My multi-boxing experience

[MTBoxer]

Inspired by some of the posts here, I wanted to share my multi-boxing experiences.  Hopefully this helps folks, and if anybody has any input or ideas (other than the fact that I need to get a life :P) please post.

I started boxing about a year ago when I was camping lucid shards for my guild for VT.  I was duoing with what I had readily available, my wizard and my enchanter.  This worked pretty well for just about any VT shard camp (wizard nuke, chanter time the root to land right after the wizards nuke lands, repeat).  Towards the end of these camps when I was getting shards for guildies while they were off-line or camping for coth-bots, I brought a coth-bot-mage to-be into the group as well, so I ended up 3-boxing rather awkwardly at times, but I kept in mind the raw DPS I was witnessing for later on...

Inspired by this (and the fact that my chanter got some much-needed levels in the process of getting shards), I tried to box PoS for some of the parts for my chanter's BoT key.  Summoning giants and silk classes dont mix well, and I couldn't find a good way to fix this without adding toons.  So, about the same time I got my hands on a level 65 warrior that I wanted to level, and I already had access to a level 60 cleric.  I wanted to get my warrior his anger 3 aug and nobody was really doing ldons, so I started 4-boxing ldons, with a monk friend of mine helping to pull sometimes.  Normal LDoNs were doable, but I hated how I had to move all the toons up constantly, and paci-pulling with the chanter was a bit touch and go.  It was also becoming apparent that I would need to suppliment the wizards dps in order to really make the LDoNs move, so I added a mage to the group.  I settled on a mage because it was similar to the wizard, and it would also require very little baby-sitting to get a decent amount of out-put from it.  A ranger or rogue would have required to much work to position on the mob.  I also swapped out the level sixty cleric for a much more powerful level 70 cleric.  Of course, now I was up to five toons and it was becoming a bit of a challenging situation to find computer to run them all and manipulate them all.  Inspired by Bulge's post here, I started using the Nostromo N52.  After I worked out the kinks, it got much easier. 

Realizing that I would probably go insane repeately doing ldons (and I think at this time DoN was coming out and crystals for a hate aug seemed like the way to go), and wanting to get in on some of the rune and aug action I saw from guildies, I decided to try RCoD.  After a few false starts, it started to go very smooth, and this is were I did a lot of my mult-boxing, moving from camp to camp as the warrior moved up in level and his tanking ability increased (and my boxing ability!).   RCoD became home for my five-boxed group.

Eventually I started to find that my cleric was FM after every fight and I was only becoming limited by the number of mobs I could paci-pull, so I thougth I would give MPG a shot.  This was shortly after they upped the lvl 70 and 69 rune drop rate in MPG and RSS, and some of the xp groups I had done with guildies on my wizard had led me to conclude that boxing there would lead to some much-needed runes.  After initially trying some mobs at the zone-in, I moved to the BH/TF camp where the mobs are all about level 69.  This was prior to the server merge, and MPG was quiet most of the day on my server.  Blind Hunter was dropping level 70 runes like candy and I was getting some great AAXP for my group at this time.  I then moved on to Odi, then Ghio.  By this point my server merged and MPG got MUCH busier.

This brings me to one of my own ethical points of boxing - I dont like boxing a camp that deprives fully-manned toons the chance of a camp.  I'm not preaching, I dont mind if other people do it, but to me, if I am going to box, I don't like to take up a popular camp basically solo.  When the servers merged, the BH, Odi, Ghio and DEK camps were camped almost around the clock, and I stopped boxing if these weren't available, and if I were doing them and camp checks indicated that folks were looking for one of those camps, I gave them up.  This obviously slowed things down for me considerably.  I then started to search for some other camps in MPG, eventually settling on Bluespark by the Fear trial.  I could pull just the named or PH all day long if I wanted to, and the traffic through the area was pretty light.  He also dropped some decent gear.  Eventually I moved on to the Tactics camp, where I had access to the Neuromancer and Sentinel Soifet.  That camp has since become much more popular, and I would like to think I had something to do with it :P

As it stands now, my boxed group looks like this (no magelos atm, just vital stats, buffed)

70 Warrior - 200 AAs, 11.7k HPs, 2038 AC, all Omens defensives finally done
70 Wizard - 444 AAs, 7.4k HPs, 8.7k mana
70 Enchanter - 200 AAs, 6.5k HPs, 6.5k mana
70 Cleric - 455 AAs, 7k HPs, 7k mana
70 Mage - 550 AAs, 7.5k HPs,  7.5k mana (has since been moved out of the group because he has enough AAs and I have others that need AAs)
70 Necro - 200 AAs, 7k HPs, 7k mana
70 Bard - 350 AAs, 8k HPs, 7k mana

Yes, that's 7 toons, the mage is kept out of the group most of the time and just hangs around for DPS.

The warrior, bard, necro, wizard, cleric, and mage are all run from three computers spread out in the following fashion, all on one monitor with a KVM switch.  Where I have multiple toons I use WinEQ 2.  Nostromo N52s are used on two of the computers to send commands while I am looking at the main computer (thanks Bulge!)

