Quote Originally Posted by Xurts View Post
You need to equip HP Ups for about 20 levels or you won't be able to reach max HP. Curaga definitely isn't strong enough, and with about 20 levels with HP Up Full-Life will barely boost it enough to reach 9999.
I always seemed to reach 9999 through normal levelling without HP bonuses. Must've junctioned Ultima. Whatever the case, I would argue that increasing your base stats would be best. There's probably a way to calculate how many bonuses you need to get 255 every time with the best type of junction and all that jazz.