Multibox beginner resources?

Discussion in 'The Newbie Zone' started by Davall, Feb 24, 2020.

  1. Davall New Member

    Hello,
    I am a long time on again, off again player (from 1999) and after a 6 year hiatus, I am tempted to come back for a while, at least.

    I have zero interest in running 4+ boxes, but I am curious to at least give a 2 box a try. Anyone have any good resources to check out? What I have been able to find isn't particularly encouraging. I would love something simple, yet effective.

    Thanks for any info.
  2. Tucoh Augur

    You can do pretty well 2boxing without much assistance from third party programs. There are no simple third party programs for EQ that will help you, but they (gina, gamparse, inner space boxer, macro quest 2 etc) are very effective.

    I'd recommend choosing 2 coherent classes first (we can help) and just playing without any assistance, but set aside a little bit of time everytime you play to modestly improve your setup.
  3. MasterMagnus The Oracle of AllHigh

    Hmm. Tucoh is a bit modest.

    You don't need anything third party as he says.

    You would do well to find Tucoh's thread about boxing and read up especially on optimizing your /follow setup.

    Two good classes, some macros, built in audio trigger or two and you're good to go for something new to your EQ experience if you've never tried boxing.

    Try 1 or no merc to keep your group XP higher.
  4. CatsPaws No response to your post cause your on ignore

    I am very basic on mine - no macros, no audio triggers etc. I just alt tab between windows or click my little icons on the bottom task bar when I want to go to the other characters. I always log in with a certain order so I know which I am clicking on without any problems. To me it is far more simple this way. But everyone has their own preferences.

    I started out very slow with the main character just kinda hanging out with the other guy. A little auto follow. Maybe throw a hit in now and then. The extra merc was very handy lol.

    Then as I got more comfortable with switching between them and their functions it became very easy. Now I am up to 6 boxing. It grows on you.

    Here are some suggestions

    https://www.almarsguides.com/eq/gettingstarted/boxing/
  5. Davall New Member

    I have several characters to choose from on my main account (93 BL, 85+ Ranger, SK, Mage, Shaman, Monk, 80 Bard 50 druid come to mind), and I figure SK would be the "best" out of those. I mainly just want to figure out something that will allow me to experience a wider range of content vs just moloing with the BL (although now that from what I have read, pets can actually tank for melee now, that might work out fairly ok with a cleric merc).

    The only reason I want to attempt to multibox is because I won't have a lot of time to dedicate to grouping anytime soon most likely, but I would like to not wet myself when I see an occasional named pop up at a camp.

    Maybe eventually I would be willing to move to a third toon, but that would be quite a bit away.
  6. Daedly Augur

    I would say SK, Ranger, merc, merc.
  7. Davall New Member

    I am not so worried about the composition of the small group, just the method to achieve it. I can see myself playing a Druid as a secondary. DoT and forget, and teleports mainly.
  8. SunDrake Augur

    Yep, I'd say just start simple. Load one account, put it in windowed mode, and then load the other. At low levels one character can carry another character entirely, so you won't be dependent on getting much out of your secondary character at first. Just let it follow your main around. Mob HP is so low during the first few levels that creatures will likely die before you can even set both characters to attacking. As mob HP increases, work on getting the secondary character more and more engaged with each fight. After some time doing this, you will start to see things that you could improve upon. Keep making those improvements and eventually you'd understand what software might could offer to improve your gameplay. But with just two characters you can get a whole lot of mileage out of just using Alt Tab to swap windows. Or set up a 2nd display and keep them both on screen.
  9. Davall New Member

    Unfortunately, multiple screens aren't a reality with my play setup. I have a nice gaming laptop that sits with me in my recliner as I never want to sit in a computer chair again. I have thought about alt-tabbing, but it seems clunky.

    I *should* just try moloing with my BL and see how the pet tanking does. But I have a feeling I will get impatient about the limitations. Ugh.
  10. Razorfall Augur

    Anything + Bard is a great combo and can easily be boxed. I would definitely lean more on bst/bard or sk/bard.
    Tucoh likes this.
  11. Petalonyx Augur

    Stick with a mage or beast and use the pet tank, IMO. With proper support and EM earrings, they will tank current content named for you. Pet tanks also allow you to focus on boxed chars more if you want.

    Druid or bard is okay if you want utility on your second account. They also don't take much effort to box.
  12. SunDrake Augur

    I understand that. When I came back I used a laptop with a lap desk exclusively. You might could work something out without sitting at a desk, though. Say if your recliner was within view of your television. This is only if viewing both character screens is essential to you. You can manage a pretty smooth level of operation using Alt Tab with just two characters, though.
  13. Daedly Augur


    It takes some getting used to, but I would say get a program that can do key broadcasting. So that you can send commands to EQ instances that are in the background. If takes some work to get setup, but it pays off. I run all of my characters below from my SK's screen using autofollow and key broadcasting.

    I basically used my number pad keys in that when I hit one, it sends that same key command to all accounts. Then I have different ingams macros that each number pad keys is bound to.
    Num 1 is my command for them all to assist
    Num 0 is the spam key for all of them
    Num4 activates all their epics
    Num2 activates burn abilities
    Num5 does short duration rebuffing
    Num7 does a second short duration rebuff
    Num8 does a third short duration rebuff
    Num . does an autofollow target and autofollow my tank macro

    I also suggest getting a gaming mouse. I picked up a decent one for 30 and a decent wireless for 50. They allow to set a repeat command. So instead of destroying my Num0 on my laptop from hitting it so much, I just hit a button on my mouse and it will toggle a command to press Num0 repeatedly with about half a second between each press.