Level Boost?

I upgraded my GW2 account and got the free level boost.

With that being said, with everything (Spells/Etc) already set in-game, is it worth using it right away on the character of my choice or should I hold off and try each class/profession?

Hold off, you'll learn a class/profession better if you don't instantly 80 it. At the very least, level one character to 80 without a boost. Later, use it if you are sure you want a character maxed.

It's advisable to have at least one lvl 80 levelled the normal way because it helps learnt the game better. A lot of people boost, go straight to level 80 areas in HoT or PoF and then find themselves unable to do anything having skipped so much of end areas of the core maps (Orr) and Living World Season 2

If you feel you have a decent handle on the game, then it's unlikely to be a problem though.

As a new player, you should NEVER use a level-80 boost until you levelled a character or two the old fashioned way. With that said, the best way to do this is by exploring. What I like to do is map complete my race's starting zone, then its city, then its level 15-25 zone. Then I explore LA and the cities, starting areas and level 15-25 zones of the other races. By this time, you'll either be level 80 or close to it.

When you have upgraded from a P2P Account to a "normal" one, don't use the level boost for character you intent to "actively play". You most likely will have a deficit in mastering the profession you have skipped the learning curve for. If you are sure, that this profession will not be "actively played" (e.g. it will be a mule or daily gatherer, when you have character slots for all professions), you can boost it to Lvl80, equip it with the provided gear, and place it on the node for daily log in & gather action. With items like Proofs/Testemonies of Heroics from WvW, you can boost that "farmer" in all the traits and skills to have it ready, should you ever decide to return to playing that profession in the future.

If you're itching to use the boost, I suggest you use the boost on an alt. You can use that alt to unlock the first mount, maybe gliding if you're having fun on it....and then you can continue to level your main as normal and have access to both of those unlocks (they're account-wide).

@Uden Reavstone.3426 said:As a new player, you should NEVER use a level-80 boost until you levelled a character or two the old fashioned way. With that said, the best way to do this is by exploring. What I like to do is map complete my race's starting zone, then its city, then its level 15-25 zone. Then I explore LA and the cities, starting areas and level 15-25 zones of the other races. By this time, you'll either be level 80 or close to it.

Don’t know if I’d say I’m new. I currently play WoW so I already have an idea on how this game is. If anything it’s just learning what spells I have and/or which build works for me.

@Waffels.9748 said:

@"Uden Reavstone.3426" said:As a new player, you should NEVER use a level-80 boost until you levelled a character or two the old fashioned way. With that said, the best way to do this is by exploring. What I like to do is map complete my race's starting zone, then its city, then its level 15-25 zone. Then I explore LA and the cities, starting areas and level 15-25 zones of the other races. By this time, you'll either be level 80 or close to it.

I think the reason people advise against using the boost, at least on a profession you haven't already leveled to 80 before previously, is because they strongly suggest you get used to/comfortable with that class first....so even if you're familiar with GW2 on an Elementalist as an example, they'd recommend you not use a level 80 boost on an Engineer.

I feel like a good middle ground is boosting a "straightforward" class (or at least straightforward for Core content) - and even then initially only doing that to unlock quality of life stuff like the Mount (since once it's unlocked you can use it on any character) and maybe the Glider if you don't find it too painful doing Verdant Brink while unfamiliar. If I ask people in the community which professions are the easiest to get the hang of, they either say Warrior or Necromancer (Core Necro anyway)....based on that, I boosted a Warrior (as my main is a Necro) just to mess around in level 80 content between progressing my main.

@Pacificterror.7805 said:

@Waffels.9748 said:

@"Uden Reavstone.3426" said:As a new player, you should NEVER use a level-80 boost until you levelled a character or two the old fashioned way. With that said, the best way to do this is by exploring. What I like to do is map complete my race's starting zone, then its city, then its level 15-25 zone. Then I explore LA and the cities, starting areas and level 15-25 zones of the other races. By this time, you'll either be level 80 or close to it.

I don't know if I would say any one class is easier then another. All classes have set skill/abilities that are already assigned a key. It's more of what play style do you like (Dps ranged or melee, healing or tanking and what's easier for you as a player to manage.

