I only played Disgaea 1 and 2, so I don't have much to compare to, but I wouldn't be surprised if the newer games have better grinding maps, whether in terms of quantity, quality or both.

I can't say if it's better or not, but I used stage 9-2 (with 8 SEBs for lv 99 enemies) as my grinding spot until ~lv 200. Then I went straight to CoO4, which I did struggle at first - I had to rely on buffs, and maybe level my weapon a little bit (not sure, it's been a long time since I've been at that point). I didn't farm lovers or professionals at the time, but they probably would've made a huge difference. I also didn't bother grinding felonies early on either, but, again, this is just my personal experience and not really a recommendation per se.

The Dark World 3-3 stage (which I think is the one you're referring to?) is good to get a headstart and blitz through the main story, but for post-game maps like CoO4, you'll probably want to buy rank 38 items (or at least your weapon of choice) at the store.

Depending on how much you raised your spellcasters, you might be able to beat Laharl and Flonne to add them to your party and help you your weaker units and/or with the item world in general. Despite the level difference, their AI is pretty passive, so you can attack them at the longest range possible (Sapphire might help with that) without aggro-ing them. IIRC I did the first map with a ~lv 200-250 Skull, fully buffed by support units + Rozalin (also needed to use a SP recovery item, so keep that in mind). This was way back in the PS2 version, so I didn't have access to Miabell which might also help (I don't think there's a difference with the fight itself). For the second map, I taught and leveled a few spells to Flonne and used her instead, and things went a lot faster than the first time.

All in all, my only suggestion would be to just take it at your own pace and do what you feel like doing. Farming felonies, lovers, specialists, pirate maps etc, clearing extra maps and/or Dark World stages, leveling items in the IW, clearing Axel mode for its unlocks... you have a few options at your hand. If none of those appeal to you or if you're burnt out in general, consider giving yourself a little break from the game.

Originally posted by neemoos:

I can't say if it's better or not, but I used stage 9-2 (with 8 SEBs for lv 99 enemies) as my grinding spot until ~lv 200. Then I went straight to CoO4, which I did struggle at first - I had to rely on buffs, and maybe level my weapon a little bit (not sure, it's been a long time since I've been at that point). I didn't farm lovers or professionals at the time, but they probably would've made a huge difference. I also didn't bother grinding felonies early on either, but, again, this is just my personal experience and not really a recommendation per se.

So this was the first stage I was grinding on, and my mage is killing them, but was just getting a level or 2 from killing the 99's. My question is if this is right, only getting a few levels even from the 99's?

Even in Disgaea 1, I felt the grinding stages and progression was fast than my experience with Disgaea 2.

Originally posted by neemoos:

The Dark World 3-3 stage (which I think is the one you're referring to?) is good to get a headstart and blitz through the main story, but for post-game maps like CoO4, you'll probably want to buy rank 38 items (or at least your weapon of choice) at the store.

I haven't tried DW 3-3, but will explore it!

Originally posted by neemoos:

Depending on how much you raised your spellcasters, you might be able to beat Laharl and Flonne to add them to your party and help you your weaker units and/or with the item world in general...

Current mage is level level 119 Prism Mage w/ 3761 Int, Petra Star is pricey AF so leveling have been slow. Trying Omega and Giga to be MP efficient.

Originally posted by neemoos:

All in all, my only suggestion would be to just take it at your own pace and do what you feel like doing. Farming felonies, lovers, specialists, pirate maps etc, clearing extra maps and/or Dark World stages, leveling items in the IW, clearing Axel mode for its unlocks... you have a few options at your hand. If none of those appeal to you or if you're burnt out in general, consider giving yourself a little break from the game.

I appreciate you posting and helping me out! I don't have any other Disgaea friends to talk and slurp to, so I felt like I was in an echo chamber and needed to get this out. I'll keep at it, but I love seeing other's experiences with it to compare to my own in order to figure out how to better my own skills, if that makes since.

