Level grinding

Level grinding, power leveling, or training, is a term used to describe walking around an enemy-infested location and defeating enemies in battle for the sake of leveling up. The point is to strengthen the team, often for an upcoming boss. Level grinding may also be called farming, usually used for more specific cases, like AP farming or experience farming for Ability Points and Experience Points respectively.
Level grinding has received negative reactions with reviewers criticizing games that require excessive level grinding to defeat enemies. In early role-playing games, the original Final Fantasy being one of them, level grinding was almost mandatory. Since then, grinding has been somewhat disguised as other gameplay elements. Final Fantasy XII, for example, introduced the Hunt system, which allows players to level up and earn various items by doing sidequest battles.
==Appearances==
===Final Fantasy===
Early on, the Peninsula of Power has many high level monsters that yield high experience and gil and are easily defeated with Fire, Fira, Firaga, Flare and Dia, Diara, and Diaga, but also has monsters immune to Dia spells. For this place it is best to stock up on Potions and Cottages and Tents, and while leveling to save after every fight until the battles become easy. One can travel to Pravoka to buy more healing items. It is recommended to at be at least level 25, especially if the party has a Monk. With a Monk, unarmed attacks have 2 Attack Power per level; at level 25, he will have 50 attack power, 5 more than the Excalibur.
Since certain bosses always appear when a character steps on a tile, easy bosses, such as the Dragon Zombies and the Evil Eye, can be fought repeatedly.
On the first floor of the Cavern of Earth, there is a corridor on the far west that contains a fixed encounter on every tile, making it an easy place to level up. It is recommended to maxes the party's HP/MP and level up until around level 40.
The second-last floor of Mount Gulg has two treasure chests, each guarded by a Fire Lizard, providing 618 EXP per kill and easily healed through with the Heal Staff, providing for indefinite leveling sessions and arguably the most efficient grinding until the Temple of Fiends in the past.
In the late game, the Warmech gives the most experience, but it is very powerful and rare.
===Final Fantasy II===
South of Fynn is an area with powerful monsters; fighting there will raise the party's stats quickly early on. Similarly, just south of Altair at the bottom of the peninsula is a 1x3 strip that spawns monsters normally found in Mysidia, which can also be used to level up quickly. Later, the Tropical Island and the Jade Passage have high level monsters that can be defeated with little effort to boost stats. Additionally, in the 20th Anniversary edition and following versions based on it, players can use the Arcane Labyrinth to quickly boost their stats.
Players of the NES and Origins can exploit the target-cancel bug, in which the player selects an action and cancels it, but the stat boost still registers. Since there are only three members in the party most of the time, and the player cannot cancel after selecting the final player character's attack, it is best to boost stats when a guest character fills the fourth slot.
Skill growth is based on the number of times an action is performed, so prolonging battles can increase skill experience. As members in the back row cannot strike enemies with melee weapons, the player can put all but one member in the back row and have them attack to prolong battles. This can aid in boosting skills early on, when low enemy rank results in little or no experience gain once skills have leveled up a couple times. As characters gain experience for each weapon type they wield in battle, dual-wielding weapons of the same category yields higher skill experience. For spells, it is more efficient to cast multiple different spells once per battle than to repeat the same spell.
Players of all versions can attack their own characters to quickly boost HP. Sap and Osmose can be cast on party members to boost MP; this is particularly effective when Minwu initially joins, as the party's MP totals will likely be low and he joins with the Sap spell. (However, if the party's Magic stat is too low, then so, too, will MP growth. The same goes for HP as Stamina determines HP growth.) 
Players seem to have something like hidden Ranks that determine their Proficiency growth, which makes attacking oneself lucrative (preferably with the target having high Evasion so they don't take physical damage, or with a high level Wall spell cast on them for Black Magic). When a character's stats are too high compared to the enemies', growth drastically slows.
===Final Fantasy III===
The Floating Continent has few good places to grind, such as Bahamut's Lair, but the Surface World has a few such places.
In the Cave of Shadows, the constant multiplying of enemies can be useful when grinding. Players should kill one of the enemies and have a weaker character as an attacker to duplicate other enemies. This strategy can be done to amass experience points and gil. Players should attack using a katana or magic, and should kill the enemy with one hit. The enemies include Death Claw, Gaap, Silenus, Chronos, Valefor, Haniel, and Vassago.
Another level grinding area can be accessed right after Goldor Manor. From Amur, the player must fly north and to the bay with two forests southwest of the Crystal Tower. This place acts like the Peninsula of Power from the original Final Fantasy, as the grid ends one tile after the mountainside, and this horizontal strip of land contains monsters from the Crystal Tower area.
After obtaining the Nautilus, players often use the Sunken Cave and the Saronia Catacombs to level up. Later, the Forbidden Land Eureka is another good grinding spot.
In the 3D version, there is a useful way to grind in the Crystal Tower's first floor: when in battle with a group of Blucks, the player must kill all except one and continually Guard until the Bluck summons a Qumqum. The party can defeat the Kum Kum and wait for the Bluck to summon another.
===Final Fantasy IV===
Located north of Mount Ordeals in the upside-down V-shape area, the enemies are those from the Troia area. This is a great location to build fast levels for Palom and Porom before tackling Mt. Ordeals, especially with Dark Knight Cecil's Deathbringer. The fights are harder than anything encountered at this stage of the game. The player can no longer encounter enemies from the Troia area in the 3D versions.
Since EXP yield is divided between the members alive at the end of battle, players can keep Cecil alive while killing off others who'll leave the party, such as Palom and Porom, Tellah, Cid, Yang, and Fusoya.
In the Super Nintendo and PlayStation versions, the player can level up Cecil at the Tower of Zot so when Rosa and Kain join, they will be at the same level. Later when the player meets Rydia, she will also be at the same level as Cecil, however, Edge will join at level 25. To quickly level him up, he should be the last party member standing. This no longer works in the 3D versions.
In the Tower of Zot, the player can fight the Magus Sisters, Mindy and Sandy, and get experience points and 3,000 gil from them by not killing Cindy unless they're ready to move on, as she will keep reviving the other two sisters. This is the best way to level up Cecil early on in the game.
In the Sealed Cave the player can fight Trap Doors. The player can quickly use Rosa's Wall spell to reflect the Ninth Dimension and kill the Trap Door for the experience.
The Lunar Subterrane, though the enemies are powerful, is often used to grind. Players of the Advance and Complete Collection versions can use the Lunar Ruins to level up, as the enemies leave plenty of experience and gold.
In the Complete Collection, the player can set their cursor setting to memory and go into the Passage of the Eidolons in the underworld, and find a Summoner enemy that summons Arachne or Nagaraja. The player should cast Slow on a character and have them attack the Arachne/Nagaraja while casting Haste on the Summoner. Rosa can heal with Pray, and the other characters can simply defend. The player can then set the game to Auto.
Alternatively, one can find a Summoner that summons Thunder Dragons and equip a character with the Cursed Ring along with a form of Diamond defensive equipment or the Gold Hairpin. This will raise the character's Lightning-elemental defenses. The player can inflict said character with Slow, and do it twice if the character's speed is too high, i.e. Edge, Kain and Cecil.
The character should endlessly attack the Thunder Dragon, and Haste should be cast on the Summoner. The result is the Thunder Dragon will use thunder magic on the character who will absorb the damage and heal back the health lost from the Summoner's melee attack. If the player is only leveling up a single character, the other party members can be KO'd, but if the player is trying to level up the entire party, they will need elemental armor, or should be revived before finishing off the Summoner.
