TurpsterVision: Multiboxing Unmasked
Last week we had a look into the benefits of Blizzard's Recruit a Friend scheme and Multiboxing; today we look at how to get started with Multiboxing at home with one PC and several WoW accounts. For me to share these secrets of success with you I must first ask you to join me in the Multiboxer's oath:
I wanna be the very best,
Like no one ever was.
To roll 5 toons is my real test,
To level them all at once.
I will travel across the land,
Questing far and wide.
Or just get boosted through SM,
And the huge amounds of XP that's inside.
MULTIBOX! (GOTTA PLAY'EM ALL!)
It's you, you, you, you and me!
I know it's my destiny!
Like no one ever was.
To roll 5 toons is my real test,
To level them all at once.
I will travel across the land,
Questing far and wide.
Or just get boosted through SM,
And the huge amounds of XP that's inside.
MULTIBOX! (GOTTA PLAY'EM ALL!)
It's you, you, you, you and me!
I know it's my destiny!
TO ONE SHOT!
For the real tips and hints, check out the video and then join me after the break for the software, addons and macros that you'll need. (WARNING: There are some really big numbers and long words that I don't fully understand but they make lots of characters do similar things at the same time)
Ok, first up we need to talk about software, in the video guide I suggest you use either Keyclone ($19.99 one-off payment) or Octopus (Warning: This links directly to the .rar file of the program for download) -- there are many other applications out there but these seem to be the best of the bunch as far as I have experienced them. Once you have installed your chosen piece of software, you need to tell it where you have installed your WoW clients on your computer and then where you would like to have them displayed on your screen. You can set up other options in here, such as creating a white-list (a list of keys that will be the only ones cloned and sent through to your clients) or a black-list (a set of keys that will not be cloned and sent through to your clients) or even cloning mouse actions -- though I choose not to do this as it doesn't work well in my experience unless you are running all of your accounts at the same resolution.
Next we need to download and install Jamba into our World of Warcraft Interface folder of every installation. Do this as you would any other add-on; and while you are at it you might as well grab QuestHelper and Cartographer if you haven't already got them. When you load up your account you will need to enter the Interface menu and type in the names of your characters. You need to repeat this on each account so that the addon can synchronize the commands for accepting quests, following etc.
I mention in the video about setting up the processor affinity for your WoW clients, to do this manually we need to first understand a bit of binary. It is often said: "There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't" - I guess I must be in the other 8 'cause I don't have a clue -- unfortunately for you, I'm all you've got! To set up the processor affinity manually you need to edit the Config.wtf file stored in the WTF folder in your WoW installation directory with a program like notepad. You need to add the line:
Set ProcessAffinity "XX"
With XX being the decimal number that relates to the binary string saying which cores we are using. Confused yet? Well hold on a tick, I've got a table with numbers in coming your way!
|
Core 8 0 |
Core 7 0 |
Core 6 1 |
Core 5 1 |
Core 4 0 |
Core 3 0 |
Core 2 1 |
Core 1 1 |
Still with me? Good...the people who skip past this bit are such a bunch of casuals... Next up we've got to tackle the in-game Macros. As I said in the video, we want to remain flexible in case the lead or master character were to die. To do this we have to have a 'Focus' macro:
/focus [target=TOON1, nodead][target=TOON2, nondead][target=TOON3, nodead][target=TOON4, nodead][target=TOON5, nondead][target=player]
/target focus
/follow focus
/target focus
/follow focus
Obviously replace the TOON# statements with your characters names in the order of the 'chain of command'. Press this once at the beginning of every play session and whenever your main character dies. I also suggest running a separate macro with a '/follow focus' for whenever your players get left behind. For every character you are controlling I then suggest replacing the normal spell buttons on their hotbars with macros in this style:
#showtooltip
/assist focus
/cast SPELLNAMEHERE
/assist focus
/cast SPELLNAMEHERE
Easy! Now you are pretty much ready to go out there and 'pwn' the world (of Warcraft). The main thing to remember with all of this is to have fun while trying out something new, so if at any point it starts to feel a bit like too much work, take a break and try it again later. If you are still unsure about any of the points I have covered then please leave a comment below. Otherwise why not join in with the fantastic community over at Dual-Boxing.com where they have loads of great tips, tricks and videos of players soloing end game bosses to inspire you!
For the people out there who want to know how to beat a multiboxer, you have to understand first how a multiboxer works. They are dependant on the coordination between their accounts. If you disrupt this, then you have the upperhand -- at least for a moment. So make sure you drop fears on characters to spread them out, face them the wrong way. Targeting the lead character will slow down the multiboxer, but as with any fight in WoW where you are out numbered, don't expect to win everytime!
I will ask one final thing, if you decide to start multiboxing on my server and you see me playing...don't camp me, it's just not cool.
Filed under: How-tos, Walkthroughs, Guides, TurpsterVision






Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
2Legit2something Jul 22nd 2009 1:06PM
I want Turpster to sell me Sham-wows.
