I figured I should explore this detail since I haven't written that many posts (articles?) on the EXP distribution.. as it might give one some insight/interest into something that seems a tad weak, although maybe I'm a little paranoid... The monster distribution will be explored, but won't be the focus here...
Baron->Kaipo
The experience distribution seems alright, topping out at ~160 EXP between 2 people for the most part, and some solo Cecil time so you have a chance to beat the Baron Soldier+Captain with ease... the hardest monster set may be the Sandmoth+Larva combo... as being afflicted by blind status is a really bad thing (tm).
Kaipo->Damacyan
The experience here is alright, though one may argue that the most MP draining issue are the Zombies... (when there are six of them). The most rare monster are those Blue Toad monsters (called Toad Ogre I think in FF4A)... and they potentially can be the most threatening. The TinyMage is the hardest.. particularly if you have to face them in bulk. I forget if Hold works on them, but that easily reduces her MP pool that could be used in calling Chocobo vs Octomammoth.
Damacyan->Mt. Hobs
The most experience you can obtain are from the Yellow Flan monsters (I forget their name off the top of my head).. but you trade 5 MP to get the experience.. it's a pretty damn good bargain..
Mt. Hobs->Mysidia
It's worth pointing out that the Bombs give the most EXP, but they hurt too. I often think they were unbalanced to prove some sick point, so the want to learn Cure2/Cura is often warrented here. Otherwise, most of the monsters are not too much of a threat if you use Edward correctly...
Mysidia->Baron
This is where the EXP seems to level off into "the same" for most of the game... everything seems a tad hard before conversion.. yet insanely easy afterwards. It's hard to make of the imbalance, other than Liliths being very valuable, yet hard to kill physically... generally speaking.
Baron->Tower of Zot
Maybe it's just me, but the EXP pool starts sucking, not just because you have a 5th party member, but EXP growth is completely retarded in this, and EXP doesn't really come fast enough, even with the AquaWorm combinations...
Tower of Zot->Tower of Bab-il (Underground)
The major source of EXP technically comes from the dolls, but their drops kinda stink (I mean, you get free Image casting items, but is it worth it? Perhaps...) Otherwise there aren't many monsters worth worrying about.. except when you are facing the Flan monsters before you have the Earth/Gaea Hammer.
Tower of Bab-il (Underground)-> Tower of Bab-il (Overworld)
Same summoner, different dolls (that technically are a bit more threatening).. yet everything else is weak by comparison (well, maybe the Chimera, but you end up having to use Bio/Virus). It's nice when you expose elemental weakness, but sometimes I feel it goes to an extreme...
Tower of Bab-il (Overworld->Underground)->Sealed Cave
Summoned monster options are better, and have better EXP or better drops (particularly the Mad Ogres). Probably the only monster that can threaten your ass is the Green Dragon... and that monster is rare (well, the summoned version is easier to find, but not by much).
Sealed Cave->The Moon
There are a number of optional areas to visit before the Sealed Cave... EXP distribution finally becomes sane (if you don't factor in summoned monsters).. the easiest place to get EXP seems to be the Sealed Cave.. though the best place is the Land of Summoned Monsters.. the Sylph's Cave is kind of an in-between, though there are more nuisances than hard monsters...
The Moon->Giant of Bab-il
The experience is a little erratic, but consistant. It gets better if Bahamut's Cave is visited, but the difficulty also rises nicely as well. At least "optional" doesn't have to suck...
Giant of Bab-il->Lunar Subterrane
Someone needs to help me with the damage taking between the Genji armor set vs the "Ninja Armor set"... it's somewhat hard to quantify the damage taken (well, I'd have to look into it further, but I don't remember it being that dramatically different, though I have to see how much of a power loss I get for doing so as well, though I think that's not an issue...). Since abusing Searchers is making Rydia or FuSoYa make pitiful hits... the monsters can be plentiful. The only true issue is that Machine Dragons are the most overpowered monster when you face them... (Flare/Nuke + Holy/White could negate their impact, but that multitargeted Fire attack is nasty).
Lunar Subterrane->End
I find myself disappointed at the end game formations.. I understand that the 3 Red Dragon formation is pretty close to the 2 Behemoth in terms of EXP (unless you are FF2 or FF4ET), but when they explored the 3 Red Dragon formation.. why didn't they do the same for the friggen Behemoth? It actually looks better for them due to meshing death color and their natural color... although I wonder if the EvilMasks should even attempt them (hell no)... or their EXP matches their difficulty.. even though the Mech property is worth exposing....
I kinda liked the themed monsters (Zemus's Breath+Mind), but couldn't they have done a little better...?
Ok.. I guess this was kinda bland, but I probably could do better.. hopefully the arrow analysis is better... hopefully to explain why I think it's underpowered at times.
Topic: FF4 - EXP/Monster Distribution (Read 1611 times)