Hello! I just signed up and super excited to play. I have never boxed before (always a 1 character at a time), do I need to box or is solo ok? Any recommendations for boxing the first time?
Solo is ok, but boxing really, really helps open up what you can do by yourself. While other people playing 3 characters are usually happy to add an active 4th member, the server doesn't have a big population so sometimes you'll struggle to find anyone. Having your own trio means you probably can go anywhere you want while leveling up, whenever, etc. There's too many good trios to list. What do you like to play?
Hmm favorite classes from back in the day i mained bard Pally was second beyond that got hazy but i liked pretty much all the classes. Have very little experience with druid
Pally+druid+enchanter is basically the most meta trio on the server. Basically any tank+healer+enchanter is great, especially if you charm. Without charming the DPS kinda sucks though. I prefer high damage trios, charming or multiple pet classes, to really grind through mobs. If you want to main a bard, be warned they have a hard time keeping aggro, but root is a thing and they do take hits pretty well.
I dont think i want to main bard this time around. Looking at something new. something to hold aggro whether its pets or pally/sk and then 2 others. What are some of your favorite classes. and it talks on how to setup boxing, but how does it actually work? Is it just same keys go to all 3 characters?
I run Ranger, Shaman and Cleric. I focus on the ranger because I prefer to play a "main" character. The other two are useful priests that tag along and do fun things. They both really augment the ranger and his exploits. And no, wvery character must be controlled independently
I hadn't done much boxing when I played on live, so at least for me I find having "boxes" that effectively supplement a main character I want to play is my comfort zone, and I started out with duos then moved into trios. So, for example, playing my ranger + cleric + enchanter, I'm "playing" the ranger and the cleric is there for heals + pac and the enchanter is there for slows and buffs. I may get more comfortable as I get more used to boxing, but playing on Mac the delay between switching windows of a few seconds is significant in trying to do much active for me at the moment.
When putting together a trio, just keep in mind that boxing multiple melee isn't for everyone. Having one toon that is a relatively low attention toon out of the three can help a ton. Tabbing away from a rogue who could be backstabbing etc. can be cumbersome (Unless you're Tarkon and your rogue is your tank!). Pal or SK are great choices for holding agro. BL is another (I'm biased) and has a good amount more DPS than either of those two. A druid healer is pretty over-powered once they get their partial CH at 58, since the dru/shm CH's generate negligible agro. The 3rd could be anything after that! Something low maintenance with an off-tank like a mage. An enchanter for CC/buffs and eventual charming. A necro for DPS and a little extra healing. People can make just about anything work!
Boxing of course makes things faster and expands your camp options, but it's definitely not necessary. If I'd never boxed before, I'd probably start out with one toon then add a second or third if I felt like it. I'd choose druid as the first toon because they fit very well in a wide range of duos and trios and can quickly power-level other toons. Druids are also fast soloers with KEI (very easy to get in PoK, lasts 3+ hours) and can add useful nukes/heals to groups. If you do decide to start out three-boxing, I recommend picking classes that can contribute with very few actions per minute. Ideally just hitting one multi-line hotkey per fight. A mage, for example, can stand, assist, sic pet, lob a nuke, and sit back down by pressing one button.
How often does this really matter? I always see people talking up druid CH, but who is out there needing zero aggro heals all the time? I get there's some strategies where it is crucial, but those seem awfully niche to claim it makes a druid healer OP with his 3k heal and crap spot heals and no HOTs and mediocre HP buffs. Cleric ftw.
I hear you. With snap agro it isn't nearly as big of a deal, and a 65 cleric's HoTs are pretty great. I just find myself using my druid far more than my cleric - and likely because of the extra utility. 25hp/tick regen, DS, snare, ports, evacs, etc.
I'm out here boxing bard / druid / mage as my main trio, and it is necessary for now. I don't hold a weapon 90% of the time that I tank on my bard. In BoT it can be especially hazardous to use a fast heal over a CH because I charm there. If the pet breaks after a fast heal, the druid has a 50/50 chance of grabbing aggro. With CHs, I control aggro very well. Edit: I could probably control aggro with a cleric using HoTs, but then I wouldn't have a long lasting snare for the pet. If I was just using a regular mage pet, I'd be fine using a cleric CH or fast heal.
The issue for me isn't the actual time to switch, but there's a 2-3 second delay before the keyboard works in the new space. I've got the reduce motion check off.
No idea. If I swap spaces, my mouse works immediately but the keyboard is still controlling the character I just swapped from- I can see them moving / casting / whatever.
Which version of Mac OS are you using? I will again advocate for Total Spaces 2. It's easy to set up. I've never had an issue with any kind of delay, but I do need to restart the program after switching the monitor off or changing between monitor inputs.
Yeah, if you're on a MacOS version that supports it, use TotalSpaces2. It's free and allows instant animation-free switching between spaces.
Re: hate-free druid CH... it's a bit niche, but nice when you're healing a bard tank or someone who's tanking a huge pile of mobs. HoTs are also essentially hate-free, but the best HoT spell is 83 HP/sec vs. 468 HP/sec from druid CH (more with AAs).
