sk/cle/mag/brd will be similar to sk/cle/mag/ber. Berserkers are great DPS, but bards just do so much for your mage and SK's DPS, while increasing your group's survivability to where you'll be able to use 2H on your SK more often. Berserkers will give ADPS to your SK and mage pets too. Note that sk/cle/mag/dru + enc (your buddy) should be solid DPS, and that the kael mission is all about control and not DPSing the avatar enough to get more adds than you want to get.
Yeah, once the Mage gets more levels and AAs I think we can do the mission fine with what we already had. My druid is maxed so was looking at a bard or berserker to level with the Mage to make it even better.
I box without external software, and have found that mouse clicking on tab of the character I need and then using hotkey is much faster. I can cycle through all my boxes very quickly this way, especially if they only have one macro to hit (99% of the time). It also allows you to go straight to the class you need instead of cycling through them. It's a bit to get used to, but once you do it's much faster. For instance I have all the actions that happen every fight bound to the a key (I changed my movement keys). So when I cycle through my boxes, I just mouse the tab and hit a and move on. I can get through all of my boxes in under a second or so. Of course, anything that will trigger keystrokes across all boxes is ultimately going to be "better", but I've never really felt the need for it. The group you have is great, nothing wrong with that combo. One of the problems with boxing, is if you're going to be the real main healer, it becomes difficult to focus as well on DPS classes. Luckily for you, your DPS classes are really easy to chain macro. Not sure how you have things set up, but macros that have multiple casts in them with /pause commands might really help you out. You are probably already doing that so... You're also going to run into the problem of SKs being a really "busy" class to focus on, which makes good macros even more important. Warriors have much better 'afk agro', Sks have to be working at it a bit more. This can be a real problem if you are also having to spend a lot of time on the healer. Some simple solutions are...for example on your mage: 1. /pause 4, /assist *skname* 2. /pause 50 cast 1 (nuke), /pet attack 3. /pause 50 cast 1 4. /pause 50 cast 1 5. /sit (if not on a mount) Been a bit since I did a lot of macro making, but that's the general idea. Try to reduce the number of times you have to pay attention to a given class when every fight happens more or less the same way. If you already know and do all this stuff I apologize!
Posting things like your example macro is helpful even if the person already knew it themselves. There are many others looking to improve boxing and is a great help.
I gotta love my SK. Hit the right buttons and you just bought time for the bard or enchanter to AE mez and suddenly an "oh crap" moment becomes just another game of whack-a-mole. The few times they've coded the mobs as non-mezzable the shaman steps up and does his paralysis trick and once again it's back to normal stuff. And if they can't be mezzed or punted then the cleric steps in and earns his keep for a change (fat, lazy bastage that he is!). [All because with the correct setup in ISB you can control all your chars no matter which char you happen to need to run directly!]
