Leveling up vs. Remaining at low levels

[Shorty]

Rantz and I played through FFVIII once and he insisted on remaining at a low level throughout the first part of the game by turning enemies into cards as often as he could. I could not understand for the life of me why! He explained that remaining at a lower level caused the monsters to also remain at a lower level and were easier to beat that way. I had never thought of doing that before.

I prefer to level up as quickly as I possibly can reaching my party to level 100 as soon as possibly and trading in the secondary characters to level up when I have the time. The monsters get harder, but you also get stronger!

What about you? What's your strategy for getting through this game?

[Gamblet]

I just play through the game normally, junction the best stuff endgame, lvl to 100 etc.

[blackmage_nuke]

The only advantage I can see to leveling up is the monsters will have better magic to draw, otherwise the growth you gain from levels is nowhere near strong enough to match the enemy's level boost

[ReloadPsi]

I kill everything I meet and turn a blind eye to the implications with regards to the levels of either myself or my enemies. At least having the enemies at higher levels makes the game more challenging when you otherwise utterly break it with the Junction system :P

[Shorty]

I would agree. It's difficult until a point, but when you've mastered at junctioning and have some badass weapons and some good magic, everything turns pretty simple.

Except Malboros. I can never beat them no matter what smurfing level I'm at.

[Sephex]

The only time I ever level anything is with the few GFs you have after the Dollet sequence, and that's only to unlock a few abilities from them. From there, I just trek through the game not really paying attention to character levels while junctioning with the best magic available that doesn't take up too much time to acquire. I spend the most time playing Triple Triad to get the kick ass cards for mod purposes too.

[ReloadPsi]

The only time I ever level anything is with the few GFs you have after the Dollet sequence, and that's only to unlock a few abilities from them. From there, I just trek through the game not really paying attention to character levels while junctioning with the best magic available that doesn't take up too much time to acquire. I spend the most time playing Triple Triad to get the kick ass cards for mod purposes too.

God yes. 180 Triples between everyone and three Hyper Wrists before you even go to Timber is incredibly sexy. Auto-Haste by the end of disc 1 is also incredibly sexy. Kind of essential too if you've done the run I just did which entailed having no magic stock whatsoever.

[Del Murder]

I hated the idea that enemies level up with you in this game. It just didn't make any sense. One time I did spend a lot of time in the training room grinding to level 30 or something until I realized there was no point since the game is about as easy as it would be at low levels.

[ShinGundam]

I hated the idea that enemies level up with you in this game. It just didn't make any sense. One time I did spend a lot of time in the training room grinding to level 30 or something until I realized there was no point since the game is about as easy as it would be at low levels.

I don't know, i kinda like it because it expand enemies' movesets and abilities.

[Jiro]

As soon as I leave Balamb for the Fire Cavern, I grind until I have Card Mod. Then I card the Fasticholan-Fs until I get a few Status-Js for both Quetzacotl and Shiva. Then I card one of every enemy on Balamb island and then I basically stop carding for the rest of the game. I finished the game at something like Level 80 because of some level grinding somewhere or other but generally it doesn't matter. Junctioning is the most important thing and Rantz is a lameoid for trying to make the game easier.

[iceman00890]

Yeah, level grinding for this game is a bad idea. I learned that the hard way.

[Gamblet]

Level grinding is pointless, but if you want a somewhat challenging battle with Omega, you should lvl to 100.

[Shorty]

The battle with Omega was one of the reasons I was glad that I got to level 100 to fight him.

[Agent Proto]

During my first playthru, I mostly played at low levels, and only grind when I'm near any bosses.

[Raistlin]

I generally grind a fair amount in games, and started to do so on my first playthrough of FFVIII... until it was pointed out to me that leveling is utterly pointless, and even arguably counter-productive if the point is to make the game easier. This is one of the many issues which really bugged me about this game.