Dual Boxing...What games? What is your experience?

Bachaydn

I'm interested in general to hear about what games people have dual boxed and if anyone has a favorite MMORPG which lends itself well to dual boxing.

Just to clarify I mean to say one person playing two accounts at that same time.

I have dual boxed in EQ1, EQ2, WoW, Vanguard and now LoTRO.

I use a Belkin n52 gamepad for both accounts and have found that is really the only way to play many of these games.

I've generally done the offensive fighter / healer duo with moderate success.

EQ1 - Great for dual boxing but was just getting old after so many years. Druid / Beast Master. This combo was probably the best I've had of any of the games I played and the BM class is by far the most fun of any game bar none. If the game and graphics had not gotten so dated I would likely still be there.

EQ2 - Probably my best duo box experience, and although I still got my butt handed to me in some cases I always could do much more with two than I ever could with one. I often regret leaving this game. Fury / Bruiser combo which seems very viable. There are so many good choices of box combo's in this game and it was a struggle just to pick two classes and start them. I've always wondered what path I would be on with a different combo choice.

WoW - I just never got into boxing in the game. I attempted play on a PvP server and it really seems to be a mistake trying to play two accounts when on PvP. The game itself just didn't do it for me and I ultimately moved back to EQ2. Priest / Warrior here and the play was simply a grind. I know WoW is supposed to be an easy sail to lvl 60 or 70 but it seemed to take forever with this combo to get into the 30's. I would never suggest boxing on a PvP server unless you are really good. I was much less effective against another live player than any PvE scenario.

Vanguard - I left EQ2 for this game and although duo boxing was viable it was difficult to play the classes at 50% their effectiveness. There was so much potential in this game but I digress. I often felt my solo play would have been equal to the duel box in many situations. Due to the complexity of the game I just couldn't get the 2 accounts going smoothly.  BloodMage / Shadowknight (Can't recall the actuall class name but this is close). There really seemed to be a lot going on with both toons and it was very difficult to manage them effectively. The depth of these classes was somewhat profound and I would be very interested to know if someone is boxing successfully in this game and how they are doing it.

LoTRO - My present MMORPG and in many ways a very difficult game to box. I really enjoy the content being a big Tolkein fan but the lack of any type of viable macro's makes boxing in this game very tough. I use the game pads to solve this issues but I would be very interested to hear how other people accomplish this goal. Does anyone have any raid experience running a boxed team? Minstrel / Champion combo. I really, really wish there was more variety in classes in this game but I guess it is both a strength and a weakness. I considered the warrior / minstrel but after my WoW experience I suspected leveling would be too slow with low DPS from the warrior. Any class combo recommendations here?

I'm really interested in what games people box in and just how far you have gone. My highest toons were certainly EQ1 (60's) and EQ2 (high 50's). I grouped rarely and I always felt that I was a liability rather than an assest as a boxer. I always informed folks in groups and sometimes met with some pretty stiff resistance and commentary.

I think EQ2 has to be my favorite and I may return once the next expansion comes out to just give it a try.

Any thoughts on Tabula Rasa? Tried a bit of solo content and it seems this may be a very tough game to box.

 

Thanks for any thoughts and input.

truenorthbg

EQ 1

I box here today:  Shaman and Monk. [The reason I am not boxing a Beastlord is that I already have a Beastlord on the Monk account and wanted to play EQ 1 from the start for fun.]  I agree with OP, the Beastlord is in general the best EQ 1 class and the best to box with as well.  I have a looooong history of duoing, trioing, and quading in EQ 1.  Many various combinations worked very well. 

 

If anyone asked me how to box well in this game, I would probably suggest Beastlord and Druid combo.

EQ 2

I do not box there.  After reading your post, I think I might start. 

 

Vanguard

I do not know how you do it.  I knew someone who duoed a DK and a Shaman, and he was a powerhouse.  However, he used two PCs.  I had no interest in boxing Vanguard, for varied reasons.

WoW

No boxing.  No interest.  No need. 

 

 

 

Sheista

I've only ever boxed in EQ1.  All of us in our group of friends did.  We'd often run 3 accounts on each computer or spread them out across 3 or 4 computers, and we would run through the older raid dungeons on our own.  It was great, because we had some decked out characters.  3 of the chars had their 2.0s, a ranger, warrior, and bard.. and then we had the cleric, enchanter, mage, an SK, another cleric that we'd use sometimes, as well as a necro every once in a while.  All of them 65-70, mostly 70s.  The bard and ranger were decked out, and the warrior was by far the coolest, with full top tier raid gear and 2.0, as he was the main tank of PDM on Zek.

Don't play anymore, but it was pretty fun times.  Even better PvPing while boxing.

