Actual Char. EXP.

[Chasing the Sunset]

Yen Quest

Are you asking if you don't equip any rings, you have zero strength/defense? That, I do not know of.

I was asking if your characters base stats increased by leveling up.

[Iceketch]

Yen Quest

Are you asking if you don't equip any rings, you have zero strength/defense? That, I do not know of.

If he's asking for that the answer is simple, no rings=no equips, so
the chacater would have not skills/attacks/statuses, but anyway the RING GU
and the Skill mastering can still have some surprise, so I think we
just have to wait for a official statement of this.

[Chasing the Sunset]

Iceketch

Yen Quest

Are you asking if you don't equip any rings, you have zero strength/defense? That, I do not know of.

If he's asking for that the answer is simple, no rings=no equips, so
the chacater would have not skills/attacks/statuses, but anyway the RING GU
and the Skill mastering can still have some surprise, so I think we
just have to wait for a official statement of this.

As far as I know, Ring Fu just accounts for your ability to equip better rings.
I want to know it is possible to increase your avi's level and thusly increase base stats, because that could possibly relieve or lesson the need for certain types of ring and allow them to have a greater focus on their type of ring of choice.

[Yen Quest]

Now I think about it, the rings acts as skills/weapon/armor... In most games that I've played, you can have your character not wearing any weapon or armor but still have some defense and strength due to their level. So if we don't have rings, we're pretty much close to the same with a newb, no matter how long you've played.

Yeah, we should wait for more info on this.

[Pheir]

Kurenai Gekijou

:edit:

I understand that Ring Fu is the total lvl of ring exp you have. And I can understand how that could relate to an overall lvl for your avi.
BUT
I wanted to know if you ACTUALLY leveled your character up and thusly increased your base stats (stats WITHOUT any rings on).
Can someone answer that?

Well, all we know is that rings will effect your current stats when equipped. If they effect you more as they rank up and leave a more permanent effect, no one knows. So right now its a waiting game for more information.

[Troy_Star]

Really, there's no need for character levels at all. In Chrono Cross, the characters grow naturally in their stats. Instead of leveling up and getting fixed stat boosts, they get a little more HP here and there and a couple stat points every once in a while when they battle. The rings sound like they mimic this through being used until they grow.