Lvl 25 consumable?

I don't remember ever hearing that you needed an alt to access any content. Taken King will have class specific quests, but that's the only thing I know. Could be wrong though. And leveling an alt to 34 before the Taken King would be better if you can do it. Although the leveling in TTG will be all XP based so it will be consistently gained with any activity and not so much the grind it is now where you look for light gear. That is what I understood from the stream yesterday at least.

It takes about 6-8 hours to level up from 1-20 using story missions and bounties. From there, if you already have stuff, you would probably jump to around 25 (I don't know what you have, but this is generally true unless you are sitting on three or more legendaries). The grind gets real at that point because you have to earn the rep and marks to buy gear from the factions. Switching an armor core over once a week from your main though is the fastest way to level with the least amount of time/grind. I think leveling the character now is the way to go, even with the consumable being offered. It gives you a chance to learn that class and level up multiple subclasses so you can use all their abilities. I also think that when TTK drops, you're not going to want to retread old ground for awhile. There's going to be a crap-ton of new stuff to do. As for if areas are blocked off- yes, they are. You have to complete the "main story missions." to unlock the different planets and progress to those locations (this will may be handled different in the Taken King, although they may just tell you to join your friend and have them select the destinations- since the point of the consumable is to be able to jump in with friends, but we don't know yet). The main story missions are the ones with the crest in their icon and not just the star (they are bigger and fancier). In order to unlock all the planets and missions, you would need to make it through all those missions up to the second to last story mission (the Garden's spire, if I'm not mistaken). I'm honestly not sure which will take you less time, but if the choice is about time spent leveling an alt in the next three weeks or after the Taken King drops, I would put the time in now to be ready to play the Taken King content when it comes out. Ultimately though, it's your time and your fun. If you're not having fun leveling an alt, don't do it. There's the spark of light consumable to bump you up. If you are having fun retreading, keep going. That's just my two cents. I hope this provided helpful information. What do you think?