Grinding is necessary in Xilla

Grinding is necessary, its not just about the exp but the materials used for weapons and armor and gald.

Or you could just farm the sparkling points and spam food items.

Nah it isn't. Unless you're going for trophies that is.

DreamSword wrote:

Or you could just farm the sparkling points and spam food items.

That still doesn't solve the making Gald issue. In Abyss you have to grind a little just to be able to afford all the expensive armor and weapons.

swordandshield wrote:

DreamSword wrote:

Or you could just farm the sparkling points and spam food items.

That still doesn't solve the making Gald issue. In Abyss you have to grind a little just to be able to afford all the expensive armor and weapons.

Not in Xillia. Those sparkly points sometimes contain Gald, and if you run through the Old Vicalle Mine and grab all the bags/ shiny sparkly points a couple of times, you're bound to run into items which you can sell for a lot of Gald. The same goes for the Tatalian Abyss.

Not to mention Jet Black Feathers. Reaching certain milestones when handing them in nets you Gald as well ( whatdoyoumeanIget30kforhandinginthesefeathers? ), besides, you can trade them with the JBF guy for even more expensive items which you can sell.

Wasn't there any kind of food that raises how many gald you get in battles?

ShirleyVaga wrote:

Wasn't there any kind of food that raises how many gald you get in battles?

Twelve or sixteen in fact in Xillia, although I wouldn't dare say anything about Abyss, for I do not know about the Abyssal recipes.

This is why you should have Leia as support character at all times. Seriously, Leia's Item Steal will make you level up shop so fast and still have plenty of item to sell for Gald. I don't even actively try to steal items in Old Vicaille Mines and I still get a huge amount of Dingy Puffballs, but that might be because I love Beast spam so Leia have a lot of chance to steal.

Seriously, Leia's best support character. Tempest Piroutte OP

Slivendiferious wrote:

swordandshield wrote:

DreamSword wrote:

Or you could just farm the sparkling points and spam food items.

That still doesn't solve the making Gald issue. In Abyss you have to grind a little just to be able to afford all the expensive armor and weapons.

Not in Xillia. Those sparkly points sometimes contain Gald, and if you run through the Old Vicalle Mine and grab all the bags/ shiny sparkly points a couple of times, you're bound to run into items which you can sell for a lot of Gald. The same goes for the Tatalian Abyss.

Not to mention Jet Black Feathers. Reaching certain milestones when handing them in nets you Gald as well ( whatdoyoumeanIget30kforhandinginthesefeathers? ), besides, you can trade them with the JBF guy for even more expensive items which you can sell.

That's true and all but with grinding you kill two birds with one stone, gain exp and gald. I dunno, I'm a grinder, always have been and that won't change just because someone says it isn't necessary.

Besides you get materials a lot faster by fighting battles than you would just farming sparkly points.

swordandshield wrote:

gald.

Food items and selling older items and equipment, which do nothing for you in this game.

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I dunno, I'm a grinder, always have been and that won't change just because someone says it isn't necessary.

Good for you. All I did was show that it wasn't necessary(which was this topic's claim in the first place), never said you had to change your methods. Xillia really is a game where grinding isn't necessary. The game is easy enough as it is and you can get practically everything in it just running through it normally.

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Besides you get materials a lot faster by fighting battles than you would just farming sparkly points.

Only if you constantly steal with Leia or get really luck when it comes to drops.

Jet Black Feathers are not dropped by monsters, but other than that you're correct SwordandShield.

If you like grinding, by all means, grind to your heart's content.

It's just that, how Xillia holds your hand throughout the whole game to guide you, a lot of people feel that grinding isn't strictly necessary in this game.

@Dreamsword Selling older equipment doesn't really give a lot of gald. That can be said for a lot of rpgs where they are easy enough to not grind in them. What about the devil's arms monsters? You should grind a little to be able to beat them.

@Sliv Yes the feathers aren't dropped by monsters, you're right so you have to get them only through sparkly points which can take quite a bit of time considering how many you need for the good stuff. I got a unicorn's horn from them.

It guides you and holds your hand, but again what about the optional bosses like the devil's arms monsters?

swordandshield wrote:

It guides you and holds your hand, but again what about the optional bosses like the devil's arms monsters?

Wait until endgame to kill them like you're supposed to.

I'm not patient enough to do that, especially for high end weapons like the devil's arms. Is level 51 good enough to take most of the monsters down?

swordandshield wrote:

I'm not patient enough to do that, especially for high end weapons like the devil's arms. Is level 51 good enough to take most of the monsters down?

In Xillia you won't really be gaining that many stats anymore from level 60 onwards, or at least it will be really slow. You could even say that level 60-63 is your maximum level (I know you can go to 99, but I wonder whether it's worth the effort).

