I'm currently at level 61 in the lost grove and have consistently been getting my butt kicked for over two weeks. I'd like to level up my team more before trying again but its so hard to get a decent amount of experience from battles. Is there any tips to get to at least 65 easier?

Leveling to level 65 will help your pets get better, but I would try these first.

Overall you have decent stuff for your team, your team just has really low stats that brings you down. (assuming you are using Grapes of wrath, siduri and winter princess) Your base stats for your pets dip as low as 10. (I try to keep mine at 40 or higher.) While grapes of wrath is pretty, he is no fighter. If you are willingly to train it to level 60, and serious about training in the lost Grove, I can give you one of my strongest pets to boost up your team:
https://www.sylestia.com/image_builder_pet.php?species=nephini&breed=sylesti&gender=male&gd1=CD&gd2=EF&gd3=II&md1=CF&md2=DE&md3=NC&ec=acaff4&c1=f6f9f5&c2=e4c9f4&c3=e3c8f5&gd1c=dcd3f7&gd2c=4b5577&gd3c=ce90e0&md1c=f1c4e0&md2c=7ea1c0&md3c=decaed&ac=daccf3&ac2=000000&maturity=648&costume=0&size=250&owned=1
I no longer need him with a team of nearly max stats already available to me.

Just ping me so I don't miss your post

Sorry, wrong link:
https://www.sylestia.com/view/pets/?petid=4427280

Thank you, I would be happy to take him to train. Any suggestions on what element I should use? I read something about all shadow for the grove.

Since I'm going to be train a new pet from you, should I also train up this pet of mine? https://www.sylestia.com/view/pets/?petid=4465364 I can replace winter princess with her.

Yeah I think that would be great to do at the same time. (He'd be great as a light pet for the team) I have personally heard shadow, wind, light is the best. It is my personal favorite. I'm not sure about an all shadow team but I don't think it would be best. While your team would slightly heal up a lot, I think it would be hard to do a lot of damage and keep your pets from fainting. I've set up the Nephini. I used a philter of amneisa I had lying around in case you want to rename him.

Thank you very much for the advice and the pet. Hopefully it won't take too long to get them leveled up and I'll finally be able to get through the grove.

You're Welcome! I think there is someone in general discussions who levels pets to 60 for free if It would help..

Winter, while higher stat pets do help, in the lost grove, proficiency is most important. It will always be hard for any pet just starting in the grove until they get to 2 stars!

What I did:

1) Overlevel! Dungeon of the Forsaken is perfect to level up to 65, and festival zones work well all the way to 70!!

2) Stay at the top of the grove until the pets get stronger. (Area near the castle). The enemies tend to be easier there, and come out more often in singles instead of triples near the bottom!

3) Use all lost grove equipment of the right type. I tried for vinethorn of as much as possible, with exotic where I couldn't. (You seem to be fine with this).

4) Darkness/Air/Light seems to be the most balanced team in the lost grove (though there are certainly other combos that work well!). I find defensive teams struggle in the lost grove, especially against named mini-bosses! Grapes of Wrath, for example, is quite defensive with reaver gear. An attacking air pet might make things easier with a strong set of attacks. This is especially true once they get to lvl 70!

And I'll say it again: proficiency is *much* more important than max stats! Since you've only recently started, switching for a new (stronger) pet in your team should be fine. Especially if you plan to add in an air pet anyway. But once you have your team, it is best to stick with the same team! Level 2 proficiency basically doubles your pets' strength, and it only increases from there! Proficiency is only gained from battling and using attacks in the lost grove and builds up slowly.