The Beginner's Guide to Two Boxing
What is two-boxing?
Simply put, two-boxing is playing two different characters simultaneously.
Why two-box?
There are numerous reasons why you might want to two-box. You might do it for the challenge. You might do it because some days you just can't face another PUG. You might do it because it's nice to have a group that always goes at the pace
you prefer. Or maybe you want to play with more alts than you have time... there are myriad reasons why two-boxing can be a fun way to experience MMORPGs.
That said, I will give a nod to the "if you only want to play with yourself, why are you in a MMORPG" folks. Two-boxing is essentially a solo flight (more on this later), which goes against the fundamental concept of a MMORPG. Ideally, you shouldn't let two-boxing get in the way of normal grouping.
Ok, so what do I need to two-box?
Minimally, you just need two CoH/V accounts. (In theory, you could have one of each, but then the only two-boxing you'd be doing is a dance party in pocket D.) Generally, most two-boxers use two computers as well, but if you have a single machine beefy enough to run and display two sessions of CoH at once, more power to you (literally!)
Contrary to what you might think, you don't need a broadband connection to two-box... you can do just fine with a 56k dialup connection, although you may experience infrequent lag. Not significantly more than anyone else though. (Kudos to the developer in charge of the network code - good job!)
Isn't this against the EULA?
Absolutely not. As long as you are the sole user of both accounts, and as long as you are operating both characters, there's nothing wrong with two-boxing.
Now both those points are quite important: First, you have to be the sole user of both accounts - no borrowing a buddy's account to run your two box, that
IS against the EULA and may get you banninated. Second, you must be operating both characters, using macros or other software to run one of your boxes (what is often referred to as UCM, for "unattended combat macroing"), is also against the EULA, and may result your being smitten with the banhammer. Note that these are the strictest possible interpretations of the EULA. Bans may or may not occur, your mileage may vary. Please use responsibly. Do not taunt happy fun ball.
Why is two-boxing for soloing? I want to group with both characters at once!
This will be a little long. Many two-boxers are proud of their skills, and feel that they can contribute to a group with both characters just fine. Unfortunately, they are both right and wrong, and more of the latter than the former.
*dons flame retardant suit*
At this point, some of them have stopped reading and started writing up flames. For the rest of you, here's the logic.
Let's assume that the average player has a skill of 1.0 (arbitrary units). Let's then posit that the range of player skill can range from -1.0 to 3.0. (Yes, some people are a net negative to the group, we've all seen em in PUGs, hehe.)
Now your two-boxer is going to fall somewhere in this range, while operating just one character... for argument, let's say he's one of the better players with a skill of 2.0. Now suppose this two-boxer starts up his second character. What do you suppose the skill of each
character will be once he's running both?
Well, there's no way to know for sure... you could say each is running at 1.0, with each character getting half his time, but that's usually not the case, as the two-boxer can usually do better than that. He's leveraging off that fact that running one character doesn't take all of his attention. On the other hand, the true-blue two-box fanatic would like you to believe that he's running both at 2.0, and we all know that's just not true... he has to be splitting his attention to some degree in order to run the second box.
The critical point is, though, that no matter how good he is, he is
less good at running two characters than he would be running just one. Now he might still be able to run two characters and operate them better than the average player can run one... but that's not the point - the point is that by running two characters, he is diluting his possible contribution to the group.
So, when it comes to grouping with your two-box, you
cannot be giving your best contribution to the group by running two characters, you will always be a more valuable team-member just running one. It's a simple rule: two-boxing is for solo-only - anything else is disrespectful of the group.
Now I know some of you may find that a little strict, so if you
must two-box in a group, always, always, always let your group know that this is what you're doing. And if you're being honest about it, let them know that whatever role(s) you're playing in the group, you might not be as good as they're expecting because you're running two boxes at once.
/end diatribe
And now, back to our program...
How do I get started?
Whoa there, hoss. Before you dive right in the deep end, let's talk about the different kinds of two-boxing.
Fundamentally, there are two main styles of two-boxing. The first, which I call
90/10 two-boxing is a style in which most of your time is spent controlling one character, and you only occasionally interact with the other character. The second is
50/50 two-boxing, in which you split your attention more evenly between two characters. Perhaps an example would help.
Here's an example of a classic
90/10 two-box: empath defender + ice tanker. You spend most of your time running the tanker - the defender is set to follow the tanker, and you set the defender's primary attack on auto-fire. As needed, you use your second keyboard to trigger off heals, buffs, secondary attacks, etc... (In theory, you could set the healing aura on auto-fire and ignore the rest of the empath defender completely, which would be more of a 100/0 two-box, I guess. But that would be beyond boring, eh?
)
On the other hand, illusion controller + storm defender is a
50/50 two-box. To run this sort of combo you have to be nimbly switching your focus between both machines in order to get good performance out of both characters' powers.
