To RAF or not to RAF

[Cheesepile]

My main account has 4 other accounts linked via RAF. Currently I'm leveling 5 characters 1-60 by questing with the RAF XP bonus. All 5 are level 24 as of this evening.

Would it be faster, slower or not noticeably different to boost the 4 chars via instancing with my 80 main? Because of the difference in level, I don't believe I'd receive any XP bonus.

Just wondering what your thoughts are, I'd rather run instances if it won't set me back much....

[alcattle]

It works out about the same.
An 80 boosting in dungeons cut XP a lot but the 80 can run the group thru so fast it evens out. Try and little of both. If you are Ally, hit up Stockades. Horde would run SFK a little then both can go to SM.

[ragawaga]

Are the 4 extra accounts all linked to the main account or did you chain them?

If they're all linked to the main, then you will not receive the XP buff. As such, IMO, you'd be far quicker questing and getting the RAF XP than getting boosted by an 80 and getting nerfed XP.

[fightcow]

If your 80 is already on one of the RAF linked accounts then i have found it much quicker to boost through instances. once your chars are 22(i think) you can take them to SM and get them to 40 very rapidly, the only thing slowing you down will be the 5instances an hour limit.
each clear of cathedral takes about 5mins and will give about 1 level per run at 30 and maybe half a level as you approach 40. i cant remember exactly but its very fast. quite tedious too.. but its such a nobrainer you can just watch TV while you play.
then iirc i usually do ZF to 45(or stay at cathedral, very tedious! but probably quicker than faffing about getting to ZF etc), strat to 55, then ramps and BF to 60.

[MiRai]

Only you can truly answer this question. Let's break it down:



Instance boosting with RaF XP // RaF Summoning

PRO
- Fastest route to level 60
- Very little time wasted to immediately setup your keymaps/team [You start boosting by level 10 at the latest]

CON
- You don't learn your class(es) from level 10 - 60
- Mindlessly grinding instances repeatedly
- Limited to 4 lowbies at a timeInstance boosting with RaF XP // No RaF Summoning

PRO
- Second fastest route to level 60? :)
- Very little time wasted to immediately setup your keymaps/team [You start boosting by level 10 at the latest]

CON
- You don't learn your class(es) from level 10 - 60
- Mindlessly grinding instances repeatedly
- Limited to 4 lowbies at a time
- Having to run your team to each instance
Instance boosting with No RaF XP // No RaF Summoning


PRO
- Very little time wasted to immediately setup your keymaps/team [You start boosting by level 10 at the latest]

CON
- Slow route to level 60
- You don't learn your class(es) from level 10 - 60
- Mindlessly grinding instances repeatedly
- Limited to 4 lowbies at a time
- Having to run your team to each instance
- You will be stuck in each instance for a much longer period of time because you are receiving the regular amount of XP.

[U]Questing with RaF


[U]PRO
- Learn your class(es) / team from levels 1 - 60
- Can use a full party of 5 characters
- Get to see the old world? :)

CON
- Slow route to level 60
- Become a possible target for the opposing faction [PvP servers only]
More may be added as I see fit :)

[Shodokan]

If you loot everything while questing you can make quite a bit of money. Regardless of RAF or not.

[Stealthy]

I've done both boosting with RaF and questing with RaF and I found that questing wasn't that much slower if you were smart about which quests you took and the order in which you did them (especially now you can get land mounts at lvl 20, and epic mounts at 40).

The other benefit for questing over boosting is that you can level gathering professions without slowing you down too much.

Cheers,
S.

[Ualaa]

Personally, I'd recommend an RAF chain.
A to B, B to C, C to D etc.

And then put the booster on A.
And instance boost the other toons.

But to each their own.

[alcattle]

That is the common way, Ualaa. If you do not want toons on your main accounts, I would go b->c and d->e. In my case I have 80s on A and E so I would change it slightly to B>C D>F and 4 box with one on boosters. You could also dual box with 2 boosters for just loot from bosses.

[Zub]

also note that if you quest with 5 lowbies you'll end up with an extra level 60, as opposed to boosting 4 lowbies with a 80.

[alcattle]

Correct, how many accounts does that take? I have 9 accounts now, adding 2 for RAF is not bad, but 4 more? (oh only 5 active)

[Boylston]

Here's the rub...

If you compare RAF to non-RAF for the time to reach L60, it's a huge timesaver. However, if you look at that time saved over the course of your total L1-80 leveling progression, it becomes a much smaller amount.

If you look at that time-savings over the course of L1-ReasonablyGearedL80, it's even less significant.

The BoA heirloom items that boost XP gain by a total of 20% are nice, but you can certainly do fine without them. Again, they stop "working" once you ding L80, so if you really care about total time that it takes you to get a geared team, their effectiveness is diminished.

I just finished getting a DK+4xRet team to L80, and I opted not to RAF this time. Honestly, it didn't make much difference. I had 20%XP bonus for 2 Pallies and only 10% for two others, and they dinged 80 about 8 hours apart.

Don't be in a hurry, utilize rest XP, and stick to an efficient plan... It'll go pretty quick.

[Catamer]

at 20 go to SM library ( right hand side ) and run it leaving your lowbies at the front door. with loot master your 80 can give the loot to anyone. only the 80 does the instance. this should be good xp until 33 or 34 because you don't have to move them. then go to cathedral.

[Cheesepile]

Many helpful replies, thank you all :)

[Dramoth]

I currently have 5 active accounts with 80's on 3 of them.

I have 4 vanilla wow boxes that I am going to use to RAF up some players for Cataclysm.

What I am planning on doing is using my main account (X) as my boosting account and I was going to link my RAF accounts to the other 4.

A -> M
B -> N
C -> O
D -> P

I will create some lvl 1 toons on all 8 accounts and boost A, B, M, N together and then boost C, O, D, P together.

This will give me 4-8 lvl 60's on A, B, C and D that I would keep and I would have the same number of lvl 60's to grant free levels from to the toons I really want to boost :)

[Ualaa]

That will work well, Dramoth.

I'd probably only link AB/MN or CD/OP initially.
And do all the boosting you want.

And then do the other.

Which will get you less time pressure.

[alcattle]

Have to agree with Ualaa on the teams and doing one set of RAF at a time. Hard enough to work one more than one team, so level one team to 60 then start again. You will be pushing into CATA but for most people, this is not a bad thing