To use or not to use Level 80 Boost...

I'm having a PoF conundrum. On the one hand, I would love to get another class of mine (possibly Ranger) up to level 80 to unlock the Elite Specs and bring them into the new map, but...on the other hand...there is something enjoyable about working my way up one level at a time, participating in the Personal Story and Living Story at the recommended levels. I have found that when I bring a lower level toon up to 80, I suddenly have no desire to continue map completion. Not sure why, to be honest. But I have a Level 80 Boost from my PoF preorder, and would like to use it, but am having a hard time deciding who to use it on.

Currently I have a level 80 Necromancer and Engineer, with the Necro being the one I've caught up on LWS3 with. Naturally, it feels limiting to have only two 80s.

Any thoughts or suggestions on this scenario?

I would say first go to the PvP lobby to test the elites on golems just to get an initial feel for which you enjoy most. It won't be perfect (eg I found Scourge very clumsy there but rather fun in open PvE). It is just to get an idea. Then table vanilla map completion for a while, and explore through the PoF maps instead. When you decide you want maps done on the boosted 80, use Lulle's guide from https://oopsy.enjin.com/forum/m/41271713/viewthread/28848825-law-lulles-advanced-worldcompletion-guide so long as you have gliding available. It's super fun to follow the colored lines and do the most efficient map completion possible.

The reason I suggest all this is that you will want to use the boost at some point just to clear the shared inventory slot for your alts. However, if you deeply prefer to do organic leveling, then use the boost on someone already 80 to get the goodies without shortcutting the journey.

U can still do story while gaining some tyria XP :)

Once u use the boost u can get It back ( same as Hot)

As altcoholic i feel your pain , my suggestion boost mesmer is boring at low lvls

When you use a Level 80 boost you're taken to The Silverwastes with decent gear and a Level 80 character. Play around there and decide if you like the character and find the Level 80 experience worthwhile. Once you get a feel for the class, do one of the following:

1. You love the character! Keep the character boost and enjoy your open shared inventory slot!
2. You love the character but want to level it up so you learn how to play it! Refuse the character boost and level your character. You can use the boost on another character to see how they play at Level 80 in PvE content.
3. You hate the character. Refuse the boost and delete the character. Use it on someone else.
4. You hate everything. Just use the boost on something and keep hating everything.
5. You have a Level 80 character you like but it doesn't have Exotics... and because you make terrible financial decisions you don't want to pay for exotics. Use the boost on that character to get a full set of Exotics.

Couple of points to watch out for:

• how many classes do you already have at 80? The less you have maxed, the more valuable the 80 boost will be so make sure you boost the correct class. Not end of the world if you boost something you dislike since leveling is fast enough, still this mistake can be avoided.
• are you boosting for the class core, its HoT elite or PoF elite? Go to the spvp area and give a couple of elite specs a go. If you are interested in a core class and everything else, playing around in the Silverwastes are befor accepting the boost works too.
• eventually you'll want to use the boost anyway to free up the shared slot. Make sure you don't want to delet the character 5 minutes in (no character appearance shenaningans)
• realise that playing HoT and PoF on a class you have 0 experience with (and the bad exotic soldier gear) will be painful. Even should you boost, you might have to slowly work up to enjoying the class

@Cyninja.2954 said:Couple of points to watch out for:

• how many classes do you already have at 80? The less you have maxed, the more valuable the 80 boost will be so make sure you boost the correct class. Not end of the world if you boost something you dislike since leveling is fast enough, still this mistake can be avoided.
• are you boosting for the class core, its HoT elite or PoF elite? Go to the spvp area and give a couple of elite specs a go. If you are interested in a core class and everything else, playing around in the Silverwastes are befor accepting the boost works too.
• eventually you'll want to use the boost anyway to free up the shared slot. Make sure you don't want to delet the character 5 minutes in (no character appearance shenaningans)
• realise that playing HoT and PoF on a class you have 0 experience with (and the bad exotic soldier gear) will be painful. Even should you boost, you might have to slowly work up to enjoying the class

Thanks for the advice. Here are my answers to your questions:

1. I currently only have two 80s (I had more in the past when I used to play more often, but have since deleted them since I got bored with them and am an "altaholic"). One is an Engineer, and the other is a Necromance, with the Necro (Reaper) being the one I am playing PoF with due to finishing LWS3 with her. The Engi used to be my main until I unlocked Reaper on my Necro. Love the GS!
2. I would primarily want to use the boost on a Ranger so they can go to the level 80 maps and get pets that are locked behind those maps (tiger and wyvern for the most part). The first elite spec for Ranger would be a nice addition, however. Not feeling the newest elite, however. If I hadn't deleted the Rangers I had in the past that I got bored with, I'd be loving to play them in PoF.