Dreadskull Jul 22nd 2009 2:47PM
Don't forget the slapchop
Tutunkommon Jul 22nd 2009 3:47PM
I love how I get a gold buying / powerlevelling ad at the start of the video....
frdmg Jul 22nd 2009 1:52PM
^^ this....so what now Wow.com is getting into the gold selling biz?!
/ very disappointed... I thought this was a better site than that to allow gold selling ads.
Munitions Jul 22nd 2009 1:57PM
That video is hosted by viddler.com. Wow.com has no control over what Viddler advertise, and thus they're not 'allowing' the advert just because another site is.
Jeff Jul 22nd 2009 2:19PM
Yeah, it's not WoW.com's decision, it's an unfortunate consequence of the video service they're using. Same thing happens with targeted advertising on YouTube. Obviously the video will have some keywords that give away that it's WoW-related, and what kind of ads are going to be aimed at WoW videos? Gold-sellers.
It sucks, but there's not a whole lot they can do.
frdmg Jul 22nd 2009 2:20PM
By using a hosting company (viddler) that they know uses Gold selling and powerleveling ads, they are in essence "allowing" it. Just because wow.com does not have these ads, using a company that does have them is essentially promoting said ads. They could simply stop using Viddler, or remove the video and host using someone else.
Jeff Jul 22nd 2009 2:26PM
Pretty much any free video hosting service uses targeted advertisements right now, even YouTube, and I guarantee none of them would filter gold-selling ads. So unless you'd like to donate some money so they can use a paid ad-free service, you'll just have to deal with it.
Mark Turpin Jul 22nd 2009 3:41PM
I know this has been looked at before and it should have been sorted. I was getting adverts about glasses and other vision accessories. At the end of the day, until we get this sorted I'd ask that you'd all refrain from clicking any goldselling or power leveling adverts as you'd be a bit of a dick...just my personal opinion. In the words of an immortal hero...
THE POWER IS YOUR'S!
Andy Jul 22nd 2009 5:02PM
I would love to watch this, but somehow the site it is hosted on crashes my internet every single time I try to load the video.
xvkarbear Jul 22nd 2009 1:23PM
So, curiosity got the best of me after that last article about multiboxing - and I decided to give it a shot.
I can't run more then one copy of WOW on my computer - for reasons I can't explain - so I had to opt for the two-computer layout.
Just wanted to throw out there that octopus - once it's set up (something I don't suggest attempting to do while you're sleepy, but it's far from rocket science. There's a decent set up guide on dual-boxing.com) - is very easy to use across multiple computers.
I did find out that if you want to use keyclone across computers, it's $20 per computer. So in my case, it would have run me $40.
Also, just wanted to mention that you have to fix follow after boat rides as well.
Turpster, you said on the podcast your team of Warlocks is awesome because of Corruption (er, i think it was that) - my first duo are warlocks, and I was under the assumption that corruption doesn't stack. Any way you could clarify?
Ohtar Jul 22nd 2009 1:32PM
Yea they stack, around the end of vanilla they removed the debuff limit and soon after let multiple people put the same debuff on targets.
xvkarbear Jul 22nd 2009 1:35PM
Oh! Does this apply to any player casted debuff? I can't say I've ever tried to throw a debuff twice from the same toon. Is it limited to debuffs from multiple players or can my priest spam shadow word: pain?
Naughton Jul 22nd 2009 2:28PM
Debuffs usually dont stack. For example with your locks, the Curse of Elements debuff won't stack more than once, So its better for the other locks to have curse of agony up while the other one has curse of Elements.
AlmtyBob Jul 22nd 2009 2:31PM
Only applies to different players casting the same debuff. So no, no spamming SWP, however, if you and your buddy were both priests you could each have a SWP. I'm pretty sure this only applies to damage debuffs as other things like demo shout and thunderclap will simply overwrite each other.
Rishio Jul 22nd 2009 1:32PM
I LOVE THAT SONG! I have the cd. I loved pokemon as a kid.
Darxide Jul 22nd 2009 2:37PM
I have to say, after years of unquestioning faith and following, my heart still aches a little bit when i remember the day that my pokemon cards were worth next to nothing as soon as the new fad rolled into school.
OH PIKACHU ! WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME SO QUICKLY ! I WAS EVER SO KIND !
Rishio Jul 22nd 2009 3:52PM
I have some great memories of card trading and collecting. It was huge at my school everyone had pokemon cards. It was banned shortly thereafter tho bc the older kids were ripping us younger kids off with unfair trades.
Sarakin Jul 22nd 2009 1:55PM
about the binary core thing. what would I do if i only have a duo core processor?
If i end up doing this i would only be dual boxing most likely so if i put both on low settings it should be ok but if i wanted one account on each processor what would i put in?
Bonksy Jul 22nd 2009 2:03PM
leave the other 6 bits as zeros:
0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 is a 3 in denary.
so do this for using both cores.
Set ProcessAffinity "3"
I think.
(2 for second core, and 1 for first core)