The Mage, Wizard and Necro are all on the same box and are run with a Nostromo, since they all require the least attention.  I rarely look at this screen.  I like my DPS to be spell or pet-based, since you dont have to rely on positioning them like you would a rogue.  The mage and necro pets also taught me how to handle push on my warrior :P   The necro mostly uses the pet and mind wrack, as MPG mobs are very draining on my mage and wizard's mana.  Even avoiding long nostromo macros, having all 3 on the same box can get a bit unwieldy, as sometimes a nostromo macro can tie up a toon a bit and I may mis-time a keypress and interupt a macro in progress, so you really need to learn to get a feel for how long these macros take to execute.  You also learn to watch for certain lines of text on the screen you are watching to know that everything is ok on another screen - having the Spell awareness LAA is critcal for me to immediately know if the Nostromo has sent the right command to the right session.  Even tuning the appropriate delays between keystrokes, sometimes EQ seems to have a problem with what the Nostromo is feeding it, so having three toons that I can do without for a few seconds while I try to get things here back in order is ok.  As a rule, put in as long of a delay between key presses as possible.  No toon on this box is relied up for a heal or slow or CC, (although the wizard is for snare).  This box can go totally haywire and I am ok for a bit until I get it figured out mid-battle. 

The cleric is controlled via a nostromo on a separate computer.  I don't run any other toons on this box because I always want to ensure that the cleric will be available for a quick heal, DI, or to handle rampage.  This one is pretty straight-forward. 

The warrior and bard are on the third box, though I spend 99% of my time on the warrior.  The bard is there to play aoe mana most of the time, since mage and wizard mana is still an issue.  He is also good for pulling some of the more complicated pulls.  The real reason I have been getting used to using him is for resist songs (see below).

On a totally separate computer and monitor off the KVM switch I have my enchanter.  This may seem a strange choice of toon to put here (I have read a lot about liking to have the cleric on a separate screen), but this works well for me, probably due to how my boxing started.  I like being able to see the battle from a 2nd screen, and I also like having my slower and CC readily available without switching screens.  Most functions could probably be handled in the background, but I've gotten used to playing this way.

For me, multi-boxing a camp is like learning to play a specific song on a piano - change the camp, you need to learn an entirely new song, but the instrument stays the same.  Once you get it down you can almost do it in your sleep, but it can take a bit to learn a camp once you get there.  Once you have it down, its very rhythmatic, actually, and I often find myself feeling like I am playing an instrument as all the toons work in unison to take down a mob. 

I also have friend and guildies ask to join me.  This can get pretty touch-and-go too.  The macros are fairly complex, and folks need to understand that they have to be responsible for their own heals, and my pace can be a little slow at times.  To me, the beauty of multi-boxing is that I can do things I normally wouln't be able to do.  My work hours and familiy life hours prohibit me from playing during the times that most of my friend are on, and often-times I need to go afk to take a phone call for work.  In a normal XP group the AFKs (both in frequency and duration) are so much that they wouldn't be tolerated by most groups.  In a multi-boxed setup, all I need is a safe place to sit while I kill PHs in between getting ready for work in the morning, or wait for a baby to wait up screaming late at night. 

I do want to go out of my way to thank Bulge for posting the inspiration for my set-up here.  Without that inspiration I probably would have quit EQ long ago out of frustration and boredom.  I do try to group with friends and guildies when I know my schedule and play-times will permit it, but multi-boxing gives me a way to keep up with folks.

Where to now?  I have been reading some stuff on here that has inspired me.  My cleric is once again ending up about FM when I do a pass through my current MPG camp, which is usually my indicator that I am ready to handle more.  When I got my hands on the bard, the initial idea was to have him for resist songs for the charm-camps in RSS, and bham's post here lead me to conclude I probably can do it with this group, assuming that they aren't as perma-camped as they seem on my server.  The idea of being able to box the Fear MPG trial is also interesting, although I can not imagine how I could handle all of the targetting of mobs to fear them and mezz on the rest, so I will be experimenting with that, or looking for suggestions.  I will likely finish off my runes in MPG before moving on to RSS, but that is probably only about a week away at my current pace.

In any event, I figured I would post my experiences here on multi-boxing.  Hopefully folks will benefit from it.  If you made it this far down in the post, you are a very patient reader indeed!

-MTBoxer

[bham]

That is a pretty damn impressive set up mate.

I think you should be able to handle RSS no probs with your tank / cleric combo.

Balancer / RS camp should be your first stop as it is the easiest to pull and has a proper safe spot. With your DPS you should be able to grab the Venomtail PH as well.

The stair camp with its 4 PHs is another possibilty. If you can do every pull with the bard you should be able to get through them all before repops.

Im sure how high your resists need to be to stop the charm. It might be on allahs somewhere. My usual plan is to have everyone go max DPS and even if a couple get charmed along the way the cleric survives anyway and can rez...

Ice side would be easily doable with that group if they were all player by individuals, but boxing in Ice side is a nightmare. If there is a single safe spot anywhere in all of ice side I have never found it. You would need to be quick on the mez and otherwise faultless to survive there long term.