====Final Fantasy IV -Interlude-====
The best place to grind for experience is right outside the Sealed Cave where the monsters give plenty experience for a four-member party. The player should grind before finding "Rydia" within the cave, as she is a temporary character. Free healing can be found aboard the Falcon nearby. The only drawback is that monsters yield little gil. The only nuisance is the Hellflapper's ability to inflict Blind on the player's fighters (Cecil and Cid). If the enemy's party does not have any flying monsters, a simple Quake from Palom will kill them. Otherwise, the player should stick with Bio and equip Palom with a Faerie Rod to increase his potency in Black Magic.
For Edge, the location is either the area around Eblan or in the Upper Section of the Tower of Babil. There is a healing pot located in the Cave of Eblan.
Marionetteer can call forth its minions if left alone making for a good way to grind experience and gil. It can summon Ogres and Cait Siths for Edge. The player must be careful to not accidentally step on the tile that will make Edge jump into the Tower of Babil as there is no return to the original location, and the story will continue from there. The player should put Edge in the back row to mitigate the damage he takes, but he can still kill enemies in one blow due to him already being at a high level at the start of his part of the story.
Both of these grinding areas becomes unrevisitable locations.
====Final Fantasy IV: The After Years====
Areas to grind differ from tale to tale, and each has a level cap, with the exception of the game's final tale. The optimal place to grind in the last tale is the Depths of the True Moon. In B5 of the Depths, all monster encounters, with the exception of the Blue Dragon, are susceptible to the Black Magic spell Break. Alternatively, the player can make use of the Assassin's Dagger acquired earlier in the Depths and inflict Death on monsters. However, this method will fail sometimes as some monsters are immune to the status. The player is recommended to bring Porom along as she can pray to regain HP back at the cost of no MP.
===Final Fantasy V===
In Bartz's world one can grind consistent ABP and decent EXP from Prototypes on the islands between Crescent and Jachol; Prototype will be the only encounter on the islands. The easiest way to do this is to learn Control (from Beastmaster) and use it as the sub ability and have Prototype cast Self-Destruct on itself for an instant kill. The party will gain 4 ABP and 500 EXP per fight. Players may also opt to fight the Mini Dragon enemies near Istory Falls for EXP.
Another way is to fight the Skull Eaters in the Jachol Cave. They are highly dangerous when they are first encountered but they drop 5 ABP and 100 EXP along with 100 gil. It has a chance to flee, safely giving the player 5 ABP as reward though EXP and gil are not rewarded.
The island shaped like a key north of Crescent Island only has the Black Flames for enemies. They provide 870 gil, 362 EXP, and 3 ABP and can be killed with any throwing scroll magic from the Ninja, or elemental summons.
After gaining access to Galuf's world, players can use the Objet d'Art in the basement of Castle of Bal to quickly farm ABP since they are susceptible to Level 5 Death. Alternatively, one can choose to throw Lightning Scrolls. They can also be killed one at a time by Gold Needles, which can be purchased in Bal, though this method is time-consuming. Objets d'Art appear in groups of two or five; two give out 4 ABP, and five give out 8 ABP.
In Galuf's world and onwards the player may fight the Shield Dragon by using the Control ability to earn 2500 EXP and 5 ABP for each party member by simply having the monster use Blaze on itself until it dies.
Another good spot for grinding in Galuf's world is the forest north of Moore. By using the Level 5 Death on the Dechirers there the party can earn easy 1695 gil, 825 EXP and 3 ABP.
A third good spot in Galuf's world is the Underwater Cave located northwest of Surgate Castle accessible with the submarine. The enemies include three Druids worth 1503 gil, 1127 EXP, and 5 AP respectively, three Ironbacks worth 1522 gil, 975 EXP and 4 AP, and a pair of both which give 1005 gil, 700 EXP, and 4 AP. An easy strategy is to have two Blue Mages use Level 4 Graviga and Aqua Breath.
For ABP gain in the merged world, the player can sail near Crescent to encounter groups of Sea Devil and Rukh. A group of 3 Sea Devils grants 6 ABP, a Rukh 8 ABP, and a combined group of 2 Sea Devils and a Rukh will yield 13 ABP. Sea Devils are weak to Lightning and Rukhs can be dispatched quickly with an Aevis Killer.
A quick method to acquire EXP in merged world is to visit the desert next to the Phoenix Tower. The player can travel to said location after finding the black chocobo trapped in the Phantom Village. The groups of Ankheg and Ammonite give 1170 to 1250 EXP and are easy to defeat (Level 3 Flare works). By using Float on the group one can avoid Ankheg's Earthquake.
The Interdimensional Rift is a good farming spot as the enemies pose little threat, but grant high EXP. For ABP farming, the monsters in the final floors give lots of AP with little effort (most can be slain by summoning Odin), though the most notable enemy that gives AP is the Mover that gives away 199 ABP per battle, but must be defeated before they escape. In the North American Advance version, if the game is quicksaved in a section of the Interdimensional Rift where Movers are fought, the second group of enemies encountered after resuming the game will always be Movers.
Additionally, players of the Advance and discontinued 2013 versions can use the Sealed Temple to grind, and possibly the Cloister of the Dead, as many bosses are fought in a row. However, by unlocking the Cloister of the Dead the player has completed everything in the game and grinding is generally unnecessary, unless not all of the superbosses are defeated yet.
===Final Fantasy VI===
In the World of Balance, the Triangle Island has the Intangir, which can be easily be killed with Death or any available instant death spell in the SNES and PS1 version, and awards 10 Magic AP. In the Game Boy Advance version, the Death spell will no longer work, but the player can use the Confuse-Smoke Bomb trick to kill Intangir. In the Matrix Software and Pixel Remaster versions, the player can have the characters equip Hermes Sandals and cast Stop while Intangir is invisible, then use Strago's Traveler Lore, which inflicts damage depending on the amount of steps taken. Relm can also use Sketch, which will randomly cast the Traveler spell. Intangir will eventually fall or flee, awarding 10 Magic AP.
The last location visited in the World of Balance, the Floating Continent, is an excellent grinding place, offering higher EXP than any other place at the time, and yielding large sums of Magic AP averaging in the 4-6 per battle.
In the World of Ruin, the dinosaur forest has enemies that leave plenty of experience. The desert south of Maranda holds Slagworms and Cactuars, both of which give out high amounts of Magic AP and gil (and the Slagworm gives out high EXP as well).
While the Cactuars have high evasion this can be solved by equipping a Sniper Eye, or by using any other technique or spell that ignores evasion. The worms are vulnerable to the Death and Stop spells, which means one can avoid its potentially devastating Sandstorm counterattack. To get the most out of grinding, the party should equip espers that grant stat boost bonuses upon gaining a level.
In the World of Ruin players can use the area just outside of Doma Castle to level grind by casting Vanish on the party and fighting Tumbleweeds. Another area of interest is the Phoenix Cave, which can reward great EXP, the least of encounters rewarding approximately 1,000, but some enemy formations can reward up to 3,000 or 4,000 so long as the Chaos Dragon is present.
In the World of Ruin, the forest north of Jidoor is also available for grinding as nearly every enemy there uses only physical attacks (the only exception is Leap Frog, which uses Rippler). The player only has to summon Phantom to become invulnerable.
In the World of Ruin, players can access the Cultists' Tower where they can recruit Strago. Enemies there cast only magic, most of which can be nullified by equipping Reflect Rings. The lower levels have enemy encounters that net 5 or 7 Magic AP per battle. Party members can be equipped with Gold Hairpins and cast Ultima to end battles quickly. This is the best way to farm only magic without gaining experience, but the downside is the party won't gain gil.
===Final Fantasy VII===
One of the earliest points where some players choose to level grind is in the Sector 4 Train Tunnel where, if the player heads to the south end during "To the No. 5 Reactor", an infinite amount of troops can be fought. If the player gives a character the Restore Materia and heals until the character runs out of MP, they can switch it and do the same for the other two. This is also a good place to get Limit Breaks quickly, as it is a source for a vast amount of kills. At this point, each character should be able to kill each enemy in one attack from the back row, including Tifa.