@Waffels.9748 said:

@Pacificterror.7805 said:

@Waffels.9748 said:

@"Uden Reavstone.3426" said:As a new player, you should NEVER use a level-80 boost until you levelled a character or two the old fashioned way. With that said, the best way to do this is by exploring. What I like to do is map complete my race's starting zone, then its city, then its level 15-25 zone. Then I explore LA and the cities, starting areas and level 15-25 zones of the other races. By this time, you'll either be level 80 or close to it.

Apologies if I came across as sounding like some are easier than others....I more meant that the general consensus is that some are more intuitive than others, while some take more time to get into the groove with.

@Pacificterror.7805 said:

@Waffels.9748 said:

@Pacificterror.7805 said:

@Waffels.9748 said:

@"Uden Reavstone.3426" said:As a new player, you should NEVER use a level-80 boost until you levelled a character or two the old fashioned way. With that said, the best way to do this is by exploring. What I like to do is map complete my race's starting zone, then its city, then its level 15-25 zone. Then I explore LA and the cities, starting areas and level 15-25 zones of the other races. By this time, you'll either be level 80 or close to it.

True, but I'm also sure those are also players playing an MMORPG for the first time.

@Waffels.9748 said:

@Pacificterror.7805 said:

@Waffels.9748 said:

@Pacificterror.7805 said:

@Waffels.9748 said:

@"Uden Reavstone.3426" said:As a new player, you should NEVER use a level-80 boost until you levelled a character or two the old fashioned way. With that said, the best way to do this is by exploring. What I like to do is map complete my race's starting zone, then its city, then its level 15-25 zone. Then I explore LA and the cities, starting areas and level 15-25 zones of the other races. By this time, you'll either be level 80 or close to it.

Nah, pretty sure a lot of those people aren't. I wasn't and I still leveled up regularly. If you'll ask people if you should boost, the consensus is that first you should level up "normally" to not get overwhelmed with anything you might potentially not know and miss during the leveling period/popups/whatever.Tbh It's kind of weird seeing how you asked on the forum if you should use the level boost or not, the answers are overwhelmingly telling you that you shouldn't and now you're discussing that maybe you should because you've already played other mmorpg/s. This is not another mmorpg and while having some similarities, it's not the same. If you're sure that it's ok for you to boost then just do it, but then... I don't know why you've asked that question in the first place.

Get Raptor. The rest is under "whatever".

@Waffels.9748 said:

@Uden Reavstone.3426 said:As a new player, you should NEVER use a level-80 boost until you levelled a character or two the old fashioned way. With that said, the best way to do this is by exploring. What I like to do is map complete my race's starting zone, then its city, then its level 15-25 zone. Then I explore LA and the cities, starting areas and level 15-25 zones of the other races. By this time, you'll either be level 80 or close to it.

Based on this I think you should definitely level at least 1 character normally before using the boost. This is not WoW and while there are of course similarities there are also a lot of important ways it's quite different from WoW. For a start there is no such thing as a ranged or melee profession or a healer or tank profession, they can all do all of those things and more. (Also healer and tank aren't really roles in GW2, support is more about providing a range of boons and area effects based on the current situation, that's why you'll likely have noticed there are no targeted healing skills and no taunt skills.)

There's other important differences too, like how gear and stats work, the best sources of XP, the different game modes available and the long-term goals within them. Plus more subtle things like the effects of down-levelling and diminishing returns. Most importantly there's the near-complete lack of a clear path for 'progression' once you get to level 80. Expecting this game to play just like WoW is one of the more common reasons I see new players get confused or stuck.

The level 80 boost gives you Valkyrie gear for a thief, Dire for a necro, and soldier's for the other 6 classes. So think about how you want to play your toon and what that starting armor and weapons will mean for you.

@"Kaltyn of Torbins Deep.2946" said:The level 80 boost gives you Valkyrie gear for a thief, Dire for a necro, and soldier's for the other 6 classes. So think about how you want to play your toon and what that starting armor and weapons will mean for you.

I'm actually eying a Human Human Revenant, I'm liking the class so far.

@Danikat.8537 said:

@Waffels.9748 said:

@Uden Reavstone.3426 said:As a new player, you should NEVER use a level-80 boost until you levelled a character or two the old fashioned way. With that said, the best way to do this is by exploring. What I like to do is map complete my race's starting zone, then its city, then its level 15-25 zone. Then I explore LA and the cities, starting areas and level 15-25 zones of the other races. By this time, you'll either be level 80 or close to it.

You might be right about leveling at least 1 character first. I'm already finding out that I'm needing to farm XP in lower level area just to keep up with quest levels.

