Leveling and profs. 4 x Shaman multibox team & lvl 70 alts on 5th account

[Pavavion]

Forgive the long post sorry in advance. I am a former end game raider who wowquit for 3 months. I have found a new interest in wow and that is multiboxing and I am loving it so much. I look forward to learning more and reading more from your helpfulselves.

I am currently boxing a 4 x Shaman team from scratch and just got to lvl 13 via questing. I spread professions out on all 4 shamans, none have the same.
How important would it be to lvl their professions as I go or simply boost the professions at a later date? Eg how important is it to supply my own gear for the clones? They are 13 but still running in mostly starting gear and level relevant LW stuff made by one of the clones.

My main account (with the 4 x 70's) I cannot make another complimentary clone to 5 box as I got no toon space left on that account LOL. UNFORTUNATLY on clone 1 account I have my 70 Paladin and 70 Mage, they are my most proficient instance boost toons due to the speed of the mage and pally tank. The pally aoe reflective dmg is great to boost with added with the ability to resurrect the alts if needed as well. So it really only comes down to the shaman boosting the 4 clones but it seems so much slower then using the paladin.
Can a 4 x Shaman team farm instances for gear/XP or better to try and use one of the 70's to farm gear and distriubte via master loot?

I really am enjoying the BASICS so far of multiboxing and have made a 4 set of each of the range classes, only levled the shamans so far lol.
What would be the best way to "template" Ui's, macros etc for when I setout to box the other classes?

I know that 5 x shaman teams can take out instances just wondering if a 4 x shaman team could do it as well?
I have heard of "totem kiting" groups of elites in instances can someone explain this further?

Currently with my 4 x shaman team I can zerg mobs down no problems at all. I have the default focus macro for dps spells on all the accounts (brain + clones) and this works well until my target is dead and I alt tab to another mob. When I do this the brain as well as the clones still are trying to targeting the dead mob whilst I am getting beat on by the other enemy.
Do I have to create a clear focus macro if I am tab targeting a different mob after one dies?

Healing: I have a key bound to "heal self" on all toons and alt+ "heal self" to target and heal the brain. I was thinking of perhaps F1-F4 bound so that all heals goes to one target. and F5-F8 as an individual heal self whilst the other 3 dont get a key passed at all.
Would the above be the best way to manage healing duties?

Addons: I have only my Ui addons I am using atm: questhelper, bulkmail, bongos, ATSW, AG UF, Fubar.
Are there "must" have or really handy addons one would advise on getting?

With the amount of shaman teams kicking around I was hoping there might be a sticky or a guide one could point me to read up on?

[kwschs]

I cant answer them all.

But IMO just level your gathering skills when you can along the way. Occasionly I take breaks in ORG and buy leather etc for my toons to level up certain skills.

I find myself in instances too much to level certain skills then and there. I have over 90 stacks of linen in the bank from just RFC , which I will use when I have time to boost a tailor.

My brain is an enchanter (which all should be) because when you boost or whatever in instances the greens flow like candy, and its good money / supplies.

-Kwschs :thumbsup:

[BGuru]

Here is an addon I consider a must have for boxing.

Since you have a 70 Paladin here is a nice forum post about Pally boosting AOE Paladin Boosting

Here are some links from the Wiki:

Vyndree's Guide to Guides
Ken's complete Shaman macro set
Professions
Addons
Macros
PVE Class Combinations
PVE with Shamans

Hope that helps.

EDIT: Here is a very nice in game leveling guide Tour Guide
For addons I use Tour Guide, Quest helper, Double Wide, Tom Tom, and Light Headed to help me level and quest.
Also Cartographer is a nice map replacement addon.

[Ðeceased]

quick thing on professions

Need to be lvld whilst lvling: Enchanting, Herbalism, Skinning and Mining (only if you want those proffessions ofc ^^). If you are inclined to lvl gathering professions then doing so whilst you lvl is almost a must 9unless you want to spend days doing so when you hit lvl 70 :S

Enchanting is a must above all else tbh. The amount of cash you can generate by disenchanting is insane...

all the others, Tailoring, LW BS JC I would lvl when you get a chance, they aren't vital though. You will be lvling so fast that the gear you make with them will be worthless in a matter of days (excluding epic 70 gear) - Mats for these can be bought ofc, although do keep supplies from your gathering skills.

I for instance have two guild banks full of Cloth, gems and ores to lvl up BS JC and tailoring beyond 350 (but I just can't be arsed to do it atm :P and I may not even do it.. I plan on selling it all on and lvling engineering on all my characters instead

5X rocketboots is too tempting to pass on

[-silencer-]

How important would it be to lvl their professions as I go or simply boost the professions at a later date? Eg how important is it to supply my own gear for the clones? They are 13 but still running in mostly starting gear and level relevant LW stuff made by one of the clones.

Depends on your plan. If you want to get to 70 as fast as possible, don't bother with professions now. However, you might as well at LEAST get your gathering (mining, herbalism, skinning) professions up while you're running by so many nodes during questing. Work on enchanting as well so you can DE all the instance blues you aren't going to use.

Can a 4 x Shaman team farm instances for gear/XP or better to try and use one of the 70's to farm gear and distriubte via master loot?

Don't worry about gear much until Outlands. I wish I spent more time just leveling instead of running instances specifically for loot. Boost with your 70 for easy completion of quests / instances.

What would be the best way to "template" Ui's, macros etc for when I setout to box the other classes?

Every player is different, but I prefer to set up Bongos on all characters to show keyboard layout, plus PerlUnitFrames on the main for easier visibility.

I know that 5 x shaman teams can take out instances just wondering if a 4 x shaman team could do it as well?

Yes, given better gear & higher levels.. it'll just take a little longer if you're using the kite & spray method.