so im doing what everyone is doing and reading as I spacejam out to patch day i suppose. I personally 3 box, and within that 3 box I have way way too many options but over the years I adjusted and built up a big matrix of 3 box. acc01 zerk01 clr03 chanter warr mage01 nec bard03 acc02 mage02 raid bard raid shaman, dumb i should moved the shaman to acc03 but clr02 zerk02 acc03 clr01, past raid but non active atm pally mage02, part time raid bst bard02 shaman02, project zerk druid This was overnight or planned, just build as you go. Classes peak and nerf, or PL a friend and get the idea you need another option. The weave of options is pretty crazy. I enjoy mage mage mage til its too boring. Then i can move mage bard mage, or warr bard shaman, or chanter bard mage, or clr clr clr if stupid bored. past 2 months im exploring warr bard bard with 3 merc, i still got a ways but i like the idea. Im tab clicker with multi hotkey, simialr hotkeys with different delays and often run 7 hotkey bars. When im on, it works well and get stuff done. When just playing 1 account its most fun if content is super hard and teammates want to focus. Bit off topic. I kinda feel i should make sk, but i never have, i favor the warrior, i really like warrior bard combo, and warr bard shaman is tough to beat, sometime i flop warr bard mage, well just cause selo dual with coh is crazy good. Not a fan of [Unmentioned 3rd Party Software] or other programs, personal feel it crosses a line, maybe legal by game standard just not personal code. The result benefits gains with programs can not done without them, so that reason person use them. I get it. And sometimes i 2 box with baz mule, or just 2. Back in cotf days i loaded 3 ftp clrs or 3 more ftp mages just cause but that stuff is retired. Key is have fun, do what works for you, and if pushing it with third party program just be nice to other players, if that is followed we can get along 99% of time. Your fun may lead someone else having fun too. Social gains and adventures is what recall atleast to me, people over content, but were there for content, so maybe i make no sense. Any box set will normally use pc tank, some dps, cc/healer, pick what you like and have fun. Options are ok as your never locked into just 1. be safe
I've never used ISB but I'm considering it. If I were to box a mage this way, wouldn't I need to constantly be mashing? Does it make more sense to have a couple hotkeys for the mage so I don't have to mash? I'm just trying to see if I understand this correctly.
I use 2 main hotkeys with my mage setup when im using Inner space main hotkey is my DD setup which casts my 3 or 4 DD's all in one macro the other Hotkey is for my RAin spells .. and of course I have a hotkey that targets/assists my main puller or tank and casts AA malo and swarm pets if its a long fight i'll just cntrl alt over to mage window and recast swarm , but usually those few hotkeys is enough to get the job done .. I can also broadcast the swarm spell if need to .. I try to make as many of my hotkeys useful between all of my boxed toons if i can .. I have my 9 key setup to /tar /assist MA /pet attack cast any AA's for malo or slow and for mage cast swarm . the 5 6 7 keys are for mage DD's | Rain spells and any other box toon that has DD's or dots I can also make them on the same keys so for example mage's DDs on 5 key necro's dots on 5 key and wizy DDs on 5 key so i hit that 1 key and all 3 toons cast their 3 to 5 dots or DD's at mob hit the #6 key and they all 3 cast another volley of course you have to wait a few seconds for the first macro to get done . all my groups have been caster heavy due to I dont really want to get into multiple melee in the group and have to deal with push and positioning all the time plus there are alot more AA and combat discs to get the dps required out of a melee vs a caster i feel .. I could be wrong but thats just my experience.
....yet people will come on here and say this program in question, has NO automation and is legit. Sure uh huh. I'm also fairly sure this thread was instigated from the maker of said software. I wish they would delete stuff like this before people start thinking that yes it's ok to "kind of cheat" because they're either 1) lazy or 2) bad at the game
about same for me , but i usually send pet and start the hotkey with aa malo , casting servant pet ,and i don't use /sit since i try to chain kill non stop , and melee while having shaman roar proc running . adding some decent dps for caster group since they can crit it over 100k damage in between casts on all toons. same for me. i box 5 and no way i can click all toons hotkeys in 1 sec , and i am pretty used to it and can't get really faster than that. it can take me 1 sec per toon tho, to click the eq icon on taskbar and click the hotkey . where i can struggle not using is_boxer is if there is a task requiring dps check or complicated emotes. when ROS expansion was current i was not able to * box * any of the hero mission there ( after fell foliage nerf ). but i boxed all TBL tasks, ** minus trial of ashes ** / missions pretty easily . { strange magic task was tough tho at that time }
I started the thread. Check my post history, I have no affiliation with any software maker/owner/developer. I am an active duty Marine, I don't have time for that. I wish I did, the Corps pays peanuts. The thread was started as my pondering of whether I had the best four box group amongst the characters I had available, not whether I should alt-tab or use software that allowed me to keybind and multicast. I reached out to our community, which is filled with people who have found and implemented efficiencies. That was just input from people who have seen improvements in the areas I was asking about through the use of said program. The Devs have been pretty clear about the software in question. I'm not concerned about that, nor am I concerned that anyone might think I'm a cheater or lazy. I am interested in making the game easier for me to play with four characters, whether that be through hotkeys, sustained and burn dps suggestions/rotations, or allowed software. Thanks for your input.
