People who have used story boost (Tales of Adventure)

[Drona]

I am playing through the story for the first time now and I can't imagine missing out on it.. it's amazing

Yes the story is good, I even liked the end of ARR hence my dilemma but I also want to play with friends as well and I can't afford to spend 100 to 200 hours playing along before I can catch up to them....

[Drona]

If you've gotten through ARR then you're through the slowest part of the story.

Ishgardian's suggestion of buying a job level boost instead is a good one, and it will now boost you to Lv70, not 60.

It will mean you can go straight through the MSQ without stopping for leveling or sidequests.

If I get to level 70, can I do the new dungeons which are part of the current expansion with my friends?

[Ishgardian]

If I get to level 70, can I do the new dungeons which are part of the current expansion with my friends?

No. You need to be level 70, *and* have finished the MSQ of previous expansions. In such a case you will need two boosts: job level *and* MSQ skip.

[Astrus]

If I get to level 70, can I do the new dungeons which are part of the current expansion with my friends?

No, they're gated behind the MSQ.
You and your friends can play the dungeons you have already available to you, though.

I don't have a good estimate for how long the MSQ takes these days
The last time I did Heavensward in one go was when Stormblood had been out for half a year or so, back then it took me two to two and a half weeks to get from entering Ishgard to starting Stormblood. That's playing during vacation so 5-8 hours a day, only doing necessary quests (MSQ plus blue + quests) having the dialogues set to auto on the default speed setting and doing all of my available daily roulettes each day as a DPS.

[Beelhi]

Yes the story is good, I even liked the end of ARR hence my dilemma but I also want to play with friends as well and I can't afford to spend 100 to 200 hours playing along before I can catch up to them....

They will also be introducing a games+ mode where you can replay the story at high level, so you can skip it for now, and when they introduce that in a later patch you can replay it when you feel like it in your own pace whilst also being able to play with your friends.

Video about game+
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIstU1f6s4M

[Iscah]

how long does it take to finish HW and SH MSQ please? People have said its about 200 hours and if I play 3 hours day and every day (which is a LOT) it will take me 67 days to catch up to my friends. Realistically I wont be playing 3 hour everyday so I am looking at 90 to 100 days to catch up to them. That's huge ask... This is I am thinking weather to play or not...

Having played through not that long ago, I would estimate getting through one level of story per night, though I may have played for longer than three hours at a time... still, instead of just skipping ahead before you've even started, play the first bit at least and see how you go? If the story hooks you enough, you may not want to skip anyway.

If you do decide to skip to the start of Shadowbringers, I would say the bare minimum plot to review would be watching post-Stormblood cutscenes from "The Call" onward, as that starts to set up what's coming.

Also do the Crystal Tower raid sidequests if you haven't yet. MSQ skip will not mark them complete.

[Frizze]

I would say a fair estimate for you to get to the start of the current content(based on your estimated playtime) would be a month(plus or minus a week), less if your friends help you through some of the group content(and maybe with gear upgrades at key points). That sounds like a long time, but it would mean that you would catch them well before the next major patch and even have time to gear up and join them on the front lines of the battles to come(major patches typically being 3-4 months apart, the next patch with story content should be roughly october). And while much of the story of Shadowbringers is self-contained, it does still advance other storylines from previous content with a few loose ends getting tied off(and a few more dangling there taunting us of things to come). And sure, you wouldnt be able to jump in and help your friends with their journey right away but they could still help you through yours and thus youd be playing together much sooner.

[AnnaUK]

Yes the story is good, I even liked the end of ARR hence my dilemma but I also want to play with friends as well and I can't afford to spend 100 to 200 hours playing along before I can catch up to them....

Ah yes I see. I rerolled on a server with road to 70 buff, so it hasn't taken me long to level and go through the story.

[Drona]

Having played through not that long ago, I would estimate getting through one level of story per night, though I may have played for longer than three hours at a time... still, instead of just skipping ahead before you've even started, play the first bit at least and see how you go? If the story hooks you enough, you may not want to skip anyway.

If you do decide to skip to the start of Shadowbringers, I would say the bare minimum plot to review would be watching post-Stormblood cutscenes from "The Call" onward, as that starts to set up what's coming.

Also do the Crystal Tower raid sidequests if you haven't yet. MSQ skip will not mark them complete.

I have started HW quest chain to see how they feel. I just got the quest which unlocked flying mount. The story is good but annoying running around porting to different places etc. I am level 65 already (played when I server was new) so things are easy going. The main problem is, other than the story itself, the quest themselves are not rewarding in that the gear is pretty much useless to me. I will see how it goes and if I find it boring, I will just watch the videos on you tube!