I have heard of "totem kiting" groups of elites in instances can someone explain this further?

Drop earthbind & stoneclaw totem. Run & dps while mobs are occupied. Repeat. Watch the 5x Shaman heroic videos on youtube to see it in action.

Do I have to create a clear focus macro if I am tab targeting a different mob after one dies?

I use a /target player1target command before every one of my dps spell macros, so when I hit '3' to cast lightning bolt, all shaman target my main tank's target and cast lightning bolt at it. You could use /target focustarget, /cast lightning bolt if your main is the focus.

Healing: I have a key bound to "heal self" on all toons and alt+ "heal self" to target and heal the brain. I was thinking of perhaps F1-F4 bound so that all heals goes to one target. and F5-F8 as an individual heal self whilst the other 3 dont get a key passed at all.
Would the above be the best way to manage healing duties?

Flexibility is a plus - I recently dedicated more buttons to various heals that are similar to those you mentioned. Here's my heal list:
- Healer heals individual. Common top-off heals when I don't want to interrupt dps from the other 3 shaman. Uses: /stopcasting, /target "party1-5", /cast Healing Wave.
- All heal tank. Emergency heal when I know one won't do the job. All shaman use: /stopcasting, /target party1, /cast Healing Wave.
- Healer chain heals tank. Common top-off if 1-2 shaman could use some extra hp. Healer uses: /stopcasting, /target party1, /cast Chain Heal.
- All chain heal tank. Emergency group heal focusing on tank. All shaman use: /stopcasting, /target party1, /cast Chain Heal.
- Rotational group heal. All shaman target the next shaman, tank heals himself. Shaman use: /stopcasting, /target "nextshaman", /cast Chain Heal. Paladin uses: /stopcasting, /target "name", /cast Holy Light.

Are there "must" have or really handy addons one would advise on getting?

At a minimum on my main, I'd use Bongos (or other multibar), AtlasLoot, Auctioneer, PerlUnitFrames, and Recap (or other damage meter). For the all characters, I need Omen (or other threat meter) and TitanPanel (or other gold/bags/durability/location display). I know I'm forgetting one or two that I can't live without..

With the amount of shaman teams kicking around I was hoping there might be a sticky or a guide one could point me to read up on?

There are plenty of discussions on here from the various majority-shaman teams.. search a few threads.

[Mendicant]

My personal experience as 5x shaman: I wish I wish I wish I had leveled all my gathering professions as I leveled. Do not wait and think you'll do it later because it will take so long to get them up... the longer you wait the worse it will be.

I went back and leveled my skinning since it was the most easy to boost. The others I have but can't use because their levels are too low. Now I get angry every time I see ancient lichen and eternium veins in instances and I can't touch them.

If I were to start over, I'd also level tailoring on one of my guys-- it would have saved me time in that I wouldn't have to auction all that linen, wool, silk, etc that I picked up
Tailoring is also nice end-game for making netherweave into nets and items for disenchantment.

Give all of your guys ENCHANTING. It is SO worth it. 1-250 is easy and cheap. 250-300 is a little difficult but once you get there you can disenchant anything that drops. Also if you decide to level it further you can get enchants for your rings.

So professions might go like so:
1 - Enchanting Leatherworking
2 - Enchanting Herbalism
3 - Enchanting Mining
4 - Enchanting Tailoring

[-silencer-]

Why give all alts enchanting? To DE quest items that are mostly greens? Honestly, I'd just stick with one enchanter to DE the unused blues from instance BoP's.

Here's my setup:
Paladin - Blacksmithing/Mining(soon to be Engineering)
Shaman - Herbalism/Skinning
Shaman - Alchemy/Leatherworking(soon to be Mining)
Shaman - Jewelcrafting/Leatherworking
Shaman - Enchanting/Tailoring

I'll probably drop Skinning in favor of Inscription when WotLK comes out, since I've got another 70 alt with 375 skinning.

[Stack]

In response to your healing idea I had the same intuition to use the Fkeys for healing but my genius quickly ran out when i tried to map LHW to alt-f4 (self heal thrid shaman), or F3 bringing up windows search etc, the solution is to remap your fkeys so you can swap say f4 with f12 so now when you press f4 you actually pressed f12 and vice versa this solves the cute problem of alt f4 healing.

heres a free handy utility i use to handle the issue.
http://www.sellsbrothers.com/tools/#scancodeMapper

be aware you should do 2 rules for every key.
a to b
b to a

if you only do "a to b" then when you press a or b you'll get b

[Mendicant]

Why give all alts enchanting? To DE quest items that are mostly greens? Honestly, I'd just stick with one enchanter to DE the unused blues from instance BoP's.

Here's my setup:
Paladin - Blacksmithing/Mining(soon to be Engineering)
Shaman - Herbalism/Skinning
Shaman - Alchemy/Leatherworking(soon to be Mining)
Shaman - Jewelcrafting/Leatherworking
Shaman - Enchanting/Tailoring

I'll probably drop Skinning in favor of Inscription when WotLK comes out, since I've got another 70 alt with 375 skinning.

DEing quest greens yeild ALOT more gold than you think.
At 70, once you get your end-game rings and put the enchants on them, maybe drop enchanting for something else, but keep it on your main, I agree.

[Stealthy]

Healing: I have a key bound to "heal self" on all toons and alt+ "heal self" to target and heal the brain. I was thinking of perhaps F1-F4 bound so that all heals goes to one target. and F5-F8 as an individual heal self whilst the other 3 dont get a key passed at all.
Would the above be the best way to manage healing duties?

Some good info posted by others above...

For healing, it would be a good idea to set up a macro with target=focustargettarget - this will throw heals on whoever the mob/player is beating on at the time.

Cheers,
S.