So, I'm new to multiboxing, played wow for about 4 years, and now decided to multibox. I know several programming languages, built some scrypts myself and setted up all to play. Using HotkeyNet and ahk. I have 4 shaman team 15th level. Everything is for PvE, I'm not interested in PvP for now, and choosed this setup because heard that shamans are great for multibox.
Here are my questions:
Do I have to seperate roles? I mean, should it be 4 elemental shamans with same equips and pannels, or, it will be better if I separate roles and specs? Should I have tank, heal etc...
As I heard, for this kind of setups the best way of leveling is dungeons. So, when should I start leveling this way? I've already tried deadmines, but I can't complete it for now. Should I buy any equip to start?
Also, how should I build chars? I mean is it the same as for single elemental shaman or no? Same question about rotation.
I've been looking for information about multiboxing, found a lot of useful stuff, but nothing about builds and macroses for specific classes. I'll be wery thankfull for any answers. Also, for 2 or 3 days of playing I met about 5 people(maybe more) that tried to bull me and they were screaming something like ohh multibox cancer. I don't care about it, but just interesting why do they do that? I tried to ask them but no one answer).
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Member
Couple of general questions
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Member
Delete that phrase from your brain. You don't "have to" anything, that's the greatness of multiboxing, you can do whatever you want. It's better to ask what's more useful or powerful or efficient etc., but ultimately you can do whatever you want. There is no "one true way."
While leveling I find it isn't a big deal. I've leveled teams to level cap with all DPS. However in more difficult fights you'll need a tank and in dungeons you'll need healers. One thing to consider is the more classes/specs you use in a single team the more macros you'll have to spend time setting up and dealing with. If you have several toons of the same class+spec you can setup the macros once and just copy-paste to the other toons, which saves time.
If I were in your shoes I would say just go ahead and try leveling with DPS spec and see how it goes. With 4 toons you should mow down anything in your way easily. If you have trouble dying then switch your leader to a tank spec and go with that.
I've always leveled by straight questing. What server are you on? Deadmines on Frostwolf was bugged the last time I tried.
I usually just setup like a solo toon, except where I know abilities would be useful in groups. For example Druids have Ysera's Gift talent which passively heals either them or the group member with lowest health, so 5 druids with Ysera's Gift is a lot of automated healing. Where benefits for groups like this are obvious I take them, but otherwise I don't worry about anything more complicated, at least not while leveling.
If you haven't used macros before they can be a pain to figure out, but you said you're a programmer so you should be fine. As for builds for specific classes, I figure out my macros as I go, I don't use pre-built macros from anywhere. I usually stop and update them every 10-20 levels or so. Get the addon Macro Toolkit if you don't already have it, it lets you shift-click abilities from your spellbooks and makes things much easier. It also lets you use longer macros which can be essential for some classes.
I don't know how much you do or don't know about macros but I can explain how I do my macros if you need an example. I don't play Shaman so can't help there specifically, but I can give you some general info on how I go about it.
Also a great place for multiboxing info is dual-boxing.com if you haven't found it yet. They don't tolerate people using freeservers so if you sign up to ask questions be careful not to reveal that you play on one. Otherwise you can just lurk and learn a lot.
Either they get mad because they get killed by multiboxers easily (they would get killed by any group of players easily, but they still think of a MB team as a single player for some reason) or they're too dumb to understand how multiboxing works and they think it's hacking or botting. Just look at all the salt in this thread: http://forum.warmane.com/showthread.php?t=428405
You'll get some hate while boxing, that's just how it is. You'll never get them to understand so just ignore them.
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Member
Why are you not playing 5 characters? With 5 characters you can do your own dungeons and stuff like that, and then you won't need to level up a 5th when you realize you actually kinda wanted to have a full 5 man team.
A lot of people hate multiboxers, I would not play with with random people. I would say that most of them hate it because of the big multiboxing teams in WG because some spells gets kinda broken in pvp when stacked too many of them.
You do not need to use seperate roles, my favorite team is dk+4 paladins, 5 paladins is also kinda same thing. Can use 5 dps characters with 1 using slightly more tanky gear/talents and still beat all dungeons on heroic.
