Power leveling and classes

[KoShiatar]

So I'm trying to get all party at level 90, to make it worth using the Onion Knight (thanks Maxx Power!)
What is the best place to level up in the game? Is it the final dungeon? Speaking of which, how do I kill Dragons? I'm at level 60-62 already, but they keep on owning me. :(

Also, does anyone know how the class leveling up system works? Refia seems to never level up her classes and this annoys me to no end, while Ingus is the fastest, but I couldn't quite get why this happens.

[Captain Maxx Power]

So I'm trying to get all party at level 90, to make it worth using the Onion Knight (thanks Maxx Power!)
What is the best place to level up in the game? Is it the final dungeon? Speaking of which, how do I kill Dragons? I'm at level 60-62 already, but they keep on owning me. :(

Also, does anyone know how the class leveling up system works? Refia seems to never level up her classes and this annoys me to no end, while Ingus is the fastest, but I couldn't quite get why this happens.

And once more I come to your aid. :cool:

One of the best ways to level is going up against some of the summoning enemies on the first level of the crystal tower. The purple-tentacle things (the name eludes me) will summon Kum-Kums on their turn. The idea is you kill the Kum-Kum and another is summoned. Going on in this manner you can gain upwards of 100k experience per battle. This technique is best used with one character, since they gain more experience this way and you don't have to faff on with the other characters. It's worth mentioning if you haven't already switched to a Black Belt then do so while you level. Not only do they have stupidly high damage with enough job levels (they gain 2 additional attack points per job level) but they have one of the highest HP gains out of all the classes. If you want to reach 9999 HP it's almost essentially to use BB's for most of the way, especially at the higher levels when the HP bonus gains grow larger.

Dragons are just a case of having enough firepower to take them out. If you fight in the ??? Dungeon then I would recommend running from Red dragons until you reach the 70's. Infact once you do reach that high a level then the ??? Dungeon is the best place to level for OK's, since you can also gather up Onion Equipment. Against Red Dragons don't be afraid to use an Elixir or two to keep yourself alive, since chances are you'll be getting one at the end of the battle. It probably goes without saying but make sure you also have levelled sufficiently before you start taking on the ??? Dungeon.

As for levelling classes, there is a hidden variable (Job EXP) that goes up by a given amount everytime you take a valid action. When it reaches 100 you gain a job level. This is classified as Attack, Guard, Item and a class' special ability (be it Magic or otherwise). From job levels 1-14 it generally goes up by 20 points, with the exception of the scholar, which goes up 24 per level (though in practice it doesn't make a difference). What this means is that you will see a job level (up to level 14) for every 5 actions you take in battle. Beyond level 14 the amount gained differs with each class, with Freelancers gaining the most and (ironically) Onion Knights gaining the least. Job EXP gained doesn't roll over to the next level, so you can only gain one job level per battle. If you want to gain job levels more easily then take on weaker enemies near places like Ur, guard every round for a few turns, and then finish them off. Since the amount gained is the same against any enemy you can job level pretty much anywhere, though I personally prefer to job level as I'm standard levelling as well.

[Elpizo]

Bets places to level are eitehr in the Crystal Tower using the Kum Kum trick, Bahamut's Cave or the ??? cave.

The Kum Kum trick goes like this: try to encounter a Bluck in the Crystal Tower and wait until it summons a Kum Kum, then kill that Kum Kum and repeat. Continue this for as long as you like and then end the battle to get heaps of exp.

The Dragons are the toughest random battles in the game, Yellow Dragons have 79 999 HP, Green Dragons have 89 999 HP and Red Dragons have 99 999 HP. Their normal attacks can inflict status effects but I don't know which ones, because I always wear ribbons. They give a lot of exp and will always drop something, most of the time an elixer or if you're lucky a piece of Onion equipment. Best fight them when you're lv 70+ or so.

