The game bases EXP on your level. If you're below the expected level you for the area get tons of EXP, if you're above it you practically get zero EXP. So in this way, the game ensures you're always within the expected range without getting overleveled or underleveled and without the need of grinding.

If you're having trouble, adjust quartz and equipment or decrease the difficulty level.

If the enemy gets turns before you do, it means you're frequently being surprise attacked from behind and desperately need to stop letting them do that.

Get preemptive strikes. Flee unfavorable fights (fleeing is 100%). Focus on negating and preventing damage instead of healing it back, and heal out of combat where you're not going to get into a resource-wasting turn spiral. Put people in the back row to get more turns to cast stuff before the enemy reaches you, and kill most of the field before they can hit you at all. Use Action and Cast quartz on everyone. The game rewards playing cleanly and punishes the usual JRPG turtle strat.

Do not grind. Not only does it do VERY little good (most stat curve comes from equipment rather than level), but it usually wastes resources and almost always means you miss out on an EP refill from leveling up mid-dungeon later on.

Originally posted by Berahlen:

Get preemptive strikes. Flee unfavorable fights (fleeing is 100%).

That. Depending on party size, and the enemies, I knew which groups I could kill before they even get a turn. If I couldn't kill them in before they get a turn, I just left. This does not apply to boss fights, of course.

I might have done a few rounds even on unwinnable fights just in case I get a heal bonus on my character, so I might even have gotten something out of the encounter..

There isn't much that can be done to help with bosses, though. I did generally follow a guide that told me which gems to use in each area, which I suppose helped a bit even though they did frequently list gems I did not yet have. This gem system in particular is likely the most broken aspect of the game since it completely changes the skills you have, so keep an eye on that...

Originally posted by Koby:

The game bases EXP on your level. If you're below the expected level you for the area get tons of EXP, if you're above it you practically get zero EXP. So in this way, the game ensures you're always within the expected range without getting overleveled or underleveled and without the need of grinding.

If you're having trouble, adjust quartz and equipment or decrease the difficulty level.

I don't think you can decrease the difficulty level.

Originally posted by keep.it.professional:

I don't think you can decrease the difficulty level.

True, you cannot.

Best things to do is to fight monsters until the XP scaling reduces the XP gain to negligible levels, and use good tactics, like the ones Berahlen mentioned above. Most important of these: get pre-emptive strikes (i.e. hit the monsters from behind in the field with your character). Having the Eagle Eye and Haze Quartz makes this much easier.

Use chaos brand on them. They will kill each other. It's what I do on Nightmare. Funnily enough, they hurt each other more if you play on Nightmare, so chaos brand is a bit OP in this game, since it works on almost everything.