I use healing on round robin so everyone uses up their mana, so no dedicated healer and can do fine with a retri paladin (can clear heroic dungeons about 1k GS lower than what it takes to queue for random heroics, so it doesn't require overgearing to do it either but of course it depends on what classes are used). This team also never need to drink since retri gets mana back really fast.
Last team I leveled I did 1-16 questing, 16-68 dungeons, 68-80 questing/dungeons mixed and then heroics right away when I hit 80 at ~2k GS. This was with 5 paladins then switched to 1 dk/4 paladins at 62 (because of fast xp dk ends up at 62 I think when they finish starting zone).
I think it took me less than 30 hours to reach level 80 on frostmourne and some of the time was spent afking, travelling and leveling mining on all characters.
For most classes I would use a dedicated tank/healer, shamans do get a lot of health and armor and can heal good so they are similar to paladins. The issue with running 5 shamans would be that you can't queue for random dungeons then without a tank, so maybe 4 shamans and 1 druid since then you can queue for random dungeons, they also work great in pvp together if you want to do it later and it allows you to use ghost wolf/travel form together. Wild Growth is really useful when multiboxing also.
Using different classes and roles makes things more complex and hard to play well, but it also can allow handling certain situations in PVE where you don't want to have 5 characters in melee because of unavoidable AoE or need to have a decurse or dispel.
The addon SuperDuperMacro helps with writing long macros. It has a bigger character limit, easy to run out of characters when writing multiboxing macros (like casting a spell on 5 different target when different modifiers are used, can't fit that in a normal macro).
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Thank you for full answer, I really appriciate it.
I've got a lot of information from your words. So, there aren't much ready macros and ready things because of ideal or good macro is very abstract thing.
I thought it's much harder, maybe because of low gear, low lvl of team(so no quests on locations).In party leveling is easier. But, just interesing, how much time do you usually spend to lvl 1 party?
I think the reason of my deads is that I don't care if 1 twink's hp goes down(I can ress it after battle), and maybe the fact that I don't have good enough gear. Also maybe I try to handle too much) about 5-6 enemies 18-19 lvl vs 16 lvl party is my limit I think, and in the end I should go mele), maybe I need a tank, healers aren't a big deal I think as there is 1 powerful ability and it works well for now.
By the way, server is Lordaeron as I remember it's harder then anothers, but I'm not shure(as haven't play on leach much). Guys, wich are leveling on dungeons, answer, please, if you're here.
It was a pain at the first day, because of a lot of scripting languages, and I was like pfff documentation? guides? I even don't know what is the syntax but I'll read the code and I'll understand how does it work. I've understood after some time but some of code copied from web didn't work for me =// I figured out how to deal with it and made it work, but it took me almost whole day. But, now I have some code, and I think I am able to expand it.
It would be wery nice if you explain how do you bind controls to different specs? I mean, you cant use 123456 on proto war and destro lock at the same time, you need some modifiters, maybe separate some keys completely. I think, it's main issue for me.
Knew about this site, but thank you for warning. Once upon a time I wanted to create an addon(but some time later I found addon with needed functions) and registered on addon maker forum, don't remember the whole name, but it doesn't matter. So I've created a tread with questions(as documentation couldn't answer it), and they were like uhhh 5.4.8? Are you playing on free server KID? We don't like guys like you.. this time we'll forgive you, but, if you'll continue the same way, you'll probably get banned. It was really unexpected for me.
Haven't seen multiboxers on my server at all. I thought it might be the reason, but also thought it can't be because of amount of this kind of people. Just funny, one says "oh maan, u're amazing" but another people just passing by and say "uu u're multiboxer, get lost."
You changed my opinion about multiboxing. I thought it's wery unpopular thing, and actually it is. But there's no much guides not because it's so unpopular, but because there's no right or wrong way to do something.
Also some of written by me may be weird, just sorry, I'm not a master of english). But if you can't understand something - ask.
I see there are some another answers, I'll read it tomorrow, today it's too late.
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So, I thought a little bit about what is my aim, and think that it's opportunity to walk through each dungeon while I can reg LFG on it. I just like dungeons and looking for/trying to create setup that can do it.
