History Main / LevelLockedLoot

* The ''Free/Libre Action Roleplaying Engine'''s [[https://flarerpg.org/mods/flare-empyrean/ default campaign]] has minimum stats required to use each piece of gear. This is important since there's a shared space allowing different playthroughs to pass items back and forth; without the restriction, a character could reach the end-game and then flood a new starter with [[DiscOneNuke massively overpowered gear making everything easy]]. It's still possible to donatte a RareRandomDrop that you don't need, but only if the recipient has played far enough that theoretically they could have obtained it themselves.

* ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'' has some weapons and equipment that are locked off until your stats reach a certain level. This includes heavy weapons that require a high enough Body level to carry, cyberware that requires a high enough Intelligence level to use, and a host of others items which you can't buy from vendors until you have sufficient street cred.

* In the ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' series, you always start off with a basic shooter called the Splattershot. If you want to start using not only different shooters, but also different weapon types and their multitude of variations, you'll need to increase your level through playing the Turf War and Ranked Battle modes. With each level, more and more weapons are unlocked for purchase in the store, with the final ones being unlocked at Level 30.

* ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarOnline2'' seals equipment based on character stats, just like the first ''Phantasy Star Online''. Unlike the first ''PSO'', however, you can't trick the game into allowing you to equip much stronger gear by equipping weak gear with a stat boost first, as equipment bonuses are kept separate from your base stats, which are the stats that are actually used to determine which gear you can equip. However, you can still manipulate the system by directly influencing your base stats in ways other than leveling up, such as leveling up your MAG and investing in stat boosts on the SkillTree.

[[folder:[=MMORPGs=] ]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Mabinogi}}'' mostly averts this, relying on [[AdamSmithHatesYourGuts price]] or [[ThatOneBoss difficulty]] [[PowerEqualsRarity of ]][[UltimateBlacksmith acquisition]] to keep the heavy stuff out of the wimps' hands. A lot of gear is species-specific, though.
** Also, many enchantment effects activate at a certain level, and if you rebirth they become dormant until you reach that level again. Enchantment-effect triggers can also involve age and skill rank.
* ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'' has stat requirements for equipment, but in the earlier days of the game, there were no such requirements for consumables. This made it possible to skip from level 1 to level 4 immediately after a NewGamePlus by simply eating some of the best food in the game at the time, so it was eventually {{Nerf}}ed by adding level requirements for consumables.

* ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarOnline2'' seals equipment based on character stats, just like the first ''Phantasy Star Online''. Unlike the first ''PSO'', however, you can't trick the game into allowing you to equip much stronger gear by equipping weak gear with a stat boost first, as equipment bonuses are kept separate from your base stats, which are the stats that are actually used to determine which gear you can equip. However, you can still manipulate the system by directly influencing your base stats in ways other than leveling up, such as leveling up your MAG and investing in stat boosts on the SkillTree.
* The fact that gear in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'' had level requirements to equip isn't surprising for an MMO, but this came with some serious problems. In FFXI you lose EXP when you die (you can regain some by having Raise cast on you), and can actually lose levels through death. Thereby making newly equipped gear suddenly unwearable till you got the level back. A bigger problem until the 4th expansion was level capped fights. Several bonus bosses and virtually all story bosses in the 2nd expansion reduced the player's level to a fixed max. Any gear over that level was unusable in those fights, so players doing such fights had to keep low level gear on hand (and the game was notorious for very limited inventory). The 4th expansion implemented level scaled that allowed gear to get around this by scaling its stats.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' follows the same gear restricted trend as ''Final Fantasy XI'' did, but without the threat of EXP loss and having mechanics for scaling down your gear's stats for level-capped fights from the beginning, thus the only restriction you'll really face is the time needed to level grind to use gear locked for higher level characters. Gear also has item levels (or ilvl), where certain end game content will be locked off to you unless your average item level meets the minimum requirements. The game also adds on restrictions of this nature for using glamour prisms to make gear look like other gear - one item can only be made to look like another item if A) the player is of the right level to use the second item normally, and B) the gear you're actually using is restricted to the same or a higher level than the gear you're making it look like.