Aeris's LEVEL 2 Limit Break, Fury Brand, can be exploited to get the two other party members' Limit Breaks to maximum so they can use Limit Breaks faster. This is a faster way of filling LEVEL 3 and LEVEL 4 Limit Break gauges, and it allows players to draw the benefits from Sadness while still being able to use Limit Breaks relatively often. Another way to get Limit Breaks faster is to use Hypers to get into the Fury status.
After leaving Midgar, players can use the Matra Magic Enemy Skill, acquired from outside of Midgar, to defeat enemies inside the Mythril Mines that appear in large numbers.
In Junon, before the party acquires the Highwind, the player can pull an alarm in the tunnel that leads to the Underwater Reactor to fight strong enemies that otherwise appear only after the party has the airship, yielding high EXP and AP and gil. This method is a sound way to grind in any solo character challenge. The Death Machines there are easily neutered with the Frog Song or Toad spells.
In Nibel Area, the player can fight and manipulate the Valron enemy using the appropriate Materia. Using the Dive Kick, which takes off a quarter of the player's maximum health, the player can fill the Limit gauge quickly, while not being threatened with KO since the HP decrease can be calculated beforehand.
After obtaining the Tiny Bronco, the player can head to an island on Mideel Area where they can fight the Mideel region enemies, such as Head Hunters. Equipping three Rune Armlets from Bone Village, and each player's double AP growth weapons they should have obtained by this point in the game, the player can stock a lot of AP to level up Materia. With a level 3 Restore Materia equipped with an All Materia, the player can cast Regen and allow the enemy to attack the player and get Limit Breaks. Equipping three Fury Rings from Gongaga will allow characters with a high Strength stat to kill the enemies quickly and without need for user input.
The Corel Valley area where the player finds the Water Ring has enemies that are easy to kill and give a lot of EXP for this point in the game.
With the Highwind the party can visit Cactus Island for its Cactuers that yield moderately high EXP and AP. After the Gold Saucer reopens when Cloud returns to the party, the player can buy the EXP Plus Materia from the Wonder Square to earn 50% more EXP for the equipper, or twice the EXP when it is on LV2. Maxing out the Materia births another version that can be equipped to someone else; equipping more than one on the same character doesn't stack the effect.
After obtaining the submarine, the player may opt to visit the Sunken Gelnika, where they can morph powerful enemies into sources for stat boosts, and simultaneously obtain EXP.
Movers in the Northern Cave give 800 AP each, for a total of 2400 AP per battle, but are very rare. Players can also steal Elixirs from Gighee or exploit the W-Item duplication bug to give themselves 99 Elixirs to feed the Magic Pots to amass EXP and AP.
Party members outside the active party gain half of the experience gained by the main party. The levels of newly joining characters are decided by the party's average level. When characters go off on a quest without the others, additional levels they have gained will often elevate the levels of everybody else in the group.
Players attempting a low level challenge often eschew the use of Materia, as both the gil cost and the AP requirements to level them are hard to meet. The Mover is the only enemy that gives AP in large quantities for no EXP. It also drops 90,000 gil. Much earlier in the game, from Corel Prison onwards, the Cactuar makes Materia-using No Item (NI) games easier with its 10,000 gil for only 1 EXP.
====Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-====
Leveling up is not determined at random; although it is not shown in the game, enemies still drop EXP, and the more EXP the player gains, the higher the chance the player levels up during a Modulation Phase. If the player wishes to level grind, they can do so by fighting enemies in missions labeled "Very Hard".
As Zack levels up, the rate at which his stats increase slows, meaning at higher levels level grinding is not effective, but players can increase their stats via Materia Fusion.
Players can kill Movers to obtain quick SP, and kill Tonberries for gil. After unlocking Mission 9-6-6: The Reigning Deity, players can equip the Brigand's Gloves and steal 99 Phoenix Downs that can be sold for gil.
One can also buy Dualcast Materia and convert them to SP. A faster way to get SP is by buying HP Up Materia and with the 99 Phoenix Downs turn it to HP Up +999% via Materia Fusion, then convert it to SP to get around 900,000 SP. The Phoenix Downs can also be used in Materia Fusion to max out HP.
====Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-====
During the boss fight against the first helicopter in Chapter 1, at some point it will begin dropping Deepground Soldiers randomly that Vincent can keep defeating. The soldiers drop handgun bullets and potions the player can use to keep ammo and HP up. Each soldier gives Vincent 10 EXP. The helicopter will infinitely drop soldiers until defeated. The player can tempsave in the middle of the boss fight and continue at another time to grind at their own leisure.
===Final Fantasy VII Remake and Intergrade===
One of the earliest places to level grind on a first playthrough is during Chapter 4, "Mad Dash", at the quest "Sector 7-6 Annex Infiltration", where, before invading the Shinra Warehouse with Biggs and Wedge, Cloud can go to a small training center at the right of the gate, where the player can interact with the terminal to make several Sentry Rays appear. The terminal at the training center can be reactivated indefinitely once the enemies are defeated. The player can also conveniently rest at the bench and restock items in the shop nearby, making it a safe grinding spot.
During Chapter 6, "Light the Way", at the quest "Inside the Ventilation Fan", after activating all the sun lamps, the player can return to the starting position, and use the smaller elevator on the west before the cargo elevator. After climbing the stairs and interacting with the terminal, the player gets a minute to clear the room of enemies and activate the other terminal to open the room and get the . The first terminal can be reactivated indefinitely to fight the same enemies again, even after getting the . The room before has a bench and a shop, making it a safe grinding spot.
During Chapters 9, "The Town that Never Sleeps", and 14, "In Search of Hope", the player has access to the Corneo Colosseum, where they can partake in matches there for various rewards. Matches can be replayed indefinitely as long the player has the gil to spare. Similarly, on Chapters 16, "The Belly of the Beast", and Chapter 17, "Deliverance from Chaos" (only avaliable after finishing the game once), the player can fight on the Shinra Combat Simulator in the same way and use it to grind for levels and AP.
The start of Chapter 16, at the quest "Infiltration", is one of the best places for level and AP grinding after beating the game and unlocking Chapter Select. By clearing the enemy waves at the parking garage and restarting the chapter, the player can accrue a vast amount of experience and AP, specially given that those values are increased after finishing the game once. It is recommended to do this on the Easy mode, since enemy experience and AP values are unaffected by difficulty levels. By equipping Cloud with a combination of , paired with , as well the , the player can one-shot enemies easily by spamming or . The can also be equipped to further enable Cloud's damage, as enemies will often be instantly staggered upon being hit with fire spells. Other party members can be equipped with (paired with a materia of choosing, preferably one that requires a lot of AP to maximize, such as ), , and to further speed the process. Considering that characters outside the main party also gain experience, the player doesn't need to worry about leveling Aerith if they follow these steps.
In "Episode INTERmission", the earliest place the player can effectively level grind is at the end of Chapter 1, "Wutai's Finest", after defeating the Gigantipede. After returning to the Sector 7 Slums, the player can run back through Scrap Boulevard all the way back to the Outskirts and fight a variety of enemies, ranging from Wererats and Gorgers to Wayward Wolves and Wrath Hounds. The most effective place to grind for levels and AP in the endgame, however, is after clearing the game once and unlocking the Chapter Select and Shinra Combat Simulator on Chapter 2, "Covert Ops". The player can then enter the combat simulator, select "Yuffie & Sonon vs. Midgarian Monsters", clear the first fight against the Bugaboos and restart. Clearing this can be easily done by equipping Yuffie with the , then using Throw followed by Windstorm. The ideal setup to maximize AP per fight is to have the (found in Scarlet's office after defeating the two Armored Magitroopers), Yuffie's Boomerang (which has an AP Up passive on its first core), as well the Ninja Armlet and Volant Armlet, which double and triple AP gain, respectively.