Of course, to be accurate, there isn't really a sharp divide between the two types - it's more of a continuum. But for purposes of discussion, it's easier to just imagine that there are two distinct types.
Now in general,
90/10 two-boxing is easier than
50/50 two-boxing. The 90/10 two-box example I gave above is quite easy for a novice two-boxer to get used to, and I recommend that anyone new to two-boxing start with a 90/10 combo.
Ok, so you've sold me on this 90/10 deal, what's the first step?
Here's where you're going to have to invest some thought. While you were just running a single character, you could pretty much run anything and solo okay, for the first 30 levels, anyway. And if you've been playing a while, you probably realize that any duo combination is viable as long as both of you use tactics.
Some of that flies out the window when you two-box though. Since you're splitting your attention between two characters, you have to factor in that you're going to be less effective than a duo of two players. To put it another way, if you're an average player, you want to think about designing a two-box combination that two below-average players could succeed with - and that means thinking about how the two characters can best support each other.
Now if we take primary and secondary powersets into account, there are 17,205 possible two-box combinations in CoH (13,695 on the villain side), so we'd all be dead and gone if we tried to discuss each possibility in detail. So instead, let's look at broader strokes and look at the different AT two-box combos.
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COH
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Blaster-Blaster This is about as 50/50 as a two-box combo gets. You can either go with a pair of single target beasts and run-and-gun it, or go for a pair of AoE maniacs and hope you hit everything. In any event, not recommended for beginners.
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Blaster-Controller This can be either a 50/50 or a 90/10 combo. Since we're looking for a beginner's two-box, I'd recommend going with a controller set with a lot of control (Grav or Mind, for example), combined with a single target blaster. Your mode of operation would be to lock things down, while using focused fire from the blaster to take down the controller's targers. Alternatively, you can reverse the paradigm by building a support oriented controller (focusing early on the secondary), and pair it with a Blapper-type blaster build.
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Blaster-Defender Mainly a 90/10 combo, with the defender being the 10... Blaster or Blapper your way through the enemy with the support of your two-boxed defender. Most defender sets work fine here... Storm is a particular favorite of mine
but more of an 80/20 deal, as Storm requires a lot of input.
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Blaster-Scrapper More of a 50/50 combo style, I don't recommend this for beginners either.
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Blaster-Tanker This is another good 90/10 combo that works with most of the available powersets - the basic tactic is to run the tank in, with taunt auras running, and have that be your 10... then the blaster can unload aggro free.
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Controller-Controller Umm, yeah. Moving on... This is a really weird combo, usually 50/50. You can run it 90/10 with a primary (controlling) controller and a secondary (support) controller, but it's not a lot of fun. Fun is subjective though.
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Controller-Defender See comments for the Controller-Controller combo above. This could go two ways, running the controller as primary, and using the defender for support, or using the controller as secondary, and using the defender in more of an offender role. Either way, it's not really a beginner's combo.
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Controller-Scrapper This is a good 90/10 combo, although it's a pity that scrappers don't auto-crit held targets (wrong game, sorry). Obviously, you'll be using the scrapper as your primary, and supporting with the controls and secondary powers from the controller. Unlike the following combo, you may or may not find aggro control to be an issue, so you might actually find yourself taking the scrapper taunt. This is not a bad thing.
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Controller-Tanker Very similar to Controller-Scrapper, except you trade off some damage for additional survivability in terms of better tanking and better aggro control.
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Defender-Defender Hmm, not a lot to say about this that's different from the Controller-Controller combo. The only way I'd try this one is as a defender-offender pair.
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Defender-Scrapper Another classic combo, most of the comments for Controller-Scrapper apply, although even more emphasis in terms of aggro control is necessary, as most defenders have no mechanism for it, leaving it all up to the Scrapper. That said, you have the advantage of the defender's blasts, which are much easier to employ on a secondary box than trying to use the holds of a controller. All of which makes this an even better choice for a beginner.
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Defender-Tanker As for Defender-Scrapper, again, but with better aggro control, which is a good thing (TM). This combo is probably the absolute easiest to start with.
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Scrapper-Scrapper You know that old canard about the ninjas flipping out and killing everyone? That's the Scrapper-Scrapper combo. Only for the seriously twitchy.
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Scrapper-Tanker This can be run in a 90/10 mode much like the Blaster-Tanker combo, but with the added bonus that both characters can run status-effect defense powers. For those who absolutely, positively, despise being held, this is a decent combo.
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Tanker-Tanker You'd probably want to end up running an offensive and a defensive tank if you wanted to 90/10 this... but why. This is one combo where 50/50 is the way to go, as it's unlikely you'd be defeated while looking at the other screen. Meatshield FTW!
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I'm not going to run through all the combos for the CoV archtypes, but instead I'll sketch some general outlines.
