level 99

[Murphy's Lawyer]

im level 71 now and on disk 3, where is the best place to grind random battles to get to level 99?

is it inside in the northern crater?
inside that sunken ship with the wierd monsters?
or somewhere else im not thinking of?

[KaosReigns]

Originally posted by martin_cross:

Math is great, when it's based on fact :)

"Mideel (Avg Per Fight)

Xp - 5000"

Incorrect. The XP yield per Headhunter is 650. 33% chance of encountering 4 which is 2600 XP at best.

In Northern Cave in one particular spot you can encounter the following;

Allemange 1300 (1 or 2)
Christopher 1300 (always with a Gighee 700 XP)
Magic Pot 8000 (1,2 or 3)
Master Tonberry 6000 (always 1)

You can run from Tonberry's, and when you get 3 Magic Pots that's an XP yield of 24,000. You'd have to fight 4 Headhunters in Mideel almost 10 times, and the encounter rate is 33%.

Bearing this in mind, your timing is all out. You haven't factored in enemy lure materia and other factors that open up to you when farming in the Northern Cave.

Really? Considering it takes me 1 swing to finish a fight. Literally, it takes longer to load the fight and collect my winnings than the fight itself. So I am basing the 30secs, on a HUGE gap.

If you really want to argue this particular point, I challenge you to beat my time im at with what ive accomplished. (This is also with some considerable afk time)

Pro Tip = Use Mega All. Thats it, it automatically adds slash-all, and it takes ONE swing with Apocalypse (Which is not a strong sword at all, its Clouds Triple Growth) to finish the entire thing. Add pre-emptive, and you have yourself a LOT of exp/ap/gold. Much faster than the crater. (Unless you are a cheater and are exploiting the elixir bug)

Also, about your Master Tonberry. This is the difference

Tonberry

Round 1 - Cloud uses 4x Attack
Round 1 - Cid mimes
Round 1 - Tifa waits to heal.

Round 2 - Cloud uses 4x Attack
Round 2 - Cid mimes
Round 2 - Tifa waits to heal.

Round 3 - Cloud uses 4x Attack
Round 3 - Cid mimes
Round 3 - Tifa waits to heal.

Mideel

Round 1 - Mega-all = Slashall for BASIC attack. = Fights over

Round 2? You are already looking for the next fight. (Enemy lure anyone)

On a personal note, dont ever speak to me if I cant even see your time played, or what achvs you have earned. Cowards that hide their profile have no right speaking to me. Ever.

[KaosReigns]

Okay, so I just did a test. You are welcome to do the same type, and compare the numbers.

Between 6:10-6:15, these are my stats.

First off, there is only THREE types of battles here. Here is their stat breakdown

Group of 3 pillbugs = 2400Exp, 240Ap, 3600gold = 3 Fights
Group of 3 grasshoppers = 1950, 240, 6000 = 4 Fights
Group of 4 grasshoppers = 2600, 320, 8000 = 3 Fights

I will even add that all up for you.

5 Minutes of Mideel Grinding equals

22,800 Exp.
2,640 AP (Triple this, as I use the triple growth weapons in this area)
58,800 Gold

Average time of fight, 10-15 seconds (including load, and spoils)

That btw, is equivilant to 4 tonberry fights. NO WAY you can tell me FOUR of those fights would take less than 5 minutes.

As a side bonus, you get an extra 74,000 gil everytime you get 99 ethers. They drop so often off the mobs around mideel its like a bonus prize.

[Kaldarasha]

Well if you combine Surprise Attack and the last command of slash all (Flash I guess) it should be even a faster grinding, because then there is the chance that a character inflicts an instant death to the enemies at the start of the battle.

[KaosReigns]

Originally posted by Kaldarasha:

Well if you combine Surprise Attack and the last command of slash all (Flash I guess) it should be even a faster grinding, because then there is the chance that a character inflicts an instant death to the enemies at the start of the battle.

Always instant in Mideel, now you see why its the supreme level spot :D IF you know what you are doing with your materia, no other place beats it.

This is all you need for the fastest grinding in the game

Cloud

Weapon - Apocalypse
Materia - Mega All, Pre-emptive, Enemy Lure.