===Final Fantasy VII Rebirth===
===Final Fantasy VIII===
Grinding is almost imperative, but in a different way: since the party's level means less than what magic the player junctions, players grind by drawing spells from enemies, and refining spells from items, cards, or lower level spells. The player can easily earn lots of high level junctioning spells early on by playing Triple Triad and modifying the cards into items and refining the items into magic.
An easy way to find high-level spells early is to use the Quezacotl's Card Mod to mod the Quistis card (obtainable at the very beginning of the game) into three Samantha Souls, which can be refined into 60 Triples each via the Diablos's Time Mag-RF ability. Junctioning 100 Triples to a character's Strength would allow for them to, combined with the ease of triggering Limit Breaks, easily annihilate any boss up until late game.
Players looking for EXP can visit Island Closest to Heaven and the Island Closest to Hell, where many powerful enemies that give away huge amounts of EXP roam, and can be easily defeated with Quistis's Degenerator. Level grinding is mainly effective with stat bonus abilities in effect, learned by certain Guardian Forces. AP grinders can head to Cactuar Island and Kashkabald Desert where the Cactuars can be easily slain by Squall's normal attack, and give out 20 AP each.
While Cactuar Island itself is only accessible via the Ragnarok, the desert adjacent can be accessed with a mobile Balamb Garden. To maximize the party's potential it is wise to stay in low levels until obtaining the Cactuar Guardian Force, equip its stat boost abilities, and then fight in the Islands Closest to Heaven and Hell to gain stat boosts along with levels.
For low level games, players may opt to use the Card ability learned from Quezacotl to convert enemies into cards, preventing them from dropping EXP but still dropping items and AP. The player can get the Gambler Spirit, obtained by refining 5 Shumi Tribe cards, and have one of the Guardian Forces learn the Card ability for other players to use in battle. Later in the game, the player can use the temporarily playable character, Edea, to level up Guardian Forces to avoid over-leveling the main party. This may also be done with Seifer during the Dollet mission, but would only level up Quezacotl, Shiva and Ifrit.
===Final Fantasy IX===
Level-grinding early may not be preferable due to new party members' levels being decided by the current party's average level, and "leveling up" via level averaging does not gain any Magic Stones. The equipment that give best stat boosts upon level up are also not available early on.
Level Up is good to equip to any dedicated level-grinding.
One of the earliest level grinding spots is in Alexandria. After Steiner and Marcus break out of their hanging cage they will be assaulted by an endless stream of Alexandrian soldiers. If the player moves Steiner to the middle of the room and equips him with the Blood Sword obtained from Queen Stella in Treno, an infinite number of battles can be fought without the need for healing. If the player keeps the confirm button pressed with a rubber band, Steiner can potentially gain 50 levels overnight.
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The Grand Dragon on Sacrobless Island or Popos Heights, and the Yans on Vile Island, both yield large amounts of EXP. Grand Dragons can be easily felled after a certain point, especially with the help of LV5 Death, but Yans remain exceptionally difficult even at higher levels. Fortunately, Yans can be put to sleep to stop them attacking, and they are also susceptible to Instant Death and Doom.
The party can fight Grand Dragons fairly early on, as they can be fought above Gizamaluke's Grotto (Popos Heights). To fight them this early on, Quina's Limit Glove spell can be used to deal fixed 9999 damage as long as Quina remains at 1 HP, allowing massive experience gain for the party early on. Later in the game, Quina's LV5 Death spell can be used to instantly kill Grand Dragons. While fighting on Vile Island will award the player with more EXP, killing only Grand Dragons on the Popos Heights requires less attention. Using LV5 Death means the player will never have to manually heal the party, which makes this training ideal for turbo controllers, sped up emulators, the high speed mode in Final Fantasy IX Remastered, and other assisting tools.
The player can also "grind" to max out certain character-specific abilities: Zidane's Thievery powers up whenever he successfully steals from an enemy; Freya's Dragon's Crest is maxed out by slaying 100 dragons; and Quina's Frog Drop powers up the more frogs they catch in the marshes.
The crystal versions of the Guardians of Terra in the Crystal World right before the final battles yield high amounts of AP. The Friendly Yan can be repeatedly defeated without locking the player out of completing the friendly monsters sidequest, yielding 50 AP every time. However, the party needs to be in top-notch condition to stand a chance to win.
===Final Fantasy X===
The Omega Ruins' enemies give high amounts of AP, and with Double/Triple AP Double/Triple Overdrive, and Overdrive → AP sphere levels pour in. Fighting Tonberries and their ilk with Overdrive → AP earns lots of sphere levels if the player has killed enough enemies and has the Stoic Overdrive Mode on the party member being attacked, and Comrade on others.
The best AP grinding method involves this setup against the Don Tonberry. The player should cast Hastega on everyone and then get Don Tonberry to counter with Karma on the character whose Overdrive Mode is Stoic, then revive him/her with the other party members and recast Haste. The player should repeat this until Don Tonberry is dead, or gets too close and the player is forced to flee. When Don Tonberry counters with Karma, the damage will fuel the Overdrive, which will triple and then convert into AP, and at the end of the battle the total AP is also tripled. The AP is received even if the player escapes or the Overdrive gauge is full.
It is possible to go from 0 to 99 Sphere Levels in one battle with three characters using this method; it is only limited by the party's MP and how fast Don Tonberry closes in. The amount of Overdrive received is determined by the amount of damage received which, for Don Tonberry, is the number of monsters a character has killed multiplied by 100. Only the Overdrive → AP ability is needed for this trick, but the other two abilities will boost the amount of obtained AP. The only character that needs to receive damage from Karma is the character whose Overdrive Mode is set to Stoic, meaning one can easily level up a weak character by skipping their turn and having a strong healer and a character who has had a lot of kills to perform the trick.
An alternate method is to use weapons with SOS Overdrive and Overdrive → AP, armor with SOS Haste, and Auto-Life. Cactuar King can also be used instead the Tonberry for its 99,999 and 10,000 Needles attacks.
Killing the Monster Arena's Species Conquest enemies gives Spheres that add new stat nodes to the Sphere Grid and boost characters' stats quickly. To get Power Sphere, Ability Sphere, Mana Sphere, and Speed Sphere items quickly, the player can inflict Distill abilities on Kottos or Fafnir to get 20 of them, or 40 for an Overkill.
If the player does not have strong enough characters having Anima is a useful option as it can kill the enemies in one Oblivion. Despite the cost of fighting enemies at the Monster Arena, the selling price of the equipment dropped by the enemies makes up for it. In the PlayStation 2 version the player can also fight Fenrir, which despite the game's claims, costs no money to fight. This was fixed for the HD Remaster.
====Final Fantasy X-2====
In Chapter 1, the player can attempt to grind for EXP in Macalania Woods and the enemies outside the Macalania Lake travel agency. The player can also get the Ice Queen Garment Grid from doing the "Follow that O'aka" mission. Although the enemies may be too strong to fight this early, the player can escape the battles. The Ice Queen Garment Grid allows the wearer to absorb Ice, meaning the White Elementals' attacks will heal the party, and eventually the player will be strong enough to take on the enemies throughout the rest of the Macalania Woods. The Amorphous Gel can easily be dispatched with Ice attacks (as it starts as Fire-elemental by default), which can be used by any dressphere if the Garment Grid is equipped.
The Farplane and Via Infinito hold powerful enemies. Via Infinito's battle difficulty rises as player goes deeper underground. Lady Luck learns the Double EXP ability, which can be used whenever a character wears the dressphere.
