Getting enough exp to challenge tough bosses, pass difficult areas, or to search for rare materials, all make for the classic RPG experience. Kingdom Hearts 3 is no different. Sure, you can get through the main game without little grinding. But if you want to stand a chance against the Data Organization or other hidden bosses, you’re gonna want to be at the top of your game. Follow along as we find some of the best places in KH3 to get Sora buff, leveled up, and ready to take on any challenge.
12. Retracing Steps Naturally
Let’s start this list off with something a little unorthodox. Rather than a specific spot, we’ll talk about a good way to “grind” exp without having to grind in one area. If you’re among the type that just wants to get to a higher level for the next section without spending the next hour repeating the same task, then this method is for you. Throughout your journey you’re bound to have missed some lucky emblems, some synthesis items, treasure chests, or anything else in your Gummiphone. That is the perfect time to backtrack to those worlds and get those completed. Chances are, once you’re done searching, you’d level up naturally from defeating enemies along the way. It won’t be a huge growth – but should be enough to get you through the next area.
11. Shadow area in Olympus
There’s an area located in Olympus that continuously spawns Shadows and Neoshadows. This area may or may not be unlocked after The Final World, but information is a little scarce. Either way, this is a pretty decent area to grind from about Level 40+, as Shadows ne you roughly 83 Exp and Neoshadows with 266 exp. There are plenty of other methods during this time of the game, but with infinite enemies it stands out.
10. Boo’s Laughter Segments
Early on in the Monstropolis storyline, you’ll have to rack up all of your best comedy tactics in order to make Boo laugh up a storm. During these segments, Boo will have a little laugh gauge that fills up over time – and ends when you do the reaction command. However, if you never click the reaction command, the sequence keeps going and spawns an infinite amount of Heartless and Unversed to fight. You can stay here for as long as you like, hacking and slashing demons in front of a child. This area is a one-time thing throughout the world, though. So if you’ve already passed the areas, sorry but you’re fresh out of luck and laughter.
9. Toy Store Floors w/ Gigas
One of the more entertaining (and fun) methods of early level grinding is causing mass chaos in the giant Gigas mech toys in the Toybox Toy Store. The mechs are huge and powerful, being able to wipe out hordes of Heartless with relative ease. And dying in the mech blows the machine up, but doesn’t kill you. This means you can continue the fight rather quickly by hijacking another bot. There are 3 floors in total that you can traverse in one go in a mech, which means there’s a lot of heartless to shoot. If you enjoy the mech style combat, then this is a great grinding method. Each color mech even has its own attacks and movement style. So if you get bored, start experimenting with various guns and rockets.
8. Sea Battles
Yo-Ho Yo-Ho, a pirate’s life for you! This method of grinding is quite the blast, as you set sail and fire cannons on unsuspecting enemy ships. Not only do the enemy ships give you quite the exp gain for mid-leveling, but you also work towards several trophies and other goodies along the way. If you’re a completionist, then this method will be of great use to you. You get to level up your party and your pirate ship up, and work towards sinking 200 ships for a trophy. That, and sailing across the seas is a really fun experience. Make sure to stop by any islands you haven’t visited as well. They can hold treasures, enemies, and other things you might’ve otherwise missed.
7. Isle of Luck
If you get tired of sailing the seven seas, why not drop anchor at a nearby Island? The Isle of Luck is an island found near the bottom middle of your map. This island is inhabited by pretty strong heartless, namely the Anchor Raiders, that net you a lot of EXP upon defeat. A few rounds of traveling to this island will make your level rise faster than a pirate’s flag post. However, that’s not all. Since you’re a pirate, there’s quite the bit of booty to plunder from this island too. The Heartless here have a good chance to drop quite a bit of rare and valuable synthesis items. If you’re in the need for Wellspring or Lucid ingredients, this is the place to be.
6. Kingdom of Corona Forest
This is quite the early game grind spot if you’re in the mood to be over-leveled very quickly. In Corona Forest we get this long, exp filled path that starts from Rapunzel’s Tower and snakes through the entire forest area – netting you roughly 2000 exp each run. If you’re one to get bored easily from grinding the same enemies in the same area over and over again, then I suggest taking this hiking trail. There’s enough variety to keep things interesting, at least for the first couple runs. Once you’ve completed a run through, just fast travel back to the Tower and go again! Later on in the game there’s even a similar grinding path in Arendelle that you can use to grind mid-to-late game levels.
5. Keyblade Graveyard
In the Keyblade Graveyard you’ll be greeted by swarms upon swarms of countless enemies ranging from Heartless to Nobodies to Unversed. Usually when you defeat enough of these enemies you can use the Mountain Coaster reaction command to continue the story and sequence. However, if you don’t use that, the sequence will continue to spawn in more and more enemies until you click it. So just like the areas in Monstropolis mentioned earlier, this can be taken advantage of and used to grind lots of exp. It’ll require a lot of patience. But you can stay in this one area for hours knocking enemies around until you reach your desired level. If you want to be prepared for the final fight against the Real Organization XIII, then this is likely one of the better places to grind.
4. Realm of the Gods (Battle Gate #1)
For our next stop on this grinding train, we have Battlegates. These special challenge areas unlock near the end of the game, so they’re your best options for preparing for the final boss or some post-game leveling. If you’re in the mood for some extra lore, the Secret Reports are also found in these challenges. The first Battlegate we have is one found in the big open courtyard in the Realm of the Gods. This one doesn’t net as large of an exp gain as the rest, but it is one of the easier ones to fight if you don’t want to focus too much and just spam AOE moves. Thundaga and some XP boost food should net you around 1 new level a run.
3. Skein of Severance (Battle Gate #0)
All Battlegatees are great for grinding, with each new on a little better than the rest. Usually it comes down to personal preference for which enemies you want to fight and what rewards/materials you want to collect while you grind. For this Battlegate (located in The Keyblade Graveyard), you can fight in a corridor of darkness, which just looks cool. That’s pretty much the main difference between this and the previous one. Both great.
2. Arendelle Battle Gate (Battle Gate #9)
Now we’re moving onto the two biggest recommended grinding areas in the whole game. First off we have the Battlegate in the frozen tundra that is Arendelle. This gate is extremely good for lots of exp in only a few hours of grinding. If you have the patience, you’ll be at level 99 in no time, netting around 45,000 exp each minute… or well, some time. You get the point. You can also collect an Evanescent Crystal here if you’re in the need for one.
1. San Fransokyo North District Battle Gate (Battle Gate #12)
And here’s everyone’s most recommended leveling spot for KH3. The San Fransokyo Battlegate is quite possibly the most overpowered leveling spot in the whole game. You can get from around level 50 to 99 in roughly 30 minutes with enough motivation. That’s so much better than anything else mentioned on this list. If you need levels for the Data Organization Boss fights, the level 99 achievement, or anything else by hitting higher levels, this spot is a no brainer. Not only can you get fast levels, but you can also grind quite a bit of useful synthesis ingredients here – especially some used to forge the Ultima Weapon if you haven’t already created it.
