Duel and Multi-Boxing

[Blue100000005]

Recently i have come across this concept, I was not aware before.

How is one able to duel and multi-box? Is this allowed? Is it difficult?

ANY help, or advice, or thoughts would be appreciated. As i said, never heard of this before and it interests me greatly.

[MeliCat]

Multiple accounts, multiple copies of the game, go. Turbine gets n x $. Can't see why it wouldn't be allowed - why wouldn't it? They are two legitimate accounts played legitimately.

I've dualboxed for a long time but I am not serious about my alt account - I refer to myself as as 'situational dualboxer' rather than a true dualboxer. It's just useful for sometimes if I am running a melee life to have a dualboxed cleric to cast fom, or a dualboxed firewall caster or something with ddoor. So I have a number of divines and wizes with rogue splash at different levels as well as some almost capped divines and a bard.

Even if I'm not really using an alt character while questing I still log into a haggle bard that I can use to get me stuff and is an opener for many things - so people use it as a opener or to have a quest opener, or it can jump in and hold instances like the Cannith explorer area while we're filling a raid.

I can properly control two characters sort of - so I can sort of run a melee and a healer in Shroud for example - this will help if we can't get healers to come and help and I really want to play something else. If I'm doing this I tend to ask if anyone minds or just keep it to within guild. Occasionally additional pulls of chests are wanted so my dualbox will come along (my bard is of course a chestblesser). In certain situations I consider it bad manners to personally get double dipping at chests so will put whatever the alt account gets up for guild roll or whole party roll depending on the circumstances what was accomplished was achieved and what I believe is fair.

If people are unhappy with my dualboxing I just won't. It's just a game and it's not worth making people upset about it. I hang with a number of dualboxers though and I think that some of them (who are much better players than I) enjoy the additional challenge that properly playing two characters brings. You of course aren't going to dualbox say in more difficult EEs (although these days a lot of that gets shortmanned too) as you want to focus on playing one char really well.

Just adds an addtional dimension to the game which I've found helpful and useful - both for me and for my friends.

And of course I can monitor 8 chat channels instead of just 4 :D

[Blue100000005]

How do you set this up? a third party program or something else? How can you effectively run a caster and a melee at the same time and not neglect one to death? Really is an interesting concept that i want to explore more.

I read one website thus far, but it was too techie for me and not enough mention of DDO, mostly WOW and the rest of the games.

[SirTeo]

My guess; it is as simple as having two computers, pike with one character at the start for xp or what ever your goal is, you pike with one play with one. So you will need two accounts either two VIP's double fee a month or just P2P with packs, i've seen both ways.The biggest advantage is saving time and patience, i.e you want to have two completionists, one melee and one wizard, you will have to work your way through the lifes with one completionist and get one for free! dont ya like lvling barbarians well... run with your other toon as a sorc and have the barb pike and other way around next time.

[MeliCat]

I just do it with one computer and two monitors - copy the DDO folder to another location then have two separate shortcuts on my desktop to dndlauncher.exe. I start one, wait a few seconds then start the other. You can't start them exactly at the same time and you can't start one much much after the other. You login fully to first one and then the other.

There are more sophisticated ways to do this but I haven't found it necessary.

I play in windowed mode and my processor and graphics card are of reasonable quality that this is not an issue. Your mileage may vary though.

Edit: re neglecting one vs the other - it's like anything, practice and you get better. I'm only so so at it but it's not hard to say do autoattack with appropriately timed melee timers while dotting and mass healing on the other account in part 4 shroud for example. A Khyber guildie does hard DQs with two chars and plays both. That I think is more impressive.

[Blue100000005]

My guess; it is as simple as having two computers, pike with one character at the start for xp or what ever your goal is, you pike with one play with one. So you will need two accounts either two VIP's double fee a month or just P2P with packs, i've seen both ways.The biggest advantage is saving time and patience, i.e you want to have two completionists, one melee and one wizard, you will have to work your way through the lifes with one completionist and get one for free! dont ya like lvling barbarians well... run with your other toon as a sorc and have the barb pike and other way around next time.

I hae read that some can do it on one computer. But it seems like you are saying, solo the quest with the other one in the instance to get the rewards too. Have one finish and wait and let the other trail after the path is cleared. Is that what you mean?

