I practically gave up on this game...waaay too complicated to play and to think...utilizes too many of my brain cells...zzz...

Try not to use groups with less than 3-4k hp, they will become a burden. Memorize the pattern of fallen's attack, plan accordingly. I took it out at Br9x in 4 turns. Anyway, at your BR, doesn't any of your general have weapon art? They will make the fight extremely easy.

AFAIK you only need to score about 300 (or 400k) of damage within 6 turns.

I suggest you screw Pagus, move one soldier to the other group, make 3 groups with 5k over hp, which can take 2 turns of punishment without healing. A 3k hp union will probably need to heal every turn (after first turn), so they are useless.

Honestly, the damage of your weapon art is at the low side, because caedmon's hd should be able to do 200k upwards, and baulson's 100k upwards. But anyway, one thing you can try is get a group without weapon art to deadlock fallen, the rest standby, then on second turn, unleash weapon art, then just heal and use weapon art. Exploit the unit that can do weapon art.

Bloctor can use a accessory that can auto cancel status effect on next turn, utilize that if you need. And, Torgal's weapon art can do miracle also.

What is the purpose of this thread ?

Explaining how to make a god-like party and not having to restart at the beginning of Disc 2 because you're weaker than my little sister armed with a tea spoon.

To beat what kind of über-bosses do I need to stat-grind ?

You will be able to beat everybody in the game unless you totally screw things up, except for :

1) Holy Servant, a strong dragon that guards the Metopon Tier - Boreas door in the Ancient Ruins from the DLC. This tier holds a Giant-type foe called Ancbolder. Ancbolders are your best bet to grind at high levels (and they drop Jewel Steel, which is a rare component nearly every character needs for ultimate weapons), so you have to beat Holy Servant to become god-like.

2) The Fallen, a badass boss that nets you an achieve of 140G during the Wyngale quest, in Baaluk. Has 450K HP over BR75 (400K if you're under) and must be killed in 10 turns or game over. Nets you the achieve, 250K in cash and Wyngale recruitable (he has loads of arts, looks awsome but by that time he will be too weak for you).

3) Demigod, a Fallen-type foe that has 1 million HP, and can curse and enthrall your unions. Last boss of the Metopon Notus tier in Ancients Ruins. Hard as nails unless you're god-like.

4) The Absolute Conqueror, the ultimate secret boss of the game, that appears during the quest Things Unchangeable. Has 1 million HP and nets you 1 million cash (which you don't need anymore) and a 200G achieve. So you have to beat him, obviously.

Why do I need to stat-grind ?

According to my answer to the last question, to kick The Fallen (140G) and the Absolute Conqueror (200G) in the nuts, and finish the 68 sidequests (200G) for a grand total of 540G. And, of course, to have a kick-ass party.

What is the best way to stat-grind ?

Here we go...

You would think you're supposed to link like crazy and fight everything you encounter to raise your BR as fast as possible, but much like in Oblivion, it is the other way around. The idea here is to keep you BR very low so you can gain more stats between each BR. To do that, you have to manage a few things and follow a few rules :

1) Dodge EVERYTHING, and NEVER fight anything that isn't a boss or a forced fight (like 2 immobile Skull Scavengers sitting on a chest, or Landworms in the mist). Save whenever you're not targeted and dodge like crazy getting all the chests (you will need what's inside for your über-characters).

2) Plan boosting sessions against powerfull foes, not linking them of course, to develop your characters and their stats. I'll tell you where and when in a minute.

3) Again, never link.

4) Do every possible sidequest for cash and components (and because you have to), and try to finish the 42 sidequests of Disc 1 before leaving Nagapur.

5) Try and do a shitload of Guild tasks for cash, formations, achievements (at least one), and rare components you will need for your characters.

In a few words, fight only extremely strong enemies for your level (morale bar near 0 at the start of the fight), and only one by one.

Where should I grind on Disc 1 and on Disc 2 ?

This is the "where" part.

1) Between BR05 and BR25, go in Blackdale regular entrance, turn right and save before entering the Obsidian Trail. Go in and you will see a Skull Scavenger sleeping on the floor. Go and fight him. It is going to be hard, so if he kills one of your leaders or 2 or 3 of your soldiers, exit and retry. And when you succeed, watch the 5 stats per character scrolling on you TV screen, and you BR staying the same. Nice. Stop when you're BR25.

2) Between BR40 and BR70, in the Grammi Tier - Anatoray part of the Ancient Ruins, second door on the left (second floor, you need to beat Ymir to gain access). You will have 3 Rockgraters roaming free. Ice them, then go back to the teleporter in the first zone, save, reload, and kill them again untill you're BR60-70.

3) Between BR70 and BR100, in the Metopon Tier - Boreas (third floor). Go there and kill Ancbolders, the giants I already talked about. They're easy and give a shitload of stats. Then do the save and reload trick. You can build up your chain meter to try and get more Jewel Steel from them, but it changes nothing. And you're not supposed to link, remember ?

When should I grind and when should I do the rest ?

