Etna Mode; 'Am I Screwed?' Edition

[Nomicakes]

So after finishing the game on my first playthrough, (good ending hype), I decided I'd roll straight into Etna Mode figuring that the enemy level increase shouldn't pose too much of a threat.

As it turns out, the level jump is MASSIVE, and I have maybe two characters (excluding Laharl) that can do any sort of reasonable damage to anything. Have I completely screwed myself by not keeping a secnd save file? Or is there some way to recover from this?

[Shakuras]

... Is the level increase that bad ? I actually has no idea how strong the Etna Mode Monster really are since i jumped in the mode with perfect SRS & Yoshitsuna and steamrolled everything in sight.
Anyway, I think your only option is to dwell in the item world to find monster with level you should be able to deal with and gain experience and power from.

[TBC]

You're best bet is what Shakuras mentioed; hang out in the item world until you get strong enough.

[Nomicakes]

Well balls. Guess I'm gonna have to farm that +50% xp map you do right at the start of Etna mode, I guess.

And for the record, enemies in Etna Mode start at like, lv60-65+

This is what I get for using Laharl as my powerhouse and neglecting my other characters.

[XxGOTHxX]

Had Laharl as my main lvled char too, but I farmed 3 SRS and 1 Yoshi, perfect lvled with gladiators and same rarity number. With that equip they couldn't even scratch my lvl 30ish Etna XD Had to farm up some for Baal though and prepared an Army of captured lvl 9999 Surts lol

Another thing you should make sure is that you don't have any "Stronger Enemies" bills passed right now and if yes, lower them again.
After that it''s just grinding and getting some levels and better equip leveled in the item world.

[Bomb Bloke]

This sounds like a great time to go Clone Wars.

[Calandril]

As others have said, Item World is your best bet. If you haven't already, start gathering up some Statistician and Armsmaster specialists, it will make a huge difference.

Also, is Longinus present in Etna Mode? (I think so, but am not sure)
If so, you can obtain a very good weapon for Etna, though it will require some grinding (and Armsmasters will help massively). Get her spear mastery to 25, then talk to him for a high rank legendary spear.

Don't worry, though.. it may take some time, but Etna mode is totally doable. I played through with Etna at level 35ish starting, though I had a 300 Statistician and the Longinus spear starting out. It took a bit of grinding, but by the end of it, Etna was one of my most powerful characters.

[cowbell]

I thought enemies scaled when you try Etna mode? Starting over should be much easier.

[Calandril]

Originally posted by cowbell:

I thought enemies scaled when you try Etna mode? Starting over should be much easier.

If you go into Etna mode after finishing the main game, the enemies start in the mid 60's. By the end of the game, you have fought many in the 200's, and one around level 300. It isn't too bad if you have some decent gear and specialists, but if you use mainly Laharl, and he has all your good gear, it can be a bit of a challenge to take on, as he isn't available in this mode.

I'm assuming the OP doesn't have a save before beating the game, because if he/she does, it might be easier to just revert to that save. That being said, if not, no reason to lose all your progress, as you can make it through Etna mode with some time.