Guild Wars 2

Note that this is not a thread asking if dual/multiboxing is allowed, as ANet has already clarified that as long as each character is being individually controlled by the player (ie no key broadcasting and such) this style of play IS permitted. https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/whats-the-deal-with-multi-boxing/first#post1536295

I’m interested in dual boxing in GW2 because it would be fun to play with combos between 2 characters. Since combat is so quick paced, coordinating combos with other players is difficult especially since we can’t talk to each other via audio. If combos happen, it’s usually just because of lucky timing. I would like to be able to orchestrate combos myself using my own characters. Plus I miss the hero system from GW1 and I see dual boxing sort of as a way to bring that back; better than that actually, since I’d be able to control both characters’ actions. So questions for players who dual or multibox…

- Which professions do you like to combine when you multibox?
- What skill builds do you find the most useful when teaming up professions?
- What’s the best way to legitimately control 2 or more characters simultaneously? Do you use gaming peripherals like keypads or MMO mice with thumb button grids?

And any other useful bits you’d like to share.

Their stance on it is needlessly murky.. there is no way to multibox without a rule-infracting third party solution.

Unless you consider alternating between two complete/separate computer set-ups back and forth as being multiboxing… which I do not.

so while they don’t outright say it.. no, you can’t multibox.

I guess it was too much for me to hope that I could start a thread about this without someone veering it off topic. Pure multiboxing IS playing multiple rigs. Whether or not YOU consider it multiboxing is beside the point.

Never got the point of multi-boxing……lot of money to legitimately cheat, which gets old very fast? No thanks.

schizandra.4587:

Pure multiboxing IS playing multiple rigs.

simultaneously…usually controlled by a single set of inputs.

which would be the key difference.

Assuming your set-up is, as I mentioned, completely independent systems.. then is your “multiboxing” playing one character for a bit, then changing which controls you hold to play the other character, then switch back?

because if that’s the case…you’re not going to be doing any combos.

schizandra.4587:

- What’s the best way to legitimately control 2 or more characters simultaneously?

If you can find a left-handed MMO mouse, you might be able to map most of the commands of one character to each mouse and then train yourself to play both together… outside of that, you’re using a 3rd party app, which is forbidden.

but afaik, there are no lefty mmo mice, which is a shame.

From what you describe, it sounds like you want to run two instances of the game on one computer and controlling both characters at once. I don’t know how you would effectively control both in battle and combo this way.

Two instances on two computers, actually. I don’t expect to be able to use both of them to full capacity. I expect when I’m not using them to combo, I’ll be letting one auto attack while focusing most of my attention on the other. This is for my purposes of fun, and being able to play two of my hard-worked on characters simultaneously. I’m sure I’ll be bad at it at first, maybe even forever, but that doesn’t really bother me.

@GrandmaFunk, I’ll keep my eye out for the left-handed Naga that Razer has promised, thanks. Until then I’m thinking one character on a Naga w my right hand, the other on a Nostromo w my left hand.

Razer has a left-handed mouse
http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-mice/razer-deathadder-left-hand-edition/

With the 5 programmable buttons, I suppose you could have the 1-5 skills mapped to it. Then you would use scroll to autorun, middle mouse to stop. Maybe run it as a full signet warrior so you don’t need to click on 6+ except for healing or make your main hand the healer for both characters.

Maybe put the 2nd keyboard to the left of your left-handed mouse and use the numpad for wasd/qe movement.

It’d be pretty ugly for WvWvW and dungeons…but simple PVE (capture/defend events, heart quests, etc) would be doable.

Thanks draakdorei, I’ve looked at the DeathAdder but wrote it off as not having enough buttons. But mapping things the way you’re describing might work. I’m exclusively a PvE player, mostly solo so I wouldn’t have to worry about dragging other players down with my clumsy 2-toon weight.

I’ve never played a warrior before, would a full-signet warrior function similarly to a tank? That would work out well to have it autoattack while my Ranger or Elementalist picks off mobs from a distance.

schizandra.4587:

Note that this is not a thread asking if dual/multiboxing is allowed, as ANet has already clarified that as long as each character is being individually controlled by the player (ie no key broadcasting and such) this style of play IS permitted. https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/whats-the-deal-with-multi-boxing/first#post1536295

I’m interested in dual boxing in GW2 because it would be fun to play with combos between 2 characters. Since combat is so quick paced, coordinating combos with other players is difficult especially since we can’t talk to each other via audio. If combos happen, it’s usually just because of lucky timing. I would like to be able to orchestrate combos myself using my own characters. Plus I miss the hero system from GW1 and I see dual boxing sort of as a way to bring that back; better than that actually, since I’d be able to control both characters’ actions. So questions for players who dual or multibox…

- Which professions do you like to combine when you multibox?
- What skill builds do you find the most useful when teaming up professions?
- What’s the best way to legitimately control 2 or more characters simultaneously? Do you use gaming peripherals like keypads or MMO mice with thumb button grids?