When a character equips both the AP Egg (Triple AP) and the Key to Success (Double AP) they will receive 6x the AP they normally earn, a great way to master abilities, but the conditions for earning the Key to Success means the player cannot receive the Mascot dressphere later on during that specific playthrough.
The characters earn AP as they execute commands in battle. If the player can create a continuous loop of actions that kill neither the party nor the enemies, they can easily rake in AP. One of the most effective methods for stockpiling AP involves the Treasure Hunt Garment Grid equipped with the Mug ability; Mug scores AP even if the character is unable to acquire an item from a monster.
The Fiend Arena in the HD Remaster and International versions provides a safe and continuous supply of fiends while also making a Game Over impossible, meaning the player can easily farm for EXP and AP. If the player unlocks the fights against Shiva, Yojimbo, Anima, or the Magus Sisters, the former three fights award 15 AP each, while the Magus Sisters yield 24 AP. Equipping an AP Egg and a Key To Success can yield at least 90 AP for a fight which, at higher levels, can take less than a minute, making learning abilities significantly easier.
===Final Fantasy XI===
Level grinding was the principal means of advancement. Before Wings of the Goddess, this was generally restricted to EXP/Merit parties against enemies like crabs, beetles, mandragora, goblins, colibri, and imps, due to the low-risk of said enemies. The only other methods were to either get rare single-use items or participate in Besieged.
During this early stage of the game, it wasn't viable for most jobs to get experience solo, many jobs had difficulty finding parties due to lopsided balance, and the penalty for dying was severe (up to 2400 experience lost, or about 45 minutes of an average-geared experience party). This encouraged cowardice and was a big hurdle that prevented a lot of casual players from experiencing the bulk of the game.
Over time, Square addressed complaints about the experience system. Wings of the Goddess added Campaign Battles and Operations, many of the latter being doable at any level. Abyssea zones changed their experience system to ignore player levels and party size along with adding bonus chests, making it easy for high-level players to powerlevel lower-level players. Seekers of Adoulin added an experience bonus to most quests along with Coalition Assignments that can be completed as any job and redeemed on the job that needs experience.
Square also made other quality of life changes such as earning permanent experience boosts by doing certain missions, adding the Fields/Grounds of Valor system that gives experience bonuses for defeating specific types of monsters in a zone, and introducing Records of Eminence, an achievement-like system with a large variety of objectives beyond just killing monsters. All this along with being able to summon NPCs to help you in battle has significantly reduced the time it takes to reach max level.
In 2015, Square reintroduced level grinding with the Job Points system, where even a highly-unlikely best case scenario takes about six hours to cap a job, with it realistically taking upwards of 50-100.
===Final Fantasy XII===
A famous level grinding spot early on is to kill the Rare Game Dustia, which gives plenty of EXP and LP, can be killed with a Phoenix Down, and can be spawned early, as soon as the player can access the Dalmasca Westersand. Phoenix Downs can be bought from the merchant outside Nalbina Fortress, past the Dalmasca Estersand once the Sunstone has been charged in the Giza Plains. Dustia drops the Book of Orgain loot commonly, and it sells for a lot of gil, allowing the player to buy more Phoenix Downs. Dustia is good for speedy leveling because it is offers over a thousand EXP, 3 LP, valuable drops including the Flame Staff, and is chainable via the zone out glitch. Using only Vaan the player can gain a lot of EXP especially if exploiting the glitch. Later in Royal Palace of Rabanastre when Fran and Balthier join, their levels will be based on Vaan's, as with any other character who will join the party later.
The gambit system allows for auto-leveling tactics where the player can leave the party leveling and gaining EXP without having to as much as touch the controller.
An easy grinding spot early on is when the alarm sounds after rescuing Ashe on the Dreadnought Leviathan. If the player stays in the area where enemies first appear after the alarm goes off enemies will continue to appear. When the player is close to death they can backtrack to the save crystal to heal.
Negalmuur in Stilshrine of Miriam is a famous auto-level spot: it will frequently summon Ghasts, and by correctly setting up the party's gambits it is possible to create an infinite loop, which allows the game to be left playing while the party continues to gain experience. The party should use gambits such as Foe:HP<3,000 to hit only the Ghasts and not the Negalmuur summoning them, and to prevent the party leader remaining KO'd for too long the party can use Decoy to attract as many attacks as possible to other members, and also use a gambit that prompts the allies to use a Remedy on the party leader when needed.
One spot for grinding is in the The Rustling Chapel area of the Golmore Jungle. If the player defeats all the enemies in the area, Dark Skeletons start to spawn. After 21 have been defeated and the player has moved close enough to the center, the Grave Lord will spawn, preventing further Dark Skeletons from appearing. Defeating the Grave Lord and zoning out and in will spawn more Dark Skeletons allowing for a chain in excess of 90. After this, the player can return to the Eruyt Village to sell loot, save the game, and reset to repeat. With each regular Dark Skeleton awarding over 1000 EXP, doubled with the Embroidered Tippet equipped, and the enemies falling in a few attacks, this is a useful method with little risk other than being overpowered by the Grave Lord at lower levels.
However, if the Vorpal Bunny Hunt has been accepted and not completed, the Grave Lord will not spawn unless the bunny has been defeated. Since the Vorpal Bunny spends most of its time running away it is less of a problem to handle than the Grave Lord.
Henne Mines is renowned for two convenient grinding spots: the first is Pithead Junction B where touching the gate switch sends a limited number of Jellies falling from above, and if they die from the Time Magick Break, they will respawn endlessly. If the player programs their gambits correctly, it is possible to sustain an auto-leveling without touching the controller. Besides the Break spell, it is recommended to have another ally cast Sleepga on the Jellies and another to keep the party alive with curative spells.
The second spot is Pithead Junction C that is riskier than the Pithead Junction B spot. Flipping the gate switch will send Abysteels descending down from the ceiling. They do not respawn endlessly like the Jellies, but are vulnerable to Sleep and Disable and are damaged by curative magic. With the proper gambit set-up, the player can use Sleepga/Disable to neutralize the Abysteels (an Indigo Pendant will ensure the status hits) and kill them with Curaja without waking them up (if using Sleep) or any attacks (if using Disable). The Abysteels will leave roughly 3,000 EXP each, which in tandem with their large numbers makes leveling quick and easy. If the party is equipped with Embroidered Tippets they could potentially earn up to of 100,000 EXP with each press of the switch.
In Draklor Laboratory Imperial Pilot, Imperial Swordsman, and Judge will spawn infinitely and are usually in groups of three or four, but if one doesn't kill them quickly, there will soon be many more.
Nabreus Deadlands' Overlooking Eternity area presents a grind similar to the Grave Lord area exploit. Here, upwards of 50 Dead Bones can spawn per visit, each being worth roughly 1200 EXP. With the Embroidered Tippet equipped, the party can expect ~2300 EXP per kill. With a good Holy Lance setup, or use of Curaja, the party can clear the zone in short order for ~120,000 EXP. The mobs also offer several bone-type drops (especially with the Warmage's Monograph) that each vend for roughly 2000 gil; if there is a dedicated thief, the player can expect several Golden Skullcaps as well, which vend for 8000 gil each.
====Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings====
Because official missions are one-time-only events, players have to rely on Monster and Summoning Melees to level grind. The Summoning Melee at the Gates of Shattered Time and the challenging yet rewarding gambit of Midlight's Deep are two exceptional grinding locations, though the latter requires some time commitment.
===Final Fantasy XIII===
There are several places that allow accumulation of easy CP. Although many are only accessible (or practical) at or after the endgame, this is also the point at which they become particularly useful.
