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Question - Wanting to get started (1 Viewer)

Hawken

New member
Joined
Feb 22, 2019
RedCents
30¢
Greeting RedGuides
I was looking to get started with MQ2 after realising that solo play is all you get until... well i dont know yet.
My mage seems to have hit a brick wall at level 75 seeing that mobs are all of a sudden harder to kill and i dont seem to have the tools to do so efficiently. (This might be due to me beeing a total muppet)
So then i remembered back in the days (pre PoP) we would have a cleric multiboxed for easy heals. And perhaps a caster on a second computer (bash that second keyboard for moar nukes). Basically what we can have mercs for these days...
So i got to thinking there has got to be a better way! So lo and behold after a few google and youtube searches i found you guys.

Now for my first question;
I tried searching for it but its probably so stupid that no one thought of it. Do i need to make 6 separate emails for daybreak accounts? Got to thinking that this might become an issue as i might register with made up names that would for billing purposes screw things up at a later stage if i decide to go all access

And for my second question;
After reading throug a bunch of posts i found that someone who is allready a level 2 could gift a month of level 2. Would someone do me the honors so i can try out Very Vanilla?

Regards
Hawken
aka Captain Useless
 
Congrants on your level 2.

You can use different emails for the accounts. It's likely preferred as sometimes DBG will hit all accts associated with an email or phone number.
I recommend using real name.
I recommend setting SQA
 
sent ya a level 2, not sure how fast it is updated for you tho.

yeah you will need a fresh e-mail with each account

Welcome!

(Join the discord, got convos here)
 
Welcome Hawk, once i get my feet wet again after 7 months away ill be level 2 again *cries*, thought i had left just enough cents for when i was ready to come back but i didnt =(
 
I shudder anytime I hear Greetings and my toons name...its how GM's address you in game...always...everytime I have ever been addressed it was that way lol...

Anyhow yes welcome welcome to lvl 2
 
Thanks alot for the level 2.
So today the adventure started, hungover as hell.
I was amazed over the amount of time consumed to create 6 emails and then to have to go through the account creation. Think it took me 2 hours to get into the game on 6 level 1 characters.

So i went with a Warrior Bard Berzerker Enchanter Wizard Cleric. I have a separate account with my mage and sk for later levels.
Basic setup for my group to move, autoaccept and melee engage took me about another 2 hours. But i finally started grinding out some levels and made it to 5 before i had to call it a day.
So next will be some nuke makros and some basic heals.

Will post further updates when i get the ball properly rolling
 
Howdy there.

First off, with your mage, pets have taken a number of turns over the years. Mobs also start jumping quite a bit between expansions. If you have no already, check out The Magician's Tower • Index page they tend to keep a wiki for returning players with ongoing updates to how mages have changed through out the years. I have not hit the site up recently, but it has been helpful to a number of returning folks in the past

Second, a LOT of AA's and spells have gone poof over the years (not sure if you were above 75 before) so, while you are reading past write ups on stuff and you are scratching your head on "WTH is soandso talking about with this "pet affinity" crap" you may have to dig a bit more to find out about things. (as in no your aren't going nuts.... it aint obviously there!)

Second (incase you are unaware) mage pets come pre-summoned with pet toys (everything EXCEPT weapons) appropriate for the mage level, and dependent on the pet focus item. Which means you can use a higher mages toys on your pet (the website ought to have a spreadsheet on limits if I recall correctly. Also, if the pet canna use it, it will give it back to you now instead of eating the items) and you will of course want to get the best pet focus item you can for your level, if you plan to hang out a while there. (Just a FYI, MQ and some time lock servers do not mix...) Mage pets can now hold the focus of mobs, which means you can build your group around that if you want. (I find it better to have a real tank, and use the pet to back up tank... but that means sinking a lot of time into building a gear dependent tank...so your call)

Last, there are a number of different "bot" style macros to run your toons for you, or help you run them. As mentioned above, KA (Kiss Assist) is a good one that you can use "right out of the box" so to speak, with lots of support and "example" ini. Any of the bot macros though is like EQ... they have a steep learning curve and take time to get set up "just right". Lots of folks are on this site though and most are willing to lend a hand, provided you make an effort to search stuff on your own. One does not generally get "flamed" here, but of course everyone else is here to have fun too =)

If you do run into something that you just can not figure out, before pulling your hair out, try checking out the discord chat rooms. There is generally a few awake folks there who are willing to offer some sort of advice, maybe even a few programmers/developers if you truly run into a bug.

