Xenogears: how necessary is the endgame grind? I’m struggling, and am losing a bit of patience.

Alright guys. I’m at the end of disc 2, the one open world segment before the final boss. The Xenosaga wikis Xenogears walkthrough tells me I gotta grind in the desert for dragons for a while right now, and I’ll be honest there is nothing in me that wants to do that. I’m hyped to see the ending, not grind in the desert for roughly 520000 gold.

Right now, I have max gear upgrades from joes shop for fei, citan, and Emeralda. What I am missing are 2 Z-charges so everyone can have one and 6 GS50s. People also aren’t SUPER high leveled—I have tried to fight the desert dragons and did get one shotted. I think fei is lv 70, citan is 65, and Emeralda is 63. I DO have speed shoes for everyone.

Now, the question is: is it really necessary for me to grind? What should I do if I’m struggling to kill the dragons in the desert? In General I find gear combat infinitely easier than person combat, do I even need those extra gear items? (Could I perhaps substitute 2 of the gs50s for power magics to put on Emeralda, is ether effective for the final dungeon?)

Thanks for the help guys! I cannot wait to see the conclusion to this masterpiece of a story.