Job levelling goes like this: a job goes up one level as soon as its job-experience (which you can't check anywhere) reaches 100. You gain job exp by performing an action in battle. (Selecting an enemy to attack but ending the battle before that character could attack does not give you job exp). If you want to make sure to gain a job lv, guard more than 5 times or so. Before the job reaches lv 15, every action will give it 20 job exp. After job lv 15, the amount of job exp a job gets with each action depeds on the job. Thieves get like 8 job exp per action, while Onion Knights only 8.

Hope this helps.

EDIt: Dang, beaten to it...

[KoShiatar]

Great! Thanks! (K)

[ValiantKnight]

If you are down to your last enemy in a battle, and know the next round will kill it with one attack...

Have one character attack, and the other 3 characters guard. Guard is performed before the attack action, despite speed to my knowledge.

Guard, Attack, and special class skills are what will get you job levels. The item command does not increase job levels(hence why scholars have higher growth rate since they use items?)

[KoShiatar]

A new question: which classes grant the best increase in speed and defence?

[ValiantKnight]

"speed and defense" don't increase based on what character you are at level up, which I think they did in the original. If you are talking about the DS version, that is.

The only attribute that "increases" at level up based on what character you are, is HP. This is based on your base vitality stat for class at level up. A person who levels up exclusively as scholars(lowest vit class besides Onion Knight) will have an ending HP somewhere around the 6000s if my math is right, while someone who levels up more on black belts can have an ending HP of 9999. There are a good few levels of clearance for not being a black belt. I was probably in my 40s or 50s when I got black belt. And by the time my guys had reached 96, they had enough HP to change them into other classes and still get 9999. Scholar maxes his Vit at 38 at 99 I believe. The later levels are a bigger decider of max HP, as your HP gain at level up is (level + Vit + random number 1 to 1/2 of vit) or something to that effect... I don't remember the exact formula from penguin's guide.

That being said, when you chance classes, your stats will change to whatever they would be for a level X of that job.

job level usually affects damage or effectiveness, but it won't effect damage taken, speed, or anything if i remember correctly.

The heavy armor wearers are your viking, knight, warrior, onion knight(immune to all damage when protect is cast and in back row, with two onion shields). Magic Knight, and i can't think of any others at the moment, its been a while since I played it. The spell protect will give you about 30% more def and magic def. Bards can also sing a 10% - 20% protect song that stacks with it I believe.

99 Onion Knight
Thief
Ninja
Ranger

These are your speed demons


99 Onion Knight
Black Belt
Knight

These are your high vitality players

99 Onion Knight
Viking

These are top two Str players.

And I got lazy after that :(

Job stats FAQ by penguin Knight I believe if you want to look around for it.

Onion Knight stats.
level, str, agi, vit, int, mnd
|90| 15| 15| 15| 15| 15|
|91| 15| 15| 15| 15| 15|
|92| 15| 15| 15| 15| 15|
|93| 27| 27| 27| 27| 27|
|94| 39| 39| 39| 39| 39|
|95| 51| 51| 51| 51| 51|
|96| 63| 63| 63| 63| 63|
|97| 75| 75| 75| 75| 75|
|98| 87| 87| 87| 87| 87|
|99| 99| 99| 99| 99| 99|

[KoShiatar]

Sweet! Thanks VK!

[ValiantKnight]

Traditionally :

Str - more damage
Agi - turn comes up faster/more often
Vit - less physical damage taken
Int - Black spells do more damage, maybe take less damage from magic.
Mnd - White spells do more damage, maybe take less damage from magic.

:)
For this version:
Agi is correct it seems.
Int is correct on increasing dmg
Mnd is correct on increasing healing.

Haven't tested the rest, I assume str is right.

3000+ hp is all that probably is needed for beating the final boss. It probably could go lower even. However for the secret boss, you may want higher :)

[KoShiatar]

I already have higher ;) I'm planning to get everybody in their nineties, because I want to make good use of the Onion Knight.