G'Luck there.
 
Fennil, welcome to back to EQ.

I just started back a few weeks ago myself and I can relate, everything takes a lot longer to do than you first expect. All I can say is reading is your friend. There is just a ton of info here on this forum. There are several noobie or starter guides out here and also one on Almar's that covers a lot of ground. There are some here who push Kissassist (and who am I to dispute their opinions) but I found that it was too much for me to absorb all at one time. So after getting frustrated and just flat out pissed off, I decided to back it off a bit in complexity. I went to an all Macro system that is outlined in Almar's Boxing guide. Simple stuff like follow and assist and attack this now type stuff. Just to get used to the whole playing the game with more than one character at a time thing. And I keep adding stuff as I read about them and say to myself "hey that's pretty cool, let's try it out". Hey, I now have all my casters, casting multiple spells with pauses and everything, wow. I keep telling myself that I am going to start using Kissassist soon, and I will, just not yet.

One thing I have to ask is about your set up (computer and Monitors). I have 1 decent PC and 2 Monitors so that makes a bit of a difference. Anyways, I use ISBoxer software to create my character sets, control my windows and how they display all my characters and to switch back and forth between them. And very important to login all the characters from one click on a menu. I originally thought I was going to use it to box with but man it is sophisticated. Too much for me right now. That's why I have it. And I paid for it so I might as well get some use from it.

I have found that it is important to load your software in the correct order or stuff doesn't work to well. But very important is to run the EQ Launcher first to update the game. Whether you use it or not to login your characters. Then run MQ2 updater. Then EQBC, if you use it (also this can be installed as a service so it is "on" when you start up your PC). Then Innerspace(startup for ISBoxer). Then you can actually start loading your characters. Now here is the catch. You have 3 ways to load your characters, and believe me after the umpteenth time you do this manually you will find this next part helpful.

1. Load manually
2. Use a wonderful plugin called MQ2Autologin (you already have it installed)
2. Use IsBoxer's character set startup menu.

Needless to say the last 2 are the ones you want to use. Now like everything else you want do in this endeavor it takes "SETUP", which doesn't include the time you spend reading all about "how to" SETUP lol. Nice thing is once you done SETTING UP, you then get to troubleshoot all the little problems that come with your new SETUP. But once it's done and working you can sigh and go Ahhhh, that's done. Oh wait, now that I have all my characters logged in, do I send invites to all my characters and then go to each screen and and manually click on Accept? Do you do that? No way man. Welcome to the wonderful world of EQBC and MQ2Autoaccept. Now there is at least a hour's worth of reading right there. But once that is all setup and works correctly you can use 1 button on your hotbutton bar and invite all your toons and they accept the invitation and forms your group. Great huh? Man that is just the very beginning. Everyone here will tell you how this is going to take time to get accomplished. And I believe them.

Sorry to make this a mini rant, I have moments of complete rage, screaming at my computer screen, "Why does this have to be so hard"? Only to find out that is was some stupid mistake on my part that caused my anger. And I have also, had moments where things FINALLY start to come together and work the way they are supposed to. Very satisfying, and that is what keeps me going. I have found sort of a rhythm that I can live with. I ask a how to question here and then go and use the advice given and test it and then take a day to read some more and write down what I want to do or accomplish. I have lists lol. Guess I am kind of anal that way. Worked for me while I was working all those years.

