An Ode to Treants

I am really enjoying multiboxing.  Through using a program called Hotkeynet I have been able to set up everything that I’ve thought about (well, one item is missing… currently the mousewheel is not a button that is broadcast to my slave accounts).  I still have a bit of work to do with making the macros leaderless so that if Owltoid dies then I can easily switch over to Weirdowl or Owlive.

Also, I need a new name for Owlive… any suggestions?

Over the past week I’ve been doing instance runs and just learning the basics of multiboxing.  I’m significantly better at controlling the movement of all three moonkins and am getting better at my spacial awareness for LOS and slave facing the correct direction.

I have tons and tons hotkeyed but one I’m particularly proud of is my entangling roots macro.  Since the moonkins are only 64 right now (hopefully 70 within a week) they don’t have cyclone.  However, I do have entangling roots set up (shift-c) and cyclone will be an easy transition (unmodified c).  What I’m proud of is using Hotkeynet’s toggle function.  I have three windows of WoW up when multiboxing: w1, w2, and w3.  When I push my side mouse button the first time, Hotkeynet tells w1 to set the target to focus.  I then highlight a new enemy and hit my side mouse button a second time.  Now w2 has its focus target set to the second enemy.  I highlight a new enemy (on my main screen) and hit the side mouse button once more which sents a signal to w3 telling it to set the target to its focus.  I now have all my moonkins with a focus target so that anytime I cast roots they switch to their focus target and begin the crowd control.  Then, they go right back to DPSing my kill target.  Effectively what this does is crowd controll three melee (assuming no resists) while I burn down a fourth target.  Usually the moonkins can easily burn down an instance elite before they get more than one hit or spell in.  So, if the pull goes properly I can take out four elites without taking any significant damage.  Of course if the pull is more like 6 elites then I just pull out the treants and have some fun.

Anyway, that’s my contribution to the multiboxing world (I highly doubt I’m the first to come up with it, but it was fun figuring out a solution to my problem instead of using someone elses code!)

Thank you Hotkeynet!

I’m excited about WoW again.  I’m hooked.  I’ve been thinking about a 3v3 moonkin team for a long time but there were always issues with getting others interested and coordinated.  The solution has been right in front of me the whole time and I didn’t see if until a few days ago… I’ll just play all three moonkins!

So my journey into multi-boxing (MB) has started!  Through the wonderful recruit-a-friend program I should have three level 60 moonkins one week from today.  I have one lvl 52 and two lvl 32 so it should take much time.  Then I have twenty levels to learn how to control them all at once.

I know MB is not a new idea, but it’s never something I really considered.  When powerleveling my druid Owltoid I was running three versions of WoW on my laptop with relative ease.  Finally the idea of justing doing the moonkin team myself sunk in and I’ve been extremely excited ever since.

I have my work holiday party in a few minutes so I won’t be able to write much tonight, but I have a flood of questions and ideas concerning MB, 3v3, and moonkin abilities at level 80.

My first problem is how do deal with is basic movement for three toons.  I FINALLY broke my habit of turning with the keyboard and exclusively use the mouse these days, but I think that exactly wrong for MB.  So, back to turning with the keys (which will limit my macros in quick button range).

Sorry for the scattered blog post (my 0-3 readers out there)… I’m excited to be excited about WoW again!!!

I’ve been using Jugz, my 73 warrior to powerlevel Owltoid from levels 40-52.  It’s definitely interesting playing three accounts at once (Jugz, Owltoid, and my friend’s druid Moonvine).  Using my laptop screen to control the two druids and my TV monitor to control Jugz it’s an exercise of kill everything in sight with Jugz, move druids in, repeat.  I’m considering keeping the second account active so I can farm honor with Jugz and Owltoid at the same time.  Why go through the pain twice when it can be done once?

I remember dreading BRD while leveling alts to 60 during the pre-Burning Crusade days.  The instance was long, many quests were required for MC attunement, and the only really cool gear was the Hand of Justice.  Wow, I didn’t know how good I had it.

Welcome to the WotLK days of WoW.  Every instance so far is extremely easy.  We’ve had our level 73 druid tanking level 75-76 bosses in an instance without knowing the strategy or what we were up against and we’ve only wiped a few times (the Void Reaver boss is the only one that has given us a bit of true difficulty).  I’m actually extremely frustrated with the game because it seems EVERYTHING is about AoE.  My fury warrior Jugz holds up fine in the DPS using whirlwinds and cleaves, but it’s really freaking boring.  Pally tanks are so overpowered that they can pull multiple groups of mobs and survive with ease.  I have yet to see crowd control be required, or helpful, in any instance.  The strategy is gone and it’s now Diablo with tradeskills.

It’s a huge disappointment.

Granted, since I’ve been trying to level my moonkin I haven’t been working on getting Jugz to 80.  Maybe at 80 the instances are much more difficult and CC is needed.  I doubt it.  I remember one of the most fun things about my horde 70 druid was doing a heroic where I was the only form of crowd control (before roots was usable indoors).  People would say that a moonkin wasn’t enough and that they needed a mage or lock, but we would always be successful.  Using the diminishing returns of cyclone to control a mob until another mob is down and then selectively switching was extremely fun.  Not as fun as treants, but a close second!

Now what do I have to look forward to as a level 80 moonkin?  More AoE?  Bleh, no thanks.  If that’s the case then I’ll go do some PvP until I get bored and then likely quit the game.

Back to the title of this post… BRD.  I used to complain and I feel guilty about what I said years ago.  Over the past few days I’ve been in BRD for hours powerleveling the druids and then place is just amazing.  First, it’s absolutely massive and yet each part feels different.  You go from the start with an area full of patrolling dogs and jail cells into a part with officers training their troops.  There is a spectator arena where you fight random mobs before a boss.  There is a golem lord, a general who calls for reinforcements, a fire elemental boss, a whole bar scene with patrons ready to tear your head off, and much more that I just can’t remember.  The place is absolutely incredible.  In the old days you needed crowd control, people responsible for runners so they don’t pull another group,  and actual skill/teamwork.

I truly envy those who went into BRD for the first time without knowing anything about the place or any strategy.  That had to be one of the most fun times in the history of WoW.

I wish I could say the same for WotLK.  I have gone in to 4 instances with friends without knowing a thing about the place or its bosses… we barely wipe and can out DPS/heal anything that is thrown at us.  Strategy is gone, and if it doesn’t come back then I’m gone too.