[SirTeo]

I hae read that some can do it on one computer. But it seems like you are saying, solo the quest with the other one in the instance to get the rewards too. Have one finish and wait and let the other trail after the path is cleared. Is that what you mean?

Yeah im not an expert never done it and I am not a computer geek either, meli had an idea that seems legit above. I have 3 computers so I guess id go with different computers still, cause none of them is really uber solid :)

Yes, that's basically what im saying unless you have four arms you can't play two characters to make it worth while at the same time. Dualboxing is rather extreme and not for the typical casual player in my opinion, I wouldnt do it for just a buffer in the beginning of the quest, not worth the trouble, that's why ya get clickies and potions, heck even hirelings... I'd love two completionists, that'd be awesome.. but I prefer casters in general tho I love playing melees too, I dont have the time to lvl up two completionists at the same time so dualbox would be interesting for myself, when I return from my break that is :)

[Lonnbeimnech]

to duelbox on one computer, you will need 2 accounts. then just

1. Find your 'DDO unlimited' folder, on win7 its probably in c:>program files (86)>turbine

2. Copy the entire folder to anywhere else on your computer

3. open both launchers (the one you usually use, and the copy), you have to have them both open before logging in.

4. log in one then the other, you can do both at once but the loading times are really really long, maybe thats just my pos comp tho

[aradelothion]

I hae read that some can do it on one computer. But it seems like you are saying, solo the quest with the other one in the instance to get the rewards too. Have one finish and wait and let the other trail after the path is cleared. Is that what you mean?

When I used to farm Shavarath stones and such from Vale quests, I'd just let the other account die and carry their stones, then raise at the end. I think that's how other dual boxers do it too when farming stuff.

[Lonnbeimnech]

Dualboxing is rather extreme and not for the typical casual player in my opinion, I wouldnt do it for just a buffer in the beginning of the quest, not worth the trouble, that's why ya get clickies and potions, heck even hirelings... I'd love two completionists, that'd be awesome.. but I prefer casters in general tho I love playing melees too, I dont have the time to lvl up two completionists at the same time so dualbox would be interesting for myself, when I return from my break that is :)

I basically use it as an opener for quests like shadow crypt, deleras2, bloody crypt, so i can do the elite run then farm on hard without reflagging.

or farming challanges on epic while still lvl 18, so I can cap while getting enough tokens to tr.

[gerardIII]

There is a number of threads you can search for, maybe some even stickied that explain how to setup dualbox.

[katz]

i have toyed with dual-boxing. as has been said already... all you really need is a decent rig, and 2 (or more) copies of the game. start them both (not at the same time. or they'll both crash. been there done that). after that, i alt-tab back and forth between them. usually the 'other' account tends to pike thru most of the dungeon and just run box to box (chest blesser) but leaving her behind also gives me the opportunity to save the day with her in the rare occurence of a party-wipe.

i know a guy who routinely triple boxes and leads raids that way. he makes creative use of auto-run, auto-attack, and alt tab.

[cdr]

to duelbox on one computer, you will need 2 accounts. then just

1. Find your 'DDO unlimited' folder, on win7 its probably in c:>program files (86)>turbine

2. Copy the entire folder to anywhere else on your computer

3. open both launchers (the one you usually use, and the copy), you have to have them both open before logging in.

4. log in one then the other, you can do both at once but the loading times are really really long, maybe thats just my pos comp tho

This is doing it wrong. Go download pyLOTRO for your OS of choice, only one DDO install needed.

Back to the OP, I run 2-6 characters at once on a regular basis. It's mostly useful for farming, not questing. It's also useful for "soloing" certain quests/raids or something like controlling both sides of goggles on Abbot. You can only control one at a time without very complicated setups, and even with said setups it's a PITA. If it's a short run I'll run each character through one at a time to get the chests. If it's not short, I'll kill five of them and carry them in the sixth's backpack and raise them at chests.

[Matuse]

I have a setup where I can run three instances on one computer, but since my work gave me a laptop, that's more convenient.

I set up a batch program on my main computer. Open a new text document, copy/paste (changing your install directory as needed), and save as XXX.bat instead of XXX.txt:


cd "C:\Games\DDO"
start turbinelauncher
cd "C:\Games\DDO2"
start turbinelauncher
cd "C:\Games\DDO3"
start turbinelauncher
exit

Occasionally it will launch 2 copies too close together and I'll have to reclick it, but that's not really a big deal.