3 Materia, and you can have the fastest farming available. Instant deaths, (mobs have about 1700 hp, you deal just over 2k to all)

Other Party Members

Doesnt make a difference what you put on the other 2, you never need to heal in battle, and you are lucky to make it past 1 round.

[martin_cross]

I don't even think you are reading the words you are typing. You can use Flash and Enemy Lure in the Cave with the same effect.

I have also made my profile public (i think). I really must be a coward hiding it for sure.

I don't need to challenge you or test this out. Without using Magic Pots i think it would be a pretty even grind, but the other benefits of crater grinding outweighMideel. With Magic Pots, not even a discussion.

Early in the game, Mideel for sure.

[KaosReigns]

Originally posted by martin_cross:

I don't even think you are reading the words you are typing. You can use Flash and Enemy Lure in the Cave with the same effect.

I have also made my profile public (i think). I really must be a coward hiding it for sure.

I don't need to challenge you or test this out. Without using Magic Pots i think it would be a pretty even grind, but the other benefits of crater grinding outweighMideel. With Magic Pots, not even a discussion.

Early in the game, Mideel for sure.

I attempted this myself, using a combination of things, top most being Slow+Steal As Well. This provided with an excellent way to gain elixirs while not dying, however, the encounter rate far outweight the AP gain vs Elixir gain.

As stated, this method is only viable if you use the W-Item glitch, I dont argue that, but for a player that doesnt cheat, this method is far from good.

[martin_cross]

At the end of the day, if you are giving Mideel as the best place to farm because it will save you the most time it's not true, if you factor in the other benefits of Cave grinding. AP is one of the hardest grinds and Mideel is simply not the best place for that. When you get 3 movers you'd have to have almost 8 fights with 4x headhunters just to get the same AP. Gil hunting is also far better. Yes, i did the achievement properly before the cheats game out, not that i'd ever yse them.

The few hours you may or may not save on just EXP in Mideel is counteracted by the many more hours saved while grinding other things.

[KaosReigns]

Originally posted by martin_cross:

At the end of the day, if you are giving Mideel as the best place to farm because it will save you the most time it's not true, if you factor in the other benefits of Cave grinding. AP is one of the hardest grinds and Mideel is simply not the best place for that. When you get 3 movers you'd have to have almost 8 fights with 4x headhunters just to get the same AP. Gil hunting is also far better. Yes, i did the achievement properly before the cheats game out, not that i'd ever yse them.

The few hours you may or may not save on just EXP in Mideel is counteracted by the many more hours saved while grinding other things.

Lets do a small comparison between us shall we.

Martin - Time Played = 71 Hrs

Kaos - Time Played = 78 Hrs

Difference between us is 2 achvs. Yes, TWO. 1 of which I can get anytime, I just havent bothered killing Sephiroth yet.

The other being Master of Gil, which I need 11 mill more gil before I get it.

So, thats about another 2-3 hours of farming, add that onto my time, taking it to 81 Hrs, 10 hrs more than you. Here is another fact about my game.

6 Hours of that was wasted trying to farm a wonderful chocobo. (Keep in mind its easier and faster to get one from killing Ruby Weapon)

That leaves 4 hours, which can EASILY be account for time spent AFK. (If you didnt know, just having the loader open counts as time onto your steam time)

So, with how close our times our, and how equal our games have to be, both methods are completely viable.

I currently have, 3 Master Magic, 4 Master Command, 3 Master Summons. Working on my 4th set.

[martin_cross]

When did this turn in to a competition? How do you know how i have spent my time on the game? You are now encompassing whole game time in to a point about time saving in two different places.

[KaosReigns]

Originally posted by martin_cross:

When did this turn in to a competition? How do you know how i have spent my time on the game? You are now encompassing whole game time in to a point about time saving in two different places.

My point isnt time spent, its the relative closeness of that time, and relative to it spent doing the exact same things.

In no way is it meant to be a competition, and im sorry if you felt that way.

[martin_cross]

And if it were just comparing EXP against EXP then i would agree there is not much time difference. My (other) argument is that you get plenty more for your time spent grinding in the Cave than you do Mideel, but i can see we are at an empasse :)