Hardware choices

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From what I can tell, multiboxing is going to require some serious organization and a really well structured setup. A large portion of this comes from the software side, but there is a hardware component to that your standard keyboard likely won't be able to fulfill.

The setup I'm planning involves a pretty standard setup of adding a second keyboard. Lets first look at some of the things I want my hardware setup to accomplish.

Goals

  • Scalablility
  • Customizable keys
  • Clear key organization
  • limit need for modifier keys
  • Ergonomic

Xkeys Desktop (official site) $119
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The Xkeys Desktop offers 20 customizable keys. I think this board could work fine for 2-3 boxing. Its keys are designed to allow custom inserts which can means you don't have to remember what each key does purely by memory. However, my current planned macros and keybinds likely would mean using at least some modifier keys (alt, ctrl) more than I would like to. I think however for 2-3 boxing this pad could be ideal.

Xkeys Professional (official site) $169
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The Xkeys Pro is likely going to be my choice for a secondary keyboard. It incorperates the standard customizable keys which should make organization way better. With 58 keys, the professional seems ideal for boxing 4+ characters. Especially in a PVE environment with a diverse class makup, having those extra keys should save a ton of hassle.

Ideazon Fang (official site) $35
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The fang is no exactly a secondary keyboard in my opinion. It is a remapping of your standard keyboard in a more gamer friendly layout. While just touring around the world, using the standard keyboard WASD movement keys is fine for me, and I like having all my other keyboard shortcuts close at hand (bags, talents, character, etc). However, in combat, the Fang can be priceless. With the typical WASD movement keys, your 1-5 keys are well within reach, however 6-10+ require you to either reach with another hand, or take your hands off of WASD which can mean a wipe in some combat situations. The fang solves this by placing 19+ keys located within finger reach of your movement keys, and 3 modifier keys for your thumb. It's also ambidextrous for you leftys out there. This is for sure going to be part of my setup and I recommend it for anyone who plays, even if they arn't multiboxing.

Ideazon Merc (official site) $39
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The Ideazon Merc is basically the combination of the Fang with your regular keyboard. May allow you to unclutter your workspace depending on your play style. It has a slightly different key layout than the Fang, but still should be a very useful tool for boxing. Personally, I will be sticking with the Fang, primarily because I already own a logitech G11 which is what's up next.

Logitech G11 (official site) $69
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The first thing that cought my eye is that the G11 is a bit pricy comapared to the Fang or Merc. It has 18 extra keys in blocks of 6 (2x3) on the left that can be bound as either normal keys, or made into macro's using Logitech's included software (windows only?). For someone who's just dual-boxing or maybe 3-boxing I think you could get by with only the G11's 18 extra keys if you were a bit thrifty about the way you did your keybindings. The G11 is not designed with customizable keys the way that Xkeys boards which is a small shortcoming, though I know that most wow players are pretty good at memorizing which keys do what in a short ammount of time. All in all, the G11 is a sleek keyboard if you're willing to shell out the cash for it.

Summary

Xkeys Desktop

  • 20 customizable keys in a 5x4 block
  • Ideal for 2-3 boxing. May be limiting for anything 4+

Xkeys Professional

  • 58 customizable keys (two 5x2 blocks, one 5x4 block, one 2x9 block)
  • keys divided into seperate blocks for organized layout
  • Great for any number of accounts, or solo play

Ideazon Fang and Merc

  • Brags 41 keys. More like 20-25 if you only count the one's that are easily in reach
  • Great for combat situations where reaction time is important
  • Inexpensive

Logitech G11

  • Full keyboard and 18 macro keys (3 blocks of 2x3)
  • Expensive, but nice eyecandy
  • Could suffice for a highly efficient dual-boxing setup