A relatively early grinding spot is within the Estheim Residence during Chapter 7 where the party is ambushed by PSICOM troops. Two enemy parties appear in the small map, and so as long as the player eliminates them both and moves to the back of the map, they will keep respawning. This point is specially rewarding in gil as the PSICOM troops here drop Incentive Chips, which can be sold by 2,500 gil in the nearby save station, and often drop more than one per battle. While the CP is not as rewarding, the potential accumulate of CP one can acquire while grinding for gil can be large as the enemies are not hard to defeat and yield around 160 CP per battle. And while perhaps not useful for the current party they can be useful for Vanille and Sazh who are used next with an expanded Crystarium.
Another popular spot is in the Archylte Steppe near the Mah'habara Subterra entrance with the fighting Behemoth King and Megistotherian pairing; the party will always get a preemptive strike, and both enemies will be at half HP. One way to kill them is to Stagger the Behemoth King and use the Commando's Launch ability to prevent it from replenishing its HP, then killing the Megistotherian. With a strong party the battle will only take approximately 7–14 seconds for 6,600 CP, or 13,200 CP with a Growth Egg.
One popular training method, especially for lower levels, requires the player to repeat Mission 24 in Taejin's Tower with each battle yielding 6,000 CP (12,000 with a Growth Egg). The reward for completing the mission is a Moonblossom Seed that can be sold for 6,000 gil, and it takes only a few seconds to walk from the Cie'th Stone to the Mark, making Mission 24 a good method of getting quick CP with some gil on the side.
In the optional area of the Mah'habara Subterra mines (access granted by riding Atomos back from Sulyya Springs), one will come across an area with six Cryohedrons. They can easily be killed in a matter of seconds for 7,140 CP each time. The bombs will respawn when the player backtracks a little.
A formation of five Pulsework Gladiators can be encountered on Fifth Tier or the Cloven Spire of Taejin's Tower. As each one grants 1,600 CP for being destroyed, defeating a formation will grant 8,000 CP per battle.
The Adamantoise in Eden is right next to a save station allowing for a quicker restart. It is possible to have Vanille spam Death on it to yield 40,000 CP (80,000 with Growth Egg). Oretoises can also be battled around the Archylte Steppe, and they evolve to even more formidable forms after completing the missions in the "Cie'th Stone circle" on the plains, but at this point, the party is likely so powerful they no longer need to grind.
One notable spot is the penultimate configuration of the Tesseracts in Orphan's Cradle, where a moderately powerful party can defeat the lone Wladislaus in about two minutes (using a slightly risky Evened Odds → Relentless Assault strategy) for 32,000 CP, and it can be respawned quickly by returning to the lower save station. This is a good spot, but one which cannot be revisited after the Tesseracts undergoes the final reconfiguration to access the final bosses.
With some patience, ten minute runs through the Faultwarrens can yield around 75,000 CP (150,000 with Growth Egg). This includes all of the non-marked enemies along the way. Primeval Crossroads → A Dance of Shadow → Via Stellarum → Salamandrine Path → Titan's Trials (Mission 47, Raktavija). Of note are the Cactuars on the Salamandrine Path, which give around 7,500/15,000 CP each if defeated. There are eight of them, but they run from battle if given the chance.
Attacus (Mission 51) gives 75,000/150,000 CP when defeated, although that battle typically lasts at least 15 minutes. Everything considered, an hour in the Faultwarrens can yield almost a million CP. A caveat, though—it's best for the player to be farther along the Crystarium to attempt this, as the fights can be tough.
====Final Fantasy XIII-2====
The best way to quickly accumulate CP is in Academia 400 AF in the southern area of New Town near the automatic pathway where fighting a group of a Taxim and five Nelapsis will yield 500 CP, the highest amount achieved in a normal encounter. This can be raised with finishing the battle with a Paradigm Pack monster ally with learned Bonus CP, like Don Tonberry, as well as turning on Rolling in CP Fragment Skill.
In Oerba 400 AF after completing the main story, in the Ashensand area, the player can encounter a "paradox sphere" which houses arguably the strongest non-DLC enemy, the Raspatil; defeating it without any bonuses will yield the player 25,000 CP as well as 50,000 Gil.
===Final Fantasy XIV===
For most players leveling their first class, the main scenario quests and sidequests will negate the need for level grinding. For subsequent classes though, the fact these quests are one-time-only will require finding other means to grind, such as guildleves, FATEs, instanced dungeons, the Hunting Log and Challenge Log.
Once the level cap is reached, players seeking endgame progression will largely depend on Allagan tomestones. One popular method for grinding these is speed-running through Expert level dungeon instances.
===Final Fantasy XV===
Cactuars give good EXP (3,333) and can be fought since the beginning of the game as rare enemies. However, knowing where they spawn (morning daytime northwest of Hammerhead) allows one to roam the area until one appears.
Timed Quests can be used for gaining EXP, but are tough for the early game, for which completing hunts works well. The cactuar and slactuar Timed Quest yields the best EXP output. From Chapter 9 onwards, the player can do the hunt Lonely Rumblings in Longwythe and fight the adamantoise superboss. Though normally a lengthy battle, it can be instantly killed with the Ring of the Lucii's Alterna, though the chance for it working is small.
Lodgings give a multiplier to accumulated EXP, so the player can save their EXP to sleep in the lodging that gives the best yield to gain the best amount of levels at once. There are food, accessories and elemancy spells that let the player get more EXP from battles. The player can equip Nixperience Band to prevent the tallying of EXP upon resting to save up the EXP and rest in the double or triple EXP hotels in Galdin Quay and Altissia for a massive level boost. If the player wants to do this, they should equip the Nixperience Band on Noctis, as each of the allies leaves the party temporarily at certain points, and the game will force tally EXP at end of each chapter.
To level up the fastest, the player should save their EXP to sleep in to the hotel in Altissia (Royal Suite rather than the normal room) for the triple EXP boost, eat the Lasagna al Forno food at camp/Maagho Lasagna at Maagho, equip all accessory slots with Moogle Charms, and kill enemies with magic infused with experience boosts. The player can then participate repeatedly in Timed Quests. Wiz Chocobo Post also offers a sandwich with +50% EXP boost that is available before the player can head to Altissia.
To grind Gladiolus's survival skill, which levels up the more the player travels, one can tape down the controller's analog stick to have the game run on its own to accumulate steps. It may be possible to auto-grind for AP in a similar manner, as the party can learn abilities that let the player accumulate AP for riding a chocobo or for driving the car. To grind Ignis's cooking skill, the player can buy Luncheon Meat from the general store in Lestallum (50+ is enough to max out his Cooking) to cook Mystery Meat Sushi. After camping the player can immediately camp again and cook the same meal. Doing this will max out Ignis's Cooking skill in about twenty minutes. Another fast and relatively cheap method is to have Noctis fish heavy fishes that can be used to make food with another cheap ingredient, such as garlic. This may take a bit longer, but will enable the player to maximize Noctis's and Ignis's fishing and cooking skills respectively much faster than doing them separately.
===Final Fantasy Mystic Quest===
There are two ways for the player to grind for levels. The first is to clear out the battlefields on the world map. This also yields some decent and rare items. A trick (perhaps a glitch) in the game involves gaining a level in the same fight that clears a Battlefield that rewards XP: this will cause Benjamin to level twice instead of once.
The other is to clear out higher level zones, leave, and reenter making the monsters respawn. Some zones don't respawn once the boss is killed. The level cap is 41.
===Final Fantasy Tactics===
Since EXP and JP are gained by performing successful actions, regardless of who the action is targeting, players can level grind by defeating all but one enemy unit in a battle, prevent the remaining enemy unit from taking action (such as by inflicting Sleep or Disable) and command the player's units to use their commands on each other or themselves, including offensive actions.
