recommended levels and abilities

I was wondering what would be the recommended levels and abilities that I should have by the the time i reach ther Shinra Building in Disc 1, any advice is appreciated.

[fire exit man]

Personally, i was at about lvl 15/16 with Cloud at the end of Midgar. I had his Hardedge sword and i had all the available weapons/armour/materia that were available. I don't think i'd levelled any of them up though. All my other charcaters were around the same level, with Aeris' a little lower (i didn't use her much).

The Elemental support materia is useful at that stage, especially when in an armour connected wit Fire spell materia.

Hope that helped

[Storm]

I dont really think it matters as it is really easy. I say if you battle frequently and dont run away from battle unless it is absolutely compulsory, and each time you enter a new area you try to level up s bit, then you will be fine. Like said before, materia is good to have, especially fire, bolt, and ice. Also, try equiping all for those battles, and dont forget to equip restore materia. You should get through it in no time.

[Dragoon Joe]

as long u are past lvl 10 u shud be ok!

[Setzer]

I just went through normally without skipping battles or running away. I think I was on like level 12 or something. I'm not certain but that's what I think. I hope that helps.

[Ultima]

I personally had Cloud at lv. 16, had him equiped with the Mythril Armlet, got the hardedge from the soldiers in the building. As for Tifa and Barret they were at level 14 and 15, I equiped Tifa with the Metal Knunckle and a Titan Bungle and for Barret the Assault Gun, with the Mythril Armlet. And for limit breaks Cloud should have Blade Beam by then, Tifa with Somersult, and Barret with Grenade Bomb, for some reason Cloud and Barret's second lv.1 limits were skiped, but that's not a bad thing believe me.

[hellbred]

I believe lvls 15-17 are acceptable. However, like stated above, it's pretty simple. I always recommend leveling pre-maturely though. You might want to spend about 30-45 minutes leveling about 3-4 times throughout the game... that way boss fights are easy, and you remain one step ahead of the enemies at all times.

[Martin]

Leveling is a big issue, I found anything after 12 acceptable, but then I trained for a bit after leaving Midgar, to around level 25. The problem with leveling up is that once you level up, yes you become a lot stronger so thats beneficial but eventually all those hours you put in peter out. Think of it like this: You spend 10 hours straight leveling up to say...50 right? Then you carry on through the game leveling less because you need a lot more Exp to level up (yes I know FF8's an exception) so eventually it gets harder and harder to do and all that effort put in turns out to be eventually worthless...Sorry for going on, just a thought I'd share.

[LionheartVIII]

I would say get to level 99 before the end of disc one and you will do fine. Seriously you will have no problems.

[Scottie_ffgamer]

Originally Posted by LionheartVIII

I would say get to level 99 before the end of disc one and you will do fine. Seriously you will have no problems.

I think that is pretty much a duh. If you get to lvl 99 within the first third of any game you shouldn't have problem ever again.