@Moyayuki.3619 said:

2. I would primarily want to use the boost on a Ranger so they can go to the level 80 maps and get pets that are locked behind those maps (tiger and wyvern for the most part). The first elite spec for Ranger would be a nice addition, however. Not feeling the newest elite, however. If I hadn't deleted the Rangers I had in the past that I got bored with, I'd be loving to play them in PoF.

Based on this I think ranger would be a good choice.

Like you I actually like levelling, doing the story and doing map completion so in most cases I wouldn't want to boost a character. I used my boost from HoT on a warrior because I like the idea of having all 9 professions at level 80 so I can use them if I want to, but in general I find warrior boring so I was unlikely to play it enough to reach level 80 naturally.

The PoF boost I used on a character that was already level 80, because I couldn't see any reason I'd want a 10th one any time soon (and if I do I always have tomes and scrolls) and I wanted to free up the shared slot.

As you already have level 80 characters then go for it.The only time you shouldn't use a level 80 boost is when you are a new or nearly new player with no level 80's who still needs to learn how the basic game mechanic's work such as breakbars. There is nothing more annoying than a boss on a level 80 map where you need to kill a breakbar quickly to stop a special attack or immune phase and people ask "What is 'cc?".

It's the only way to free up that shared inventory spot, so absolutely do it.

Yeah, I have the exact same problem. ...and I have two of those boosts now.Some of the level up bonuses are interesting, and I think I'm still missing some unlocks. So I don't want to just skip those. Also, manually leveling to 80 is useful for learning how to play the class. But on the other hand, using those would net me an extra shared inventory slot. Urgh.

One major problem with boosting a char to 80 is that you will miss out on a lot of gold. I find that low level materials (copper, iron) sell considerably better than high level materials. This is even more true now because the new zones are crawling with people mining all of the high level nodes. So prices are plummeting. I made about 100 gold when I leveled up my first char to 80 just selling random junk and mats and that is after I capped my bank stacks.

You will also have to spend gold to outfit your new lvl 80 character so that's even bigger drain on your gold. And if you plan to craft you will have to pay for most of the mats as well.

But if you have enough gold and 2 lvl 80 chars already I'd say go for it.

That said mounts sped up map clear speed considerably. Even just the attack skill is a considerable nuke if you can get a few mobs bunched up together.

Personally I use the 80 Boosts on characters already level 80 (I'd delete them if I could so I don't have to destroy the equipment they give me) because I prefer to level whilst mapping, so my characters at least have somewhere to WP to in order to use their skills once they're top level. If you're 80 and have to run to a spot, it's a waste of XP in my opinion. I think they're perfect for WvW players, but for everyone else, they're a double-edged sword.

If you do end up using a level 80 boost and happen to have an experience scroll in your account (the kind that levels you up to 10, 20, 30, 40, etc.) I'd recommend using it first. You get some minor rewards for leveling but more importantly you get some hero points that you can spend on the new expansion specializations. Also, if you want to actually get to the content, be sure to activate the new personal storyline for each expansion from your hero panel.

I have all professions to 80 and i leveled all of them manually.When HoT came out i insta-leveled my Revenant to 80 (i had tons of tome of knowledge from pvp, still got over 2 stacks of them) and then never played it again after having it 80.My advice, take your time and level them manually. If you have one of those insta 20/30/40 boosts then feel free to use them but don't use insta 80 ticket. You will get familiar far more then leveling yourself then using an insta 80 ticket, picking a build from metabattle and playing max level. Its just not fun.

@Pridedemon.3041 said:I have all professions to 80 and i leveled all of them manually.When HoT came out i insta-leveled my Revenant to 80 (i had tons of tome of knowledge from pvp, still got over 2 stacks of them) and then never played it again after having it 80.My advice, take your time and level them manually. If you have one of those insta 20/30/40 boosts then feel free to use them but don't use insta 80 ticket. You will get familiar far more then leveling yourself then using an insta 80 ticket, picking a build from metabattle and playing max level. Its just not fun.