For JP grinding, the JP Boost support ability is key to accrue it faster; this ability is available from the Squire and all the story character's special jobs (Holy Knight, Machinist, etc.). In addition, making all characters the same job during battle means that, as JP earned is shared across all party members who have that job available, they progress through the job faster.
EXP gained is based on the difference between the unit's level and the unit with the highest level affected by a command. Lower-level units can gain greater EXP safely by using commands on high-level allies. Conversely, high-level units can use commands on lower-level units in order to increase JP with minimal EXP gain, as the levels of random encounters are based on the party's levels. Enemy parties in Midlight's Deep are usually several levels above the player's party, thus making the dungeon an excellent area to grind high-level units.
If the player lines the party up in an X formation where all five squares have the same elevation, they can have the middle character to use the Monk's Chakra ability to heal himself and those around him, as they use their commands on each other.
Leaving the party lined up allows them to act quickly, as they do not move, and other buffs such as Time Mage's Haste and White Mage's Protect can be used on the entire party. Generic units and Ramza can also use the Squire's Focus, which has one of the fastest animations out of any ability in the game, to quickly accrue JP and speed up the process.
Enemy yellow chocobos are very effective for level grinding, specially in the early game. The player can defeat all enemies but the chocobo, surround it on the same elevation, and use weak attacks on it, which will in turn use Choco Cure and heal itself and the player's party. A prime location for grinding can be found early on in the game at Mandalia Plains, where chocobos can spawn. Alternatively, the player can tame a wild chocobo (or use Boco) and do the process while isolating another enemy; however, the player will have one fewer party member to grind JP since the chocobo will take the fifth slot.
The Bardsong (for males) and Dance (for females) commands are very useful for grinding, for both the using unit and other units in battle. The fast Charge Time of these abilities and continuous nature mean that a song or dance may activate multiple times between a unit's turns, especially early in the game and for slower classes, such as the Summoner or Arithmetician. All songs and dances affect all allies or enemies respectively, making it easy to perform a successful command. The HP/MP-affecting songs and dances are the fastest to execute and 100% accurate. Rousing Melody and Slow Dance enable the user's party to gain more turns, making it easier to perform many commands during a battle and defeat the enemy party.
An effective way to grind in the late game is to bring Beowulf, in his Templar job, and use Chicken on the last enemy, who will be unable to attack while in the status. This allows the player to safely use the aforementioned strategy with Chakra without having to worry about enemy retaliation. While under the Chicken status, the enemy will replenish 1 Bravery each turn, and once it reaches 10, they will return to normal, meaning Beowulf will have to recast it occasionally.
===Final Fantasy Tactics Advance===
EXP received from an action depends on the relativity between the acting character's level and the target character's level. Though missions usually offer challenging high level enemies, they can be completed only once. Enemies throughout the map in random battles will always be at levels average to the player party, and any enemy at the same level will give the same amount of EXP.
Thus, one random encounter is as good as any other to level up. If a character is to target oneself, preferably with a healing or supporting action, they will gain 10 EXP; targeting a character one level higher will garner 12 EXP; targeting a character one level lower will garner 8 EXP; and so forth. Therefore, weaker characters can easily level up by affecting higher level characters in battle, even if they are party members.
An easy trick to gaining levels fast is the Smile ability the Juggler learns. It is learned by equipping the Orichalcum, and when two moogles are on the field with that ability they can continue using the ability on each other to create a cycle of experience gain and canceling out the other units' chances to move. With this ability, they can easily get to level 50 so the rest of the party can beat up on them to gain levels themselves.
===Final Fantasy Type-0===
The Secret Training NPC in Akademeia's Arena, who levels the party members while the player is not playing, can be exploited by manipulating the in-game clock to simulate the passage of time. With a PlayStation 4 set to offline mode, the player should save by talking to the trainer, set the system clock forward by a week, and reload the save to earn a bunch of free experience. This can be done infinitely, and is possible with the Xbox One version if not connected to the Internet.
===Dissidia Final Fantasy (2008)===
====EXP farming====
A well-known grinding technique is to use equip the Magic Pot (Manual) summon and to fight a Level 100 Exdeath in Quick Battle at the highest difficulty. The player should attack him with HP attacks to force him to use a Bravery attack, which the player must allow to hit, until the player's Bravery is broken. After recovering to base Bravery, the player should use the summon to copy the opponent's Bravery, enter EX Mode while performing a HP attack against Exdeath, and defeat Exdeath with an EX Burst.
This will also work against Level 100 Gabranth due to his lack of HP attacks until he enters EX Mode. To prevent the AI charging its EX Gauge, the player should attempt to fight in a chase sequence until the opponent's Bravery is broken. To increase the EXP yield at the end of the battle, the player can equip chocobo accessories and the Rabbit's Foot, which increases Luck and shortens the summons' recharge time.
An alternative method for accumulating vast amounts of EXP is to attempt to fight multiple battles against the Exdeath on the Omega Friend Card. The player should commence the battle as usual, preferably on Edge of Madness or other similarly small stage, then allow themselves to have their Bravery broken. Once the player has regained their Bravery, they should continue accepting Bravery breaks until Exdeath's Bravery is higher than his HP. The player should activate a summon which does not reduce the opponent's or the player's Bravery to activate the opposing Barbariccia summon, which swaps Bravery values. Entering EX Mode and using an EX Burst will give the highest EXP gain. Using the manual form of summons, such as Phoenix, Shiva, PuPu, Bahamut and Tonberry in a reserves chain will allow the player fight continuously by using the Retry option once the battle is over.
====AP Farming====
One way the player can collect a large sum of AP is by fighting Chaos in Quick Battle mode during a Bonus Day. If they already had a set of a Diamond Combination to double their AP, as well as buying all Calendar bonuses for another double AP, the amount of AP will be quadrupled on the fight.
The reason the player should fight Chaos is because this battle is divided into three segments, and each segment rewards individually (which means, if the player loses on any of the three parts, they will still get the awards for the previous parts of the battle, meaning, for every victory against Chaos equals three battles with a random enemy).
The player should not forget to tackle the AP chances on the fights, as each completed task awards the player with two additional AP when completed. The AP chance will repeat until the last phase of the fight against Chaos, so if the player completes all of the AP chances in the fight, they will get a total of six additional AP.
With these tips combined, the character can get 30+ AP with each victory against Chaos.
===Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy===
====EXP farming====
The most convenient method to accrue vast amounts of EXP is by manipulating the speed of each battle, using the Original Rules feature to modify the efficiency and spawn rate of EX Force and Cores respectively; Stage Bravery; and EX Revenge times.
Fighting the aforementioned Level 100 Exdeath or Gabranth will yield a high amount of EXP if the player breaks the opponent's Bravery to receive a high amount of Stage Bravery, then executes an EX Burst. If the player is hit, they can use EX Revenge, obtain an EX Core, which should spawn immediately, and execute the EX Burst as normal.
The player can accumulate vast amounts of EXP in single battles by waiting till their Bonus Day (or by changing the PlayStation Portable's clock), getting a EXP x5 bonus as a reward in the Grind Lover Play Plan, then creating a ruleset which brings the Stage Bravery, critical hit Damage and Frequency, and EX Core appearance and absorption rate, and EX Revenge duration to maximum, and fighting a Level 100 Gabranth at the highest difficulty.
Once the battle commences, the player should immediately switch targets to the newly spawned EX core, and should use the ability "Free Air Dash" or an upgraded variant to rapidly obtain it before the opponent can react, which should immediately fill their EX Gauge to full.
The player should wait until Gabranth performs an Bravery attack where the player should allow the attack to hit to activate the EX Revenge, followed by the obtaining of another Core using the same method and perform the EX Burst: breaking Gabranth's Bravery, gaining a high amount of Stage Bravery, and easily defeating him yields the most experience points. If Gabranth does not attempt to use Bravery attacks, one should use HP attacks to threaten him from afar, when he is programmed to respond with Bravery attacks. In the same way, if the player cannot break his Bravery, they can equip a manual Odin summon, and attempt to break his Bravery with that. If the attempts fails, the player can retry the battle.
