History Main / LowLevelAdvantage

* In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'', the enemies of the world [[LevelScaling only level up when the player levels up]]. However, you trigger the level-up procedure by sleeping and there is nothing stopping you from continuing to increase your skill levels (which determine your ''actual'' power) in the meantime. Although the game does restrict a few things to higher levels, it is entirely possible to complete the main quest at Level 2. This can all result in the land being saved from a horde of extremely feeble monsters by a strangely competent chronic insomniac.
** Avoiding leveling up is also advantageous because ''entire classes of enemies disappear from the game world'' if your class is too advanced. All of the scamps and skeletons or whatnot will be replaced with elite mooks wearing daedric armor who can kill you in two hits if your armor is trash. Many, many user mods have balanced out this aspect of the game.
** There's also the issue of damage being capped (via both available magicka and a limit on stats), while health is not. Basically, once the player reaches a certain threshold, their damage stops increasing, but the health of enemies around them isn't, leading to long, drown out and incredibly dull fights with not only bosses, but with a simple leveling mook. However, monster damage is not in fact capped, meaning that as the player reaches the point where they were supposed to be able to challenge the nine Divines themselves (say level 40 or so), it's more or less impossible to get through fights without resorting to the use of a GameBreaker (which there are plenty of, and thereby render things too easy, but still long and drawn out).

** characters can reach level 30, but the merits of doing so are debated, and depend on the character. Higher level characters are much more likely to encounter [[EnemySummoner Archons and Arch Liches]], and may not be significantly more powerful.

This trope represents {{RPG}}s where there are particular advantages to refraining from LevelGrinding. In {{MMORPG}}s, this feature is known as AntiGrinding. This can exist when there are benefits that are LostForever if you try immediate grinding, but also when there are tactical advantages caused by a level gain. Or when the game uses LevelScaling, especially in conjunction with EmptyLevels.

* ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' prevented characters below level ten from receiving xp debt for a defeat. On the other hand, [[DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist xp debt isn't really a massive problem anyway.]]
** Also, there was an early period which drove completionists crazy, because the original design for the game involved characters [[LostForever outleveling mission arcs]] and the chance to even be introduced to many contacts. The idea (to individualize characters and their experiences) proved so unpopular that there were guides developed about how to get through missions with as little experience gain as possible. This eventually led to a "Turn Off XP Gain" checkbox buried deep in the game options, long before replaying missions was possible.

* ''[[VideoGame/AncientDomainsOfMystery ADOM]]'' has numerous optional quests that are LostForever above a certain level. These include: [[spoiler:killing Kranach (vanishes at level 6), the Pyramid (levels 13 to 16 only), the Minotaur Maze (levels 22 to 27 only), and Keethrax (the druid won't assign it after the unicorn quest)]].

** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'', your stats growth was affected by your current class, so you got the best stats by leveling up as little as possible before the class upgrades.
*** The above only applies to the remakes from 'Dawn of Souls' and up. The original NES and Origins versions averted this: the stats each class gained on level-up were determined by a table, each level having certain 'guaranteed to go' stats. Every time you levelled, you automatically gained a point in each of those stats, as well as having a 25% chance for each of your other stats to go up. The only character who actually suffered from this trope was the Black Belt, who gained 4 magic defense (a hidden stat) per level, while after class change, the Grand Master only gained 1 magic defense per level, presumably as a result of a bug. Having a ribbon (all elemental resistances) equipped made it moot though.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII'', all of your stats except max HP change upon changing classes. You gain HP based on your Vitality stat when you level up, so it's best to wait until you open the Karateka or Ninja classes which have the highest Vitality to do a lot of your LevelGrinding if you want to have more HP at the end. Similarly, you might want to unlock and change to the initial job classes as soon as possible to avoid weak HP gains from being Onion Knights.
* Here's a marginal example in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'': The final boss - Sephiroth - gets a severe stat-boost if you've hit the level cap at 99. Anything below that, and he'll have his original stats, meaning that the ideal conditions for taking him on is Level 98. He'll also get a massive HP boost if you've been spamming Knights of the Round on the two bosses before him.

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', most Espers give a special level up stat bonus. Therefore, it's best to save all your level ups for when you have some Espers with stat bonuses.