Originally posted by The Monarch:

So this was the first stage I was grinding on, and my mage is killing them, but was just getting a level or 2 from killing the 99's. My question is if this is right, only getting a few levels even from the 99's?

Well, I just tested it out since I didn't remember this portion of the game that well. 20 runs in 9-2 was enough to bring my newly created mage to lv 197 (might've been a lv or two higher, the first time I shared some EXP with tower attacks because I forgot to heal her SP after equipping her stuff). While certainly not what I'd call fast, it wasn't that bad either considering how fast the stage goes. Still not sure if/when CoO1 becomes better for grinding (I've never bothered testing/comparing the EXP gain rate, with or without SEBs), but I'm lazy and don't like setting up that stage.

Even in Disgaea 1, I felt the grinding stages and progression was fast than my experience with Disgaea 2.

I think that might be because of Statisticians? It was pretty easy to max them out (IIRC 4~5 runs in a Bandit's Hand?), but in this game we're stuck with felonies.

Current mage is level level 119 Prism Mage w/ 3761 Int, Petra Star is pricey AF so leveling have been slow. Trying Omega and Giga to be MP efficient.

Ah, yeah, early on I tend to stick with the Giga versions due to the SP costs. Fortunately, SP is pretty much never a problem once you get past this early point.

I haven't tried DW 3-3, but will explore it!

As mentioned, it's usually exploited early on to complete the main game, so it probably won't be that useful to you at this point, but feel free to check it out (there are a couple of guides here that covers it, or you can watch a speedrun of the game since it uses that exploit).

I appreciate you posting and helping me out! I don't have any other Disgaea friends to talk and slurp to, so I felt like I was in an echo chamber and needed to get this out. I'll keep at it, but I love seeing other's experiences with it to compare to my own in order to figure out how to better my own skills, if that makes since.

No worries, glad to be of help. I also like to hear other people's experiences, and I hope the grinding becomes a bit more manageable for you later. =)

Unrelated, but you can make your cursor move faster by holding the cancel button. It's a bit awkward to use (not sure what they had in mind when they implemented it this way, it was the "change the direction you're facing" button in the original version IIRC), but you get used to it - I usually press both the confirm and cancel button when I drag my chars out of the base panel (or I cancel and reconfirm an input), keeping the cancel button pressed while confirming my commands as normal. Might make your grinding sessions (or gameplay in general) ever so slightly faster.

Originally posted by neemoos:

Well, I just tested it out since I didn't remember this portion of the game that well. 20 runs in 9-2 was enough to bring my newly created mage to lv 197 (might've been a lv or two higher, the first time I shared some EXP with tower attacks because I forgot to heal her SP after equipping her stuff). While certainly not what I'd call fast, it wasn't that bad either considering how fast the stage goes. Still not sure if/when CoO1 becomes better for grinding (I've never bothered testing/comparing the EXP gain rate, with or without SEBs), but I'm lazy and don't like setting up that stage.

Yeah, finally got to a good point in demolishing targets with my main mage to the point of trying to make another mage, and maaaan its rough on the little one. Hopefully getting the main to a good point will transition to CoO4, and help him grind there (maybe)

I think that might be because of Statisticians? It was pretty easy to max them out (IIRC 4~5 runs in a Bandit's Hand?), but in this game we're stuck with felonies.

THATS what it was! Been forever since I played 1 but it's really fun! Felonies suck ass to grind, (never got to the point of being able to handle Item World randomness tbh)

As mentioned, it's usually exploited early on to complete the main game, so it probably won't be that useful to you at this point, but feel free to check it out (there are a couple of guides here that covers it, or you can watch a speedrun of the game since it uses that exploit).

Might be nice to help level my other mages that are having issues clearing levels by them selves. Any good advise on leveling other weapon groups/characters? Seems like my mage is by far the best at clearing waves.

Originally posted by Vallum12100:

Might be nice to help level my other mages that are having issues clearing levels by them selves. Any good advise on leveling other weapon groups/characters? Seems like my mage is by far the best at clearing waves.