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COV
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Brute Brutes pretty much function somewhere between Scrappers and Tankers in a two-box combo, so pairing up with a Dominator or Corruptor makes a good 90/10 combo.
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Stalker Stalkers are a little difficult to two-box with, being somewhere between Blasters (hands down the hardest CoH two-box AT) and Scrappers. If you try to pair one up with a Corruptor, you'll probably end up trying to scrap a lot, and that's not the path to CoV nirvana. The same applies to a lesser degree with a Dominator, unless you're willing to go the way of the 50/50 two-box. Using the Brute as an aggro station is feasible, but in the end what you'll end up with is an inferior version of the Scrapper-Tanker two-box. The most intriguing possibility is with a Mastermind, sending in the pets, and then stalking your way through the ensuing chaos. But again, this is more of a 50/50 style.
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Mastermind Masterminds are an interesting two-box candidate, among other things being one of the few where running two of the same AT isn't plain silly. A pair of masterminds can generate enough pets to drown any enemy in bodies... although that's 50/50 style. You can get more of a 70/30 style by picking your secondaries carefully for ones that aren't used as much in combat... Pairing with other ATs - again, hard to get a true 90/10 style, Masterminds are just a bit too twitchy and their pets are just a bit too dumb
Still, with judicious selection of secondary (e.g. Forcefield), they can pair up well with a Brute. A Corruptor for buffs/debuffs or Dominator for control can play well with a Mastermind too, but again, it's not quite the 90/10 care-free experience. Still, once you've a little two-box time under your belt, it's worth trying out.
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Dominator Dominators are not Controllers. Omm. /mantra. That said, for the purposes of building a two-box, they generally will fill the same slot as the Control part of Controller. With the added bonus of a damage secondary, they can also (to a limited extent) take the Blapper-type role - or maybe the Offender-type role. Hmm. Offinator?
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Corruptor Corruptors are not Defenders. Omm. /mantra. That said, for the purpose of building a two-box, they generally will fill the same slot as a Defender or Offender.
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So I've picked my AT's, now what?
Now you want to think about how the powersets of you characters will work together. For example, let's say you're going with a defender + melee character combo.
If you're building a defender to go with your SR scrapper, Force Field might be a good way to go, essentially capping the scrapper's defense and making him a serious tank. Or perhaps you'll go with Empathy, and use Fortitude for a similar effect, while getting benefit of the heals. At the same time, if you were pairing with an Ice tanker, you might not want a lot of heavy defense powers, since Ice tanks can get defense quite high on their own - instead, perhaps a resist heavy defender set like Sonic would be in order.
Also, you want to consider how much time you want to invest in controlling the second box. Sets like Force Field, Sonic, or Empathy are very low input sets. Sets like Storm or Kinetics... not so much. Needless to say, it helps if you've had experience with most or all of the power sets.
Travel powers are also something you may want to think about. If your two-box is going to be a dedicated team, it isn't necessary for you to get travel powers on both of them. Indeed, maneuvering two characters around town is one of the less entertaining things about two-boxing. Recall Friend is, indeed, your friend at times like these.
Getting Started.
Here are some general playing tips to help you get through your first hours:
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[*]Follow is your friend. By default, it's mapped to the F key and is a toggle - hit it once and your character will attempt to proceed in a straight line to it's target and dock. Hit it again and your character will stop moving. Hitting keys to move forward or backward will also break Follow-mode, but turning will not.
[*]Assist is your friend. If one of your characters has the other one targeted, any beneficial powers it uses will be used on the other character (assuming it's an Ally power, of course), and any inimical powers will be used on the other character's
target. This allows you to use one character to buff or heal another, while both focus fire on a single target. This is a cornerstone of 90/10 two-boxing.
[*]Auto-fire is your friend. By control-clicking on a power, you can turn auto-fire on - this will cause that power to trigger whenever it has recharged. (Does not work for certain powers, most notably interruptable powers). By using this on one of your secondary box's attacks, you can be sure that the secondary character will always be contributing
something no matter how busy you get on the primary character. N.B. If you decide to beat a retreat, make sure you de-target on your primary character, otherwise your secondary character will pause every few seconds to launch an attack at the pursuing hordes!
[*]/hide is your friend. Seriously. The instant you decide you can't get a group and fire up your two-box and get into a mission, you'll be inundated with folks asking to join your group. Never fails. And when you tell them "Sorry, I'm 2-boxing", you can just
hear the glazed look through the Internet. Of course, now you can point them to this thread.
[*]Exemplar is your friend. If you're reading this, you probably already have some established characters, and you're looking to make two-box pairs with some of them. In which case, you've got two choices - exemplar down or sidekick up. But then, if you're beginning, you're second account character will be at level 1... exemplaring down is probably the best bet. Hey, look at it as an opportunity to farm prestige or some such.
[*]Sheesh, look at how many friends you got! Why do you need to two-box again?
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