* An ''EverQuest'' server made PlayerVersusPlayer combat ineffective against characters under level 6. [[http://www.notacult.com/fansythefamous.htm Fansy the Famous Bard]] exploited this by "training" monsters. This involved taunting monsters and running away from them toward player characters of the opposite faction so that the monsters would slay the other characters. Because this FragileSpeedster never got any kills himself, he stayed on level 5.
* ''WorldOfWarcraft'' features a heavily reduced difficulty curve for players below level 20, primarily affecting mana and health regeneration but also how certain stat modifiers scale. The curve is pronounced enough that a properly equipped level 1 character could theoretically outdamage a level 10. However, since base stats are fixed at each level, there's no advantage to exploiting this in the long term unless you plan to be a Battlegrounds twink.

[[AC:ActionAdventure]]

[[AC:Action RPG]]

[[AC:{{MMORPG}}s]]

[[AC:{{Roguelike}}]]

[[AC:RolePlayingGame]]

*** If you ''do'' level up, it's best to wait until you have <Stat> Bonus abilities, which award an extra point (in the case of HP, an extra 10) to that respective stat upon leveling.
*** In fact without those <Stat> Bonus abilities, enemy stats generally increase faster than your party's, not to mention that enemies will gain new attacks at higher levels, making the game harder if you level.

** The mons tend to learn moves faster at lower EvolutionaryLevels. Therefore, sometimes it's best to keep them from evolving until they learn their final move, which can be five to 10 levels lower than in the evolved form. Also, Pokemon that evolve using stones, with the exception of Eevee, have a very limited movepool in its evolved forms, so it's better to not evolve them after their previous form has learned all the attacks it needs. Some moves can only be learned if a Pokémon is at a particular stage of development, and if it evolves to early, they won't be able to get it at all.

[[AC:Survival Horror]]
* In ''VideoGame/DeadIsland'' the enemies gain power along with the player so often leveling up only serves to reduce the effectiveness of your current equipment. This is especially obvious in subsequent playthroughs where you can earn huge XP rewards for challenges that were partially completed by your predecessor, giving you multiple simultaneous level ups that tend to leave you rather helpless until you can find some upgrades. At very low levels the enemies can be killed pretty easily and you can make use of the numerous grey quality weapons that are soon rendered useless as the enemies toughen up. Unfortunately XP cannot really be avoided as you receive large amounts for completing story missions.

[[AC:Tabletop Games]]

* In ''DeadIsland'' the enemies gain power along with the player so often leveling up only serves to reduce the effectiveness of your current equipment. This is especially obvious in subsequent playthroughs where you can earn huge XP rewards for challenges that were partially completed by your predecessor, giving you multiple simultaneous level ups that tend to leave you rather helpless until you can find some upgrades. At very low levels the enemies can be killed pretty easily and you can make use of the numerous grey quality weapons that are soon rendered useless as the enemies toughen up. Unfortunately XP cannot really be avoided as you receive large amounts for completing story missions.

* In ''{{Pokemon}}'', the mons tend to learn moves faster at lower EvolutionaryLevels. Therefore, sometimes it's best to keep them from evolving until they learn their final move, which can be five to 10 levels lower than in the evolved form. Also, Pokemon that evolve using stones, with the exception of Eevee, have a very limited movepool in its evolved forms, so it's better to not evolve them after their previous form has learned all the attacks it needs. Some moves can only be learned if a Pokémon is at a particular stage of development, and if it evolves to early, they won't be able to get it at all.

* In the fifth generation of ''{{Pokemon}}'', particularly in ''Black 2'' and ''White 2'', monsters would receive more experience from an enemy the lower the level of said monster. The equation didn't account well for level 1 monsters, which are only obtainable by breeding. With the proper exp modifiers, a level 1 mon could shoot up to somewhere between 50 and 70 by being swapped in during a high level trainer battle with a Blissey or Chansey. Attempt to do this at a higher level (i.e. 30) and you'll only end up gaining about 10 levels or so, if you're lucky.

* Since ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls'' and ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsI'' determines invasion and summon matchups by [[CharacterLevel Soul Level]], your ability relative to other players you fight is increased by finding better equipment and spending [[PracticalCurrency Souls]] to upgrade it instead of leveling up. Some {{griefer}}s take this to the extreme, using [[MinimalistRun low-level runs]] and GoodBadBugs to twink insanely powerful late-game weapons and armor for curbstomping people only hours into the game. Later entries and ''Bloodborne'' make various attempts to counter this:
** ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'' instead bases matchups on the total number of souls you've collected, which is theoretically a better indicator of a player character's power. This is a bit broken in the other direction: it's quite possible for someone to amass a lot of souls but lose them from dying, or lose a moderate amount of souls frequently. This would make you have a high value despite being low everywhere else except play time since you never actually used those souls for anything.

