Great training spots in FFIX?

**Belugn** · 07-24-2010, 01:40 PM

I'm playing through FFIX for the first time, and I think I don't have many hours left of the game - I'm at the Memoria entrance.

I feel terribly underleveled however, half of the party is lv 32-34, the rest 42-51. (Maybe not THAT underleveled.) But I feel like doing some leveling up, and I wonder if there are any special awesome places to do so in FFIX, such as the dinosaur forest in FFVI, or the magic pots in FFVII.

What level did you guys beat this game on anyway? When I'm so into a game I'm eager to get on with the story, and staying for hours and level up makes me really restless.

Finally I'll just add that this is one of the most enjoyable games I've played so far, any genre or series.

**loaf** · 07-24-2010, 02:37 PM

I've beat the game with my party in the low 20s.

For mid 30's and mid 40's. If you have Coral Rings on your characters to be immune to the lighting, and immune to poison. Be good at keeping your party alive then you can probably take on Grand Dragons. Just beware they are around lvl60 I believe if I remember. (it has been awhile).

Not down for Grand Dragons? You can try maybe the Lost Continent or even some of the islands on the west side of the world.

**Xithor** · 07-24-2010, 02:45 PM

I would say to safely get through Memoria without trying to have a level one party and the necessary attacks that you'd need to survive with them (Thievery leveled up, Dragon's Crest leveled up, Quina with Limit Glove and at 1 HP, and Eiko for healing) I'd say being around level 60 should be good enough. Getting through it at level one is definitely possible so there really is no suggested level to be at in my opinion.

If you want an easy way to level have Quina learn Lv. 5 Death which she can learn from Draco Zombie, Lich, Stropper, or a Whale Zombie and go outside of Dagguero and fight the Grand Dragons who are all at lvl 60. With equipment that absorbs or nullifies Thunder you're good to go. Then you could always concentrate on one member getting the EXP by inflicting the rest with virus or zombie by a various amount of means of going to the Yans on Vile Island or the various zombies in the Iifa Tree.

If you want a real challenge you can go to Vile Island and take on the Yans. With Dagger in your party and the ability to summon Atomos(with 99 of it's gems in your inventory, I think Amethyst) she can inflict 9,999 on all of them, Zidane with Masamune can inflict Doom on one Yan, Steiner can inflict 9,999 damage on a Yan usually and if you have Quina with 1 HP Limit Glove works wonders hitting for 9,999 as well. Freya with a leveled up Dragon Crest (100 total killed Dragons) will give you another way of hitting for 9,999 and add the harder to obtain Thievery for Zidane and pretty much the only two character that can't hit for 9,999 consistently are Amarant and Eiko.

If you want to level up Thievery the best place is outside of Dali with Master Thief and Bandit equipped and steal something like 863 total times to make it inflict 9,999 damage. It takes like 7-8 hours but its well worth it. As far as leveling up Dragon Crest you can do it while leveling up against the Grand Dragons or there are Dragons around the first Qu's Marsh just outside of Lindblum that are very easy to kill but the Grand Dragons are easy with Lvl 5 Death so I'd suggest that since they give much better EXP.

fem saiyan · 07-26-2010, 11:18 AM

Keep it interesting and switch between Grand Dragons and Yans on Vile Island. You could probably get through the game without too much trouble around level 45, but sometimes it's fun to dominate.

I'm actually maxing my stats as we speak. It's getting pretty dull! Must go on.

**Zidane77** · 07-26-2010, 01:40 PM

I've finished IX too many times to remember what level i was on first but it must've been around 50-60.
I recommend just Memoria or Grand Dragons, i don't think there are any awesome spots to level up in this game.

You could also try Vile Island (i think that's what it's called) and fight Yan's but they are to unpredictable and randomly kill you with too much damage countered.
But if you encounter only 1-2 yans then that shouldn't be much problem (3 are pretty good EXP, but you have to load alot)..

**loaf** · 07-26-2010, 03:51 PM

I honestly don't waste my time with Yans, yes 4 of them is like OMG so much XP. I just don't want to deal with Sneeze and Meteor just so I can level up faster. Sticking to Grand Dragons or runs through Memoria are better I think.

**Zidane77** · 07-26-2010, 05:51 PM

Yeah i agree, the dragons are probably the best way to level up and is also good for Freya's Dragon Crest.

**Xithor** · 07-26-2010, 06:37 PM

I'll agree that the Grand Dragons are easier to level up using but the Yans are so much more effective, I wouldn't want to think about leveling up to level 99 using just the Grand Dragons or the Memoria monsters. Each Yan is worth 42,672 EXP and they rarely are without a group.

So three Yans means 42,672 x 3 = 128,016. If you have Level Up equipped you get 1.5x the EXP so now you're looking at 192,024. Of course with 4 members in your party you have to split up that EXP by 4 and you get 48,006 EXP if everyone has Level Up on and all 4 survive the battle. So implementing a virus or zombie status on 3 party members at a time and having one person gain 192,024 EXP per battle of three Yans is by far the best way to level up in my opinion.

Everyone dreads the Snort move because your character gets shot out of battle and yea that would be bad but with three people with virus hopefully that won't matter. My strategy is to have people that can inflict 9,999 to all the Yans attack after two have been hit with 9,999 damage or all of them have.

