Is there any reason to fight enemies in Chapters 1-2?
I watched my brother playing FFXIII and he explained how there were no character levels, only the Crystarium. So when I started a new game, before the Crystarium tutorial there was no mention of CP and I assume I wasn't earning any. I actually felt like I wasn't getting anything from these battles.
Is there any reason to fight these early monsters? Are they tied to some hidden achievement/trophy down the line?
EDIT: The question was initially about Chapter 1, but it should also apply to Chapter 2 where you still get no CP and enemies are more easily avoidable.
Best Answer
In chapter 1 there are 4 required fights, and no treasures worth fighting to get. The enemies drop phoenix downs and potions and some fang components so nothing special.
In chapter 2 you can farm sols from the ghouls which are quite useful. The items worth getting are the Gladius and the Power Wristband. Otherwise dodging everything there is fine as well. Ghouls also drop Cieth Tears and Tears of Frustration, these components are quite good for early game leveling. So by farming ghouls you get sols and good components. It won't make a difference long term. But if you want to be OP early game, chapter 2 isn't a bad place to farm.
You might ask, why not delay farming to chapter 3 where you can also earn CP from battles. First the rate of sol drops halves in ch3, so you will be receiving fewer sols. The enemies are tougher and more spread out and there is no good place to respawn enemies easily. Also because of the crystarium system each area has a CP cap, so CP farming is essentially pointless. Farming components for upgrades will make you much stronger than farming CP in early game.
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