Grinding early

[ChickenHeart]

Are there any cons with this?
I'm on disc 2 at the moment in Fossil roo. My characters are all level 30+. Anywho I was on the final fantasy wikia page, and it says that grinding too early can cause stat penalties.
This is the first time i've heard of this. Is this true? Should i bother starting again?

[Jiro]

I'm not sure what stat penalties they could be referring too. Perhaps there is equipment that helps boost your stats, but I can't remember.

You don't have to worry about being too high a level in my opinion. Just keep on trucking as you are!

[Rantz]

Penalties isn't a very good word choice. Don't start again unless you are interested in stat maxing for its own sake.

What the article is likely referring to are the stat bonuses you can get from certain types of equipment. Equipment that raises any of the four main stats (Speed, Strength, Magic and Spirit) give a very small bonus to those stats upon level up. To get better stat bonuses you need better equipment. For example, if you wear the Power Belt (which has +3 Strength) during every level up from 1 to 99, you would have about 10 more Strength points than if you had never worn a strength boosting accessory.

Adding up good equipment can net you a pretty decent stat boost, but by the time you start noticing the difference you're already strong enough to get through the game without much of a problem. It's a pretty easy game, and you don't even need it to take on the optional superbosses. I say just go on playing, but keep it in mind when choosing what equipment to wear!

[Yar]

When you grind, you do throw away valuable AP. If you've already learned all your equipment's abilities, then the AP gained in battle is discarded. It's best to level up as you go through the game. This way you gain abilities as you grow.

[Rantz]

Oh yeah, that's a good point. When you're not training many abilities anymore it's usually best to move along until you have new equipment to learn abilities from.

[ChickenHeart]

Oh that's alright then, i was just wondering if i'd lose out on lots of stat bonuses. And when i learn most of the abilities i just move along anyway.
Thanks guys

[Depression Moon]

I don't see how you have the patience.

[Laddy]

I never really felt the need to grind in FFIX, actually.

[Kyros]

I never grinded since it never seemed to have a point to me. Its not like even the "hardest" boss in the game, Ozma, was a challenge. I beat him with lv40ish characters, and my friend killed him with his charas in the mid-upper 30s. =/ The final bosses were also a joke since you could cough on them and theyd die they were so puny.

[Quindiana Jones]

I grind until I have learned everything possible from all equipment I have. This continues throughout the game. I have never suffered any detriment due to this grinding.