Any improvements in the boosting process in the last few years?

[sync00]

Here is what I did several years ago. Take a booster and 2 RAF toons to a dungeon. Leave the boostees inside the entrance while the booster clears out the first area. Then move the boostees to the cleared area.

Is there a better way of boosting than this?

[MiRai]

Is there a better way of boosting than this?
That's pretty much it. The only change is that you can complete 10 dungeons an hour instead of only 5.

[sync00]

I was hoping there might be a way now to have the boostees follow at a certain distance. Moving them separately is tedious.

I did some more searching and came across someone saying they leave boostees at the entrance. He skips the trash and just goes for bosses and dungeon completion bonus.

[MiRai]

I was hoping there might be a way now to have the boostees follow at a certain distance. Moving them separately is tedious.

I did some more searching and came across someone saying they leave boostees at the entrance. He skips the trash and just goes for bosses and dungeon completion bonus.
Well, it all comes down to how comfortable you feel with whatever methods are available. I know beeq is currently boosting a second set of characters with his Mage and he keeps the slaves on follow the entire time.

[MultiBear]

I had started typing a post to share some of my own experiences with you. However, as that grew into a large wall of text, I thought I'd best rewrite it and just post it like this: http://www.dual-boxing.com/content/152-Levelling-Through-Boosting-in-World-of-Warcraft

I hope that answers some of your questions and/or gives you some ideas on how you'd like to go about it.

[sync00]

I had started typing a post to share some of my own experiences with you. However, as that grew into a large wall of text, I thought I'd best rewrite it and just post it like this: http://www.dual-boxing.com/entries/1007-Levelling-Through-Boosting-in-World-of-Warcraft.

I hope that answers some of your questions and/or gives you some ideas on how you'd like to go about it.
Thanks. The link isn't working.

[MultiBear]

Thanks. The link isn't working.

I've updated the link, though you can also find it on the front page now.

[sync00]

I've updated the link, though you can also find it on the front page now.
I'll check it out. It doesn't show up on the new blogs page, which I checked before mentioning the non-working link.

[sync00]

I've updated the link, though you can also find it on the front page now.
Thanks for the good info.

Someone on Reddit posted the other day that RAF now goes to 90. There is no official confirmation of that, so he wasn't sure if it was a bug or not.

What does someone do if they have a 5x team and want to create a new team. Would you buy 5 new accounts for the RAF bonus?

[Prega]

Someone on Reddit posted the other day that RAF now goes to 90. There is no official confirmation of that, so he wasn't sure if it was a bug or not.

i have atm 4 raf active with inside all groups at lvl 85 or +.
i can confirm atm looks like Raf works to 90. i ve done some tests in past days: with recruiter and recruited together bonus xp is about triple then with the recruited only. composition: 1 booster lvl100 + 2 recruiter+2 recruited. if i drop a recruider, i got 1/3 of xp on that character.
i opened a ticket in wow forum asking info about it. No response atm.
Looks not implemented on grant levels, need some more tests. but looks like it s not working retroactive atm.

PS to offer more info:
info with my composition. it s possible and just a bit boring do 85-90 in Temple of Jade serpent with raf. 7/8 runs. some more then 1 hour.

[hyphnos]

That's interesting about RAF going to 90. Did you link your accounts after or before 6.2? I have an active link but haven't done anything post 85 since 6.2 dropped.

EDIT: just tested summon friend on the older linkages and an 85 could summon another 85 which would normally be disabled so this seems to confirm it works to 90. :)
Also at OP:

Boosting in dungeons is best but it it is much better and depends on how fast you can move through them. My last batch of 4 took a bit over 6 /played (not super rushed and some time idle) They put most of the XP in dungeon "quests" that repeat, ie a big hit of XP at the end after you kill bosses (plus some big hits for "bonus objectives, particularly numerous in Stratholme). Toons don't have to be super close to kills but they can't always be left at entrance to get credit.

It is worth noting that now if you train ONLY the basic level of riding (the 4 gold one or whatever) when you hit 71 you get everything through basic flying (not Azeroth, Northrend, Pandaria licenses) for no cost.

