[Question, Spoiler] Suddenly Level 70 raids?

[Alshadur]

There will be spoilers here up until (and including) Chapter 6. Also please don't spoiler me for anything that's further ahead, thank you.

So I'm playing on Nightmare and just went to the restored Seren Garden and was about to enter the Great Tree when I got a message from Paro that a raid is incoming.
My characters are around level 54-58 and I had no problems with the latest encounters. But the raid I had to do has a level recommendation of 70 and I got my ass handed to me. I was able to complete it but only by using many healing items. In the end I had no traps left and the gate was about halfway destroyed, which never happened before (usually only 0-2 traps get destroyed).
It's not only that: After the raid I talked to Dogi and immediately got another raid warning, another level 70 raid.

Did I do something wrong? What's up with the sudden increase in level? Or was I suppose to be around this level when going to Seren Garden? I had no problems with bosses or mobs though, and I never skip mobs. It's confusing to me that the game expects me to be around 15 levels higher.

[Danny]

You're expected to do some grinding. Try to be at the same level or a few levels higher than the mobs you're fighting. I think by the time you hit SG, the enemies there were around level 60.

[Alshadur]

Opprinnelig skrevet av Sasuga Ainz-sama:

You're expected to do some grinding. Try to be at the same level or a few levels higher than the mobs you're fighting. I think by the time you hit SG, the enemies there were around level 60.

Even then, that would be a 10 level difference to catch up to. It surprises me that the devs are okay with such a skip in monster levels.
But do I have to time to grind tho? I remember a tutorial message telling me that if the raid icon is yellow then I don't have much time to prepare, and if it's red then I need to do it asap. Or is it just referring to story progression, and I have all the time in the world to do exploring and grinding?
Also, do you know off the top of your head if there is a good leveling spot for 60-70?

[Titler]

You're right on top of the ending; all that content unlocks to allow you to grind levels, as mentioned. You do not however have to complete the final raids to defeat the game, as they aren't plot essential. Although they appear Red, I ignored them when rushing through the game the second time to complete all the achievements. Dogi should have already become maximum happiness by the time you've got there, so you don't even need it for him.

It should be possible to beat them even at your level, as long as you've rescued all the castaways to get their buffs. You can use the rewards to upgrade the remaining parts of the village, and keep trying until you do.

However if you want to move on to the next part of the plot, use the zones leading up to it to grind levels; the mobs before a boss are usually strong enough to raise you to the level required to beat it.

Don't forget you can also use spare resources to convert into Levels, +Str and +Dex at the medic, after converting them to the required items at the market. Strangely, +Lvl is always cheaper than +Stats, so i tended to take those first.

You asked for no spoilers, but if one grind area you've unlocked is if you're at Seirin Garden, one of the fish spots is ALWAYS a specific Angry Catch which drops the same level/stat increase potions too. Break his armor first, then chain stun him to keep him down. Teleport out then back to put the fish back and repeat

[Cactoos]

This area is up ahead after SG, and I used it to level to 69 from around 61-64.

In the ocean era path, I used Laxia with savage mask, blinded bracelet, saint ring to one shot farm the plant things that are stationary throughout the map using lethal raid. Got to my desired level for a certain part later within a hour on Inferno.

[Alshadur]

Thank you for your advices! I didn't know those raids are not plot essential. I still wanna do them before finishing the game so I guess I'll try the zone Cactoos mentioned :-)

A bit offtopic but: Is there a point of no return? If yes, is it clearly marked as such? If no, when is it (try to be as spoiler free as possible)?

[Cactoos]

There is a point of no return:

Once you enter the sphere inside tree, there will be a crystal inside. Going any further past the crystal is the point of no return. However, you will have the option to revert back later

Edit: I thought this was discord so I put * around everything :x