Ridiculous Levelling System or a bug?

[No.78]

Okay here's the deal. I'm at the start of Disc 4. Squall is level 100. Everyone else is level 45. Now, no one gets any exp anymore. Like... 3 exp from a regular kill.

I have zero motivation to finish the game now. Any ideas why this great injustice is happening?

[Ultima Shadow]

First of all, the enemies inside Ultimecia's Castle have pretty random levels. I belive the reason you get so little exp is because you killed enemies with a very low level.

If you really want to power-level, then the best way is to:

Step 1: Junction your people with the Death-spell to their Status-Attack.

Step 2: Take the Ragnarok and go to "The Island Closest to Hell".

Step 3: Kill the enemies there, get massive amounts of exp and level up your remaning partymembers in no time.


Though really... with good enough junctioning, levels hardly matter. So make sure you draw from the drawpoints on that place as well, as they contain the best spells in the game. The drawpoints are hidden since they are on the worldmap, so just walk around spamming the X button.


And yes, you can exist Ultimecia's castle and get the Ragnarok back, in case you didn't know. You do it trough the white portals on your way up to Ultimecia's castle. Trough one of those, you'll be able to get to a huge forest surrounded by cliffs with a chocobo forest somewhere inside. Find the chocobo forest, get a chocobo, go back to where you came from and use the chocobo to walk over the water and get to the desert, where you'll find the Ragnarok.

[No.78]

I'm not in Ultimecia's Castle, I'm right at the start of Disc 4. I can't remember what the area's called. I'm just confused as to why I'm getting next to no exp per kill, but I will go back to it eventually. I'm sure I can beat the game without levelling much more.

I would like to fight Omega too, though...

[Mo-Nercy]

Frankly, you could've beaten the game on Level 7. I usually beat FF8 at around Level 20 quite easily. Because monsters and bosses level up as you do, it doesn't matter at all what level you are. This may be why you're feeling you're not getting a lot of EXP. The monsters' levels are determined by the average level of your party. If Squall's Lvl. 100 and everyone else Lvl. 45, then you're fighting enemies that are around level 70.

But yeah, if you want everyone to get to Level 100, the Islands Closest to Heaven and Hell are a good bet. You say you're not in Ultimecia's Castle, but that you're at the beginning of Disc 4. I may be wrong, but isn't that pretty much Ultimecia's Castle anyway? Like the area near the big chains.

[No.78]

Enh, I can't remember. Maybe it is but they haven't told me it is yet. I'll finish this when I'm done with XIII. Ty for helps.

[Omni-Odin]

Just to add real quick, though. The reason the leveling system is slow in the beginning and easier at the Islands of Heaven/Hell in the end is so you have a lot of freedom at the end game to use your total GFs to give you the Str, Vit, Mag, etc. bonuses they can provide. It would suck if you couldn't get a lot of bonuses because you didn't know and you just level you're characters with no real reason to in the beginning of the game.

Junction is the main way you become powerful and the game determines that by the better magic you get as the story part drags on

[Jiro]

The start of Disc 4 is still Lunatic Pandora iirc. No idea what the go is with your exp issue, but perhaps someone else can help now they know the area.