Good Places To Level Up

[Sephy99]

Alright, I'm playing Final Fantasy VIII the first time through, and it is pretty fun, I thought it would suck. So anyways, I'm on disc three and I'm right about to go to Esthar, and I was wondering if there that you can get real good experience and AP from

[Bahamut2000X]

Best place for leveling I know of is the islands closest to heaven and hell.

Good places for AP I know of is the Cactuar island.

[Sephy99]

Im not sure if I can get to the places you were talking about. I only have the SeeD ship thingy, and I can't find any place to dock there.

[Kimera 726]

Well with the Balamb Garden you can reach the desert on Centra Continent (the southern continent). If you walk around the desert that's really really close to Cactuar Island (It's the only island with sand on it nearby) you'll strangely encounter cactuars as well as other tid bit enemies. Careful.

But if you want to gain some good EXP right now, I suggest the snowy forest on Trabia Continent to the north (the forest is by a beach facing Shumi Island and Village and it has snow). You'll encounter the occassional Bite Bug and Krysta, but you'll also find Snow Lions and Blue Dragons there too. Lots of EXP).

[Sephy99]

Thanxs 4 your help guys

[Bahamut2000X]

Just so you know the places I mentioned can only be reached with the airship.

[HOOTERS]

I found that eating the cactuars was the best thing to do so they don't run away.

[Kimera 726]

Yeah. Too bad Eden's not for another 10-30 hours. :O_O:

[ThE dArK oNe]

Cactuars for AP for sure...
Exp... I kill Ruby dragons with Quistes' Degenerater. (good to junction the initiative ability while in critical hp)

Tonberry has initiative and Ruby Dragons are in the forest of Centra.

[Spatvark]

Ruby Dragons are easy; use Doomtrain and they have meltdown, sleep and petrify count all put upon them, crippling them. When you've got that done, just beat the crap out of it with normal attacks 'til either you kill it or the timer runs out and it petrifies. personally, I just draw from it until I've got 100 of each spell for all three characters.

Believe it or not, the Island(s) closest to Heaven/Hell are far easier than you may think. Make sure you've learnt at least Fated Circle for Squall; taking Zell is a really good idea as well. Just keep both of them at low health levels and Renzokuken/Duel away. A nifty tip fo duel is to only use TWO different moves. Booya (right then left) and Rush Punch (circle then x). Just alternate between the two and you should be able to launch at least TEN attacks per Duel.

The main thing to watch out for is Malboros. The key to defeating them WITHOUT using the Initiative/Degenerator combo (i.e. when you want to level characters that AREN'T Quistis) is to have at least one character with beserk, confuse and silence junctioned to ST-Def-J (which means you need them to have Cerberus or Doomtrain junctioned to them with ST-Def-J x4). Have this character either cast esuna or use Leviathan's Treatment command to cure Squall (if he wasn't the one you put ST-Def-J x4 on).

Remember, Doomtrain/Meltdown and 100x Blind junctioned to ST-Atk-J are your best friends. If they can't see you, they can't hit you which consists of most of their damage, and with Doomtrain/Meltdown, their Vitality is absolutely raped, making them far more prone to being blatted by your physical attacks.

As for Cactuars, you need to have Spd-J learnt for both Pandemona and Cerberus, while Auto-Haste for Cerberus is very nice as well. Also, Hit-J for Cerberus and Diablos are vital, making sure that neither of those are equipped on Squall. He MUST have Initiative in his abilities list OR have Pandemona junctioned. Got that? Here's how the fight should go:

1. Squall attacks; kills a Cactuar.
2. Party member 2 attacks; is v.likely to kill a cactuar (getting your hit percentage up is KEY)
3. Party member 3 attacks; is v.likely to kill a cactuar
4. Squall attacks; kills a cactuar.

That's four dead, as easy as pie and extremely quickly, thus netting 80 AP.

I picked most of this stuff up just today from running about like a mad thing =P

[ThE dArK oNe]

Great tips.

[Psychotic]

Levelling up is pointless, as the enemies levels are related to your levels!!!

Just as long as you are level 41 before you take on the final boss, it's fine! Why 41? I heard that that was the bosses minimum level.