recruit just a tank and go instance running.
4xAnything is a nice number for BGs-- 5x is more DPS, sure, but 5x players starts to become a liability in 10 and 15 person BGs.
Quadbox doesn't overly stress a dual-core system, whereas 5x starts to put 3x clients on a single core, which has significant performance impacts.

Of course this will then get another poster who says "heck if you 4 box
then why not 5 box, you are right there and that is where it is really
at etc

I would say that myself if
a.) you had a quad-core system and the other gear to make 5x really workable
b.) you really wanted to excel at PvE instances

[uberfail]

I would say that myself if
a.) you had a quad-core system and the other gear to make 5x really workable
b.) you really wanted to excel at PvE instances

The cool part here is that someday, if the price ever does drop (say when DIII comes out ...'cept then I'll be playing that *shrug*) I made sure my MOB could support quad core, but I am not rushing out to buy one now still. Secondly I do want to play around with pve, mainly the old school instances for fun. If I ever need to I can break down and go raiding with a guild with whatever # of my 3 they will allow or just use a single character. Playing this for fun still and raids are fun. Its the times I am not playing with others directly that I would like to be boxing. And pvp would be hella fun IMO. Thanks for the info it has helped me decide to stick with tri-boxing. If money were no real issue I def would try 5boxing though, I def see your point but it is not feasable for me.

Yes, this can work. I actually do this from time to time as some of my best friends in the game are a healer and a tank. However, I still think that the number of times you're going to be able to magically find a healer and a tank is pretty slim, given the shortage of people playing these roles on almost every server.

If you had a regular group of people that you played with that were dedicated to healing and tanking, it's a great idea. Personally, if someone was hellbent on doing PvE with a tri-box situation, I'd recommend a Healer/Tank/DPS combo, personally, probably all druids...

This is what I like to hear, I know I won't be doing instances at MY lv but I always loved running lower lv instances with my main mage back in the day for fun and also to see how much I could pull at once. This I am looking forward to as well, next my search will go into searching the forums for good 3 man teams, though it won't be very hard till I try to get the pure classes all in one group(tank,dps,healer), talk about macro intensive XD

I will probably run 2 hunters +something to 60 and then grant something like a pally and priest the lvs to get from 30-59 etc.
Over all I was psyched to just be dual boxin this past week, getting the hang of it etc. Now I am hyped even more due to certain mage pvp videos and your testemony of runing lower instances with relative ease. I still ahve single player friends that I want to play with so it will work out if I have just 3 I think. Thank you all for the insite. Hopefully this can help other people who are tossing up the question of 2 vs 3 boxing around as well. I'll post back later today once I get it all set up. for Now its off to town to find another battle chest XD.

[eagleeyee]

I am currently running 3 shamane ftw I might go with a 4th account and transfer a pally I have over to it and have him go prot.