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Well, I'll tell you a stroy about it, but after I read your message I thought a little bit about it and think I'll attach 1 more char. So, I wanted to create a guild, couldn't find newbeans wanted to sign charter(idk how). I regged 2 more google accs and warmane accs, and I've already had another 2. It boosted guild creation a little bit, but I couldn't create a 5th one as google wanted to send me a message for my money, and I knew, it might be very expencive for my country. I had 4 accs and then I thought something like "maybe, I should start multiboxing?", read several threads about it, liked it and thought that I should try. On one site I've found a hotkeynet script for 4 player team, also found information that shamans are great for this purposes. It was ideal, and I felt insecure, didn't know if I will be able to do what I want without any help.
Thank you for idea, I'll try to setup it.
Think the next setup will be paladins.
Is it for buffs, or for buissness?
Druid is a nice tank, think I should try this one.
Thanks, I'll download it.
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Member
Hey i have also 4 shaman team from start i used 1xresto and 4x ele then i switched that resto about lvl 30 or 32 when u get CL for better DMG output in dungeons. u can prolly switch it earlyer and heal the tank wo any problems but at start u will have mana issues so bring alot drinks with you . since classic isnt wery ele friendly via gear.i used alot cloth gear. 4x ele one tank can do any OL dung some are harder some easyer i even could solo 4x ele hellfire and zangenmarsh dungs. Now im in northrend and did azjol nerub at lvl 70 4x ele + one tank person. some bosses will get u buttclunch cause ablities adds etc. cleansing tremor totem are ur best friends life savers :D but its doable with CH and lesser heal on tank with all 4. also depends on tank its harder if u get 70 tank . Most easy dungs are with Blood DK cause slefheals u can more concentrate on dps . also im using cast sequence macros on slaves pretty simple and updating them when i get new spells cant w8 to get LBurst.
also they are not very mana wise since 4bolts going to land on 100hp mob but .... also im planning to buy naked 80 shama when i get my 4 to 80 and use my DK 6kgs tank to party . me dumb created one shama on main acc :D. also i have created 10 lvl 1 mages that awaits me but didnt decided yet how i will lvl them 2x 5 team at once :D also they lack mobility in MB but can be wery lethat imho in PVP and PVE . but now i have fun with those shamans . i play on Lordaeron too . Most ppl tanks i encounter in dungs were good ppl asking me questions and so on were entertained how it goes but few left stright at start :D . also u have no problem with horde while questing most will run but some will log 80 to kill you . then i log my 80 and clean the house . but u can even take out fresh 80 at lvl 70 . well thats my observation with my first MB experience so far.
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Banned
I'd prefer a prot paly as tank but druide works too.
In terms of leveling speed the most efficient way is questing which also includes dungeon quests.
1dk 4 ret is the best dungeon setup but shamis are more starter friendly.
Do you also plan to do raids later on?
In this case Spriests are the best comb from what I know because they deal more DPS than ele shamis. I'd box only range DPS in raids and let normal players fill the tank and healer role.
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Sorry for not replying sooner. Macros can be very complex, and they can take into account things like racial spells, trinkets, items in bags, etc., so macros can be highly specific to not just class but spec, talents, race, equipment, items, etc. You can find basic macros online, but more complicated macros are unlikely to be usable. The "ideal" macro is just a macro that suits your needs, and that can be anything.
You're leveling in Wrath where the mobs are harder than MoP, so it will probably take longer in your case, and battles will be more difficult. Approach it the same way you do leveling solo and pull mobs carefully, don't go leeroy jenkins just because you're boxing.
What do you mean no quests? You can do quests with a team, though there's certain kinds you should avoid like gathering quests.
I don't speed-level like some people around here, I take my time and I don't play every day so it's hard to say. If I really pushed it I could probably hit level cap in 2-3 days, but keep in mind I'm on Frostwolf with x7 XP. It would take longer on Lord with x1 XP and harder mobs.