And any other useful bits you’d like to share.

It is not possible to multibox legitimately the way you have mentioned just now. Anet has stated multiboxing is legitimate only to the extent that no third party software is used to replicate inputs on both game accounts. I.E the only way to do it is by having two computers 2 monitors side by side with two keyboard and two mouse and playing both simultaneously. That is obviously not an effective method to play the game at all and you’ll just be putting the effectiveness of the party down.

The only way you can really reap benefits out of this is by doing world events in which tagging is much easier even if you had to control simultaneous accounts. However, doing this ultimately is a huge waste of time and you will not reap any real benefits unless you invest a huge amount of time in it. So, multiboxing ultimately serves no real benefit besides from providing you with a second account to play on.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Q-Is-multi-boxing-allowed

Hello,

Multiboxing is very simmilar to botting and 3rd party programming so according to Anet’s policy it is strictly forbidden. Please, refrain from making use of this and report any player you see making use of this.

Since the question has been answered , this thread is closed.

Thanks

EDIT: This post has been quoted in other forum posts, but it is inaccurate. ArenaNet does not prohibit Multi- or Dual-Boxing as along as the player is active on each account and is not botting or using other third-party programs to “play” the account.

Given that there is no auto-follow and tons of roots, snares, knock-backs, the need to dodge, and other obstacles… it’s not possible to do without breaking the rules.

Lafiel.9372:

schizandra.4587:

Note that this is not a thread asking if dual/multiboxing is allowed, as ANet has already clarified that as long as each character is being individually controlled by the player (ie no key broadcasting and such) this style of play IS permitted. https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/whats-the-deal-with-multi-boxing/first#post1536295

I’m interested in dual boxing in GW2 because it would be fun to play with combos between 2 characters. Since combat is so quick paced, coordinating combos with other players is difficult especially since we can’t talk to each other via audio. If combos happen, it’s usually just because of lucky timing. I would like to be able to orchestrate combos myself using my own characters. Plus I miss the hero system from GW1 and I see dual boxing sort of as a way to bring that back; better than that actually, since I’d be able to control both characters’ actions. So questions for players who dual or multibox…

- Which professions do you like to combine when you multibox?
- What skill builds do you find the most useful when teaming up professions?
- What’s the best way to legitimately control 2 or more characters simultaneously? Do you use gaming peripherals like keypads or MMO mice with thumb button grids?

And any other useful bits you’d like to share.

It is not possible to multibox legitimately the way you have mentioned just now. Anet has stated multiboxing is legitimate only to the extent that no third party software is used to replicate inputs on both game accounts. I.E the only way to do it is by having two computers 2 monitors side by side with two keyboard and two mouse and playing both simultaneously. That is obviously not an effective method to play the game at all and you’ll just be putting the effectiveness of the party down.

The only way you can really reap benefits out of this is by doing world events in which tagging is much easier even if you had to control simultaneous accounts. However, doing this ultimately is a huge waste of time and you will not reap any real benefits unless you invest a huge amount of time in it. So, multiboxing ultimately serves no real benefit besides from providing you with a second account to play on.

I’m really confused as to why people keep assuming that I’d be using 3rd part software. I thought it was perfectly well known within the gaming community what true, legitimate multiboxing is? I didn’t think I had to explain it, and regardless, reading this thread beyond the 1st post would have told anyone that I AM planning on using 2 separate rigs and that competitive edge is not my end purpose for learning to dual box. I want to do it because it will be fun to play 2 of my characters at one time, and have them work together. That is MY benefit, and not yours to decide.

Mars.6319:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Q-Is-multi-boxing-allowed

Hello,

Multiboxing is very simmilar to botting and 3rd party programming so according to Anet’s policy it is strictly forbidden. Please, refrain from making use of this and report any player you see making use of this.

Since the question has been answered , this thread is closed.

Thanks

EDIT: This post has been quoted in other forum posts, but it is inaccurate. ArenaNet does not prohibit Multi- or Dual-Boxing as along as the player is active on each account and is not botting or using other third-party programs to “play” the account.

