9999hp or bust!

So I'm playing through my second FFIII file for the DS and decided I wanted to go for level 99 and get max Hp. I'm aware of the Black Belt being the only job capable of doing this but I had a few questions I wanted to address before I really get into it.

Do I need to worry about my job level? Can I go straight into leveling or should I get my job level to a certain point so I can have a higher chance of reaping a good hp bonus?

I just got the class and I am before the part where you battle Doga and Unnei for the Keys to Eureka and the Crystal Tower. My job level for BB is only level 4 and my party level is 39. My party Hp at the moment is: Luneth - 1512, Arc - 1487, Refia - 1509, and Ingus - 1591.

I also would love to hear good places for leveling and preparations. Thank you in advance. :love:

I'm no expert, but I'll share my experience. I got 9999 HP for everyone by lv 98. I trained with 4 Black Belts, too. Job level didn't truly seem to matter. I first trained to lv 60 in Bahamut's Cave. The monsters there are not that hard (but on lv 39 you might have problems because the BB does not have that much good weapons), but give good exp, the average is 5000 each battle, or more.

After that, I beat the game, saved and trained some more in Bahamut's Cave. But by lv 65 or so I went to the underwater cave to fight Dragons. If you don't have WiFi, I fear you'll have to do with Bahamut's Cave. But then, if you can't fight Iron Giant, why bother going to lv 99 and get 9999 HP?

Dragon fights are tough, incredibly so, especially with four BB. I'll admit that I cheated and used the duplicating trick to clone elixers, a life saver during the battles. I could go the easier way and train with Blucks in Crystal Tower or Bahamut's Cave, but I went there because with the Dragons, I could get the chance for Onion Equipment, as well as get good exp. A red dragon gives 15000 exp! They're also the hardest to beat, of course.

Most of the time it was like this for me: go inside, fight one dragon, two attack and two heal constantly with elixers, win and get out, save and repeat. It's time consuming, yes, and perhaps slower than in Bahamut's Cave or Crystal Tower, but the chance for Onion Equipment is worth it.

By the time I was lv 98 and had 9999 HP, I had 9 Onion Swords, 5 Onion Armours, around 20 Onion Shields, 5 Onion Helms and 4 Onion Gloves. Not too shabby, eh?

You'll gain job levels like there's no tomorrow, too. It shouldn't take too long, maybe the time needed to rise 15 levels, before you've mastered four black belts. That's good, because for each job level the BB gains, it gains attack power when he/she's unarmed. On job lv 99, a BB has 400 attack unarmed, I think.

So it's kind of up to you, Wolf. Bahamut's Cave is easy fights past lv 60 with average exp. Crystal Tower gives you the Kum Kum trick (see faqs), which I never used. Too time consuming for me. The ??? Cave gives you dragons, incredibly hard fights before lv 80, but a chance for Onion equipment and an average of 10 000 exp per fight. Take your pick.

As for HP gaining, I wouldn't worry too much. I often feared I wouldn't get 9999, but constant Black Belt training ended me up with 9999 on lv 98, so...

Well, that's my experiences with lv 99, 9999 HP and BB. Hope it's of some help.

Wi-Fi will always be my bane for this title (and FFT:WotL :roll2) cause I'm still a bit miffed that I can't get access to Onion Knights or really any of the games sidequests...

On topic: Thanks for the tips. I grind my job levels up to 50+ so they can now hold their own against some of the nastier creatures out there. I might do the Kum Kum trick since I'm accustomed to that strategy from FFIV. Thanks for all the advice and help. :D