Non pain in the ass stat maxing?

[Mikey-2-Guns]

Assuming I don't want to go through all the complicated steps and run from every fight until halfway through the game what's the best course of action to get everyone's stats high enough to beat Kaiser Dragon and Omega weapon? Also is there a guide showing what stats/espers I should focus on a character at a given level range?

[Gawain]

As a rule of thumb: if the character is a magic-user, or uses Magic as his attack stat (Like Sabin), have them equip an Esper that gives +1 or +2 MAG. If the character is a physical attacker, give them an Esper that gives them +1 or +2 STR/VIG.
Also, this guide [www.gamefaqs.com] on Gamefaqs has an excellent analysis of each character's mechanics. Keep in mind that it is written for the SNES/PSX version. (i.e. physical evasion = magical evasion.)

[Spooniest]

Try to go along in the game without grinding at all if you can. Don't even stop to steal important items that take many battles. Do not collect too many exp points. Don't level your party up at all, it's technically not necessary to win fights you will face for a good long while, if you keep upgrading your equipment. That leads me next: Make sure you upgrade equipment when you can. Don't waste too much money on items, you get a lot thrown at you by the game and if Locke steals in just about every battle from at least one enemy, you will have a steady supply of HP restoration.

Don't waste time. Go straight through to the Zozo fight with Dadaluma and don't walk around and explore. You have to already know the game, or be really good about sticking to a linear path through. The idea is, the more steps you take, the more random battles. So don't waste your time.

You can get into a couple of tough spots doing this.

- The Ultros fight should be done from the back row entirely, all 4 of the party. Ultros can eliminate Bannon if you are not careful, and this ends the game.

- In Locke's Scenario, do not engage with any Armored Soldiers unless you want to start the Scenario again. The game is neighborly to you in not counting it as a game over, but all the same.

- In Sabin's Scenario, use AuraBolt and equip Sabin with the Earrings that Locke and Celes can pick up in his Scenario. Suplex the Train and use a bloody phoenix down on the thing. Then, in Baren Falls, do not let Rizopas get to the point in its script where it has the ability to cast El Nino as this can be a party wipe.

- Lastly, there is a specific path you can take in the Battle of Narshe which allows you to get rid of Kefka without fighting any other battles. You may have to look it up on youtube, but the Low Level Guide at GameFAQs explained it to me pretty easily too.

This way, when you go on to Zozo and collect all the exp of that stage, and beat Dadaluma with your new Drill, and the good old Aurabolt, you have Espers and can begin stat maxing. How you do it is up to you, but I echo what the previous poster said, in that Sabin's best attacks use his Magic Power stat, someone like Cyan needs Speed and Strength primarily, Stamina is good for avoiding Instant Death attacks but not quite so good as you'd think, and mostly just serves to max the HP counter by 99 otherwise. Save it for when you've maxed out other stats to your liking.

The best time to do it is after you've re-recruited the original 12 characters from the World of Balance, during the game's second half. Everyone who can be maxed is now in the party and if you looked in the Tomb Dungeon where you got the Airship, you got an Exp. Egg from the secret room, hopefully. You can get them at the Coliseum too, but I digress.

You should fight around (BUT NOT IN) the forests to the east of the Crazy Old Man's House, which is on a landmass north of Doma and the Veldt, in the second half of the game. Don't go in the woods until you're considerably high leveled, as Tyranosaurs are there, and they can and will rip you limb from limb. They have the ability to surround you whether you have an Alarm Ring or not, and their Bite and Meteor attacks do not take crap from you.

Stay out of the woods a while. Look for the 4x TumbleWeed enemy formation, as it's worth a considerable amount of EXP. Once you get all party members stats buffed up a bit, the Tyranosaurs shouldn't be too hard, but I'd reccommend you save after you kill one (or two, if they surround you). Brachioraidos can show up too, rarely, and it will wipe the floor with you until you are buffed to the level where the game becomes comically easy.

You won't be quite so powerful in the end as with a "Run From All Battles That Give EXP" method, but it will make you buff as all git out.

Hope this helps.

[Mikey-2-Guns]

Originally posted by Spooniest:

This way, when you go on to Zozo and collect all the exp of that stage, and beat Dadaluma with your new Drill, and the good old Aurabolt, you have Espers and can begin stat maxing.

Hope this helps.

K I already did that and am at the floating continent, so I don't have to wait till the WoR to begin levelling, I can pretty much do it as soon as I get the +2 espers? The characters stats won't get messed up when they come back in the WoR?

[Spooniest]

Originally posted by Mikey-2-Guns:

Originally posted by Spooniest:

This way, when you go on to Zozo and collect all the exp of that stage, and beat Dadaluma with your new Drill, and the good old Aurabolt, you have Espers and can begin stat maxing.

Hope this helps.

K I already did that and am at the floating continent, so I don't have to wait till the WoR to begin levelling, I can pretty much do it as soon as I get the +2 espers? The characters stats won't get messed up when they come back in the WoR?

You can do that, but you don't yet have Odin, whom is the only Esper with a Speed Boost bonus. Plus, enemies in the WoB do not give EXP as fast, and you do not have access to EXP Eggs. ("Growth Eggs," whatever). I would wait but it's up to you.

Note: Do not get Odin powered up into Raiden, or you lose the Speed Bonus. One of the 4 bonus Espers (Jumbo Cactaur?) has it, but they're a pain in the ass to get.

As to your question, if you pat attention, there are several spots in the game where characters' levels increase without you having done anything. One is after the Imperial Raid on the Magitek Facility, one is after the Imperial Banquet (these two just bring characters up to the average level of the party, usually 2 or 3 levels at most), and one is at the start of the World of Ruin, when every character you get back's level is calculated on the average level of the party, starting with Celes. Once you get Sabin back, their average level is used to calculate Edgar's starting level, is used to calculate Setzer's starting level, and so on and so on. So keep just ramming through, don't stop to explore anything until you have Odin and all 12 characters really.