Just remember, use Reaper's Shroud whenever Lifeforce is maxed out and off cooldown. When you're out of Reaper's Shroud, you should be focused on generating Lifeforce through Axe 2, Focus 4, Greatsword 5 & 3. Instead of "Rise", I use Signet of the Locust for 25% speed increase, purely for utility.
Not surprisingly, the most needed mats are Elder Wood Logs (for planks) and Mithril Ore (for ingots). Each guild will need 55K logs and 43K ore. What did surprise me is that the the current log supply is only enough for about 20 guilds to max their halls and the ores only have enough for about 75 guilds. Although, it is supposed to take ~6Leveling to 80 isn't super difficult, and you get map progression and hero points. Most importantly, you learn how to play your character. Do your personal story, explore the world, do events. GW2 is a slow burn meant to be enjoyed. Save the level 80 token for your second character you want to try out.
You can enter pvp and will have all core traits and utilities unlocked, so you can test out the character there. You can use test golems or enter a free play match. As you probably know, pvp builds are quite different from pve builds though, so what you find good in pvp is not necessarily good in pve. sPvP and I THINK WvW puts you at cap.