The issue is that you can elect progress faster in terms of unlocks, but not faster in terms of leveling. Match-making works using levels, so if you've boosted your blutes and not your XP, you're getting a hefty advantage.
By the time this guy is level 20, he'll have the unlocks you'd expect on a level 40 free player - think about what that means for you; you can either suck it up and play at a disadvantage, or you can also play the same way and pay for the boosters. That's 'pay to win'.
The damage bonus to shields from tesla weapons does exist - but you also do 10% less damage to health, which means it doesn't pay off to use it:
Default:
6 damage per shot versus 133 hit points = 23 hits to make a kill.
Tesla:
10 damage per shot versus 33 shield hit points = 4 hits to remove shield
5 damage per shot versus 100 hit points = 20 hits to make a kill (24 total hits).
This is also what I mean by the game being badly balanced - some of the options are really not as useful as they look.
By the time this guy is level 20, he'll have the unlocks you'd expect on a level 40 free player - think about what that means for you; you can either suck it up and play at a disadvantage, or you can also play the same way and pay for the boosters. That's 'pay to win'.
The damage bonus to shields from tesla weapons does exist - but you also do 10% less damage to health, which means it doesn't pay off to use it:
Default:
6 damage per shot versus 133 hit points = 23 hits to make a kill.
Tesla:
10 damage per shot versus 33 shield hit points = 4 hits to remove shield
5 damage per shot versus 100 hit points = 20 hits to make a kill (24 total hits).
This is also what I mean by the game being badly balanced - some of the options are really not as useful as they look.