I will link you some stuff for you to peruse:
Almar's Boxing guide
From character creation to .... YES!!! another Guide
Commands and hotkey guide
EQBC Idiot's Guide
EQBC - Dual Box a druid without using macros GUIDE I found this very useful.
How to Multibox in Everquest really cool video on ISBoxer and what it can do.
MQ2AutoLogin Ultimate Information Dump
Collection of Helpful Posts and Links and prepare to read lol.

That's enough for now, be looking forward to your questions . And you didn't say what server you were playing on.
Edit: added another link.
 
Last edited:
Oh wait, now that I have all my characters logged in, do I send invites to all my characters and then go to each screen and and manually click on Accept? Do you do that? No way man. Welcome to the wonderful world of EQBC and MQ2Autoaccept.

You can do this with isboxer too, no need to use EQBC - in fact it takes arguably longer to do with EQBC since it requires 3x the letters typed with EQBC to send the same command to all of your clients.

With invite macros: https://almarsguides.com/eq/getting...oxingGuides/Macros/AlmarsBoxingMacros/Invite/

All you need to is press 1 button, turn on broadcasting and type /inv. Then it'll form the group on your whole team.

Based on your post you say you're using isboxer, which is why I figured I would add this piece of info
 
Lurk,

Thanks for the input...I will try it out, not sure how /inv works but I will look in ISB for it and try to figure it out. Because your right, that would be easier and faster. But the macro that I mentioned previously, got me into writing macro's, that was my start point. And the whole reason I write macro's is because I find ISB to be really intimidating. And also, I was fascinated by what I could do with EQBC, it was a total learning process for me. I don't express these opinions to try and lead someone somewhere. I do it because I have been there, done that and found it really difficult to implement, and looked for an easier way.

Here is a compilation of macro examples/file I created and leave up in Notepad++ all the time, to copy and paste from.

Code:
Macro's

EQBCS Commands
/bcg = your group minus the person giving the command
/bcga = your group plus the person giving the command
/bca = everyone connected to eqbc minus the person giving the command
/bcaa = everyone connected to eqbc including the person giving the command
/bct = send to specific character - ex. /bct bob //mqp on --- this would send a message to bob telling him to execute /mqp on

Stick to Me
Line 1: /bca //stick ${Me.ID} uw
This command simply tells all connected characters (/bca) to stick to you. the ‘uw’ argument stands for ‘under water’ which means they will
face you vertically as they stick to you. This is useful when swimming, going up hills, down in tunnels, etc.

Stick off
Line 1: /bca //stick off
This command tells everyone to stop sticking.

Follow my Main Toon -
/bca //nomodkey /afollow spawn ${Me.ID} slow
/bcaa //keypress esc
/bcaa //echo BackOff
/bcaa //stick off

Follow
/bcga //camphere off
/pause 6, /bcga //mqp on
/pause 3, /bct BARDNAME //twist off
/bcga //dismount
/bcg //stick ID ${Me.ID} uw 5

Unfollow
/bcga //mqp off
/bcg //stick off
/bcga //camphere on

-Follow Off-
//bcaa //afollow off
//bcaa //stick off

-Move everyone to Main Toon -
/bca //moveto loc ${Me.Y} ${Me.X}

-Right Click Item Ex. Fellowship Insignia -
/bcaa //useitem "Fellowship Registration Insignia"

-Send Commands to your Bard- (This casts Selo's AA and Invis AA)
/bct BardName //alt act 3704
/pause 5
/bct BardName //alt act 231

/bct BardsName //target id ${Target.ID}
/bct BardsName //melody 5 6 7 8 9

Wizard/Mage Nuke:
/bct NukersChannel //target id ${Target.ID}
/bct NukersChannel //cast 1

-Make Everyone Visible, Target, and Hail -
/bcaa //makemevisible | /bcaa //target id ${Target.ID} |
/bcaa //hail

-Auto Inventory Cursor for All -
/bcaa //autoi

-Accept Adventure for All -
/bcga //notify largedialogwindow "LDW_YesButton" leftmouseup

