Playing Final Fantasy is not a walk in the park. Remember that time in Gizamaluke's Grotto, when you accidentally encountered the Grand Dragon inside the bushy outskirts of the Popos Heights? The party's parameters do not stand a chance against a level 65 poison-breathing behemoth and thus, most inexperienced players suffer the dreaded "game over" halfway of Disc 1.

Although this mistake is acceptable since encountering a Grand Dragon in the earlier stages of the game is very, very low, Final Fantasy beginners would really love to beat a strong, non-boss type enemy which can trample most of the samll-fry Mist monsters scattered in all of Gaia. The only chance to beat it is thru levels - the Final Fantasy staple has gave birth to parameter combat in which stats such as strength and magic are considered effective when they are considerably high.

The Grand Dragon or any high-leveled beasts can be beaten in numerous ways: proper buff magic, identifying the enemy's elemental weakness, casting "Death" on it or bashing it with strong melee attacks. In order to optimize these simple strategic values, your character must be in the suitable level to defeat a more aggressive and powerful enemy.

Here's some tips to level-up faster in all aspects of Final Fantasy IX:

1. Equip the ability 'Level Up' for your characters. This is the fundamental skill for all players who want increase the experience value to up to 35%. Great for beating stotyline bosses but bad for "you know who."

2. This works for Zidane only. Remove all three characters from your party and let Zidane hack his way out in solo. He'll snag 100% experience thus, strengthening him in all the way. Be sure to fight enemies that are only at par with your current level.

3. KO the other three and let the battles begin. This is good for maximizing individual stats but, the risks are higher. For example, Steiner has lower speed and will probably take time to heal his wounds.

4. Finally, if you have reached level 30 at Disc 1, try battling the Grand Dragon. Put on that Coral Ring you won at the Festival of the Hunt (if you allow Freya to win then, this handy accesory will be yours for free) and that lucky character of yours will be immune to its powerful Thundaga spell.

I'll be adding customized term papers to my Final Fantasy archives and I'll be sharing with you some basic tips on what to do in the perennial Final Fantasy world.