* ''VideoGame/{{FATE}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Torchlight}}'' both have a whole slew of character, stat and feat requirements for any equip you care to name, and the [[PowerEqualsRarity Legendary gear]] in ''FATE'' also requires a high Fame level. It's possible to remove an item and have several others unequip themselves because they were depending on its stat bonuses...and in your adventuring career this ''will'' happen at least once.
** ''Torchlight 2'' plays with this a bit, as items can be locked by class(es) (e.g. only the Outlander and/or Engineer can use it), by level, and by stats - but the latter two are generally either/or requirements in that you either need to fulfill the minimum level ''or'' minimum stat requirements, not '''both'''. This lets builds with a touch of CripplingOverspecialization use certain items well in advance of when more evenly-spread builds would normally be able to.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Fable}}'', it's possible to carry and even equip a weapon you don't have enough Physique for, but if you do so you end up [[SwordDrag dragging]] it laboriously along the ground and being completely ineffectual in combat.
* ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'': There aren't any level restrictions, but there are a few items that can only be used by a [[IncorruptiblePurePureness light-]] or [[TheDarkSide dark-side]] character.
* In ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarOnline'' the different kinds of items are restricted by different stats: armor is level-restricted, blade weapons are restricted by your attack strength, guns are restricted by your accuracy, and wands are restricted by your mental strength. Your other equipment is counted for the limit, so if you equip an [[StatSticks item that increases your accuracy]] you can equip better guns than you normally could.
** Do note you only need the stats when equipping the weapon. It wasn't uncommon for players to carry around crappy weapons that gave a decent boost to a stat for the sole purpose of replacing it with a weapon they didn't have the stats for yet.
* Almost all of the items in ''{{VideoGame/Diablo}}'' have statistic-based restrictions: melee weapons and armor require strength, bows require dexterity, and books require magic. However, rings and amulets never have restrictions, which means that a beginning character can easily be given jewelry that adds 15 or more points to all of his stats.
* ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'' has "reduced level requirement" as a possible random ability on some gear, making level 60 kit that you can wield at (say) level 46 ''that still has the stats of level 60''. The gap between 46 and 60 is a ''[[GameBreaker lot]]'' bigger than that between 32 and 46...
* Somewhat averted in VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion as weapon/spell/armor effectiveness scales with relevant [[StatGrinding Skills]].
* In ''VideoGame/{{Summoner}}'', ability to use weapons is dependent on whether to character has the right weapon skill (and whether it's explicitly character-restricted), but gear for everyone but [[BlackMagicianGirl Rosalind]] is also dependent on their Heavy Arms skill.

* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', armor and most weapons have strength requirements. Daggers and bows have dexterity requirement instead. Some equipment is also restricted to specific classes or specializations, and some personal items are restricted to specific characters (including the PlayerCharacter).

[[folder:Other VideoGames]]

* ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarOnline2es'' has a unique relationship between gear and player in which it is possible to equip any of your gear at any given point in time, but based on your Level in relation to the power of the equipment, the stats of the equipment is scaled down proportionally if you are not strong enough to achieve maximum stats on the equipment. For weapons, if there is also a Class mismatch between you and the weapon, the required Level to reach the weapon's maximum stats is much higher than if you were the same Class as the weapon; in a lot of cases involving endgame weapons, it is impossible to hit max stats with the wrong Class.

* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
** For given definitions of "level", ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI'' won't even allow Link to pick up the White Sword or the Magical Sword until he has five and twelve heart containers, respectively. The old man's comment of "Master using it and you can have this" doesn't make the connection clear.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' is unique among the ''Zelda'' games in that there's not some specific set of tasks required to obtain the Master Sword. Link can attempt to claim it anytime once its location is discovered, but doing so will drain his life, killing him if he hasn't collected a sufficiently large number of [[HeartContainer heart containers]]. And trying to fool it with buffs that grant bonus hearts doesn't work.
[[/folder]]

* ''[[https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/35368/dungeon-crawler-katia Dungeon Crawler Katia]]'' is given a joke reward by the system AI: the "Cloak and Boots of Elvenkind", granting an excellent set of skills and stat boosts but requiring a whopping 150 Dexterity to equip. [[spoiler:She munchkins her way into extracting some of the skills from them, at least.]]

