New guy saying hello

[flux1]

Paladins and Druids are both fun classes.
And they can spec Tank, Healer or DPS.
So they're versatile choices for future teams.

Druids was what I was thinking to level after Hunters as like you said, I could respec them as needed for just about anything.

Are paladins still the easiest tank class to use when boxing? I've watched videos from wrath showing a paladin with 4 shamans could basically clear any 5 man out there. Wasn't sure though if the changes in cata require more micro-management of procs over other tanks. I was looking at DKs as possible tanks since they start out at 58 anyways when you finish the starter zone, so if I don't like them much going through outland there's no real wasted investment for time or gifted levels.

Id say that make sure to get on a high population server in a good battlegroup. boxing kinda sucks when you are a medium non pvp server imo Id welcome another horde boxer to KilJaeden as would the other LOB characters. Hellscream is still pretty active.

Benn looking over where to start some. So far I've started a single toon on Area 52 horde side to see what the main changes are to shamans so far. May make an alliance team also since Dwarfs can be shammies now too.

[Ualaa]

The Paladin tank is probably the best, from a boxing point of view.
By best, I mean the tank which can be played with the least management of abilities or the easiest to macro.
Less attention required, allows more attention to other aspects of your play.

I played 5x Shaman.
Which evolved into 1x Paladin (Tank) + 4x Shaman.
And eventually 1x Paladin, 3x Shaman, 1x Warlock (bonus spell damage, via curse).
The Pally/Shammy team certainly rocks for PvE.

If you're managing the tank, as the active character, then any of the tanks will certainly work for you.
The Druid is lacking core tanking mechanics, until they hit 81st; beyond that point they rock and are my #2 choice to tank with... especially with Swipe going to 3 seconds instead of 6 in 4.1

The DK is a good tanking class.
Blood Presence, dual-wielding for extra Blood Worms (2H works though)...
Rune Tap every 30 seconds, and other DK's Rune Tap stacks somewhat (+5% I believe).
And go with a rotation that prioritizes Death Strike.
The 4x DK + Healer teams, are doing heroics... 3x DPS, with a Healer and DK Tank will work well.

[Wink-]

Oh wow, I didn't know you got more blood worms for dual wielding. I still agree with Ualaa, go with pallies. I do not use the Avenger's Shield reset cooldown ability so I have a one button mash for a perfect rotation for tanking.

[Khatovar]

I do not use the Avenger's Shield reset cooldown ability so I have a one button mash for a perfect rotation for tanking.

Look into multistep macros. You can use them to automatically toggle between your standard "rotation" and a proc.

ISBoxer - http://www.dual-boxing.com/showthread.php?t=33080
HotKeyNet - http://www.dual-boxing.com/showthread.php?t=33160
Default UI - http://www.dual-boxing.com/showthread.php?t=34310

All the utility, no additional buttons to mash.

[AgentSnipps]

On the subject of pally tanks, I solo boxed one as MT for my guild in kara and again in WoTLK for naxx to Icecrown but took a break before the pre cata patch and I loved every second of it. Now after the patch I can't stand playing my pally as a tank I hate the holy power resource system with some kind of unhealthy passion. I'll be the first to admit that at times I felt like a warrior with an annoying mana bar and wanted to something diffrent but I just can't deal with the holy power crap as a tank (not as bad as ret.)

Thats just my opinion tho and I'm sure they are still great tanks it's jsut not for me anymore so when I get back to playing my pve team will most likely go warrior tank despite the clear advantages the pally has. Welcome to the site btw.

[flux1]

Thanks everyone for all the info about the tanking classes. What I'll likely do is go ahead and level 5 boomkins, then respec to feral later on if I want to try tanking. Plus with the excess gifting levels, get two paladins up on my main accounts to use as possible tanks and healers. Along with going ahead and getting 2 DKs started to see how well they do.

Ualaa, I also wanted to thank you for the info in the wiki about chain linking accounts to get extra levels back to your main account. That really explained everything well.

Thanks for mentioning the toggle options Khatovar. I was thinking of using the 3 different profile selecting keys on my G11 to pick different macros to spam when situations change. The toggle option will work far better for that, and will let me setup actual different profiles for different teams or pvp/pve.

[Ualaa]

I've not added anything to the wiki myself; not sure how.
I believe for a while there, Bettysue was adding a lot of useful posts to the wiki.
Anyway, glad you found it to be useful.




For my DK's, I have three sets of "spam" keys.
The team is actually 1x Paladin, 4x Death Knight, fairly close to the model from Mosg2's DK Manifesto.
And then manually manage a lot of different buttons.

Spam 1:
- Pseudo priority system... broadcasts one key on key press, and five keys on release.
- By having more of a given spell than another, its more likely that will fire off... so a weighted priority system.
- Down = Howling Blast, making this the most likely spell to fire off.
- Up = Howling Blast, Frost Strike, Frost Strike, Necrotic Strike, Blood Strike.

Spam 2:
- Same Pseudo priority system... just different keys broadcast.
- Down = Obliterate.
- Up = Obliterate, Obliterate, Blood Strike, Blood Strike, Frost Strike.

Spam 6:
- Same Pseudo priority system... again different keys broadcast.
- Have really thought of moving this to "Spam 3", but have much more frequently used things on 3-5.
- Down = Death Strike.
- Up = Death Strike, Death Strike, Blood Strike, Blood Strike, Frost Strike.

They're not exactly "toggles", but the idea is close enough.
Three different modes of DPS, each on its own "spam" key.

[katsurahama]

Be careful about making G11 macros. They qualify as "automation."

Do everything with isboxer.

[flux1]

Be careful about making G11 macros. They qualify as "automation."

Do everything with isboxer.

I've read about people getting banned for those before even without using it for boxing. One guy back in wrath was using it to auto repeat a key he held down to dps as an arcane mage and got banned for it. The way I have my G keys is for them to just do a single key press, and from there have Hot Key Net send a keypress to a window or windows.

For example: I have G18 set to Crtl + Alt + Q. Press that, HKN sends = to a single wow window where I have Strength of Earth totem in that slot to drop it.

From what I've gathered from seeing Blizzard posts on the topic, as long as you pressing a single key does no more than pressing a single key in wow, no matter how many or few windows that single key press goes to, you are ok.


Ualaa, someone added the info about cascading donated levels back down the chain to where you get more on your main account once they pile up. That was what I was talking about as it showed how to link the accounts for the most benefit over time.

[Ualaa]

My G-Keys are IS Boxer hotkeys.
Not even keybinds in game.

Back when I was using Keyclone.
They were all single binds, along the lines of Alt + Shift + J.