My alliance path, to give you an idea

get to 11
Shadowfang x 2 with quests on second pass gets you to 23 (warning: you can ENTER Shadowfang at 11, the summon stone there doesn't work on 11s so you have to take one toon up, friend summon the other with your booster or park a lock alt there, afaik this is the only place you hit that issue)
Scarlet Halls x 2 with quest on second pass gets you to roughly 30
Scarlet Monastery x 1 with quests will get you to 33
Scholmance x 1 (no quests) will get you to 37
Stratholme Main gate x4 turning in quests on last run will get you to 53
Stratholme Service Ent x 3 will get you to 57 (turn in quest on final run if it will get you there) (caution it will often BARELY get you 57, so make sure you clear everything)
Hellfire Ramparts x 2 with quests on pass 2 get you to 59
Blood furnace x 2 with quests on pass 2 gets you to 65
Setthek Halls x 4 will take you to 70 (you can throw in Mana Tombs once with quests for variety if you like) (other two at Auch don't loop on themselves)
Azol Nerub x 1 with quests at 70
Old Kingdom x 4 with quests (2nd or 3rd run) will get you 75
Halls of Lightning x 3-4 will get you to 80
Blackrock Caverns x 1 with quests will typically get you 82
Stonecore to 85 (2.5 to 3.5 passes)

This pathway is set up to minimize moving around - it's not always the optimal dungeon at any given time but for me moving takes more time than running through a dungeon.

85 to 90 either stormstout (leave new toons at door, summon PLer out with them after over) or Jade Serpent as the final hits are actually good without RAF XP and I'm sure insane nice with.

[sync00]

My last batch of 4 took a bit over 6 /played (not super rushed and some time idle)

I'm trying to figure out what the '6' refers to. 6 hours would be way too short but 6 days seems rather long.

[hyphnos]

I'm trying to figure out what the '6' refers to. 6 hours would be way too short but 6 days seems rather long.

6 hrs 12 min!!

This is with 85-90 mage as booster with blink x 2 charge glyph and the mage talent speed boost. Flying 2 seater, full heirloom (55% now). Largely this works because you put the 2 or 4 paired toons on follow one the strongest one, have that one follow the booster taking them off in bad spots and keeping them in range.

It easily cut the time in half to make 85s from the last time I did RAF, that was running 10-12 hrs if i remember right.

For instance in Stratholme, there are 7-8 "bonus objectives" (kill Hearthsinger, Kill postman, Kill unforgiven etc that pay out 25k XP in full heirloom) up til around 50/51. The final objecive pays out about 105k. And these dungeon bonuses were actually NERFED from when they were put in.

[hyphnos]

I was hoping there might be a way now to have the boostees follow at a certain distance. Moving them separately is tedious.

I did some more searching and came across someone saying they leave boostees at the entrance. He skips the trash and just goes for bosses and dungeon completion bonus.

I partly posted this earlier. I put one of the boostees directly on follow on booster, then the other 3 on follow on that one so that at worst you have one toon dead if you get pounced. That being said if you have full heirlooms, your toons will rarely be in danger of dying once you are familiar with the sequence of dungeons i listed and where the bad spots are. In those places take the one front toon off follow, run up do your thing then run that front guy up with the others in tow and take off again.

Hope that helps. Let me know if you have any issues, the tricks are pretty easy to learn but am happy to share if you have a problem area.

[sync00]

6 hrs 12 min!!

... easily cut the time in half to make 85s from the last time I did RAF, that was running 10-12 hrs if i remember right.

Wow!!!

Is that speed improvement all from mage blinking, etc or is it also because the bonus objectives did not exist before?

[MultiBear]

Wow!!!

Is that speed improvement all from mage blinking, etc or is it also because the bonus objectives did not exist before?

The dungeon objectives make a massive difference, as does the fact that heirlooms can now be used all the way up to level 100. Before patch 6.1, their maximum level was 85, so for the 85-90 range you had to do without.

[sync00]

The dungeon objectives make a massive difference
I couldn't tell if the dungeon objectives were available back when he leveled the previous team that took twice as long.

