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I decided this weekend to try out this trick.......

It's hooptie is all I can say...

Anyways, my question is, has anyone else had a character simply cease to gain HP at level ups

I think it's possible if you have the best armor with a class that gives you the biggest boost I suppose...

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Aujourdhui a commence avec toi.

I was a summoner (for the MP) and I had a thief hat and secret clothes equipped

Equipment has no relevance to the levelup/down trick, only your class when leveling down or up matters. But you should know that the Summoner has one of the poorest growth in HP ever (only Bard and Dancer are worst).

Assuming you did the trick right, you probably leveled down as either a Bard or a Dancer (because of their overall poor growth in stats, these jobs are generally chosen to level down, although I tend to not use Dancer since they have a nice PA growth...I prefer Chemist for female units. Blah, nevermind). While leveling up as a Summoner, you certainly will gain some MPs, but relatively you will gain only a little HP.

That is assuming you did a full 98 levels down and then 98 levels up: due to some mathematic quirk, should you level down and then up in the same job, you would lose a little bit on all your stats. So you can say that leveling down lowers your stats despite whatever job you choose to level down with. Only by a good combination of jobs and a full 98 levles cycle can you hope to overcome the disadvantages and get an overall growth. Otherwise it'll take forever to build up your stats using the trick.

These are popular combinations for male units:

- level down as a Bard, up as a Ninja: you'll gain in HP, MP, PA and Speed.

- level down as a Bard, up as a Mime: you'll gain in HP, PA, and MA, but you'll lose in MP. Mime is the only job with a positive MA growth (compared to generic jobs), so this is the only way for regular units to improve their MA (some unique jobs have positive MA growth though: Ramza, Reis, Orlandu, Beowulf and Cloud, Reis having the greatest job ever in every stats except MP).

As for female units, I recommend using the same combination but replacing the Bard job by the Chemist job instead of the Dancer job if you want your unit to gain more PA. I you don't care, just use the Dancer job.

As for special units, their jobs generally are better than the standard jobs, but not necessarily. I recommend limiting the list to the above six units, due to their unique MA growth (and in the case of Ramza and Reis, their even more unique Speed growth).

Good luck in your leveling experience.

This post has been edited by Mr Thou on 21st November 2005 10:04

I realize that the summoner's HP growth leaves much to be desired, but is it normal for them to not gain HP for 5 or 6 levels in a row (the last 5 or 6 only)?

I don't get it... how are we leveling down here?

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Do you think we're forever?

There are two methods to lower one's level

1) Degenerator Traps (Various Stages..Zeklaus, Dolbodar, Terminate?)
2) Level Blast (A Mind Flare ability only available thru monster skill)

And I suppose leveling up again involves the normal fighting method? Or is there a faster way?

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Do you think we're forever?

Normal fighting method works fine, but you might want to consider bringing in a high-leveled unit (Lvl 99 is best, of course). You'll get a ton of XP when targeting this character, due to the difference between the respective levels.

A fast way involves Steal Exp, so that you'll gain a level each time for the first 30 or so levels (it may be more than that, its been a long time since I used the trick). You can also use Move Get Exp for the same effect at low levels, but it's a little bit longer, since moving eats a little bit of your next CT. And of course, don't forget to equip Gain Exp Up as a Support ability.

You can only get a maximum amount of 99 XP per action, even when a Lvl 1 unit hits a Lvl 99 unit, but using the Steal Exp makes you gain a level each time. Of course, improving your unit's Speed and casting Haste on it will help along the way