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.

Some possible sections in a future version:

* the role of KVM (really KM in this context) switches in a two boxing setup, and KVM vs. two keyboard/mouse combos (I use a KVM, and it's a drawback not to have the keyboard on the second box to hit AM or Dull Pain or whatnot without spending 3 seconds to switch back and forth)
* 90/10 folks should be aware that missions will increase linearly in difficulty, but your effectiveness will likely not. Just be ready for a challenge when you go into the door - your 90 character will be soloing 4-5 mobs on default difficulty, with the occasional support from your 10
* Double boxing is much faster in CoV than CoH. This is for two main reasons: 1) missions in CoV tend to be located in the same zone that the contact is in, and 2) CoV allows teammates to share mission completion. This means that you can make two level one characters, choose the same initial contact, and then level them up together in lock-step, sharing mission completion and generally moving at the same pace
* Recall Friend is very, very valuable for getting your 10 character around, not to mention the value in getting sidekicked 10s to a mission
* If you're using a higher level character as your 90, be aware that level restrictions can hinder your mission progression on the CoH side when they send you into hazard and trial zones.
* For 90/10 folks: don't overlook the value of having extra inspirations around. In fact, it might be a good idea to top off the 90's inspiration tray from the 10's any time it's not full, because the 90 is most likely to need them and be able to use them.
* If you're building characters explicitly to two-box, 10s (and to some degree 50s) benefit a lot from self toggle powers, ally toggle powers, and passive powers. Anything that doesn't require input from you or just needs to be turned on once is a good thing.

In that vein, some thoughts on CoV dual boxing, all from the 90/10 perspective:

Stalker/MM: This can go either way. If the Stalker is the 90, summon and buff the mastermind's pets. Set them to aggressive. Then just be a stalker. Drag the MM around and let his pets do their random aggro thing - this is the kind of chaos that stalkers love. Once pets have started fighting, you can run around assassinating their enemies. Sure, the pets aren't focusing fire and are doing other dumb unsupervised pet stuff, but they're keeping the mobs' attention and aggro while you turn them all into pez dispensers.

If the MM is the 90, then just set the stalker's biggest attack to auto (Assassin Strikes don't work, unfortunately - powers with interrupts can't be made auto), turn on his armors and Hide, and set him to follow. You then have a nice bodyguard - whenever you want to do some extra damage to somebody, drag your hidden stalker next to that mob, and watch the blood fly. It's often a crit, which is great. You can be active like this, or just use the stalker as an ace card if any mobs charge you.

Brute/MM: At level one I'd make the Brute the 90, especially if it has a damage aura or another way to build Rage fast. In two person missions with five mobs and Blazing Aura, you'll be surprised how fast Rage goes up, and suddenly you're one-shotting minions with your level 1 attack. Nice. After level 6 I'd consider making the Brute the 90 - level 6 is a big level for Masterminds - not only do they get a second pet, but both pets now get more attacks - it is almost a quadrupling of their offensive output. Use the Brute then the way you use a Stalker in the Stalker/MM section above.


Just a couple of more thoughts based on my experiences. Once more, great guide, Brillig (should I credit the slithy toves?).