Given that there is no auto-follow and tons of roots, snares, knock-backs, the need to dodge, and other obstacles… it’s not possible to do without breaking the rules.

A quick comparison of the dates for my ANet quote and yours would have shown that mine is much more recent. I’d appreciate if everyone would stop discussing the legality of legitimate multiboxing, because it’s already been addressed and it’s off my topic. I would like to avoid the closing of my thread due to the mods thinking it’s just another “is multiboxing allowed” thread. Thank you.

schizandra.4587:

Lafiel.9372:

schizandra.4587:

Note that this is not a thread asking if dual/multiboxing is allowed, as ANet has already clarified that as long as each character is being individually controlled by the player (ie no key broadcasting and such) this style of play IS permitted. https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/whats-the-deal-with-multi-boxing/first#post1536295

I’m interested in dual boxing in GW2 because it would be fun to play with combos between 2 characters. Since combat is so quick paced, coordinating combos with other players is difficult especially since we can’t talk to each other via audio. If combos happen, it’s usually just because of lucky timing. I would like to be able to orchestrate combos myself using my own characters. Plus I miss the hero system from GW1 and I see dual boxing sort of as a way to bring that back; better than that actually, since I’d be able to control both characters’ actions. So questions for players who dual or multibox…

- Which professions do you like to combine when you multibox?
- What skill builds do you find the most useful when teaming up professions?
- What’s the best way to legitimately control 2 or more characters simultaneously? Do you use gaming peripherals like keypads or MMO mice with thumb button grids?

And any other useful bits you’d like to share.

It is not possible to multibox legitimately the way you have mentioned just now. Anet has stated multiboxing is legitimate only to the extent that no third party software is used to replicate inputs on both game accounts. I.E the only way to do it is by having two computers 2 monitors side by side with two keyboard and two mouse and playing both simultaneously. That is obviously not an effective method to play the game at all and you’ll just be putting the effectiveness of the party down.

The only way you can really reap benefits out of this is by doing world events in which tagging is much easier even if you had to control simultaneous accounts. However, doing this ultimately is a huge waste of time and you will not reap any real benefits unless you invest a huge amount of time in it. So, multiboxing ultimately serves no real benefit besides from providing you with a second account to play on.

I’m really confused as to why people keep assuming that I’d be using 3rd part software. I thought it was perfectly well known within the gaming community what true, legitimate multiboxing is? I didn’t think I had to explain it, and regardless, reading this thread beyond the 1st post would have told anyone that I AM planning on using 2 separate rigs and that competitive edge is not my end purpose for learning to dual box. I want to do it because it will be fun to play 2 of my characters at one time, and have them work together. That is MY benefit, and not yours to decide.

Mars.6319:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Q-Is-multi-boxing-allowed

Hello,

Multiboxing is very simmilar to botting and 3rd party programming so according to Anet’s policy it is strictly forbidden. Please, refrain from making use of this and report any player you see making use of this.

Since the question has been answered , this thread is closed.

Thanks

EDIT: This post has been quoted in other forum posts, but it is inaccurate. ArenaNet does not prohibit Multi- or Dual-Boxing as along as the player is active on each account and is not botting or using other third-party programs to “play” the account.

Given that there is no auto-follow and tons of roots, snares, knock-backs, the need to dodge, and other obstacles… it’s not possible to do without breaking the rules.

A quick comparison of the dates for my ANet quote and yours would have shown that mine is much more recent. I’d appreciate if everyone would stop discussing the legality of legitimate multiboxing, because it’s already been addressed and it’s off my topic. I would like to avoid the closing of my thread due to the mods thinking it’s just another “is multiboxing allowed” thread. Thank you.

I’m not assuming you’re using it. I’m just stating if you want to effectively do fine tuned synergy between your two characters e.g combo fields, it’s not possible to do it effectively without 3rd party assistance. It’s much easier to find a friend who play with you.

What would be so hard about setting down a wall of fire with an Ele and getting a Ranger behind it to shoot some arrows? Or other similar scenarios? Like anything else, it would get easier with practice. The peripherals we discussed above would help too.

I wouldn’t expect to be as good as two separate players each playing a single character. With time, my goal is to be able to to play 2 toons as well as I play 1 toon. I’d have the added benefits of being able to trigger my own combos, being able to revive myself as long as one toon is left standing, being able to gather more materials, and just the joy of being able to see 2 of my Sylvari running around Tyria together.