* In the fifth generation of ''{{Pokemon}}'', particularly in Black 2 and White 2, monsters would receive more experience from an enemy the lower the level of said monster. The equation didn't account well for level 1 monsters, which are only obtainable by breeding. With the proper exp modifiers, a level 1 mon could shoot up to somewhere between 50 and 70 by being swapped in during a high level trainer battle with a Blissey or Chansey. Attempt to do this at a higher level (i.e. 30) and you'll only end up gaining about 10 levels or so, if you're lucky.

* Since ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls'' and ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' determines invasion and summon matchups by [[CharacterLevel Soul Level]], your ability relative to other players you fight is increased by finding better equipment and spending [[PracticalCurrency Souls]] to upgrade it instead of leveling up. Some {{griefer}}s take this to the extreme, using [[MinimalistRun low-level runs]] and GoodBadBugs to twink insanely powerful late-game weapons and armor for curbstomping people only hours into the game. In an attempt to counter this, ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'' instead bases matchups on the total number of souls you've collected, though that system is a bit broken in the other direction: it's quite possible for someone to amass a lot of souls but lose them from dying, or lose a moderate amount of souls frequently. This would make you have a high value despite being low everywhere else except play time since you never actually used those souls for anything. ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'' went back to level-based matching-making but just prevented invading the world of anyone below level 30 unless they actively used Sinister Resonant Bell to summon Chime Maiden (it doesn't stop people below Level 30 from invading the others however), and ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'' also returned to level-based matching-making.

* In ''PlanescapeTorment'', the combat stats of the BigBad scale with The Nameless One's level (and this is [[JustifiedTrope justified by the plot]].) Of course, with so many ways of TalkingTheMonsterToDeath, fighting remains a sub-par option in any circumstance.
* ''TacticsOgre'''s GaidenGame ''The Knight of Lodis'' has a rather interesting strategy. You do level the main character, but you purposely keep him out of the sidelines and several levels below the main party. The game uses a level scaling system that will set the boss so that they will be above the main level of the leader and the units will be within 1-2 levels of him. But when your other 7 characters are much stronger than he is...ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill.

* Since ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls'' and ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' determines invasion and summon matchups by [[CharacterLevel Soul Level]], your ability relative to other players you fight is increased by finding better equipment and spending [[PracticalCurrency Souls]] to upgrade it instead of leveling up. Some {{griefer}}s take this to the extreme, using [[MinimalistRun low-level runs]] and GoodBadBugs to twink insanely powerful late-game weapons and armor for curbstomping people only hours into the game. In an attempt to counter this, ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'' instead bases matchups on the total number of souls you've collected, though that system is a bit broken in the other direction: it's quite possible for someone to amass a lot of souls but lose them from dying, or lose a moderate amount of souls frequently. This would make you have a high value despite being low everywhere else except play time since you never actually used those souls for anything. ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'' went back to level-based matching-making but just prevented invading the world of anyone below level 30 unless they actively used Sinister Resonant Bell to summon Chime Maiden (it doesn't stop people below LV30 from invading the others however), and ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'' also returned to level-based matching-making.

* Since ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls'' and ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' determines invasion and summon matchups by [[CharacterLevel Soul Level]], your ability relative to other players you fight is increased by finding better equipment and spending [[PracticalCurrency Souls]] to upgrade it instead of leveling up. Some {{griefer}}s take this to the extreme, using [[MinimalistRun low-level runs]] and GoodBadBugs to twink insanely powerful late-game weapons and armor for curbstomping people only hours into the game. In an attempt to counter this, ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'' instead bases matchups on the total number of souls you've collected, though that system is a bit broken in the other direction: it's quite possible for someone to amass a lot of souls but lose them from dying, or lose a moderate amount of souls frequently. This would make you have a high value despite being low everywhere else except play time since you never actually used those souls for anything. ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'' went back to level-based matching-making but just prevented invading the world of anyone below level 30, and ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'' also returned to level-based matching-making.

