I bought this game like a year ago on PSN and never played more than a few hours into it. I'm trying again because my computer is kaput and I can't play Planescape BUT ALSO because the promise of having an army of super soldiers with really big stats entices me.

Some observationals: Everyone but Laharl sucks. Or at least they start out that way. I knew I needed to grind in this game, but forgot you needed to do that right from the beginning. I'm only on the second chapter, so I can't grind on that map that has all the invincibility squares. Also, this game is crazy. There are like thirty different things to do and I'm too low level for all of them!

That's why I need tips! I got the basics of the game, I just don't know what to do with myself. There's this crazy item world stuff that seems really cool, but when should I actually start doing that?

Should I try to destroy Geo Stones for the bonus at the end? That's what I've been doing in the item world, that is when the RNG doesn't make it impossible to clear them.

Should I transmigrate a generic soldier right when the new tier is unlocked, or should I wait? Maybe its worth waiting until the character has enough mana to trans into a genius? That said, if I want to make a new brawler type (for example), should I start from the highest tier or go from the base and grind?

How do I level up clerics anyway?I know you can teach them mage spells, but then why bother having the mages around?

Monsters: do I use them, or stick with generics?

And finally, should I just play Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lion instead?

Thanks! ^_^

Yes, just play Final Fantasy Tactics instead.

Oh wait. You wanted actual advice? Pick one character and a map that adds EXP. Grind. Grind. Grind. Progress in story, steamrolling everything with your one overleveled character until you reach another grind-worthy area. Cringe at bad attempts at humor. Rinse/repeat for 30 hours.

Just progress through the story. There's a story mission/level about midway that you'll be seeing a lot of if you grind.

Also, wanted to note that clerics in this game suck big balls of suck. They only get exp from attacks. They fixed this problem in the later games, where you actually get exp for healing.

Just replay the previous levels to build up your lower level characters, and you should be set.
The Item World stuff is fun, but you shouldn't need to worry about it this early.
I don't really remember enough to answer all your questions, but I think I found it better to go for the higher tier when making a new character rather than building one up.  Definitely try to position the Geo stones for higher chains. 

@ArbitraryWater: Your thinly-veiled jabs at the Disgaea series make me frown.

@Beforet: I haven't poured a considerable amount of time into a Disgaea title into a long while, but I should be able to help you with what little knowledge I retained. Personally, I wouldn't stray too far from the story chapters until you complete your first round/build up a nice squad of units. Until then, you'll only be going to the Dark Assembly to unlock new items in the shop or create new units. Any sort of grinding can be done by returning to earlier stages.

Transmigration is the sort of post-game ability that should be saved until you're able to easily raise the levels of your units and get them mana. Although monsters seem lacking in some areas, their weapons tend to be really nice and could easily turn them into some of your strongest characters. On top of that, their techniques are pretty effective. I hope this all helps a bit.

P.S: If you must play something else, play Tactics Ogre. You can thank me later.

@Flappy: I'd normally admit to being facetious, but that's exactly what my roommate did when he was playing through it. When any sort of strategic depth can be thrown out the window in favor of grinding, and the game openly encourages it, I can't really consider that to be very entertaining. Of course, even if you wanted to play Disgaea like a traditional Strategy RPG you'd still need to grind a "NES-era JRPG" amount, and when you can't skip the animations in the PS2 version, that takes a long time. Sure, FFT has this problem as well, but not really to the same extent or the same severity. Sadly have not played Tactics Ogre, so I can't say anything about that, though I wish I could.

Really, I'm more of a Fire Emblem guy, though Final Fantasy Tactics is alright with me.

No Final Fantasy Tactics has it to a much greater amount. The point of Disgaea is to play with the geo blocks are work on finding ways to clear them in the item world and build yourself up.

I love FF tactics so I'd go with that. But WHAT DO I KNOW!?

@ArbitraryWater: That's totally fine. The insane amounts of grinding is one of the reasons Disgaea (and most of the Nippon Ichi games) are considered niche titles. Sure, the story is entertaining and the characters are nice, but your ultimate goal is to build a super powerful army capable of taking down the ridiculous optional bosses that the game throws at you. There's a group of people out there that eat this sort of stuff right up.

I haven't played any Fire Emblem games in a while, but I remember loving the GBA titles back in the day. If there's one series that I wish got more love in the West, it's that one.

@Beforet: Don't worry about most of the Item World or extra game stuff until you've wrapped up the story once. That'll save you some frustration in the long term, and give you a chance to get acquainted with the game's basics.

Usually, I find that it's best in your first run to concentrate on leveling 3-5 characters of your choice. Avoid the healer, as mentioned earlier, as it was kind of broken in the first game (I believe that was fixed in the handheld versions, but don't quote me on that). Concentrate on getting through the main story by grinding out each level a couple of times (at least) until you find a level you particularly like, and then grind the hell out of it while you're still gaining decent experience. Meanwhile, use the Dark Assembly sparingly, mostly to make better goods available in your store (I believe that was in the first Disgaea, though again, don't quote me on it - it's been while since I've played the first). Just concentrate on keeping those 3-5 characters up to par with the best equipment for their particular class, grind their levels a bit, and you'll be through the story in no time, freeing you up for the post-game goodness.