I used to 2 and 3 box through the last 6 MMO’s I played. It’s a playstyle I enjoyed because I love to experiment with all classes, and I tend to get bored easily. 2-boxing has been my preferred playstyle for at least 12 years.

Setup:

. 2 PCs side by side, reaching over and using both keyboards and both mice.

. No software, no third party anything, just me and dexterity.

I’d led server wide raids that way as main tank while healing and sometimes bringing a DPS character to help. Those games all had a /follow ability which made running in open world easier and inside instances / raid dungeons (from point to point) also easier. I could position my 2nd character where I needed, and move her out of “circles” as needed. All with elbow grease and coordination.

I bought 2 copies of GW2 hoping I would be able to do the same here.

And found that the gameplay here, which I love, tends to inhibit 2-boxing. At least the way I play manually, without the type of hardware/software or 3rd party assistance which I refuse to use (for obvious reasons).

It’s not just the lack of /follow. There is the need for more movement than other MMOs. And I won’t compromise playing well on one character to be able to play two. And I have mastered playing 2 and often 3 at the same time in demanding situations in other games.

Perhaps I’m getting older, or the game just demands so much attention on one character. Or I haven’t found the right class to put on my 2nd PC. Storymode dungeons, I expect I’d be fine 2-boxing. Explorables and Fractals is just not going to happen for me.

Curious to see where this thread goes. And what kind of feedback occurs.

First of all, chill…

From what you’ve stated, you’re playing 2 pc’s with 2 inputs, and are not using key broadcasting/cloning, it’s POSSIBLE to a limited degree that you can play the game this way, you’d be chewed to pieces in any really challenging combat, PVP, WPVP or dungeons for the most part to the point where people would probably be negative towards you, but if you’re doing this for a bit of fun or to just farm some DE trash, i’m sure it will do the trick. Having said that, many people frown upon the idea of multiboxing due to how it’s in many games considered a player forced in “pay to win” factor. And if you were to inadvertently do something which seemed “iffy” then they could mistake you for a bot or for using third party software, please do be careful.

schizandra.4587:

What would be so hard about setting down a wall of fire with an Ele and getting a Ranger behind it to shoot some arrows? Or other similar scenarios? Like anything else, it would get easier with practice. The peripherals we discussed above would help too.

I wouldn’t expect to be as good as two separate players each playing a single character. With time, my goal is to be able to to play 2 toons as well as I play 1 toon. I’d have the added benefits of being able to trigger my own combos, being able to revive myself as long as one toon is left standing, being able to gather more materials, and just the joy of being able to see 2 of my Sylvari running around Tyria together.

As stated by the poster above, I too used to multibox similarly in previous MMOs and have been very successful with it. However, as many players have mentioned above, there is a lot of elements in gw2 which does not allow you to do this effectively, mainly the amount of action/movement required in gw2 is much higher. Sure you can pop down basic combos such as wall of fire you mentioned or other basic combo fields and quickly switch back to whatever main character you prefer to combo with but ultimately this will not be effectively done. You will have 1 character always in a semi compromised state because it can only use auto attack. Ultimately, you will definitely run into many situations where one of your semi active characters becomes downed and or if you require to maneuver both your characters out of a ground aoe field, which is an extremely difficult task to keep up with.
]
So my conclusion was that it would be much more effective to be proficient with 1 character then to try multibox two and failing in both. As I said, the most effective way to multibox legitmately is by doing world event bosses since tagging them while multiboxing is not a hard task. Playing both effectively in the open world or dungeons etc is just extremely tasking and ultimately not worth it. Of course, this is my personal opinion, if you decide to pursue it then by all means, no one has the right to say otherwise.

schizandra.4587:

Thanks draakdorei, I’ve looked at the DeathAdder but wrote it off as not having enough buttons. But mapping things the way you’re describing might work. I’m exclusively a PvE player, mostly solo so I wouldn’t have to worry about dragging other players down with my clumsy 2-toon weight.

I’ve never played a warrior before, would a full-signet warrior function similarly to a tank? That would work out well to have it autoattack while my Ranger or Elementalist picks off mobs from a distance.

Here’s a signet build (more survival/tank than normal) for your 2nd box.
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQJAnejkO5u9OGPMxCAkCruyooogOFgSVotUByA

It’s built around axe/shield for the Axe’s 3-hit combo finisher, shield’s defense boost and making the most of your critical hits with the auto-attacks.

@draakdorei thanks for the build. Will that page be available for me to refer to later or is it a page temporarily generated by the editor?

