ok, maybe it's just me.

But when I play a video game rpg, I don't like to rush through it like a lot of people. I usually find a spot that my character(s) can level for a while before I venture forth, which means I don't leave that spot until I can beat the monster(s) easily. Then I play for a while until I find another spot that I can do that to. With this strategy, I've found many games too easy to beat because I normally max out my characters and the 'final boss' isn't so tough anymore.
So naturally it bothers me when games have set amounts of people you can fight and once they're dead, they disappear. I don't like that at all.

Anyway, this all came about because I have Final Fantasy 1 on my computer and I was making my party... a friend who'd played the game before was asking why I put two black belts in my party. I tried explaining to her that at high levels, those guys are machines of death and kill most stuff in one attack, and she didn't believe me. The highest she ever got her party was about level 22 she said, just high enough to beat the game. I had my party maxed out at level 50, and no lie, my black belt/master killed the final guy in one attack after I cast 'fast' or 'quik' on him, whichever it is that makes you attack faster.

So as I'm typing this, I have my game paused to see if anyone else is into struggling early in a game to make it easier in the long run like I do. And if anyone else can verify that yes, that character in Final Fantasy 1 kicks ass!!! :D

It's known as XP Farming. You find a sweet spot where,

1) There are enough monsters to let you keep on fighting without pause.
2) The XP gained justifies the effort and resources spent to get them.

Diablo2 has its' Secret Cow Level, Baldur's Gate 2 has its' Fire Giants, etc... I encountered the same scenerio in Septerra Core. My main character was level 66 while the other two members were 70/80+. With some barrier spells, the End Boss could barely scratch the paint on our armours while we sent him to oblivion by casting 2-3 Black Holes( the most powerful spell in the game, and as its' name implies... very powerful. Most enemies( as in final level enemies) usually DIE from the first cast).

Heck... even in MMORPGs such as Neocron, there are sweet spots like the Graves. It exists everywhere where character levelling up is necessary. In Fallout 2, my soloist was level 69 and he basically massarced entire legions of Power Armoured Troops... with his fist( okay, MegaPowered Fist, but still...).

Hey I do it all the time! (Especially in FF games ;) )

I sometimes spend hours just walking around areas, checking everything out, pressing X (PS2) on everything. This takes a lot longer with random batttles!

eyup, I do it all the time in every game that I play ( which allow such things to happen ). I characters end up being more than gods. Nothing can stand in my way. not even the final boss. I find that this type of playing is really fun and worth my time playing the game.

In Final Fantasy 7 I had three characters maxed out at level 99. I also had every item, every limit break and at least 1 of every materia that existed in the game. I also beat all the secret weapons. As you can imagine the final battle was a doodle. So I understand what your saying as I do it too.

Heh, final fantasy 7, the materia system. It was way to powerful. When maxed out and linked enough materia in your equipment in the right fashion, the following will occur even when fighting Emerald or Ruby:
- when someone attacks you, you counter with extreme brutal force and hack'N'slash lotsa precious HP away from them
- when one of your characters dies, you retaliate with divine strength, sipping away their HP while you recover completely
- when it is finally your turn to attack, they die ....... (yes, in one attack!)

So how's this for a fair fight :D There is NO way you can die or lose. And this is for real.

Ah, the memories! I really loved that game. The most powerful materia combination was final attack - life. Master the final attack materia and life and you were automatically resurrected when you died with full hit points up to five times! It's made all the battles after a doodle, and was the only way combined with multiple casting of Knights of the round table to defeat the Emerald weapon. Ruby weapon was easier because if you cast the Hades summon materia it made it freeze so you were free to cast multiple Knights of the round table to kill it. Although I get the feeling I'm preaching to you and you all ready know all this, right?

p.s Cid from FFVII is my all time favorite video game character he was so funny!

You guys can't touch me in games like this. I'm the worst. In Tales of Destiny 2, I leveled up until literally, the enemies I was fighting did 0 damage to me. In FFT, I maxed out every single character, IN EVERY SINGLE JOB CLASS. In Disgaea, I will (eventually) get my characters to level 9999. Yes, you can get into the thousands, and no, there is absolutely no reason to.