For the better or the worse, magic is by far the most efficient in... pretty much everything in this game. Power, versatility, range, it's great in all aspects. That's not to say that the alternatives aren't viable or anything - like in any disgaea game, you'll eventually reach a point that you'll be 1-shotting most stuff with anything you throw at them, just that you get to that point faster by using magic.

After that, Fists are the most useful (at least IMO) for moving targets, especially for the early Item World stuff with the gatekeepers. Spears can be handy on a few situations (most I can think of are for some Dark World stages requiring you to move to certain places). Skills like King of Beasts (fists), Lightning Spear and Asteroid Drop (spears), can also help you bypass some No-Entry panels and such (often times you need to target your own units to accomplish that though, so having a weak fist and spear weapons in your inventory or fodder characters might be handy). I don't find myself using much of the other weapons types very much, at most Dimensional Slash (swords) since spells don't have that kind of attack pattern and maybe my archer with bows when I'm just screwing around.

For characters I suggest having (if you don't already):
- at least a Thief for an easier time stealing stuff (only way to get some rank 40 items). Thieves also have their status skills that work 100% of the time (unless the target is immune), most notably the Poison+Sleep combo, which is as broken as it sounds.
- a Celestial Host (unlocked in Axel mode) with star magic for clearing gatekeepers and a item world runner (Mothman and/or Tink). Since they are considered "flying" units, they can move past enemies.
- some Heavy Knights for their throwing range (the most I've used at once is 7, but I have 9 of them), they're pretty handy before you get lots of Accelerators (and, to some extent, even afterwards).
- Beastmasters are good early on for building the bonus gauge (they are used for the DW 3-3 that I mentioned), but eventually you might want to replace them with Kunoichis. You see, Beastmasters have a hidden evility that makes them fill the bonus gauge faster (7~8 of them attacking the same target over 2 turns can fill the bonus gauge entirely), but with a high enough combo (~13+ hits I think, which is easy to accomplish with Kunoichis+weights) you can do the same, only better. Not to mention, Kunoichis also have a multi-target version of the Thief's status skills (except paralysis). AFAIK the infliction rate is not guaranteed, but it's still pretty high regardless (and their evility makes that even less of an issue).
- maybe up to 5 healers/buffers as well? Tbh, it's pretty rare for me to use buffs (not counting stuff like Rozalin/Majin Hanako and Miabell's evilities), I think I used them in 3 different occasions and that was it. Still, you have more than enough room in your party to accommodate them, and you can use them for equipping stuff like pirate maps and/or sacrificial fodder on maps that require you to lose.

For anything else, just use or create whoever you want. No need to stick only with the optimal stuff. For example, many people would suggest creating (or reincarnating into) a Magic Knight, since they have the highest dps in the game (you can make an argument for Kunoichis if they proc their double attack), but it's not like these are necessary or anything like that.

Originally posted by neemoos:

For characters I suggest having (if you don't already):
- at least a Thief for an easier time stealing stuff (only way to get some rank 40 items). Thieves also have their status skills that work 100% of the time (unless the target is immune), most notably the Poison+Sleep combo, which is as broken as it sounds.
- a Celestial Host (unlocked in Axel mode) with star magic for clearing gatekeepers and a item world runner (Mothman and/or Tink). Since they are considered "flying" units, they can move past enemies.
- some Heavy Knights for their throwing range (the most I've used at once is 7, but I have 9 of them), they're pretty handy before you get lots of Accelerators (and, to some extent, even afterwards).
- Beastmasters are good early on for building the bonus gauge (they are used for the DW 3-3 that I mentioned), but eventually you might want to replace them with Kunoichis. You see, Beastmasters have a hidden evility that makes them fill the bonus gauge faster (7~8 of them attacking the same target over 2 turns can fill the bonus gauge entirely), but with a high enough combo (~13+ hits I think, which is easy to accomplish with Kunoichis+weights) you can do the same, only better. Not to mention, Kunoichis also have a multi-target version of the Thief's status skills (except paralysis). AFAIK the infliction rate is not guaranteed, but it's still pretty high regardless (and their evility makes that even less of an issue).
- maybe up to 5 healers/buffers as well? Tbh, it's pretty rare for me to use buffs (not counting stuff like Rozalin/Majin Hanako and Miabell's evilities), I think I used them in 3 different occasions and that was it. Still, you have more than enough room in your party to accommodate them, and you can use them for equipping stuff like pirate maps and/or sacrificial fodder on maps that require you to lose.