-Accept Task for All -
/bcaa //notify TaskSelectWnd TSEL_AcceptButton leftmouseup

to target me and cast
/bct buffername //casting "spirit of bih`li"|8| -targetid|${Me.ID}

to target my target and cast
/bct buffername //casting "spirit of bih`li"|8| -targetid|${Target.ID}

StartAll (from tank, I use this so that I can easily swap between who is pulling in a group. I generally have one
char other than tank with pulling parameters set up and simply change pullertank to tank and remove the assist)
/bcga //tar ID ${Me.ID}
/pause 6
/mac kissassist pullertank
/bcga //mac kissassist assist

Manual Setup for Main Char
1. use /kissassist manual on main
2. set up kissassist ini files for all boxes
3.set tank/puller as such in grp
4. run EQBC and set up hot buttons on main with

/bcg //target main tank
/bcg //mac kissassist
/bcg //chase on
/bct shaman //alt act 630
/mac kissassist manual
this will get your 5 boxed toons to target MT, run kiss, follow and shaman to cast invis. can change
shaman to any other toon with grp invis and alt atc no. to match

startup kiss/eoknuke (2 wizards set up in /bccmd channel wizard)
/bcga //tar ${Me}
/bct toon1 //mac kissassist assist 97
/bct toon2 //mac kissassist assist 97
/bct wizard //mac eoknuke

StartAll (from tank, I use this so that I can easily swap between who is pulling in a group. I generally have one char
other than tank with pulling parameters set up and simply change pullertank to tank and remove the assist)
/bcga //tar ID ${Me.ID}
/pause 6
/mac kissassist pullertank
/bcga //mac kissassist assist

I manually play a dps, which I pull with, so my startup macro looks like this.
/bct Dps1 //mac kissassist assist tankname
/bct Dps2 //mac kissassist assist tankname
/bct CC //mac kissassist assist tankname
/bct clr //mac kissassist assist tankname
/bct Tank //mac kissassist Tank tankname
If I wanted my tank to pull I would change tank to pullertank

Your druid would just do the assist (even if in heal mode, you set heals on inside the .ini, but it would use your tanktarget as ma)

if you were telling your ranger that he is pulling and tanking
/bct Ranger //mac kissassist pullertank Ranger
 
PauseFollow (to make group members all pause KA and stick)
/bcga //camphere 0
/pause 6
/bcga //mqp on
/bcga //dismount
/bcg //stick ID ${Me.ID} uw 15

Resume
/bcga //mqp off
/bcga //stickoff
/bcga //camphere
 
Name=PETS ATTACK
/bca //target id ${Target.ID}
/pause 2
/bcaa //pet attack

/multiline ; /bct NecroName //target id ${Target.ID} ; /bct NecroName //pet attack

IamMasterLooter
/pause 20, /bca //advloot shared set "Never"
/bca //cleanup

Accept a translocation or other confirmation dialog box such as are you sure you want to destroy ______ item.
/bcaa //notify ConfirmationDialogBox CD_Yes_Button leftmouseup

Trading items from one toon to another
/bct ${Target.CleanName} //notify TradeWnd TRDW_Trade_Button leftmouseup

Use for Assist
group assist - /bcg //target id ${Target.ID}

AutoForage
/startforage - commence autoforaging.
/stopforage - stop autoforaging.
/keepitem {item} - add/change the item in the .ini file to auto-keep.
/destroyitem {item} - add/change the item in the .ini file to auto-destroy.

Status (Came up with this one today with Kaen01's help) - Tells me what macro is running, what current hps, mana/end and AA points avail
/bcga //bc $\{Macro.Name}, $\{Me.PctHPs} Hps, $\{If[$\{Me.PctMana},$\{Me.PctMana}Mana ,]} $\{Me.PctEndurance}End, $\{Me.AAPoints}AA

Drop Invis/lev
I posted this a while back in another thread but I’ll put it again here. It tells your whole group to remove any invis spell on them, and
any levitate on them with one click:
/bcga //makemevisible
/bcga //removebuff Group Perfected Levitation
/bcga //removebuff Shauri's Levitation
note: makemevisible will magically remove any invis spell, the other lines you have to specify whatever levitation spells your group will
be using. I like to travel with levitate but I like to fight with everyone on the ground, so I use this a lot!!