Anyone remember in Bard's Tale I, in Harkyn's Castle, the 4 groups of 99 berzerkers?

won't sephiroth kick your butt at that high level? I believe his level is proposional to cloud level.

anyway, anybody dared to level up their characters like crazy in FF8 ? :D

[ 09-08-2003, 08:06 PM: Message edited by: Kakero ]

I don't see how it's fun to go around a spot and level up like crazy. Sure it's fun but don't you guys get bored fighting the same monsters over and over again. What is fun when there is no challenge?

But thats just me. I know there are some others who differ in what I think an RPG should be played.

I have Lufia:The Legend Returns for my gameboy, and after you beat the game the first time through, you can go back and play through it again gaining 4x as much xp, gold, and distributive points. I've stopped for right now, but I'll be heading into the second battle with the third boss, and all my characters are level 80 or higher.

LOL [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

I remember that all too well. I spent hours wiping the floor with those guys (I forget the spell that allows you to damage every single monster you face; I would cast that over and over until I got down to a manageable number, then whack them with my warriors). Major leveling up there.

I think that many games have this kind of ungodly monster spawning areas, that are good for xp. Some examples:

</font>

• Planescape: Torment- Thugs in the Hive, Undersigil, the Catacombs, Modron Maze, etc.</font>
• SoA- Windspear Hills, etc.</font>
• ToB- Fire Giants (ridiculous cheese; they can't even hurt you).</font>
• NwN official campaign- Snow Globe, Ch 2 and 3 wilderness areas, etc.</font>

I always do that leveling up. The reason: I like to get my character/party up to max level. Not for ease of fighting (if it is too easy after that, I up the difficulty), but just for the accomplishment of reaching the pinnacle of your advancement.

won't sephiroth kick your butt at that high level? I believe his level is proposional to cloud level.

anyway, anybody dared to level up their characters like crazy in FF8 ? :D </font>[/QUOTE]As long as money is not a problem (which it rarely is: I never remodel my weapons till I can get the ultimates) I always stay below level 15 :D
FF8 is waaaay off-balance if you ask me. Which you didn't but I told you anyway :D

Kakero- I didn't notice any difference fighting Sephiroth at a low level or a high level. One casting of Knights of the round table is usually enough to kill him anyway. I always let him live for a while though just so he used his spiffy summon you know the one were he blows up the sun :D . Damn! I can't remember what it was called! I'm sure it will come to me...

Zuvio- In FFVIII I did model my weapons quite alot because Zquall gained new limit breaks for each upgraded weapon. The easy way to win most tough fights was to cast Aura and have Squall use his limit break. I found that was the only way to defeat Omega weapon, although you also needed hero potions to make yourself invincible. The only hard thing in that game was in later stages the card game.Arghhhh! I remember it took me like 3 hours to get the laguna card! :mad:

:D Supernova :D


If you remain at low levels and have 100 curaga's per character refinded from 30 tents, you can easily keep your HP in the yellow, thus getting fast limits. Plus, when you fight Diablos, make it a priority to get at least 100 demi's to put in STR. IMO, the only limit worthwhile in the game is obviously End of Heart from Squall and you don't get it until disc 3. And yes, End of Heart finishes all (in due time :D ).

The downside of this method is that: seifer, the big bad-ass Sorceress' Knight who has sworn an oath to kill you and brags alot about it, falls to about 5-6 hits from your party members, while he barely even scratches your armor. Same goes for Edea at the end of disc two. You haven't even started as she's well, DEAD already!! Not very rewarding would you say :(

The card-game: DEATH TO THE RANDOM RULE !!!!!! I'm ashamed to say this, but in the PC version of the game, I always cheat OUT the random rule.....

[ 09-10-2003, 06:14 PM: Message edited by: Zuvio ]

I wish that was possible on the Playstation version. I loathe the random rule. What's the point of winning decent cards if you never get to use them? I always end up playing against Laguna and Edea with crappy low level cards. :mad:

I wish that was possible on the Playstation version. I loathe the random rule. What's the point of winning decent cards if you never get to use them? I always end up playing against Laguna and Edea with crappy low level cards. :mad: </font>[/QUOTE]Still, with the crappy low-level cards and the same/plus rules, you could still win, provided the setup if right... Though its a true paion in the ass!

One thing I noticed about the card game was that the computer always gave you cards that gave you a chance to win even if your using the random rule and you get crap cards. Usually using a combo there's a way although you really need to think before you put a card down. It was frustrating but also fun.

p.s Ahh! Supernova that's it! :D