For anything else, just use or create whoever you want. No need to stick only with the optimal stuff. For example, many people would suggest creating (or reincarnating into) a Magic Knight, since they have the highest dps in the game (you can make an argument for Kunoichis if they proc their double attack), but it's not like these are necessary or anything like that.

Gotcha. I got my main mage to lvl 305, trying to level up his elemental stuff rather than just his star spells. My second mage is only lvl 70 from piggybacking from my mage in combos.

I have 2 thieves, 1 konuichi, and 8 beastmasters, (for when I was grinding this other stage for bonus gauge drops that didn't give me crap). I think I have a samurai-guy and a warrior, the later has been doing okay for story stuff as a body before I started to grind. It'll be easier once I can better consistently get through item world, so I also made a druid... that, albeit, isn't doing much.

I also have only 1 healer with a bow, (technically my Druid has some heals, just never use him), it's been taking forever to level her healing skills up, so I was thinking I should reincarnate her into something else. Thinking of switching to staves as well, but she's been doing her job in a pinch when I'm not mowing down the level.

now I'm walled at Cave of Ordeals 3 with all those level 400's. *sigh* Just when I thought the grind to 305 from 9-2 was allot x_x

Originally posted by Vallum12100:

now I'm walled at Cave of Ordeals 3 with all those level 400's. *sigh* Just when I thought the grind to 305 from 9-2 was allot x_x

If you're done grinding on 9-2, you should probably pass the weakest enemy bill so their level return to something more manageable.
If that still isn't enough for CoO3, and you don't mind cheesing a bit, you can use status effects like mentioned. You can camp at the base panel and wait for the enemies to randomly warp to you or try a more offensive/direct approach using the warps yourself and/or throwing your units to the center. Might be a little hard to do it with only your 2 thieves and kunoichi, but given how random the warp is, it might be enough if you're persistent enough.

Originally posted by neemoos:

Originally posted by Vallum12100:

now I'm walled at Cave of Ordeals 3 with all those level 400's. *sigh* Just when I thought the grind to 305 from 9-2 was allot x_x

If you're done grinding on 9-2, you should probably pass the weakest enemy bill so their level return to something more manageable.
If that still isn't enough for CoO3, and you don't mind cheesing a bit, you can use status effects like mentioned. You can camp at the base panel and wait for the enemies to randomly warp to you or try a more offensive/direct approach using the warps yourself and/or throwing your units to the center. Might be a little hard to do it with only your 2 thieves and kunoichi, but given how random the warp is, it might be enough if you're persistent enough.

*slaps forehead* THATS why everything has been harder in the story as well. Gods I feel dump :laughs:
Thank you for your help, I'm now grinding in CoO4, soon I'll be one shoting these marionettes and blaze through this game :D

Disgaea 1 is probably the shortest game in the series and the easiest to beat relatively quickly, with plenty of exploits to pretty much speedrun the game consistently with.

Disgaea 5 spoils you and while it has a lot of content, helps you breeze through content too fast to the point that half of it's features are redundant and useless for a normal playthrough, only really becoming worthwhile if you want to complete all of the post game.

Disgaea 2 is a large expansion over the first game on top of introducing some of the worst RNG elements in the series that can make completionist runs more difficult.

Disgaea 4 is the most refined game in the series but can also feel like a slog, it's much harder than DIsgaea 1 or 5, I think it might be harder than Disgaea 2.