I personally started taking them down at level 58ish, but if Iubaris in Symphonia can be beaten at level 19 ( level 30 is "underleveled" as far as the game is concerned ) and I didn't have a whole lot of trouble at level 58 on hard with the Devil's Beasts in Xillia, I'd say level 51 is going to give you a nice challenge, but should definitely be doable.

swordandshield wrote:

I'm not patient enough to do that, especially for high end weapons like the devil's arms.

Yet you're patient enough to sit there and murder the same monsters over and over again? You can't even get all of the Devil's Arms until endgame anyway.

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Is level 51 good enough to take most of the monsters down?

For most of them, yes. You might have a little trouble with a couple of the Beasts, but you should be fine.

@Sliv I'm still going to level 99. I go to the max level in all RPGs except for Star Ocean and Golden Sun cause it takes so gosh darn long. And in Star Ocean the max level is 255. I get somewhere around level 150. But anyways, thats cool that at level 51 I can beat them with a little challenge too. I already beat the one in the Vicalle Mines.

@Dreamsword I'm patient enough to wait until endgame I guess, but I really want those devil's arms weapons. They are so powerful. I think the best in the game? I got the one for Leia which I don't use her so its kind of pointless.

You can't use the devil's arms in your first playthrough, you have to finish the game once, defeat the optional dungeon in your second play through, beat the boss(es) of said dungeon, and then you unlock the power of the devil's arms.

The devil's arms in their un-unleashed state are actually the weakest in the game. Unleashed, their power becomes equal to the number of enemies the wielder has personally defeated, which in some cases is very high and in others is extremely low.

Tales of Symphonia has a maximum level of 200-something as well. Did you go that far?

I've never had to grind in a Tales game, and I'm a person who goes out of my way to avoid random encounters. Final Fantasy XII is an example of a game where grinding is necessary. There were so many boss fights where I had to go out and battle random monsters to get drops in order to sell them to buy the best equipment the shops had at the time so I could beat the boss and advance. I've never had to do this even once in a Tales game.

I'd take people's advice and not fight the devils arm's monsters until the end game. I was in the mid to high 50s when I took them on and most of them go down easy enough then if you max out an life bottles and TP restoring items. Make sure both Elize and Leia are in your party as they both know resurection and keep hitting the monsters with their weak element. (I actually played Elize while fighting the one that was weak to dark, but for the rest I played Millia or Jude).

That said if you're still finding grinding to be an issue, here are some tips I've learned on my Tales adventures:

1. Always buy weapons before you buy armor. This is because if you're a little short on gald for a new armor piece, you can sell the character's currently equipped armor off (un-equip it and sell it) to buy the new one. Characters must have a weapon equipped at all times though, so that's why you buy weapons first.

2. Don't buy any accessories; they aren't worth the money. You can get them later from treasure chests, boss drops, or colosseum prizes without wasting your money. To increase you chances of getting them from chest (or shiny points in Xillia) make sure you go explore every area completely, even if you don't need to in order to advance the story.

3. You don't always need to have the max amount of everything. For example, don't buy panancea bottles as you get them from chests and drops frequently enough, and I usually always have them maxed without buying any. But if you know a boss fight is coming stock up on life bottles, and if you're still losing go back and stock up on TP restoring items. I don't find the HP restoring items to be worth it in Xillia, especially after you get the HP surge and TP surge skills.

4. This is Xillia specific, but only donate items to the shop if the bonus for them is 2X or larger. That way you get the most return out of them. When they have a 3x bonus donate everything you have for that category. Never donate gald, that's a fast way to become broke.

5. This is also Xillia specific, but save before you level up shops or buy from them. Also buy things from the shops one at a time (not in a large bundle). That way if the shop levels up and gets new items mid way through your purchase, you're less likely to have bought something they just improved. And if that does happen, you'll now be prepared so you can re-boot your save file and order your purchases differently.

6. Do sidequest, they help you level up and can also get you new equipment and skills. If a sidequest is too hard for you feel free to put it off for later, providing it's not missable of course.

Thanks for the advice Marissa. Yes FF12 is a game where grinding is necessary. It's like an offline MMORPG after all. I just like grinding even if its not really necessary. It's something I enjoy doing like its a hobby. I also like being superpowered and just creaming things with ease, that's another reason for the grinding. Question though, how did you avoid random encounters in Phantasia, Destiny, Eternia, and Legendia? Did you just run away from most of them?

Yeah, I'm going to fight the Devil's arms monsters when I get to endgame. It's only fitting I guess to do the optional stuff when you've reached the end or near the end.

@Sliv, Does it matter which character you choose for a new game+? Can I pick Milla since I'm playing Jude right now?

I was in the high 90's in Symphonia.