Autoloot
/setitem destroy - sets it and destroys it all at once
/SetItem Sell -> Will loot. '/AutoLoot sell' will sell these items to a merchant.

Speak to an NPC: Request buffs
Line 1: /bcaa //tar Historian
Line 2: /bcaa //stick
Line 3: /pause 20
Line 4: /bcaa //say buffs
Line 4: /bcaa //stick off
This line would target and stick to an NPC whose name started with ‘Historian’. They would then delay 2 seconds, and
say ‘buffs’. This key would work for requesting buffs from Historian Kate on Storm Haven. Note that you would already
need to be standing near Historian Kate for it to work. This key could be modified in any number of ways, such as the
next example.

Speak to an NPC: Request port
Line 1: /bcaa //tar The Gatekeeper
Line 2: /bcaa //stick
Line 3: /pause 20
Line 4: /bcaa //say translocate
On Storm Haven, this would cause all of your characters to say ‘translocate’ to The Gatekeeper, thus porting them into
Dranik. Again, you would need to be standing near to him already.

Assist Me
Line 1: /bct assist //tar ${Target.ID}
Line 2: /multiline ; /bct tank //stick 5; /bct tank //attack
Line 3: /multiline ; /bct melee //stick 12 !front; /bct melee //attack
Line 4: /multiline ; /bct ranger //face fast; /bct ranger //stick 45; /bct ranger //autofire
This key, assuming you have set up channels ‘tank’, ‘assist’, ‘melee’, and ‘ranger’, will command them to attack your
target. In this example your tank should be in the ‘tank’ and ‘assist’ channels, your melee chars (monk, rogue, etc.)
in the ‘melee’ and ‘assist’ channels, and your ranger in the ‘ranger’ and ‘assist’ channels. The tank will stick close
to the target and turn on attack. Melee will stick 12 units behind the target and attack. Ranger will stick 45 units
from the target and begin using archery.
 
Thanks alot for the level 2.
So today the adventure started, hungover as hell.
I was amazed over the amount of time consumed to create 6 emails and then to have to go through the account creation. Think it took me 2 hours to get into the game on 6 level 1 characters.

So i went with a Warrior Bard Berzerker Enchanter Wizard Cleric. I have a separate account with my mage and sk for later levels.
Basic setup for my group to move, autoaccept and melee engage took me about another 2 hours. But i finally started grinding out some levels and made it to 5 before i had to call it a day.
So next will be some nuke makros and some basic heals.

Will post further updates when i get the ball properly rolling
Thats a nice group you started out with. I suggest 2 things. Instead set up your bard and cleric manually. Go into their kissassist file set up the cleric's heals and the bard's twist. For the bard, this sight can give you an idea of what to play with your group. If you need other tips on bard and send me a message. http://forums.eqfreelance.net/index.php?topic=3384.0
That group will serve you well.
 
I too am hoping for the level 2 trial, I saw a video by noobhaxor that suggested it was a possibility. Excited to give this a shot, pretty daunting at first but it looks like everything I need to get up and running is in the forums.

Thinking of going with sk/clr/dru/enc/magx2... thoughts? I’m starting at level 1 so I’m hoping I can find some ini or learn to put them together myself soon.
 
rshackleford:

Welcome, glad to see your enthusiasm, your gonna need it lol.

Anyways, looks like a good group make up. A lot of people don't seem to like Druids too much, they say they are weak. I kind of like mine but he is only lvl 55 so what do I know. You could substitute in a WIZ and get better DPS, but less utility. Or you could go with the new badboy FOM and make a Beserker. Everyone seems to love em. I don't have one yet so I can't comment.