I can't comment on Disgaea 3, it's literally the only game not yet ported to a system I own, besides DD2.

So yes, Disgaea 2 in general is pretty slow if you're used to D1 or D5.

Originally posted by lPaladinl:

Disgaea 1 is probably the shortest game in the series and the easiest to beat relatively quickly, with plenty of exploits to pretty much speedrun the game consistently with.

Disgaea 5 spoils you and while it has a lot of content, helps you breeze through content too fast to the point that half of it's features are redundant and useless for a normal playthrough, only really becoming worthwhile if you want to complete all of the post game.

Disgaea 2 is a large expansion over the first game on top of introducing some of the worst RNG elements in the series that can make completionist runs more difficult.

Disgaea 4 is the most refined game in the series but can also feel like a slog, it's much harder than DIsgaea 1 or 5, I think it might be harder than Disgaea 2.

I can't comment on Disgaea 3, it's literally the only game not yet ported to a system I own, besides DD2.

So yes, Disgaea 2 in general is pretty slow if you're used to D1 or D5.

D3 was my first disgaea game I played, but D1 was the first I finished. D5 was the second I finished, and stopped D4 when i got distracted from my PS3 with new PC, but eventaully beat D3.

Want to finish D2 and D4 before D6 releases, but injuring myself earlier and just getting back on my computer today has slwoed the process a wee bit.

Originally posted by Vallum12100:

D3 was my first disgaea game I played, but D1 was the first I finished. D5 was the second I finished, and stopped D4 when i got distracted from my PS3 with new PC, but eventaully beat D3.

Want to finish D2 and D4 before D6 releases, but injuring myself earlier and just getting back on my computer today has slwoed the process a wee bit.

D1 was also the first game I finished. I thought I should play the series in order back then... didn't stick to that plan.

I have no hope in finishing either game before D6 releases. Took me 160 hours to just reach level 250 in D4 and I still am not done with the story (but I assume I should be about there now.). D2 I haven't even started with because I jumped ahead to D5 and now D4 out of preference of using my Switch and enjoying the newer features.

Given that D6 has all of these autobattle features though... maybe I'll be playing D2 while my Switch dies a horrible heat death of running endless D6 automation. Just a shame I have D4 on Switch in this case since I won't be able to grind through that game while I have D6 running.

I hope you've recovered well from whatever injuries you had and can get back to having fun.

Originally posted by lPaladinl:

Originally posted by Vallum12100:

Took me 160 hours to just reach level 250 in D4 and I still am not done with the story (but I assume I should be about there now.).

Thats more than enough to beat the last boss. I was way lower level when i beat him, also didn't update on ps3 so could use the Puppy paw stick duping method. Even with that i didn't 100% the game.

Originally posted by lPaladinl:

Originally posted by Vallum12100:

D3 was my first disgaea game I played, but D1 was the first I finished. D5 was the second I finished, and stopped D4 when i got distracted from my PS3 with new PC, but eventaully beat D3.

Want to finish D2 and D4 before D6 releases, but injuring myself earlier and just getting back on my computer today has slwoed the process a wee bit.

D1 was also the first game I finished. I thought I should play the series in order back then... didn't stick to that plan.

I have no hope in finishing either game before D6 releases. Took me 160 hours to just reach level 250 in D4 and I still am not done with the story (but I assume I should be about there now.). D2 I haven't even started with because I jumped ahead to D5 and now D4 out of preference of using my Switch and enjoying the newer features.

Given that D6 has all of these autobattle features though... maybe I'll be playing D2 while my Switch dies a horrible heat death of running endless D6 automation. Just a shame I have D4 on Switch in this case since I won't be able to grind through that game while I have D6 running.

I hope you've recovered well from whatever injuries you had and can get back to having fun.

Luckily I beat it before dark diety came out and absorbed my life until D6

But thank you for the well wishes, backs been hit and miss, though I think it's more of how I messed it up from MMA and sports than the recent incident, just kinda the last straw.

felonies made it weird for me