* Since ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls'' and ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' determines invasion and summon matchups by [[CharacterLevel Soul Level]], your ability relative to other players you fight is increased by finding better equipment and spending [[PracticalCurrency Souls]] to upgrade it instead of leveling up. Some {{griefer}}s take this to the extreme, using [[MinimalistRun low-level runs]] and GoodBadBugs to twink insanely powerful late-game weapons and armor for curbstomping people only hours into the game. In an attempt to counter this, ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'' instead bases matchups on the total number of souls you've collected, though that system is a bit broken in the other direction: it's quite possible for someone to amass a lot of souls but lose them from dying, or lose a moderate amount of souls frequently. This would make you have a high value despite being low everywhere else except play time since you never actually used those souls for anything. ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'' went back to level-based matching-making but just prevented invading the world of anyone below level 30.

* ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' prevents characters below level ten from receiving xp debt for a defeat. On the other hand, [[DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist xp debt isn't really a massive problem anyway.]]

** Also, on PVP servers you are safe from opposing players as long as you stay in your factions lower-level zones (designed for roughly the same level range). Unfortunately, the same can't be said for most NPCs in those zones.

** Many players insist that the level 2 Blade is better than the level 3 Blade: it does much more damage per second, provided you SpamAttack from very close. This is because the Blade can only have one shot on screen at the time, but has no other delay between shots. At level two, the shot disappears once it hits the enemy, but at level three it keeps going, thus lengthening the time between shots.

* Since ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls'' and ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' determines invasion and summon matchups by [[CharacterLevel Soul Level]], your ability relative to other players you fight is increased by finding better equipment and spending [[PracticalCurrency Souls]] to upgrade it instead of leveling up. Some {{griefer}}s take this to the extreme, using [[MinimalistRun low-level runs]] and GoodBadBugs to twink insanely powerful late-game weapons and armor for curbstomping people only hours into the game. In an attempt to counter this, ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'' instead bases matchups on the total number of souls you've collected, though that system is a bit broken in the other direction: it's quite possible for someone to amass a lot of souls but lose them from dying, or lose a moderate amount of souls frequently. This would make you have a high value despite being low everywhere else except play time since you never actually used those souls for anything.

* Since ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls'' and ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' determines invasion and summon matchups by [[CharacterLevel Soul Level]], your ability relative to other players you fight is increased by finding better equipment and spending [[PracticalCurrency Souls]] to upgrade it instead of leveling up. Some {{griefer}}s take this to the extreme, using [[MinimalistRun low-level runs]] and GoodBadBugs to twink insanely powerful late-game weapons and armor for curbstomping people only hours into the game. For this reason ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'' also bases matchups on the total number of souls you've collected, though that system is a bit broken in the other direction: it's quite possible for someone to amass a lot of souls but lose them from dying, or lose a moderate amount of souls frequently. This would make you have a high value despite being low everywhere else except play time since you never actually used those souls for anything.

** On the other hand, each of the previous level caps features a huge jump in the stats gained from equipment. This is particularly painful for characters using ''heirlooms'' which scale with the player level, and don't make that jump until the next level AFTER. As such, while you can enter the first Outland dungeon at level 58, it might be better to wait until level 61.

* ''CityOfHeroes'' prevents characters below level ten from receiving xp debt for a defeat. On the other hand, [[DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist xp debt isn't really a massive problem anyway.]]

** There's also the issue of damage being capped (via both available magicka and a limit on stats), while health is not. Basically, once the player reaches a certain threshold, their damage stops increasing, but the health of enemies around them isn't, leading to long, drown out and incredibly dull fights with not only bosses, but with a simple leveling mook. However, monster damage is not in fact capped, meaning that as the player reaches the point where they were supposed to be able to challenge the nine Divines themselves (say level 40 or so), its more or less impossible to get through fights without resorting to the use of a GameBreaker (which there are plenty of, and thereby render things too easy, but still long and drawn out).

* ''{{Nethack}}'' characters can reach level 30, but the merits of doing so are debated, and depend on the character. Higher level characters are much more likely to encounter [[EnemySummoner Archons and Arch Liches]], and may not be significantly more powerful.

* Since ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls'' and ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' determines invasion and summon matchups by [[CharacterLevel Soul Level]], your ability relative to other players you fight is increased by finding better equipment and spending [[PracticalCurrency Souls]] to upgrade it instead of leveling up. Some {{griefer}}s take this to the extreme, using [[MinimalistRun low-level runs]] and GoodBadBugs to twink insanely powerful late-game weapons and armor for curbstomping people only hours into the game. For this reason ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'' also bases matchups on the total number of souls you've collected, though that system is a bit broken in the other direction: it's quite possible for someone to amass a lot of souls but lose them from dieing, or lose a moderate amount of souls frequently. This would make you have a high value despite being low everywhere else except play time since you never actually used those souls for anything.