If your new to the game or just getting started after a long hiatus I recommend you taking the time to run your characters through the Tutorial. It will get you acquainted with the game and more importantly, with boxing. Also get some pretty cool gear for all of them. Save some plat lol. And don't forget the bags too hehe. Check out the macro here called NewToon.mac real time saver that one. Oh and you can box the tutorial too. Good training ground for ya.

Read all you can here and on the web. Ask questions when you have too, and just keep telling yourself that it's really NOT that hard lol.
 
What is the text for the macro for auto-accept group invites? I cannot find it anywhere. The invitation is easy, I cannot find how to push a command out to the group to accept the invite. I don't want to use ISB.

Thanks!
 
Assuming you have all of your characters running EQBC a "/bca //invite" will have everyone but the character issuing the command accept any group invite they have pending. If you don't want to have every character on the EQBC server to accept invites you can also set up a key that does:

Line 1: /bc Toon1 //invite
Line 2: /bc Toon2 //invite
Line 3: /bc Toon3 //invite

etc. for however many characters you want to accept the invite
 
Anthilia...I didn't know just /bc worked like that, I always used /bct to issue a command to one individual character. Hmm...learn something new everyday.

And the second part to this is to setup MQ2Autoaccept on all your characters, including the inviter. You only have to do this one time, but it is an important step.
 
Anthilia...I didn't know just /bc worked like that, I always used /bct to issue a command to one individual character. Hmm...learn something new everyday.

And the second part to this is to setup MQ2Autoaccept on all your characters, including the inviter. You only have to do this one time, but it is an important step.

/bct name —sends to one player
/bcg — sends to whole group except the toon giving the command
/bcga — sends to whole group INCLUDING toon giving the command
/bcr — sends to whole raid except you
/bcra — sends to whole raid including you

/bc will probably send the command to everyone connected to eqbc, which can get you into a pickle if you have toons connected but unrelated to the action (think a trader in the bazaar). @ChatWithThisName farm.mac, which I love, would give me fits sometimes because it would issue a command via eqbc to everyone and I’d always forget until after all my connected toons were running into walls and shit.
 
Anthilia...I didn't know just /bc worked like that, I always used /bct to issue a command to one individual character. Hmm...learn something new everyday.

And the second part to this is to setup MQ2Autoaccept on all your characters, including the inviter. You only have to do this one time, but it is an important step.

I've never used /bct Name, just /bc Name... when I learned EQBC it was on emu's many years ago and they may have been using a slightly different version or older perhaps, but when I came back to live I set my buttons up the same way I had on emu's and they worked. Not sure if using /bc Name over /bct Name makes a difference as far as how EQBC handles it. I do know that just /bc //command doesn't do anything as it's looking for a character to tell the command to, /bcca is needed to do all other characters connected to the EQBC server.
 
If it helps, something someone helped me with on a different thread. (Learn something new all the time... heh)


Code:
|**Group up V1

Meant to group the toons in your EQBC

**|

#Chat BC
#Turbo 60

Sub Main

/declare Names string outer
/declare X int local

/varset Names ${EQBC.Names}
/delay 1s
    /for X 1 to ${Math.Calc[${EQBC.Names.Count[ ]}+1].Int}
        /invite ${EQBC.Names.Arg[${X}]}
        /delay 1s
    /next X
    /bca //inv
    /end

Will send invites to everyone on your EQBC.
Then will have them all "/invite" to accept the invite (if any got missed by other means)

If i have more then one group up I tend to simply start another EQBC server. I seem to have less issues with EQBC crashing doing that. So this works for me when logging in groups, especially when I am mix-and-matching toons based on whose looted stuff out of Candy Mountain adventures! (GMM)

P.S - Not sure if Forum level 1 is okay with macros, so feel free to move it if needed (though it is a small one). I am to tired to think presently =P
 
Question - Wanting to get started

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