So currently I'm hoarding all of the stat boosters I buy and all of my battle exp. At what point/level does it become more beneficial to start using them? Should I use the gym to get my pet up to 5k in stats (sitting about level 200 right now) or is it best to expedite the process by using my stat boosters now?

In your opinion is the time investment/sP save more worth it (does using the gym to max first even save sP in the long run?) or should I just use things immediately as I get them in regards to the boosters?

Big thanks for the help, y'all.

Personally I like to use EXP right away, keep stats even until you hit tier 11 (or 12 if one prefers then build your pet how you want from there)

As for boosters, I've used them on all my pets from tier 4+ but others usually like to wait till around tier 7-9+. Of course you can always use a few if you feel you're closer to your next tier so you can reach it and then upgrade your weapon set.

Everyone is different though.

Okay, so there's no 'most efficient' way to use everything? Thanks a bunch for your help!

There definitely is, but some battlers are just impatient so they don't bother. :p

Training times start to increase pretty drastically around level ~550/650, so that's generally when I recommend starting to use boosters. Basically, the longer you wait to use them the more you get out of the training center while the wait times are still relatively short.

When it comes to EXP, the costs scale with your tier so you shouldn't hang on to it for too long. What I did with my main pets in the lower tiers was I hoarded exp until I was about to hit x50 in level, or until I was about to hit a new tier. That way you can get the most out of the TC while still taking advantage of the lower EXP prices.

However, there's also the caveat that if you're doing BQs every day, it's worth it to use up your exp or boosters to make it so you're able to beat the next opponent because that means more EXP in the long run.

tl;dr, definitely wait to use boosters until you're ~tier 8. if you really want to optimize your training times hoard your exp, but don't hoard too much.

Ah, alright. Thank you so much! That makes a lot of sense :)

if you're close to a new tier or beating a new opponent, it might be wise to boost a bit early because then you'll get more ep from bqs, quicker. Generally though unless you can afford to boost a ton, most people wait as walrus said, to use any.