I have 5 people that can inflict 9,999 damage on a single character:
- Zidane (Thievery)
- Freya (Dragon Crest)
- Steiner (Shock)
- Vivi (Flare by bouncing Flare off of himself with Reflectx2 equipped)
- Quina (Limit Glove with an HP of 1)

I also have 2 people that can inflict 9,999 damage on all enemies:
- Garnet (Atomos - with Boost equipped and 99 Amethyst's)
- Steiner (Climhazzard)

With the option of Zidane using Soul Blade with the Masamune equipped to inflict Doom on a Yan and there is a very good chance of taking down the Yans in 2-4 character turns. The fast would be Steiner with Climmhazard then Garnet with Atomos and collect your EXP. Use any combination of all the other possible attacks and you are in very good shape to do some serious damage.

**Zidane77** · 07-26-2010, 07:00 PM

Originally Posted by Xithor;1278749 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting**************12787 49******end_of_the_skype_highlighting

I'll agree that the Grand Dragons are easier to level up using but the Yans are so much more effective, I wouldn't want to think about leveling up to level 99 using just the Grand Dragons or the Memoria monsters. Each Yan is worth 42,672 EXP and they rarely are without a group.

So three Yans means 42,672 x 3 = 128,016. If you have Level Up equipped you get 1.5x the EXP so now you're looking at 192,024. Of course with 4 members in your party you have to split up that EXP by 4 and you get 48,006 EXP if everyone has Level Up on and all 4 survive the battle. So implementing a virus or zombie status on 3 party members at a time and having one person gain 192,024 EXP per battle of three Yans is by far the best way to level up in my opinion.

Everyone dreads the Snort move because your character gets shot out of battle and yea that would be bad but with three people with virus hopefully that won't matter. My strategy is to have people that can inflict 9,999 to all the Yans attack after two have been hit with 9,999 damage or all of them have.

I have 5 people that can inflict 9,999 damage on a single character:
- Zidane (Thievery)
- Freya (Dragon Crest)
- Steiner (Shock)
- Vivi (Flare by bouncing Flare off of himself with Reflectx2 equipped)
- Quina (Limit Glove with an HP of 1)

I also have 2 people that can inflict 9,999 damage on all enemies:
- Garnet (Atomos - with Boost equipped and 99 Amethyst's)
- Steiner (Climhazzard)

With the option of Zidane using Soul Blade with the Masamune equipped to inflict Doom on a Yan and there is a very good chance of taking down the Yans in 2-4 character turns. The fast would be Steiner with Climmhazard then Garnet with Atomos and collect your EXP. Use any combination of all the other possible attacks and you are in very good shape to do some serious damage.

That works all and well but the counter is comet and snort so yeah if you're lucky it works (Against 3 that is).

**Belugn** · 07-29-2010, 08:12 AM

Haha I checked out these Yan's at my boyfriend's place last night and holy moly they owned us pretty bad. (I wasn't really even trying, I just wanted to check what kind of enemy I was up to.) I love these kind of level up spots! I am currently doing the chocograph treasure hunts and synthing some weapons, and beating some grand dragon butt inbetween, but I'll definitely going to try and beet some Yan as well.

Thank you guys for the strategies and tips, I appreciate it a lot!

OH I'm also wondering about quick gil, though with Quina's millionaire, money'll soon not be much of an issue really.

**Xithor** · 07-29-2010, 08:18 AM

Originally Posted by Belugn

Haha I checked out these Yan's at my boyfriend's place last night and holy moly they owned us pretty bad. (I wasn't really even trying, I just wanted to check what kind of enemy I was up to.) I love these kind of level up spots! I am currently doing the chocograph treasure hunts and synthing some weapons, and beating some grand dragon butt inbetween, but I'll definitely going to try and beet some Yan as well.

Thank you guys for the strategies and tips, I appreciate it a lot!

OH I'm also wondering about quick gil, though with Quina's millionaire, money'll soon not be much of an issue really.

Oh yea those Yans are no joke, they are capable of killing the whole party withing two turns. If you can get Auto-Haste on everyone that would help you get turns in quickly before they do. Make sure to have a Masamune equipped to Zidane and you can use Soul Blade and inflict Doom on one Yan which acts so quickly that it pretty much kills itself haha. Just cross your fingers about not being snorted out.

**Zidane77** · 07-29-2010, 12:51 PM

The Masamune is a good idea, im gonna try it.
Then hopefully Snort is only a counter

**Belugn** · 07-30-2010, 01:08 AM

I beat the game story wise yesterday without any greater hardships. Though Necron's doom and petrify inflicter made me sweat there for a while.

However I heard something about a Hammer unlocking an extra sequence or something like that to the ending (I don't know if it's true though) so I'm gonna have some fun getting that and maxing out my characters just for the fun of it.

Yans, here I come you fluffy terrorists.

**Zidane77** · 07-30-2010, 02:06 AM

You get an alternate ending if you collect all the stellazzios and have the hammer in your inventory.
Save the Queen is absolutely useless though, have you fought Hades yet?

**Xithor** · 07-30-2010, 10:30 AM

Go fight Hades in Memoria for sure if you haven't yet and getting all the Stellazio's is definitely good but having the Hammer in your inventory doesn't unlock too long a scene but you gotta pay attention to which scene gets added to the ending. It's during the play but I can't remember exactly which scene.