So what do you suggest people should do with the L80 boost?

@Faaris.8013 said:

@Pridedemon.3041 said:I have all professions to 80 and i leveled all of them manually.When HoT came out i insta-leveled my Revenant to 80 (i had tons of tome of knowledge from pvp, still got over 2 stacks of them) and then never played it again after having it 80.My advice, take your time and level them manually. If you have one of those insta 20/30/40 boosts then feel free to use them but don't use insta 80 ticket. You will get familiar far more then leveling yourself then using an insta 80 ticket, picking a build from metabattle and playing max level. Its just not fun.

I currently have 15 characters and i have used L80 boosts for extra copy of profession. Like i have a norn elementalist but now wanted an asura male ele so i used L80 ticket. Some professions have very complex rotations like mesmer/engineer and ele to some extent and if you insta level it 80 you are gonna have a hard time in any pve content with it.

EDIT: Plus L80 boost can also be used on 80 lvl char to get various bonuses which are good to have. Like soldiers gear for a recently achieved 80, all 80 waypoints unlocked, 15 slot bags is actually quite a lot for a new player.

@Pridedemon.3041 said:

@Faaris.8013 said:

@Pridedemon.3041 said:I have all professions to 80 and i leveled all of them manually.When HoT came out i insta-leveled my Revenant to 80 (i had tons of tome of knowledge from pvp, still got over 2 stacks of them) and then never played it again after having it 80.My advice, take your time and level them manually. If you have one of those insta 20/30/40 boosts then feel free to use them but don't use insta 80 ticket. You will get familiar far more then leveling yourself then using an insta 80 ticket, picking a build from metabattle and playing max level. Its just not fun.

But those rotations do not exist if you play those classes without the elite traits, so I wonder how useful the stuff you learn when playing below L80 really is. In my opinion, the time spent on learning your class is better invested in doing it with a L80 character because you are actually able to learn the skills you will use on a daily basis.

I used my boost to my thief at level 75 or so. Yes, taking her from 75 to 80. I leveled her up with landscape (mainly hunting hero points) and knowledge tomes, and used the booster to take the last few levels to: (1) free a shared inventory slot, (2) get initial gears. I already tried thief at PoF PvP trial back then, and fell in love with the new spec.

I want to point out (I didn't read eeeeevery reply so someone may have already said) that the boost isn't just a level up. It comes with dye packs and free bags and utilities and stuff like that (good utilities!) ---unfortunately the utilities are account bound but hey they're worth using. And the anniversary dye pack is the same as the three year one so if you haven't unlocked all of those dyes its a nice gift. I can't remember exactly what else is in the level up booster but even if you don't want to level up that way its worth using for the swag and the free shared slot.

The level 80 boost is the old Final Fantasy Elixir problem. If you keep waiting for the right time to use it, then you'll never use it. Just use the boost.

@Gerrick.7489 said:If you do end up using a level 80 boost and happen to have an experience scroll in your account (the kind that levels you up to 10, 20, 30, 40, etc.) I'd recommend using it first. You get some minor rewards for leveling but more importantly you get some hero points that you can spend on the new expansion specializations. Also, if you want to actually get to the content, be sure to activate the new personal storyline for each expansion from your hero panel.

That's not quite accurate. You get the exact same number of Hero Points from leveling to 80, no matter how you do it. Whether you use a level 80 boost, or a level 40 boost and then level naturally from there or level by playing right from the start you will end up with exactly enough hero points to unlock all your core skills and specializations. The only difference is if you use a level 80 boost they're spent automatically, but since you can't start spending them on the elite specs until you've fully unlocked everything else that doesn't make a big difference.

The only way to get the extra hero points you need for the elite specs is by doing Hero Challenges in the open-world maps (1 point for core ones, 10 for HoT and PoF ones) or by buying challenge completion from the vendor in WvW.

You're right that using a scroll (or leveling naturally) will give you some stuff you won't get from the level 80 boost, but I'd recommend checking the list on the Wiki to see exactly what you'll get and if it's worth it to you. The majority of it is low level equipment which can't be salvaged or sold, so it's not much use once you're above the required level. There's some nice things in there like a karma booster, a few other boosters and some crafting materials, but nothing amazing.

