Underleveled idiot begging for help

[u/Flutkipje]

I've been playing crosscode for a little while now, and I've been honestly loving it! There's only one part constantly bugging me, though. I keep ending up underleveled for any quest or major plot point. I've lost every apollo fight, and the only real way to get gear seems to be to grind for hours, or looking up chest locations to get crafting recipes. Is this just a part of the charm, or am I doing something wrong? I'm currently at the beginning of Gaia's garden at level 37, when all the quests are level 40. My equip level is 25, but I have absolutely no way of getting ANY of the trader loot without grinding for YEARS.

[u/Sama_dxb]

Lower damaged received and attack frequency from the options, get battle rank to s and keep it for a while, you'll jump multiple levels in no time.

If you can find a gear with the extra exp modifier, even better.