Because you have multiple options for fear (chanter, bard, cleric, necro) and mez (bard, chanter), It might actually be possible to box fear. The tanking and healing in fear trial is by far the easiest of any trial. If you could manage the CC as well you could do it. If you know a good enchanter (other than your own) I have no doubt you could play 5 guys with the chanter as the 6th.

You may be able to get away with the bard just sitting in the middle of camp playing AE fear non-stop. Then your chanter just has to keep any extra fearless mobs mezzed while the warrior, wizard and mage burn down 1 fearless at a time...

Another option is Destruction. In this trial you dont CC anything, you just grab aggro with the tank and burn it down fast, sometimes with 2 mobs on the tank at a time. Im not sure if your tank can handle the master with only 1 healer though.

You havent listed the mana regen of your casters, is it all capped or close to? In 15 min MPG trials mana regen is quite important.

Another decent camp in MPG that is rarely done is Hunter Lesiov, Lieutenant Commander Someoneorother and Cleaver Wiex. Unfortunately they mostly drop chain or hybrid only gear which wont help you much. Also theres no real safe spot to pull to, you move up after each kill.

Sorry for the disorganised post, hopefully theres some useful stuff for ya...

[MTBoxer]

Thanks for the advice bham, this is great input. 

The charm resist check is -350 against magic.  The warrior can get up to 329 before any buffs and bard song I can probably max out to 533.  Probably not enough though, heh.

Bard aoe fear seems like it would make fear almost trivial, I'll need to try that out and see if it makes it as easy as it sounds.  Then it's just a case of keeping the tank up and mezzing the other unfearables with the chanter.   I'm thinking of having a friend box the warrior and cleric in and focus on the unfearables while I handle CC and the fearables with the others.

Regarding destruction, I think you are right, my warrior probably couldn't handle that yet, but maybe in time.

Mana regen on the casters:
Cleric - 20 FT and MC3
Chanter - 15 FT and MC3
Wizard - 20 FT and MC3 and omens familiar is another 10 (technically 33 according to magelo, but it never feels like it)
Mage - 11 FT
Bard - 16 FT
Necro - 15 FT

So the mana regen on the wizard and cleric is about where I need it to be, the mage really needs some work in that department.  That can probably be cured with a couple DoN augs. 

I read up on that camp you mentioned, the gear didn't seem like it was much to go after, and like you said, there's no real safe spot.  I'm tempted to try to find a safe spot for that named on the way to Arcana, but after scouting it out, I don't think there is one.  It's probably time to move on to RSS, 10 hours at the tactics camp over the last few days with no lvl 69 and 70 runes means its time to move on because the RNG is frowning on me.

[Bulge]

I do want to go out of my way to thank Bulge for posting the inspiration for my set-up here.  Without that inspiration I probably would have quit EQ long ago out of frustration and boredom.  I do try to group with friends and guildies when I know my schedule and play-times will permit it, but multi-boxing gives me a way to keep up with folks.

-MTBoxer

I am glad I could inspire someone with my multi-boxing habits. :D  That is a very impressive group you have there. Boxing has definately prolonged my interest in EQ too, but unfortunately I  do not have much play-time and therefore often can not find the gumption to fire up the whole kaboodle and do the Multi-box thing for the 1 hour I have left in the day.  So they are all still pretty gimp. I find it more fun to roll an entire new group on all 6 accounts, for instance 1 Ogre male Shadowknight and then 5 female High Elf Wizards, and give them funny names (the Ogre I call Fatty, the ladies are called Skinny, Slender, Slim and such names, I use Dutch names so they are not taken) and then fool around a bit in Greater Faydark. ;) Also I get bored really fast so I am done with DoN missions, I was already done with LDoN's and hunting Nameds in OoW does not sound like much fun either. I hate camping or doing the same thing for a lot of times. So I did a bit of tradeskills and do the Bazaar Selling game, which is is now pretty much all the playing I do in EQ. Maybe vendormining a bit and else, I log off and go hang out on the Vanguard Forums.  I guess I am just in one of those EQ-dips, of which I have had several ion the last 6+ years. So nothing new for me. Ok so this has nothing to do with boxing, but you got me talking. I would have answered sooner but I had a login problem that is now solved, fortunately.

I still love to read all the stories, so keep em coming. :)

[Chickennuggets]

Quick question about this.  I currently duo a 66 bst with 66 wiz, and have a little baby mage and cleric combo I play when I don't have a lot of time.  Well... just got a new computer!!!  So I am going to work on levelling up the babies to four box on two machines.

My question is this... I do have to go out and buy a new set of software for my new machine don't I?  Or is there a way to transfer it over?  I started my second account so long ago that i honestly don't remember anymore.  I need a key code for each new account anyway right?

[Lizsolo]

Each account needs keys, yes.   So, if you're already playing 4 accounts I'd wager that you have that part covered.  :-)   

Just copy over the EQ directory.  The installers don't do any "magic".  I've safely copied my EQ directories from one machine to the next with no issues many times.  Oh, just be aware that they EQ dir is huge.