Start at Harmonized kinda seems like a bit waste of time. The amount of body you get is far less than what you can reach if you train yourself. Also at a certain point you can do the hardest enemies of outer dual wilderness with just what you have right after start. Using Start at Harmonized ends up throwing away around 10 years every single round just to skip a little part.
Viewing post in Cycle of the First Dawn comments
You're right that it has lost a lot of its original value. When Start at Harmonized was added, skipping that early stretch was a much bigger deal than it is now. With how progression has changed, the tradeoff of losing those years can make it feel more like a convenience option than an actual advantage.
I don't really want to remove it outright because there are players who still like having the option, but it is probably worth me taking another look at what it gives you so choosing it isn't just throwing away ten years to skip a small amount of setup.
At first I used to think the same and after a certain point of qi, nothing you do with your body makes a notable difference and harmonized growth is a pretty good idle loop for wilderness hunting/ cultivation of affinities. Eventually you'll get lifespan increases from other sources to the point that the time lost from jumping to harmonized is just negligible vs the convinience it affords you.