Is Finala going to level up?

[Gobatcha]

I'm playing in Merc level, my party of 4 are at Amanlu at ~35th level. I want to complete the Arinth the Mad sidequest, but I don't have a Combat Mage. I disbanded my dire wolf and picked up Finala, but she starts at level 22 and can't equip the Staff of Arinth. So I did some aimless backtracking and wandering to get some experience for her. I got bored that and decided to continue with the Amanlu Arena quest. I killed all but the 10th round of bad boys and decided to continue with the primary quest. I killed Talon and completed Act 2, but Finala has only gone up one stinking level. At this rate will I ever get her up to level 28 so she can use the staff or is it a wasted effort? My best idea at this point is to disband all but Finala so she gets a bigger helping of exp and then do some more backtracking in order to bring her up to speed.
Any thoughts or ideas?

[swcarter]

How far did you backtrack? You get the most experience from enemies within five levels of the character you're trying to advance.

SWC