[hyphnos]

I couldn't tell if the dungeon objectives were available back when he leveled the previous team that took twice as long.No, they weren't. They make a huge difference. For example a current LK level runs about 450k - the dungeon bonus hits with RAF and 55% heirloom run in the 220 to 240k range at the end of each dungeon.Levels scale more nicely now I think mists levels are all in the 500s and the dungeon bonus untripled is 85 to 90 for stormstout if i remember correctly.As far as the speed goes it comes from 2 places. In the past the 3x dungeon quest XP made it necessary to change dungeons more often because of the high value of dungeon quests. Moving around is a big chunk of the 6 hr levelling time and the moving around is drastically reduced because you can repeat the dungeon bonus objectives and stay in one place longer. Stratholme main gate for instance, I stay a bit past the point where XP and bonus objectives start to degrade (around 50/51) but there are just so many objectives it makes it worth it since you can get to BC not leaving Stratholme. If you go to Sunken Temple or Blackrock it just takes time to get there etc and you gain so little it's not worth the time (i did try variations using Sunken and lower blackrock). Lower blackrock is a major timesuck because the objective requires running the entire dungeon and there are way fewer bonus objectives than Stratholme.I prefer a 90 mage because of 2x blink and speed boosts to move through. I also found that a well geared 90 (with some 522 gear, some timeless, garrosh heirloom weapon, can basically arcane explosion everything running about as fast as they can move all the way til you get to stonecore, then you have to be more careful unless they are really well geared/elixired). I think a monk would do about as well but no portals so mage booster is my go to. Be sure to use the arcane explosion glyph that makes the radius bigger. When there is a hunter in the group with a 90 mage, you can leave pack on and rarely get stunned so you can go even faster when dragging your alts with you until Cata dungeons. I was super happy to discover the aspect of the pack trick and how fast you can run through halls of lightning in particular with it on once the mage has sufficient gear and you get the timing down to run up to mobs and explosion them down before they hit you.Anyway I'll stop rambling now, hope some of that helps folks out.

[JohnGabriel]

Every time an expansion comes out they reduce the amount of experience needed to reach the previous expansions level.

I remember when it took 12 hours /played time to do 1-80

[Prega]

That's interesting about RAF going to 90. Did you link your accounts after or before 6.2? I have an active link but haven't done anything post 85 since 6.2 dropped.

EDIT: just tested summon friend on the older linkages and an 85 could summon another 85 which would normally be disabled so this seems to confirm it works to 90. :)
Also at OP:

Boosting in dungeons is best but it it is much better and depends on how fast you can move through them. My last batch of 4 took a bit over 6 /played (not super rushed and some time idle) They put most of the XP in dungeon "quests" that repeat, ie a big hit of XP at the end after you kill bosses (plus some big hits for "bonus objectives, particularly numerous in Stratholme). Toons don't have to be super close to kills but they can't always be left at entrance to get credit.

It is worth noting that now if you train ONLY the basic level of riding (the 4 gold one or whatever) when you hit 71 you get everything through basic flying (not Azeroth, Northrend, Pandaria licenses) for no cost.

My alliance path, to give you an idea

get to 11
Shadowfang x 2 with quests on second pass gets you to 23 (warning: you can ENTER Shadowfang at 11, the summon stone there doesn't work on 11s so you have to take one toon up, friend summon the other with your booster or park a lock alt there, afaik this is the only place you hit that issue)
Scarlet Halls x 2 with quest on second pass gets you to roughly 30
Scarlet Monastery x 1 with quests will get you to 33
Scholmance x 1 (no quests) will get you to 37
Stratholme Main gate x4 turning in quests on last run will get you to 53
Stratholme Service Ent x 3 will get you to 57 (turn in quest on final run if it will get you there) (caution it will often BARELY get you 57, so make sure you clear everything)
Hellfire Ramparts x 2 with quests on pass 2 get you to 59
Blood furnace x 2 with quests on pass 2 gets you to 65
Setthek Halls x 4 will take you to 70 (you can throw in Mana Tombs once with quests for variety if you like) (other two at Auch don't loop on themselves)
Azol Nerub x 1 with quests at 70
Old Kingdom x 4 with quests (2nd or 3rd run) will get you 75
Halls of Lightning x 3-4 will get you to 80
Blackrock Caverns x 1 with quests will typically get you 82
Stonecore to 85 (2.5 to 3.5 passes)

This pathway is set up to minimize moving around - it's not always the optimal dungeon at any given time but for me moving takes more time than running through a dungeon.