I've had good success on Phinny with a Ranger/Mage/Ench/Druid box set. Its a bit light on tanking, I use a merc warrior on trash and swap to a second cleric merc or DPS on named and use mage pet to tank, it seems to work out ok. I've been able to do 98% of group missions so far with this bunch, and I do not consider myself an "expert" boxer. I'm on a true box server of course so have 4 PC's set up around me and have macros set up for all my guys except my ranger (raid geared) that I control directly. I just have to hit two keys for each, 1 is assist and pet attack and two is 5 spells. Most trash is dead by the time the 5th spell goes off, I also have a 3rd key for named with a more mana intensive set of nukes that i will hit repeatedly until the named is dead. Pretty easy to set up and no software needed to just reach over and hit 1, 2 on 3 keyboards.
Sk, Bard, Sham, Berserker, Berserker, Berserker would be most ideal.. (EDIT) That is if you wish to increase dps.
For pure DPS, yes. But having 4 melee characters in your group is sometimes a pita. On EQ, there is no Interact With Target, so when you're running , it's fine with the characters on /follow if follow doesn't break, and if none of the followers goes nuts for whatever reason (lag spike , wall corner, stupid rock or tree, etc), with some practice. But when you're pulling to a static camp, it's often a pain, because often, you need to cycle through ALL of your melee characters sessions, and put them in range, or with the right angle, adjust the range etc. Zerker has a leap, but it doesn't rotate the character accordingly, so you can be in range ... but not facing the target correctly. (and sometimes, leap fails). The dps of a melee group is amazing, but a caster group is way more relaxing. unless you're using «the other botting software» with its «kiss something» plugin. With husband, we're boxing a melee heavy group ... when we box together, 3 characters each, so it's way easier to manage. But boxing 6 characters with 4 melee (even 5 with the tank) alone? It drives me nuts pretty fast on EQ1, cycling is exhausting.
The buety of the set up is that you have a shaman .. Thus all toons have equivalent run speed via the Cheeta buff .. Thus Auto Follow never breaks (least wise not in area's where there's no geometry obstacles in the way) And with that set up I do not understand how or why .. the Sk's not pulling ? Thus negating any real pain at all ? For crowd control you have VP and the AE VP (forget name) of the shammy .. thus negating the need / requirement to tank multiples per pull .. I myself use warrior, sham, druid, bad, ber, ber, ber .. combo .. this is my melee crew. My range crew is same setup except I also use a chanter , wiz, wiz, wiz combo.. I alt / tab cycle threw an have all toons doing their thing in less then 1 in game tick .. Socially built hotkeys are a godsend for boxing this way. I do not think I could do it if not for those very valuble keys.
I have only been playing the zerkers now since tbl.. but on three zerkers in that time I've never seen a leap fail. I pull with whullf my warrior almost exclusively.. and I set my toons up after the first pull to see exactly what pathing does to mods .. then I set a campfire as a visual placement of where to pull to each subsequent time.. I've yet to have a hard time doing this setup breaking camps or holding camps.
2 days ago, I was in the coldain caves, in GD ... You know, THAT place, that nasty place, for the dervishes. This silly place where devs decided that physics, geometry, and sanity, were not a part of this world anymore. Add a pinch of lag to that, because even on a last /pick avaible, 36 players was obviously already too much load for their hamster powered instance server (/boggles), and here we go : the most irritating place ever with a melee group lol. Mobs running at lightning speed, rubber banding, warping in your back, and NEVER stopping at the right place. One second please, let me yell one more time ... Ah, I feel better now
