They will disappear. You have two options: spend about ten minutes getting up to level 3, or picking up more loot on the way and potentially taking a long time to get there. For your level, I think there isn't really a great area to chain loot, so you just ned to look at the most valuable loot you can pick up and chain whatever drops it.

Ah, that guy, yes, he's a complete pain in the ass if you don't use the special item on him.

In the sandsea, in an area before you get to him, there's a spot where you will see one of the Sand People cast out and then killed by an Elder or the Queen (I forget which). When he dies and everyone leaves, a flower will grow where his body was. You can pick up the flower and use it as a battle item against the boss.

Did any of that ring a bell?

Ah, i do have that flower. Isn't it a one time thing, though? I think I just didn't want to use it, then forgot about it.

And the item leveling confuses me somewhat. So you basically attack one type of enemy and DON'T pick up their stuff, so the levels will go up. You may lose some of that loot, but it doesn't really matter, because now the other enemies (of the same type) that you kill will start dropping higher level stuff?

And if you attack another type of enemy, the levels reset?

It's a one time thing that only works on that particular boss. So yes, there's no reason to not use it. Truth be told, in my first playthrough I was so frightened by that boss that I used the flower and then hit it with a Quickening chain, killing it in one shot.

Now, how to explain loot chaining more clearly.

Basically, you start at level 0, and can go up to level 3. The loot dropped looks like different things at different levels.

Level 0 - brown bag

Level 1 - silver and blue coin

Level 2 - gold coin

Level 3 - enormous gold coin

Now, how do we level up? By chaining enemies of the same type. But what is a chain?

Well, if you've ever killed two enemies of the same type in a row, like Wolves or the sand folks all up in that desert, you'll notice that you get a little message that says "2-chain". Each enemy of the same type you kill will add another number to your chain, so if you kill 20 wolves you get a 20-chain. Think of each kill as a link in the chain.

How many kills does it take to level up the chain? Anywhere between 6-8, I think. So after a 6-chain you could be getting level 1 loot, which is already much more valuable than level 0. But! Whenever you pick up loot, that takes away one on your counter towards getting to the next level.

That doesn't mean that you will never level up if you keep picking up loot, because there are certain points past which you will force the chain to level. But these numbers are very high - often as much as 20-25 kills per level!

So you could get to level 3 in say 24 kills or as many as 80 kills, depending on whether or not you pick up dropped loot.

Does that explain it any better?

Yeah, that does.  How does moving between areas affect this?  In case I run out of stuff to kill...

You can zone once without breaking a chain, and you can zone twice if you move back into the area that you just left. Zoning any more than those outlined just now will break the chain.

Now, one moe thing - do you know how to use Quickenings to make a combo?

I don't even know what a Quickening is.

Though I may have just forgotten...

I should've made a thread asking all this when I was still playing the game. >_>

I think I'm going to make a big post about how to play Final Fantasy XII, divulging all the little nuggets and secrets that a lot of people seem to miss.

Don't worry much about Quickenings yet - though they are almost absurdly powerful early on. They'r basically this game's limit breaks, except much more interactive.

FFXII is very fun to play. Never beated it so can't say I have a fair opinion of the story and characters but the setting and back story is pretty damn interesting.

Might as well mention that I hold "And so House Solidor lives on," to be one of the best lines in any RPG ever written.