MacroQuest 2 vs Isboxer - which one is right for you?
Is Macroquest 2 right for you? That's one of the most common questions that new boxers in Everquest are going to be asking themselves. The other is exactly what does this program do in comparison to Isboxer and what are its strengths and its weaknesses. Well, let's start off with the fact that Macroquest 2 is made with Everquest in mind and only Everquest while Isboxer is not.
That means you're going to get wayyyyyyyyy more out of Macroquest than you could Isboxer. Unlike Isboxer Mq2 is not just a tool to help you box. It's a Utility Program which enriches the experience of Everquest in almost every single way. Isboxer offers you two things, Key Broadcasting and Window Management - both of which are phenomenal and it's why I use isboxer. Macroquest2 offers you so many different things I can't even name them all here. It would take too long!
What it comes down to is this, I recommend that everyone who wants to box use Isboxer. It's some of the best software out there for boxing. Anyone that plays Everquest should use Mq2 because it's some of the best software out there. I don't see it as MQ2 vs Isboxer. As far as I am concerned the two programs have such little overlap that it's almost nonexistant. Isboxer basically takes the EQBC plugin and makes it into something 100x better by adding Window Management and Key Broadcasting.... But it doesn't offer you anything else to enrich your experience like MQ2 does.
This isn't to say that MQ2 and Isboxer both have similar play styles - and that's what I would like to talk about below. From what I have seen by using both of these programs extensively - there are two massively different playstyles that correspond to each program. What I mean is they're both going to appeal to two entirely different audiences.
The Isboxer Playstyle
In order to play effeciently with Isboxer you're almost always going to need to be on your A-game. Isboxer has a very high risk high reward type of playstyle and it's not well suited for casual players or people who want to just chill out while playing and don't like giving it their all every single time. This isn't to say you can't slack off and use Isboxer - you very well can... It's just much more difficult to do.
With that aside, Isboxer gives you far more control than any other third party program does. With its Window Management and Key Broadcasting you get better and more control over every single one of your characters. You also can watch what happens to each character at all times which is extremely important.
My boxing guides depend more on Isboxer than they do Macroquest 2 for two simple reasons. The first of which is I started with Isboxer. It's how I learned to play so it's the easiest way for me to teach anyone else how to play. The second biggest reason is I believe Isboxer is better for boxing. That's basically all the program is good for and it does that best.
The Macroquest 2 Playstyle
The Macroquest 2 playstyle is a lot more laid back and it focuses more on preparing for the fight than actually fighting. What I mean is, it takes a more intellectual than skillful approach to the game - you could totally suck at Everquest but still be good if you made macros that did exactly what you wanted them to for each of your characters.
With that said though, if you don't make your own macros and you fall back onto Kissassist to play most of your characters - you're going to be worse than someone who only uses isboxer almost without question. The reason for this is Kissassist isn't better at playing the game than you are. It's quite often very slow to react and it's very noticable that it does way less DPS than a real player. A lot of the more experienced coders for Everquest developed their own macros for each class, AutoCleric being one of the most well known ones.
You can use these macros which will play better than Kissassist but you'll be bound to someone elses playstyle and how they designed the macro. This might not always be what you, the player, actually wants. In other instances though, this might be exactly what you'd want.
If you'd like to continue learning more about the difference between Isboxer and MQ2 I recommend you continue to my Kissassist DPS Guide. I go into much more detail in that guide why Kissassist does less damage as well as provide videos + parses backing up my claims.
Check out the RedGuides Compile of MQ2!