Just read the bolded questions. The rest is a rant.
So the FFs I'm used to are the 4-7 range. Playing this with so much stuff going on makes me feel outdated and I don't think I'm adjusting my play strategies appropriately to this game. This FF is particularly fight-centered (in the sense that I can't seem to find super-powered equipment or items that save my ass very easily without fighting/stealing/poaching a lot).
And I'm really underleveled. I don't know how it happened - I was cruising through 2/3 of the game at a good level, no game overs, pretty easy fights, but as soon as I hit Phon Coast - Sochen Cave it seemed like the enemies gained on me. Now I'm level 40ish and getting thrashed at the Cataract (whatever the level after Giruvegan is). I always seem to underlevel my first playthrough, but the Malboro enemies just nail me with status effects and I don't have any Ribbons.
Anyways, I don't think my battle strategies are really optimal, and I don't think my character setups are optimal, which is where I seek your suggestions. My equipment is alright, but money is freaking hard to come by. I fight every fight I can, so I don't see why I'm constantly lacking in resources. I don't really have the Gambit system down as well as I probably should (I do a lot of magicking manually, for example, or just leave the characters to auto-attack), and I don't have any bailout strategies when I'm getting mobbed (Espers don't help, Quickenings only seem to affect one monster, so I still end up mobbed).
I have Balthier and Basch as pure attackers that have some assorted Technicks, which I now realize are useless. Balthier uses guns and Basch uses katanas. Vaan, Ashe, and Penelo are all fairly strong magick users and Ashe has high atk (Vaan and Penelo have lower strength, but higher speed, so I have them using ninja swords and/or daggers, or crossbows for range). Fran is just kinda useless at this point at LV33(I think I screwed her up the worst). Should I have concentrated my magickers into one particular magick type or should I have kept them general? Should I even bother with Technicks? And how many weapons do you usually specialize in? Do all characters need to be the same level or can I get away with only using three the entire game? Is a conventional "class restriction" a la FFT better or worse for this game?
I don't really feel like going back and doing an asston of sidequests, since I'm so close to the end and I prefer to finish the story first and go through all the sidequests on a second playthrough. I don't have a big time commitment to powerlevelling, since I have a girlfriend (who doesn't game) and a full-time job. I've done Rank I-III hunts and a few sidequests, but the rewards I'm getting now for Rank IV don't really warrant me pursuing further hunts. I guess I'm just looking for easy places and ways to level up (I know the Negalmuur trick but I'm not a fan of leaving my PS2 on overnight, so I'd rather avoid it).
For future plays, is there any way to get powerful magicks or equipment earlier? I was always a fan of learning Holy at LV5 in FFT.
And finally, the chest system is smurfing stupid. What the smurf is up with these goddamn Knot of Rust s.