This is the "when" part. Here is a planning in 10 steps you could follow :

1) Do the start of the game dodging everything and only fighting bosses. Never link. Never fight. Never breathe. Dodge everything and follow the main story untill you have your last roster capacity upgrade. Always use the maximum leaders and soldiers even if you don't like using 4 unions, because they WILL level faster and offer you more options at the end of the game. Do the Baulson sidequest and go recruit Caedmon before your first boosting session.

2) Go kill the Skull Scavengers. You should be BR10 or less at this point. When you're BR25, stop grinding and follow the story untill Nagapur (the Skull Scavengers won't give you anymore good stats).

3) Finish all the sidequests of Disc 1. You should be BR 35, more or less, with all quests done. Finish Disc 1 and start Disc 2. I was BR37 with all quests done when I booted Disc 2, and Ardorius was BR33.

4) On Disc 2, follow the main story (dodging everything, as usual) untill you get your last roster upgrade and can use 6 leaders and 18 soldiers. Do some sidequests, beginning by the ones that will give you the leaders you want to use (Jager, anyone ?) Make 2 unions of 4 and 2 of 5 so as to use everybody, even if you prefer using 3 unions.

5) Talk to the big Yama on the right of Athlum's pub, and he will put the 6th Path on your map. Go in, travel to the upper-left dead-end and open the Ancient Ruins with your beautiful DLC key (the DLC is free). You should be BR40 or BR45, no more. You can find Ancient Ruins maps on GameFAQs.

6) People say you can start by killing the Charybdis on the first floor untill you're strong enough to tackle Ymir (the Giant-type creature in the middle room) and defeat him to gain access to the second tier. I know I went straight for him and to the second floor.

7) Here, go to the second room on the left and kill the Rockgraters untill you're BR70, then exit and do the Bases.

8) Follow the story untill Undelwalt, but don't enter the town or The Fallen will disappear. Finish all the sidequests you can, then go back to Blackdale first entrance. Disband all unions and make one with Rush only (he should have at least 1700 HP), kill the 3 insects on the right and the 3 on the left with mystic and combat arts only, then run to Obsidian Trail to save. Save and reload, and do it again untill your reach a 500 chain. You will only have gained 3 BR and go watch your roster : every leader will have learnt every art available to him, in just 3 BR.

9) Go back to the Ancient Ruins, and go kill Holy Servant (easy at BR70) to gain access to the third tier. Here, kill the Ancbolders untill you're BR100, then go kill The Fallen in Baaluk. If the Ancbolders aren't here but you find Greater Demons, exit and enter again, untill you have no one on the first floor. If you see Rockgraters, Ancbolders won't spawn.

10) After The Fallen has fallen, finish the main story and all the sidequests except one, finish all Guild tasks for components, farm rare monsters and upgrade your gear, then go back to the Ancient Ruins if you want to reach BR130-140. No, no enemies will give your more stats than Ancbolders. Then go tackle the Absolute Conqueror.

Who should I use ?

Last but not least, you should use who you like, of course, but Torgal, Baulson, Emmy and Rush are must-haves, so the real question is about the last 2. People like Dave for his Gay Bolg (sorry, I had to do it), Irina because she is the best healer and Pisonics user, Jager because he's strong and has a summon, Schiavona and the art Beowulf... It's your choice but I would use Blocter, Irina, Caedmon or Jager.

The only rule is to recruit the ones you want ASAP, before grinding, put them in your active party, and NEVER change them. That's what I did with Baulson, Caedmon and Jager. Once they're on the team, they stay on the team, because if you change a lot, they won't be as strong as they could.

What about the soldiers ?

It is highly recommended to recruit only healers (unless you're after Arcana spells, which are useless when you're a beast and can destroy every union in one turn). Never recruit a fighter without healing capabilities, because he won't learn anything new, whereas healers with no arts ALWAYS learn combat arts in their first fights. Some are must-haves like Damecus, Atis, Deacon or Sutherby, the rest is up to you. But recruit the ones with the most HP. This is what I use :

Union 1 : Rush (Herbs, Lotions and Remedies), Caedmon (Herbs and Remedies), Herbs soldier, Remedies soldier, Lotions soldier.
Union 2 : Torgal (squat), Blank, Herbs soldier, Herbs soldier, Lotions soldier.
Union 3 : Jager (squat), Blank, Herbs soldier, Herbs soldier, Lotions soldier.
Union 4 : Emmy (Remedies), Baulson (Herbs and Remedies), Herbs soldier, Remedies soldier, Lotions soldier.

Rush, Baulson, Caedmon and Emmy will be healing tanks at the end of the game, each one having learnt Kiss of Life and Second Chance (Dave too).

The leveling system is a joke.
To become uber powerful you'll have to dodge most enemies right from the start and only fight a selected few. And don't bother about chaining multiple enemies, you'll only make it worse.
I started leveling properly only after BR25 or so. Still managed to get good stats. Haven't tried fighting the Ultimate Conqueror though.

Anyway, here's the best way to level.
Taken from x360achievements. Credits to InfinityMaster.