Noob question: When to stop using 2x XP buff?

[Crossie]

I start at level 1 and end when hitting level 50.  I wouldn't recommend going before or beyond that. 

[cohRock]

I trade 25% of my influence for XP all the way to 50.  I'm not in THAT much of a hurry to get there, and I am still interested in low and mid-game content.  Plus I hate to completely mooch off my other selves.

 

The one exception I make is if someone is willing to power-level me in a farm, and I feel like twiddling my thumbs while someone else does all the work.  For that uncommon occurrence, I cancel the 25% XP bonus, and make it 100% for the time I remain in the farm.  After that, I go back to 25%.

 

Pet Peeve: Not all farms are fire farms.  For a sitter, it is sort of silly specifically asking to join a fire farm.  Would you reject a cold farm, lethal farm, energy farm, or psionic farm?  They all exist, and what type only concerns the hitters, not the sitters.  So don't limit yourself in the type of farm you wish to join.

 

(My ice armor brute once had a person join the farm I was leading -- an ice farm of course.  He had the typical fire build and got pi**ed at me when he died because his build was quite weak to cold damage.  In my lfg message, I had specifically stated I was looking for hitters to join me in a cold farm, but I guess some people don't listen.)

[Neiska]

For me it depends -

 

If I am power leveling an alt in a rush to try a new build? Use it all the way to 50.

If it's one of my "enjoy the journey" characters doing as many story/ouros missions as possible, I'll never use it.

If its a powerset thats new to me or one I don't have a lot of experience with, I usually prefer to "slow-mo" the leveling process for practice/tests/so on.

etc.

 

So, depends on the character really. Might use it all the way to 50, may not use it at all. I make/play different ATs/power combinations for different reasons.

[GM Crumpet]

I play till level cap then it goes away automatically. I make a lot more inf on the auction house than I do from playing without the XP booster.

[Snarky]

1 hour ago, GM Crumpet said:

I play till level cap then it goes away automatically. I make a lot more inf on the auction house than I do from playing without the XP booster.

there are many great strategies for fundraising!

[BasiliskXVIII]

I load up with 8 hours' worth at character creation, then forget to load up with more and get a few levels and wonder why it seems like the leveling speed slowed down so much, then I refill my supply and repeat.

[Tacheyon]

4 hours ago, BasiliskXVIII said:

I load up with 8 hours' worth at character creation, then forget to load up with more and get a few levels and wonder why it seems like the leveling speed slowed down so much, then I refill my supply and repeat.

 

This happens when I go into an ITF and wonder why I am not popping 3 levels in a map.

 

Or any TF for that case! 

[UltraAlt]

On 12/4/2025 at 10:02 PM, out51d3r said:

I've read that sometime after level 40, the amount of inf you get from missions starts going up pretty dramatically.  When does that occur, and is it worth giving up the 2x XP for?

I just hit 40 with the buff on, using it pretty much the entire way.  Because it disables inf gain, I've been specifically running story arcs that give reward merits, then flipping those for inf. That's been fairly profitable, and I'm buying set enhancements with it as I go.

Basically, I'm wondering if the inf increase will be enough to justify not using the XP buff.

 

 

I think you have to decide for yourself when you want to stop using the x2 XP.

 

I run a team with some friends for a couple of hours 2 times a week. We usually start up new characters and run through to 50 (well, I only level to 49 and then xp-lock them) and then do it all over again. They always use x2 XP, so when I run with them I use x2 XP.

 

For my other alts, I get the full load of 8 hours worth of x2 XP from the START and then don't get any more x2 XP after that.

 

That being said I have some characters xp-locked at 14-15 just to run lower level stuff with, others xp-locked around 20-25, and others xp-locked where I feel they have met their character conception goals.

 

As far as the Inf increase, if you are running x2 XP, you aren't getting any infl. The only influence you gain from running x2 XP is by selling the drops you get from adventuring.

 

Things that happen when you don't run x2 XP -

It will take longer to level

You most likely will be able to finish mission arcs from contact without outleveling them.

You might even decide to turn off earning exp to stay in an area to check out all missions by not out leveling the contacts in the area. (keep track of the top level of contacts in a zone by checking the wiki, for example https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Striga_Isle)

The dings don't happen as often, so - at least to me - they seem more special when you finally level up.

Give you more time to get day jobs while leveling up.

[Water]

I use it to about lvl 20 then when those accessible TF/SF's are completed I'lI get some more for a while to lvl 30, then 40 following that pattern. If I really WANT IT NAO I'll use it to reach 50. After that it's all INF.

Edited December 8 by Water

[TheDeadlyShoe]

You should at least go to level 22 or so; that lets you slot level 25 IOs.

[OverkillEngine]

On 12/5/2025 at 4:14 PM, biostem said:

Gotcha.  You're a bit past the point I normally start doing this, but I craft and slot level 25 generic IOs starting at level 22, since they never expire and are relatively cheap.  You are close enough to the magic level 47 that it may not be worth it for you to start doing that now.  Unless you are having a very tough time right now, then I'd say continue using the 2x XP buff until you do at least hit 47, then...  Best of luck to you!

To add on: Another reason to do the generic IO's starting at 22  is you no longer have to mess with updating those until you want to update them; saves a lot of time and inf in the long run, though a full set of generic IO's at 22 can easily run 2.5-4+ million inf or so depending on materials prices and the specific enhancements. Just something to keep in mind if you ever make an alt. And puts them in net inf gain just from drops from that point onward if you  want to run 2x XP buffs all the way to 50. Selling a piece of rare salvage here and there will easily cover the cost of any slots that open up along the way.

Granted, not really necessary depending on how you are leveling that character. If they are door sitting, they don't really need enhancements until you are ready to play them.