Alternatively boost the character you want to use and then use the scrolls on 'key runners' - characters you just play through the level 10 story to get a Black Lion Key and then delete.

@Danikat.8537 said:

That's not quite accurate. You get the exact same number of Hero Points from leveling to 80, no matter how you do it. Whether you use a level 80 boost, or a level 40 boost and then level naturally from there or level by playing right from the start you will end up with exactly enough hero points to unlock all your core skills and specializations. The only difference is if you use a level 80 boost they're spent automatically, but since you can't start spending them on the elite specs until you've fully unlocked everything else that doesn't make a big difference.

The only way to get the extra hero points you need for the elite specs is by doing Hero Challenges in the open-world maps (1 point for core ones, 10 for HoT and PoF ones) or by buying challenge completion from the vendor in WvW.

You're right that using a scroll (or leveling naturally) will give you some stuff you won't get from the level 80 boost, but I'd recommend checking the list on the Wiki to see exactly what you'll get and if it's worth it to you. The majority of it is low level equipment which can't be salvaged or sold, so it's not much use once you're above the required level. There's some nice things in there like a karma booster, a few other boosters and some crafting materials, but nothing amazing.

Alternatively boost the character you want to use and then use the scrolls on 'key runners' - characters you just play through the level 10 story to get a Black Lion Key and then delete.

You're right, my mistake. It was apparently a glitch in the UI and the extra hero points were gone when I re-logged.

@Moyayuki.3619 said:Any thoughts or suggestions on this scenario?Play the ranger normally, unlocking the pets on your way, and use the boost on a new useless character (some profession that you're not sure you'd like and probably won't spend time on it to gear it up).

@"Chickenooble.5014" said:When you use a Level 80 boost you're taken to The Silverwastes with decent gear and a Level 80 character. Play around there and decide if you like the character and find the Level 80 experience worthwhile. Once you get a feel for the class, do one of the following:

1. You love the character! Keep the character boost and enjoy your open shared inventory slot!
2. You love the character but want to level it up so you learn how to play it! Refuse the character boost and level your character. You can use the boost on another character to see how they play at Level 80 in PvE content.
3. You hate the character. Refuse the boost and delete the character. Use it on someone else.
4. You hate everything. Just use the boost on something and keep hating everything.
5. You have a Level 80 character you like but it doesn't have Exotics... and because you make terrible financial decisions you don't want to pay for exotics. Use the boost on that character to get a full set of Exotics.

I still say Silverwastes is one of the worst trials in existence.

1. You only get 2 sets (or 1) of weapons. Let's say Thief I think it was Daggers and Shortbow? Engineer I think it was the Rifle. Warrior was Twin Swords and Rifle and such.The issue here is what if you like another weapon? Yes, you can buy one of the very weak/lame ones from the NPC or if you have the money to waste to buy a "decent" one from the player shops for some gold (which is a risk of wasting gold) to see if the class has potential of you liking it or not. The trial should have at least a little loot box like the demo characters had in PoF with one of each weapon type the class can use so you can see which weapons you might like on it.

2. The next issue is no elites. You can loathe a core and like an elite. I know I can say that... I loathed Mesmer core to death until I got Mirage and was like "OOOOOOOOOOOH!!!!"

3. Even if you tell someone to go to the PvP lobby, which I've done a few times, you can't use that to see if you would like it anywhere/everywhere else. If you're a WvW person, your stats and damage and traits/skills are not the same. Same for if you're one that's into PvE.

I still have my 2 level 80 boosts though so I might be the worst person to listen to. I just don't want to waste it on something I find out on hating and I've seen enough times I like a class I've tried out in PvP lobby just to find out I hated it later after leveling it manually to 80 no matter which elite I've used.Or... I did the level 80 trial in Silverwastes and thought "This feels very meh and lame" and in the end I still make that class type later on and then try different weapons and stat setups and going "OOOH! THIS IS NICE!"

One of the examples of one I liked in the PvP lobby but ended up hating have to be Revenant.One examples of one I loathed in the Silverwasted trial but ended up really liking quite a bit (especially recently) have to be Guardian.

If you're planning to play PvP or WvW, definitely use the 80 boost. Waste it if you must, just use it so you gain access to the shared inventory slot. If you're going to play any competitive game mode, you'll soon be knee-deep in levelling tomes and you'll laugh at yourself for worrying about a level boost.