- GRANDIA III Expert Levels Guide - (Released into the public domain.) /// Acknowledgements ///// Thanks to RED_ODA for their post covering XP required and rates per each character's actions: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/927215-grandia-iii/60348845 Thanks to Tigereye (James Bragado) for their extensive Battle FAQ, which was referenced for the max Expert Levels for each character, as well as details on Special Level thresholds: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps2/927215-grandia-iii/faqs/41836 /// Expert Level Mechanics ///// - A character's Expert Levels (which may be checked via the Status Check menu, at the top of a character's main info screen) represent their prowess in a variety of combat techniques. Each has its own effect on gameplay: * Magic Level increases the number of Spells a character can equip (by using Set Up at save spheres or Magic and Skill Shops). Magic Level also acts as a threshold for equipping increasingly powerful Mana Eggs. * Skill Level increases the number of slots for equipping Skills (also via Set Up). Since more powerful Skills require more slots, this is an especially important Expert Level. Skill Level also acts as a threshold for equipping increasingly powerful Skill Books. * Special Level increases the amount of SP available for using Special Moves in battle (+10 SP per Special Level). Special Level also acts as a threshold for unlocking new Special Moves. - Expert Levels - Magic, Skill, and Special - are tracked with hidden XP (experience) counters which are separate from a character's own level-up XP. When Expert XP reaches a certain threshold, Expert Status increases; this threshold increases for each Expert Level reached. - The rate at which Expert XP is gained depends on the character. You have some control by altering your playstyle - i.e, which types of moves a character takes - but Expert XP will be naturally received just by winning battles as well. Refer to the charts below for details. - Each character also has unique maximum Expert Levels. All in all, nobody surpasses 15 in any Expert Level, and each character has lower limits in at least two out of the three (except Hect, who can purportedly reach a maxed-out 15/15/15, because Hect is just awesome like that). - Expert XP is only tallied at the end of battle. If you successfully flee, you won't receive any XP, even for the actions you took before getting away. /// Player Character Max Expert Level Chart ///// Yuki Alfina Ulf Dahna Miranda Alonso Hect Magic 12 14 11 15 10 10 15 Skill 15 13 14 12 10 10 15 Special 14 13 15 11 10 10 15 - Yuki can cap Skill; Ulf caps Special; and Dahna caps Magic. - Miranda and Alonso have significantly lower limits than the others, but there are only a few spells and Skills you can access before they leave your party for good, anyway. - Poor Alfina never caps any Expert Levels, but her Verse Realm counterpart Hect is capable of reaching 15 in all Expert Levels, so maybe hold off on rescuing your girlfriend for the duration of the endgame, eh? /// Expert Level -> Required Expert XP Chart ///// TL;DR: To level up one Expert Level, it'll take 100 more Expert XP every time. Level -> XP total : XP since previous level-up 1 -> 0 : 0 2 -> 100 : 100 3 -> 300 : 200 4 -> 600 : 300 5 -> 1000 : 400 6 -> 1500 : 500 7 -> 2100 : 600 8 -> 2800 : 700 9 -> 3600 : 800 10 -> 4500 : 900 11 -> 5500 : 1000 12 -> 6600 : 1100 13 -> 7800 : 1200 14 -> 9100 : 1300 15 -> 10500 : 1400 Characters will naturally reach 10500 XP in all Expert Levels after 1313 battles (at 8 XP per battle), so it's hardly out of the question to max out all stats without any deliberate strategizing - and it'll take fewer than even that, provided you do anything at all besides sit like a bump on a log and spam Drak's Orb to win. Miranda and Alonso will naturally reach their limit, 4500 XP, after 1125 battles - they only gain 4 XP per battle. /// Action -> Expert XP Charts ///// TL;DR for grinding specific Expert Levels: - All player characters gain equal XP for all Expert Levels after winning a battle (provided the character is alive). * Miranda and Alonso only gain 4 per battle instead of the usual 8. They also only gain 1 XP of the corresponding type for *any* of their actions. - Magic XP is gained through casting spells and using items. * Spell casters obviously get the greatest boost from using Magic, but Yuki and Ulf actually gain XP a little faster from using items. - Skill XP is gained through Combo and Defend. * Combo is always more effective than Defend, except for Dahna, where they both give only 1 XP. - Special XP is gained through Special Moves and Critical. * Using Special Moves is always more effective than Critical, except for Alfina, where they both give only 1 XP. (Obviously you might use Critical more often anyway, though, depending on your personal playstyle.) Magic = Magic + 1 Item = Magic + 2 Combo = Skill + 4 Defend = Skill + 1 Moves = Special + 3 Critical = Special + 2 Win Battle = All + 8 Magic = Magic + 3 Item = Magic + 2 Combo = Skill + 2 Defend = Skill + 1 Moves = Special + 1 Critical = Special + 1 Win Battle = All + 8 Magic = Magic + 1 Item = Magic + 2 Combo = Skill + 2 Defend = Skill + 1 Moves = Special + 4 Critical = Special + 2 Win Battle = All + 8 Magic = Magic + 4 Item = Magic + 2 Combo = Skill + 1 Defend = Skill + 1 Moves = Special + 2 Critical = Special + 1 Win Battle = All + 8 Magic = Magic + 1 Item = Magic + 1 Combo = Skill + 1 Defend = Skill + 1 Moves = Special + 1 Critical = Special + 1 Win Battle = All + 4 Magic = Magic + 1 Item = Magic + 1 Combo = Skill + 1 Defend = Skill + 1 Moves = Special + 1 Critical = Special + 1 Win Battle = All + 4 Magic = Magic + 3 Item = Magic + 2 Combo = Skill + 2 Defend = Skill + 1 Moves = Special + 1 Critical = Special + 1 Win Battle = All + 8 Compressed view table: Yuki/Alfina/Ulf/Dahna - Miranda/Alonso/Hect Magic +Magic: 1/3/1/4 - 1/1/3 Item +Magic: 2/2/2/2 - 1/1/2 Combo +Skill: 4/2/2/1 - 1/1/2 Defend +Skill: 1/1/1/1 - 1/1/1 Moves +Special: 3/1/4/2 - 1/1/1 Critical +Special: 2/1/2/1 - 1/1/1 Win +All: 8/8/8/8 - 4/4/8 /// Special Level Thresholds ///// Before a character can learn a new Special Move, their Special Level must reach a corresponding threshold. Note that they generally won't learn the move immediately - it's still only a possibility after each time Combo is used in battle. Miranda, Alonso, and Hect each have already learned all their Special Moves from the outset (so Special Level affects their SP only). Aerial Slash: (learned from outset) Whirlwind: 2 Flash: 4 Blade Storm: 6 Invincible Aura: 7 Dragon Slash: 9 Comet Spike: (learned from outset) Stun Force: 2 Ripple Shot: 4 Holy Circle: 6 Energy Drive: 8 Armageddon: (via story) Rockbreaker: (learned from outset) Force Wave: (learned from outset) Flame Spike: (learned from outset) Bigwheel: 6 Shadow Warrior: 7 Inferno Spike: 8 Red Lotus: 9 Dynamite Rush: 10 Homing Shot: (learned from outset) Mana Capture: (learned from outset) Dancing Cards: 7 Mana Spring: 8