====AP farming====
For AP grinding, the most efficient strategy is to set the PSP's clock to Bonus Day, equip a full set of Diamond equipment, along with Diamond Studs, Diamond Necklace, and Diamond Ring, and go to the gateway titled Gateway of Good and Evil in Scenario 000 where the player will find an emblem that will prevent their accessories from breaking, adjacent to a few manikins of the Emperor and Cloud of Darkness.
Depending on if the player successfully completes the AP chance, they should get between 40 and 70 AP per battle. After defeating both manikins, the player can exit the dungeon and re-enter it, getting between 80 and 140 AP per entry.
The player can also still fight Chaos in Quick Battle mode using the same tips and items as in the first Dissidia. A maximum of 189 AP can be earned at the very end of the battle if all +3 AP chances are accomplished with each victory against Chaos.
===Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia===
While level grinding is possible throughout the many activities, the stat gains from each level-up are miniscule. Other mechanics interwoven into gameplay have far greater impact, with Crystal Strength, Training Boards, Force Enhancement and equipment and Affinity combining for the bulk of a unit's growth. Despite this, the player can accelerate level progression in three stackable ways:
*Using Books or Tomes of Training, the player can multiply EXP gained by 2 or 3 for 15 minutes at a time. Certain seasonal event items can also have this effect. Previous to the second-anniversary update, these items could last 30 minutes per use.
*From week to week, specific characters will get a twofold EXP boost. This boost may also coincide with active events in which characters may be featured.
*The Golden Cactuars Cycle Quest features enemies that award large amounts of EXP.
All Cycle Quests occasionally offer double their prescribed rewards, including EXP. There is also a small chance that a Kactuar may appear in the third wave of any Cycle Quest; in addition to dropping up to 75 Crystals of each type, the Kactuar also gives up a very large amount of EXP when it is defeated.
The player can also earn three types of Chocobo feathers by completing Cycle Quests or earning rewards from either daily objectives or nine-panel bingo. Each feather type awards a set amount of EXP, not to exceed the target unit's current level cap.
Since June 28, 2022, on the global version, all characters the player recruits will automatically join at level 70 and Crystal Strength 70.
===Final Fantasy Record Keeper===
The concept of grinding is present, albeit downplayed, in large part due to the variety of activities in the game itself, which in turn help advance all the characters the player has acquired.
As the player liberates Records, they will acquire characters native to the Record Realm that contains them. Characters always start at level 1 with no equipment or abilities, and so must be trained by clearing dungeons or using Growth Eggs.
The Record Synergy system actively encourages players to form parties that are native to their specific Records chambers, as doing so grants significant stat boosts to natives of a particular game in the series (e.g. Tidus, Yuna, Wakka, Kimahri, and Auron are native to Final Fantasy X, so when they fight in a Record from that game, they power up). Furthermore, EXP spent on a character in their home Record Realm increases to 150% of normal, making it slightly easier to grind characters that may be underleveled.
The Power-Up Dungeons were built purely for grinding, much of which is for crafting materials. However, the Shores of Wisdom, available throughout the week, offers massive EXP to all Heroes regardless of origin and has a chance to drop Growth Eggs that further aid in leveling. Events can also be used as grinding spots.
===Final Fantasy Dimensions===
The best places to grind are usually end-game areas. One of the best grinding areas is in Nil, right before the portal to the final boss. This way of grinding takes a little longer as the mobs have a high amount of HP, but the EXP and gil are rewarding.
Another easier and somewhat shorter way to grind is outside of the castle that allows a player to access the Gladiators' Hall. The EXP is a little less than the aforementioned area in Nil, but it is easier on the grind so character's (especially lower leveled ones) don't die so easily.
Another method is to exempt guest characters from taking part in battles, as such characters are temporary. The player should remove their equipment and distribute them to their own characters, since most guest characters carry quality equipment, mainly accessories. By exempting guests, players gain a 25% EXP boost when fighting monsters.
List of guest characters:
* Elgo
* Barbara
* Mysterious Old Man
* Eduardo
* Graham
* Argy
* Matoya
* Gawain
* Jinnai
* Sophia
* The Mask
===World of Final Fantasy===
The player can grind for EXP as early as The Nether Nebula as soon as they can acquire a Mirage with the Flutter support ability, and a Copper Gnome they can transfig into a Mythril Giant for their Smash support ability. In Cavern 4, on the right hand side is a large boulder with a Smash Symbol that can be destroyed with the Mythril Giant, and several gaps that must be flown over in order to reach Cavern 5. Cavern 5 contains stronger versions of the enemies already encountered in the Nether Nebula's other sections, as well as Fritts, Bablizzes, and Zapts that can be imprismed. The enemies yield a large amount of EXP at this point in the game, and the player can earn 6,360-10,360 EXP from these battles.
After defeating Princess Goblin in the "Where Art Thou, Smoochy-Poo?" Intervention quest, she can be found in the Cornelia Region and the player can challenge her to battle. Princess Goblin possesses very high defenses when fought at lower levels, but the player can inflict blindness on her to create a primtunity to imprism her. Defeating or imprisming her yields 49,713 EXP. In the Maxima version, Princess Goblin can be challenged again even after already possessing a Princess Goblin★ prismarium.
After defeating Undead Princess in the "Never Cross the Boss" intervention quest, she can be found in the Ice Region near Sherlotta's Solace and the player can challenge her to battle. As an undead enemy, the player can use an X-Potion to defeat the Undead Princess in one hit, but otherwise can use Light-elemental abilities. The Undead Princess yields 45,194 EXP upon defeat and can be challenged limitless times.
In The Windswept Mire, the player can fight a Malboro Menace and a Flan Princess as a stack in the Secret Fen. It is recommended to use Water-elemental attacks against the Malboro Menace Stack to finish the battle quickly. The player earns 80,800 EXP from this battle. For quicker grinding, the player can use the Teleport Stone to travel back to the entrance, use the Gate to travel to Nine Wood Hills, then back to the Windswept Mire and use a Mirage with the Joyride ability to travel back to the Secret Fen where the Malboro Menace Stack can be fought again.
In the Postscript, the player can take on the "Cold, Hard Justice" Intervention quest that contains two boss battles that yield 75,600 EXP each (the first with Shivalry, the other with the Golden Flan) for a total of 151,200 EXP. Both bosses have significant elemental weaknesses, so exploiting them makes the fights easier. The player can accept this intervention quest limitless times.
The Icicle Ridge's "Slip ? ? ?" section, accessible late in the game, contains stronger versions of the enemies found in the other sections of the dungeon. Battles can yield 68,880-101,430 EXP. There is a Save Crystal in this area that replenishes HP and AP, making it ideal for late-game grinding.
In the post-game optional dungeon EX Dungeon Z, the Wellspring Woods section has battle formations of six Chocochicks or six Mus that yield 217,980 EXP. To reach this area quickly, the player can equip a Stealth Mirajewel, and have a Black Chocochick in their party with the Flee passive ability activated to flee from any battles in the dungeon's other sections. The player can use all-targeting ice attacks for the Chocochicks, and fire attacks for the Mus. Since this area also contains a Save Crystal, it is an ideal spot for post-game grinding.
The player can equip the EXP Boost Mirajewel found in EX Dungeon A to make level grinding slightly easier, as a 5% increase in distributed EXP is applied for all battle participants. Playing on a New Game+ file in the Maxima version allows the player to obtain another EXP Boost Mirajewel: when equipped by both siblings, the bonus EXP intake is increased to 10%.
Category:Character growth techniques