@goldenwing, Lafiel and others who have done legit (non-3rd party program) multiboxing with GW2, do you use MMO mice or keypads? I can’t help but feel that being able to control one toon per hand would help immensely with effective dual boxing. Speaking of the left-handed Razer Naga I mentioned earlier, I was happy to see that Razer finally did an update on it today via their Facebook page (after a year of no news). https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151808951187576&set=a.77781772575.101784.13848807575&type=1&theater
Now that I know the left handed version IS coming, I know my dual boxing setup will involve a Naga in each hand. I believe you that GW2’s motion based combat will make dual boxing difficult. I’ll cut my teeth on simple PvE and see where I can go from there.

@Hellkaiser, I’m hoping most players will be too busy with their own characters to notice mine and confuse them as bots. But I will be careful.

Staff ele would be fun as a secondary character just for the amount of combo fields available, but dealing with switching attunements is going to be pretty awkward trying to do with a mouse that you’re also using as your sole input for movement for the character. Then you get into having to place the combo fields on the screen too without having a second hand to steer the character with the keyboard.

Mesmer would probably be a good backup character with the least amount of inputs, just due to phantasms. Rifle warrior would be another good one.

In fact just controlling 2 mesmers cranking out clones and illusions would be really good. It’d be something where you could get away with moving the least in PVE due to AI dealing with all the incoming targets.

schizandra.4587:

@draakdorei thanks for the build. Will that page be available for me to refer to later or is it a page temporarily generated by the editor?

@goldenwing, Lafiel and others who have done legit (non-3rd party program) multiboxing with GW2, do you use MMO mice or keypads? I can’t help but feel that being able to control one toon per hand would help immensely with effective dual boxing. Speaking of the left-handed Razer Naga I mentioned earlier, I was happy to see that Razer finally did an update on it today via their Facebook page (after a year of no news). https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151808951187576&set=a.77781772575.101784.13848807575&type=1&theater
Now that I know the left handed version IS coming, I know my dual boxing setup will involve a Naga in each hand. I believe you that GW2’s motion based combat will make dual boxing difficult. I’ll cut my teeth on simple PvE and see where I can go from there.

@Hellkaiser, I’m hoping most players will be too busy with their own characters to notice mine and confuse them as bots. But I will be careful.

I use regular keyboards and have one Razer Orochi mouse (main PC) for ergonomic reasons, mouse on my 2nd pc is a very tiny Microsoft model which I’m sure has been obsolete for years. Side by side, I’m aware of which character I’m controlling because of the difference in sizes.

Been pondering for years whether I ought to have a gaming keyboard. My husband just picked up a gaming mouse but I know from past experience that I can’t use it without aggravating my repetitive-strain injured wrist.

btw, I keep my 2nd PC to my right.. using right hand to control both. Ditto keyboard. I tried running with it on the left and was not as efficient.

Sounds like you are planning left and right handed play at the same time. My poor brain would probably trip and stumble attempting that, so I salute your efforts!

Start simple and work up from there.

If you run into trouble with a combo of professions, do consider having a caster in the back auto-attacking while “tanking” with a sig speccd warrior or crit build dps guardian, instead of the other way around. Casters, I would consider ele first and look into mesmer, and as you said ranger. You can spec mesmer in a way that provides “healing” from clones. You could also experiment with 2 warriors or 2 guardians. Have one of them do ranged damaged, and they could survive far better if something gets on them or under them (circles). Although I know you are looking for combo fields.

-thinking out loud (with edit for typos)

One other possibility: the autoattack of a scepter ele in earth is a 20% probability finisher, and in a spec and condition damage armor can do respectable single target dps simply in autoattack (bleeds). If your real interest is for Veteran or Champion fights and not AoE for the trash, and that particular finisher combined with your particular fields is still interesting, it’s an alternative that can autoattack.

In this game, however, it “feels” like half one’s defense comes from moving to avoid attacks, and half one’s offense comes from melee synergies (including melee on top of stacked fields).

Unlike DAoC where a buff bot made a huge difference or WoW where a pocket healer made a huge difference (in both cases for someone soloing), in this game both characters must be actively (and competently) played to achieve the synergies. That’s a longwinded way of saying perhaps focusing on one character will give better results than semi focusing on two, which is exactly the opposite of those games…and speaks well of ArenaNet’s design.

…and even thinking about playing a separate character with a gaming mouse in each hand, and trying to move both of them independently after they are knocked back in different directions, just makes my head hurt. /salute to anyone who can…