Taera

EQ1

During raids, if we're short on healers, I'll dual box two clerics in a cheal chain.  Cheal incoming on Tank, me you're next! :P

Symone

Originally posted by Bachaydn


I'
LoTRO - My present MMORPG and in many ways a very difficult game to box. I really enjoy the content being a big Tolkein fan but the lack of any type of viable macro's makes boxing in this game very tough. I use the game pads to solve this issues but I would be very interested to hear how other people accomplish this goal. Does anyone have any raid experience running a boxed team? Minstrel / Champion combo. I really, really wish there was more variety in classes in this game but I guess it is both a strength and a weakness. I considered the warrior / minstrel but after my WoW experience I suspected leveling would be too slow with low DPS from the warrior. Any class combo recommendations here?
 
Thanks for any thoughts and input.

 

I played with a guy who 2 boxed Minstrel/Champion to 50, infact he was the first 50's on our server.. he did fine grinding and such though it was kind of annoying to group with him. He said he used 2 keyboards.

Czzarre

Back in the day. DAOC was a dual boxer's dream.

Screwed it up for the rest of us. I hate any dual box player in a PvP enviornment. It does beg the question about the upcoming MMORPGS and what they will do about it (if anything)

Torrential

Confetti

Lineage 2 is one of the biggest dual boxing games ever. Extremely easy to do and you don't need a high end comp. to do it. Basically get your main fighter, then dual box a Prophet for the best buffs and Shillen Elder for the other most important buffs. You'll level up 50+ in literally days, it's insane.



However, getting a high level prophet + shillen elder is tough on its own. =( But still, L2 + Dual Boxing = Win.

CaesarsGhost

Did much of it in WoW, EvE (dual box, dual window per box), Vanguard, Guild Wars, Anarchy Online... basically all the games I ever played... found a great program for it called Multiplicity on StarDock.  If you haven't ever used it, check it out... will change your dual-boxing experience forever.

 

I use it in regular windows, not just gaming.  My 3rd computer is for chat.  Then 4th is for windows to better surf quest information.

CleffyII

One time I took an existing bot, and altered its programming.  So I had 13 bots running and one main, the 13 bots would follow around my main casting support skills.  What made this particularly funny was I named my Main, ***** the Great; and everytime I killed a monster all the bots would go excellent kill my excellency, and your displays of power are truly magnifecent.

fulmanfu

i used to run 2 on DaoC because i sucked and couldn't compete on a level playing field.
then everyone starting running 2, and since i coudln't make friends i started running 3.
then 3 became the 'in' thing, and i couldn't compete against them because i didn't have the advantage and i still couldn't make friends probably because only person i talked to was the people i grouped with, which were me.
so now i run an entire 8 man team.

dirtyjoe78

Originally posted by Confetti


Lineage 2 is one of the biggest dual boxing games ever. Extremely easy to do and you don't need a high end comp. to do it. Basically get your main fighter, then dual box a Prophet for the best buffs and Shillen Elder for the other most important buffs. You'll level up 50+ in literally days, it's insane.



However, getting a high level prophet + shillen elder is tough on its own. =( But still, L2 + Dual Boxing = Win.

Lineage 2 definately is the dual box king,  although it should be mentioned that you only have oto really play one account since ther is software to run the rest of them for you.  I do not know many people that do not dual box this game and i know even less that do not bot.  Hell there were a few people that i knew that ran 9 accounts (full party).  Botting ruined this game and NCsoft North Americas lack of give a crap to do anything about it.

Bachaydn

Thanks for the replies all.

 

It's very interesting how few duo on LoTRO and even more so that very few seem to duo on EQ2.  The game really lends itself well to boxing.

 

As far as boxing Vanguard it's extemely challenging and a gamepad is mandatory or visual trigger program. It was so difficult that the fun of the content was lost and the complexity led to poor group play with others. 

 

I'm interested to see what AoC and WAR offer for boxing. I suspect AoC will be extremely challenging to box given the combat system. Unsure about WAR.

 

 

brostyn

EQ and DAoC. In EQ I've 4-boxed. In EQ I couldn't really play unless I at least dual boxed, because I found playing with one toon was just too boring. My best 4 boxing was a beastlord, cleric, necro, and bard. Very hard to do on one computer to say the least. It took many, many deaths to get it down, and one screw up was enough to cost me my "party". I used nothing except my keyboard and mouse. Not to say I wouldn't have used anything else if I was aware of tools to make it smoother, but I wasn't aware of Belkin back then. Hell, I still haven't taken the time to familarize myself with it since I don't play EQ or DAoC anymore.

 

DAoC I used a bot, of course.

Celestis1000

I'd have to say the best boxing game i've played was Fight Night round 3 on the xbox 360. That is a great boxing game.

Piouss

Boxed a EQ Monk and Shaman that was pretty fun.  Shaman slow spells and haste compliments the monks DPS well. 

Picklefoot

Dual boxed in Carpe Diem until they shut it down. Can't go wrong with a nuker/healer combo.. especially if the healer can also recharge mana.

Lolcoilz

Hey guys!

Sorry to be so rude and place this question on this thread, but I was wondering a few things about Dual Boxing:

• Can you do it with one computer (2 monitors)
• On WoW - would you say it's easy?
• Can i use one keyboard and one mouse, from one computer, and dual box two accounts?

Thanks all, and sorry again .