85 to 90 either stormstout (leave new toons at door, summon PLer out with them after over) or Jade Serpent as the final hits are actually good without RAF XP and I'm sure insane nice with.

All my Raf links activated before 6.2 (2 start of May, 2 around end of May)

More info. It s (not official) true: Raf working in 85 - 90.
Today levelled 3Druids+1Mage(lvl 85) group with monk lvl100 booster.
Total Time required:about 1 hour and half. Summoned at stones by "Summon a friend". Did 4x Temple of jade Serpent runs and 4x Mogushan Palace runs. After donated with "grant a lvl" 5x levels to a priest lvl 85, now lvl 90:)
So all Raf bonuses look working atm. But no official response or info by Blizzard.

My pathway - horde side, Raf active:
1-11 levelling in orc starting zone
11-21 do Ragefire Chasm
21-37 SM
37-57 Stratholme
57-59 Ramparts
59-62 Blood Furnace
62-67,5+ Mana Tombs
67,5+-69 Shettek Halls
69-70 Shadow lab
70-73 Nexus
73-78,5 Gundrak
78,5-80 Halls of Lightning
80-83 Blackrock Caverns
83-85 Stonecore or at 84 go for Grim Batol
85-90 Temple of Jade Serpent or at 87+ go for Mogushan

[Mosg2]

The fastest 1-85 I ever did was 3 hours and 57 minutes /played. That was with summoners set up at each entrance and logging out every time I hit the 10 instance per hour limit. Usually it takes about 6-7 hours without all that shenanigans. Funnily enough, 1-11 takes the longest :/ I usually level by questing from 85-90 since I 15-box and I'm boosting a set of 10 toons.

1-11 By hand
11-23 SFK
23-34 SM
34-45 Scholo
45-48 BRD
48-58 LBRS
58-63 Ramps/Blood Furnace once
63-68 Sethekk Halls
68-71 Nexus
71-75 Drak'tharon
75-80 HoL
80-85 BRC

[Andreauk]

My tip in the levelling process for those with a grp non boosted is queue for Detention block as soon as it appears in the dungeon finder list.

Use the mole machine, select first option and once there aggro the mobs accross the ledge then drop down.

First Fineous Darkvire, he may come with the trash he may not.. then behind you Lord incendius. You can do this really fast and then requeue for the same instance using the dungeon finder. This will keep you going until you can unlock ramparts in bc and is very fast even if you are only in looms without ref a friend xp.

[sync00]

For those of you that do Stratholme, do you complete all the objectives? Do you find it worth opening the mailboxes to get the bonus?

[MultiBear]

For those of you that do Stratholme, do you complete all the objectives? Do you find it worth opening the mailboxes to get the bonus?

Each objective gives a nice chunk of xp, so I've definitely done all of those each time. And that includes opening up all the mailboxes, as that will spawn Postmaster Malorne, who is also a bonus objective. It's the bonus objectives that make it such a terrific instance for levelling in my opinion.

[sync00]

Each objective gives a nice chunk of xp, so I've definitely done all of those each time. And that includes opening up all the mailboxes, as that will spawn Postmaster Malorne, who is also a bonus objective. It's the bonus objectives that make it such a terrific instance for levelling in my opinion.
I had the impression that finding the mailboxes was quite time consuming, so I didn't do that. I have another run coming up in the near future where I will try it.

[MultiBear]

I had the impression that finding the mailboxes was quite time consuming, so I didn't do that. I have another run coming up in the near future where I will try it.

They're always in the exact same locations, so once you're familiar in Stratholme, you can easily click them when you're running through. Good luck! :)

[Ughmahedhurtz]

They're always in the exact same locations, so once you're familiar in Stratholme, you can easily click them when you're running through. Good luck! :)
This. In my experience, if the mailboxes are time-consuming, you're undergeared/underlevel for the place.