Macros aren't hard but you need to read a guide to really understand them, not just by looking at examples. They have a lot of features and they can have quirks you need to know. It's also possible they could work a bit different on Wrath, so keep that in mind. Read these guides:
https://wow.gamepedia.com/Making_a_macro
https://macro-wow.com/guide/full-lis...-conditionals/
As with everything in multiboxing there is no one way to do macros. You can have very specific macros, or you could do like me and have a few combat macros you can spam and some specific ones for special abilities. If you're doing the same class you could probably do more specific macros easier since you're mostly working with the same abilities on all toons.
In my setup I have all followers set the leader as focus, so all macros target the leader's target using focus by beginning with this:
This does what it says on the tin: The toon targets the focus's target before doing anything else in the macro.Code:/target focustarget
While leveling I like to have "attack macros" that I can just spam. You can put basic rotations in macros with castsequence like this:
Macros can take into account your toon's state and whether you're pressing modifier keys. Here is a full attack macro for my solo rogue:Code:/target focustarget /castsequence reset=combat/target Revealing Strike,Sinister Strike,Sinister Strike
It works top to bottom: If toon is stealthed and I'm pressing shift, it does Pick Pocket and skips the rest. If stealth and no mod keys pressed, Ambush. Otherwise does my usual rotation.Code:/use [stealth,mod:shift]Pick Pocket /use [stealth,nomod]Ambush /castsequence [nostealth]reset=combat/target Revealing Strike,Sinister Strike,Sinister Strike
When classes have resources that build I like to have two attack macros, one that builds the resource and the other that uses it. The above macro builds combo points and this one spends them:
This is important because if a castsequence can't do the next item for some reason, such as you don't have combo points or energy or cooldown or whatever, it just stops there and the toon does nothing until the ability is usable or the castsequence resets, so separating resource building and resource using abilities into two buttons helps prevent toons from getting stuck in their castsequences.Code:/castsequence reset=combat Slice and Dice,Eviscerate
I'm not going to write a huge tutorial on how to use macros because those already exist and you should read the links I put above and experiment with macros at target dummies to see how they work. Instead I'll give you a macro to study from one of my druids since they're the biggest and most complex macros I use.
Macro conditionals also work with forms and stances, so I have a single macro that handles every form of my druid:
Form 1 is BearCode:/target focustarget /castsequence [form:1,harm]reset=target/combat/8 Faerie Swarm,Mangle,Lacerate,Thrash,Maul,Mangle,Thrash,Mangle,Thrash,Mangle,Thrash /use [form:1,harm]Growl /use [form:1]Might of Ursoc /use [form:1,harm]Bear Hug /use [form:3,stealth]Pounce /castsequence [form:3,harm]reset=target/combat Faerie Swarm,Rake,Ferocious Bite,Thrash,Mangle,Mangle,Rake,Ferocious Bite,Thrash /castsequence [noform,harm]reset=target/combat Faerie Swarm,Moonfire,Wrath,Wrath,Wrath,Wrath,Wrath /castsequence [nocombat,help,dead]Revive;[combat,help,dead] Rebirth;[help][@focus,exists]reset=target/combat Rejuvenation,Remove Corruption,Healing Touch,Healing Touch
Form 3 is Cat
Noform is self explanatory
This is an old macro that mixes resource building and spending abilities, but if that's what you want to do it's an example of how you might go about it. The very last line is for healing and reviving so this is also a healing macro when targeting friendlies. What it does depends on whether I'm in combat and whether my target is dead, I'll let you figure it out.
This is obviously big and complex, but the fewer buttons I have to think about pressing the better. I put each toon's attack macros on the same keys and spam them, so they do their rotation no matter what class they are. It might not be perfectly efficient but it gets the job done.
Aside from my spammable attack macros I have some utilities like stealthing, interrupts, buffs, etc.
I always /salute other multiboxers when I see them with their team, but I don't see them often. lol
I think multiboxing is popular but it's also complicated and hard to figure out so many people don't know how to do it. It's not just login and go, you need to know how to setup and use key broadcasting software or something else, then you need to know macros and addons like Jamba to setup your characters, etc. So only people who are computer geeks or very determined can figure out how to do it, and that's probably why more people don't multibox.
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