Am i supposed to just grind between chapters?

[Ezek]

So levels 1-12 went pretty smooth and felt pretty linear despite having multiple ways to go.
But once i did the first chapter quests everything next is 21+ leaving only these little orange story quests, all but 3 were doable but im still not 21, also i cant find the entrance to the city where jasmines 21+ chapter 2 is.
Is she ment to be on the team and at the oppropriate level? because i only have 4 party members 18-20, everyone else is 7-8

[Sakhari]

You 'can' grind but it's horribly inefficient at that stage of the game. Octopath strongly encourages exploration as a means of character progression and if you're just looking to build character power quickly, an hour or two spent opening up the map, opening treasure chests, and using Steal/Purchase on NPC's will get you much further along than a day or two spent grinding in low-mid level zones.

Some of the best equipment in the game is just lying around in higher level areas and with a character using Evasive Maneuvers to limit your combat encounters (and ideally, the Cleric's Evil Ward passive to give you a better chance of escaping), you can pretty easily reach nearly all of it. Once your characters are equipped with some of the better gear that's available, you'll have a much easier time dealing with the story chapters.

I'd recommend having Tressa and Therion along as you're exploring if you do go that route. Tressa's passive ability will net you a good amount of free cash while you're wandering between zones (you'll get 2000+ just for walking through a 45+ zone) and Therion will allow you to open any valuable purple treasure chests that you run into.

[Ezek]

Really exploring and opening chests gives xp?
I think i'll try adding both of those with my main character and a healer when i get some time tonight then, thanks

[Ezek]

wait, is there any chance i can give the merchant and rogue skills to a hunter and warrior with the job stones things i still need to get?

[Sakhari]

Originally posted by Ezek:

Really exploring and opening chests gives xp?

Well, it doesn't directly provide exp - my point is that getting some better equipment is going to make a 'far' larger difference in the overall power of your characters than grinding out some early levels. For example, best case scenario, let's say you're somehow able to grind Cyrus from level 1 to 99. It would take a lot of time and for all that leveling, Cyrus ends up gaining a total of about 270 points to his Elemental Attack stat.

Or, you could get a hold of some easily obtainable gear (hat, armor, weapon, and at least one accessory at that point in the game) and boost his Elemental Attack by about 600 points.

Plus, later on, once you have the equipment (and some perks and accessories that can double your exp gains), it becomes much easier to grind in high-level zones for far better rewards / time spent.

Originally posted by Ezek:

wait, is there any chance i can give the merchant and rogue skills to a hunter and warrior with the job stones things i still need to get?

Yes, the subjob stones that you'll find around the world will let your characters use the active and passive skills of other jobs. Character-specific skills like Therion's non-combat Steal and Lockpicking, however, are exclusive to those characters.

[Tooth Fairy]

There are several efficient areas to grind if you want to, but generally it would be a bit more efficient to just go around clearing up the lower-level story chapters before. Or you can google some overpowered tricks, namely abusing Evasive Maneuver and Tressa's purchases/Therion's chests, that will give you a major edge because you can access end-game equipment very early. It won't break the game if you don't really know how to play too efficiently.

Alternatively you can study up some stronger fight options. A good place to start might be Alfyn's concoctions, and try to use them as a way to have more BP to play around during boss fights.

Another good ability that might give you a lot more strategic options is Leghold Trap (Hunter).

Thousand Spears (Warrior) and Arrowstorm (Hunter) are also, against certain bosses, very good abilities for faster breaks.

Also try to set up some power-moments for the moment after you break a boss (give yourself BPs and support skills to increase damage), and try to strategically break the bosses at the best moment for the situation (Leghold Trap helps a lot here).

There are many very good options you can explore and experiment with, before resorting to grinding. If I had to give an advice, I'd recommend looking for strong abilities to setup a strategy first, and then only grind to get the JP required to learn said abilities. Grinding for Exp would likely be too tedious and not efficient at all.