* Parodied in reference to an announced ''VideoGame/DungeonSiege'' [[Film/InTheNameOfTheKing film]] in ''Webcomic/PennyArcade'', shown [[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/2/25/ here]].
* Joked about in [[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/comicsandcosplay/comics/stolen-pixels/5086-Stolen-Pixels-7-Vulture-Milk this]] Stolen Pixels strip.
--> You need [[YouHaveResearchedBreathing a Ph.D. in Kicking Ass to slurp down a bowl of soup]], and you'll need to be more than halfway to godhood before you're allowed to face the challenge and responsibility of eating pie.

* ''Every'' proper military has this in the form of certain pieces of the uniform. For example, to wear the beret rather than the cap you might need to first complete a challenge to prove you're worthy of it, or complete a specific level of your trade's training to wear that trade's cap badge. Some even require you to regularly do these, such as regularly parachute from planes to have the paratrooper patch or regularly score a certain level on the rifle range to have the marksman badge, and you'll ''lose'' the patch if you fail to do so. Wearing one of these pieces of the uniform without having earned the right to do so is considered shameful and dishonorable on par with [[PhonyVeteran civilians who steal valor]].

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' is unique among the ''Zelda'' games in that there's not some specific set of tasks required to obtain the Master Sword. Link can attempt to claim it anytime once its location is discovered, but doing so will drain his life, killing him if he hasn't collected a sufficiently large number of [[HeartContainer heart containers]]. And trying to fool it with buffs that grant bonus hearts doesn't work.

* In ''VideoGame/PathOfExile'', equipment can have not only level requirements but also Strength, Dexterity, and/or Intelligence requirements. Yes, this means that it is possible for a character to not be smart enough to wear a pair of witch's boots (maybe the lacing is really complicated?). Some unique items are given absurdly high stat requirements to balance out their power.

* ''VideoGame/{{Mabinogi}}'' mostly averts this, relying on [[AdamSmithHatesYourGuts price]] or [[ThatOneBoss difficulty]] [[PowerEqualsRarity of ]][[UltimateBlacksmith acquisition]] to keep the heavy stuff out of the wimps' hands. A lot of gear is [[FiveRaces species-specific]], though.

* ''Every'' proper military has this in the form of certain pieces of the uniform. For example, to wear the beret rather than the cap you might need to first complete a challenge to prove your worthy of it, or complete a specific level of your trade's training to wear that trade's cap badge. Some even require you to regularly do these, such as regularly parachute from planes to have the paratrooper patch or regularly score a certain level on the rifle range to have the marksman badge, and you'll ''lose'' the patch if you fail to do so. Wearing one of these pieces of the uniform without having earned the right to do so is considered shameful and dishonorable on par with [[PhonyVeteran civilians who steal valor]].

* In ''VideoGame/PathOfExile'', equipment can have not only level requirements but also Strength, Dexterity, or Intelligence requirements. Yes, this means that it is possible for a character to not be smart enough to wear a pair of witch's boots (maybe the lacing is really complicated?).

** Some classes learn how to use a heavier armor class at level 40, locking them out of using items of said class before that point. While this isn't too bad for Warriors and Paladins since you'll barely find any plate items before that point anyway, Hunters and Shamans aren't so lucky.
** Speaking of Hunters, some beast families are effectively locked until you reach a high enough level to tame the lowest level beasts of that family, with a hard lock placed on Exotic pets (you need level 69 to learn how to tame these). Everything else needs level 10 to learn the Tame Beast skill, except for the beast hunters start out with (depending on their race).

[[folder: Role Playing Games]]

[[folder: Other VideoGames]]

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' follows the same gear restricted trend as ''Final Fantasy XI'' did, but without the threat of EXP loss, thus the only restriction you'll really face is the time needed to level grind to use gear locked for higher level characters. Gear also comes in the form of item levels (or ilvl), where certain end game content will be locked off to you unless your average item level meets the requirements.