@Waffels.9748 said:I'm actually eying a Human Human Revenant, I'm liking the class so far.I have both a Herald and a Renegade - the HoT and PoF Revenant elite specs - and I really enjoy them both, though I do favor the female norn renegade. :)

(I snipped stuff)You might be right about leveling at least 1 character first. I'm already finding out that I'm needing to farm XP in lower level area just to keep up with quest levels.Couple pieces of advice - if you're part of a guild, make sure you grab the guild XP boost from the bartender in the guild hall. It's either a 10 or 20% XP boost, it's free, and it lasts until you replace it with one of the other boosts. Comes in especially handy once you start trying to train your masteries after reaching level 80 too. Second it food. ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS be running a food when you are leveling. Depending on the specific food, that is an extra 10 to 15% bonus experience, though its generally only from kills. Still it helps a lot when leveling. Lastly, don't neglect to map complete the cities - Divinity's Reach, Black Citadel, The Grove, Lion's Arch, etc. Just map completing all the cities can net you up to 10 to 15 levels of XP, depending on your level.

@"Kaltyn of Torbins Deep.2946" said:

@Waffels.9748 said:I'm actually eying a Human Human Revenant, I'm liking the class so far.I have both a Herald and a Renegade - the HoT and PoF Revenant elite specs - and I really enjoy them both, though I do favor the female norn renegade. :)

(I snipped stuff)You might be right about leveling at least 1 character first. I'm already finding out that I'm needing to farm XP in lower level area just to keep up with quest levels.Couple pieces of advice - if you're part of a guild, make sure you grab the guild XP boost from the bartender in the guild hall. It's either a 10 or 20% XP boost, it's free, and it lasts until you replace it with one of the other boosts. Comes in especially handy once you start trying to train your masteries after reaching level 80 too. Second it food. ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS be running a food when you are leveling. Depending on the specific food, that is an extra 10 to 15% bonus experience, though its generally only from kills. Still it helps a lot when leveling. Lastly, don't neglect to map complete the cities - Divinity's Reach, Black Citadel, The Grove, Lion's Arch, etc. Just map completing all the cities can net you up to 10 to 15 levels of XP, depending on your level.

I'm currently unable to use the auction house ability as i'm locked out for a few days. Where can i go about looking for food and bags in or around Divinity's reach? Also, how do i find a guild aside from the lfg? There's only 1 listed

if you can dodge you know what will be taught to you from level 1 and 80 so you can use your boost

@"Waffels.9748" said:Also, how do i find a guild aside from the lfg? There's only 1 listedhttps://en-forum.guildwars2.com/categories/looking-for-guild

@Fangoth.4503 said:if you can dodge you know what will be taught to you from level 1 and 80 so you can use your boost

Even if you don't it wouldn't matter as long as you are someone who is actively trying to learn what is going on.

It's not like using the boost prevents a person from understanding what their skills and traits do.

@Waffels.9748 said:I'm currently unable to use the auction house ability as i'm locked out for a few days. Where can i go about looking for food and bags in or around Divinity's reach? Also, how do i find a guild aside from the lfg? There's only 1 listed

Send me a message in game telling me what level you are and I'll send you some food. I might have a spare couple of bags in the guild bank too. Bags can be crafted by any of the armor crafting professions (I don't remember if the weapon crafting professions can or not). Crafting also grants regular experience besides just crafting experience, so that is another way to speed up leveling a character.

@"Kaltyn of Torbins Deep.2946" said:

@Waffels.9748 said:I'm currently unable to use the auction house ability as i'm locked out for a few days. Where can i go about looking for food and bags in or around Divinity's reach? Also, how do i find a guild aside from the lfg? There's only 1 listed

Are you Thalasi?

What a lot of people don't realize/remember is that when you use a boost, your character is TEMPORARILY boosted to level 80, given level 80 gear, and sent to the Silverwastes for a chance to preview it's play. You must then choose to permanently consume the boost to make it permanent. This temporary period will give you a chance to try out the character and decide if it's the right choice for you.

So you can try out the boost, see how the character handles in the Silverwastes (a good level 80 map that is not too easy or too punishing), and decide whether or not you want to use the boost. There is no limit to how many times you can use the temp boost and reset back to the actual level, nor is there a limit to haw many different characters you can try it out on.

See full details here https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Level-80_Boost