So, after a long, arduous journey, the death of a beloved friend, and finally defeating the evil Mordegon, I am now looking to fight the hardest battle of all: metal slime grinding. For the majority of Act 2, I grinded the Hardy Hands out in the Laguna De Gondolia, then went to the Manglegrove Whale Way Station when that was unlocked. Currently I'm about 52 or so for each character and found that these Hardy Hands no longer are worth EXP grinding. Where is the next best place to start farming?

I know of the Electro Light grind and have used it a few times, however it's beyond annoying and long to get setup (starting with Hallelujah to maximize EXP and items) and with it only working half the time, I'm debating if it's worth continuing that way, or finding a new spot with Vicious Liquid Metal Slimes that give 70k a pop. It takes probably close to 20 minutes just to pop the whole Electro Light process (MC has Pep Up ability and all other chars have the pep up passive skill) and if Rab misses Dirge of Dundrasil, it's pretty much luck that lets me kill 1 of maybe 3 or 4 that show up.

The most I was ever able to get was when Rab hit all 3 (1 VLMS, 2 VMS) and I was able to Critical Acclaim the VLMS and Thunder Thrust one of the VMS. Hendrik's crit axe move missed and Hero's Metal Sword ability only hit for 2 damage and the thing fled, and with the Hallelujah bonus it only gave me 148k EXP.

TL;DR: Whats the best place to grind VLMS that doesnt include using the Electro Light Pep Power