It's not very easy to get -good- control over more than one character, but there are some nice perks:

1) Flagged unlocks for placed like Shadow Crypt
2) Dealing with areas that require simultaneous lever flips or pressure pads
3) More than one bite of a juicy apple (bauble chest in Weapon Shipment)

But these are also good ideas I hadn't thought of:

just run box to box (chest blesser)


So I have a number of divines and wizes with rogue splash

I wonder how feasible it is to build a single character that can handle both of those duties, while not being a total anchor for actual questing.

[Vordax]

I have a setup where I can run three instances on one computer, but since my work gave me a laptop, that's more convenient.

I set up a batch program on my main computer. Open a new text document, copy/paste (changing your install directory as needed), and save as XXX.bat instead of XXX.txt:


You really should try PyLotro (works for DDO and Lotro), much better for multi-boxing. What is nice is you can start up another instance of DDO while already in game when you use it, no batch file or multiple copies of DOO needed.

[peng]

Another way is to download nircmd. Run the launcher and once the game window comes up after logging in and choosing a world, run this in a command window or batch file:
nircmd win settext title "Dungeons and Dragons Online" <name> That will rename the open game window to <name> (or whatever you choose). After that you can run the launcher again just fine. It won't recognize the open game window. No need for multiple installations.

[sebastianosmith]

If one really wants to know how multi-boxing is done correctly, Zonixx (http://my.ddo.com/zonixx/) is probably the individual to ask.

[Gkar]

Is this allowed?

Yes, it is officially allowed and that has been confirmed both in PMs to Mods and in public forum messages.


to duelbox on one computer, you will need 2 accounts. then just

1. Find your 'DDO unlimited' folder, on win7 its probably in c:>program files (86)>turbine

2. Copy the entire folder to anywhere else on your computer

3. open both launchers (the one you usually use, and the copy), you have to have them both open before logging in.

4. log in one then the other, you can do both at once but the loading times are really really long, maybe thats just my pos comp tho

While the above works, you save yourself some patching headaches and a bunch of diskspace if instead of copying you create a virtual copy of the directory using this comand line:


mklink /D "c:\Program Files (x86)\Turbine\DDO Unlimited-Copy\" "c:\Program Files (x86)\Turbine\DDO Unlimited\"

Obviously substitute your own dirve paths.

[katz]

You really should try PyLotro (works for DDO and Lotro), much better for multi-boxing. What is nice is you can start up another instance of DDO while already in game when you use it, no batch file or multiple copies of DOO needed.

mmm. this appeals to me, but it looks like this is a program meant for Linux? is there another option if i don't run Linux?

[cdr]

mmm. this appeals to me, but it looks like this is a program meant for Linux? is there another option if i don't run Linux?

PyLOTRO is cross-platform, it will work on pretty much any OS - Windows included.

[gypsythief]

mmm. this appeals to me, but it looks like this is a program meant for Linux? is there another option if i don't run Linux?


PyLOTRO is cross-platform, it will work on pretty much any OS - Windows included.

PyLOTRO is cross-platform, in that it is based on the (cross-platform) scripting language Python. This is usually bundled into most Linux distro's, so the script works 'out-of-the-box'.

On Windows, you need to install Python first. It's open-source (free), and available at http://www.python.org/

[Marcus-Hawkeye]

Well, pretty much everything has been covered, but I'll post anyways...

I quad box a lot and it took me a while to find how to do it, mostly I figured it out on my own.

The multiple copies is perhaps one of the easiest ways for someone to do a multibox themselves without third party software or scripting stuff yourself. However it's a pain when updates come out.

A single copy is the best way to go, there are several ways people have suggested, but my script uses the mklink command in win7 to create "links" to the DDO folder that, for all intense purposes for you, windows considers individual folders. The real crux is the window name. If you change that, then you can run other copies without issues with timing. The nircmd someone suggested can do this, but my scripting engine (autoit) has functions that do it for me in the same manner.

If you script something yourself, you can do other things like mine that logs in and resizes the windows to where I want them on the screen. Basically I load the script, click go, come back in 3 or 4 minutes and it's at the character selection screen.

It is important to note that automating things outside of the game itself like the login process is acceptable, however using scripting to automate anything inside the game is not acceptable.

The best possible option I've seen for multiboxing would be www.isboxer.net but unfortunately it requires a yearly subscription to use.