History Main / LowLevelAdvantage

*** At moderate levels, Drama makes you able to sniff out '[[SssssnakeTalk liesssss]]!'. At high levels, Drama encourages you to [[TheGadfly stir up pointless interpersonal conflict for fun]], such as making "prank calls" which [[DomesticAbuse get a woman beaten by her husband]] and [[ChaoticStupid looking up an invented serial number instead of the one you found on the murder evidence]], with the predictable consequence of you finding nothing. It also tries to make you act like an annoying {{Luvvie}} twit and ham up everything you do for attention.

*** At moderate levels, Drama makes you able to sniff out '[[Sssssnaketalk liesssss]]!'. At high levels, Drama encourages you to [[TheGadfly stir up pointless interpersonal conflict for fun]], such as making "prank calls" which [[DomesticAbuse get a woman beaten by her husband]] and [[ChaoticStupid looking up an invented serial number instead of the one you found on the murder evidence]], with the predictable consequence of you finding nothing.

*** There are a few skills for which this is inverted. Volition, being the part of your character's soul which always knows what the right thing to do is, will make you into a more stable and determined person at higher levels. Electrochemistry will be compelling you to indulge your substance addictions at even barely present levels and will not stop doing this as it gets more powerful, but at higher levels will show some of its more positive HiddenDepths, such as its abilities to make you passionate about your interests, understand your own neurology better, and avoid acting on self-destructive temptations that ''aren't'' fun or rewarding (such as getting high on taxidermy solvents, or dedicating yourself to a political philosophy of tepid centrism).

*** There are a few skills for which this is inverted. Volition, being the part of your character's soul which always knows what the right thing to do is, will make you into a more stable and determined person at higher levels. Electrochemistry will be compelling you to indulge your substance addictions at even barely present levels and will not stop doing this as it gets more powerful, but at higher levels will show some of its more positive HiddenDepths, such as its abilities to make you passionate about your interests, understand your own neurology better, and avoid acting on self-destructive temptations that ''aren't'' fun or rewarding.

** The level of your skills influences the likelihood of passing an Active Check, but sometimes failing the checks are more beneficial, either in terms of what you get from them or in terms of being a more dramatically satisfying roleplaying choice:
*** In order to teach the player that failure is often better than success in the game, the early game features ''a ton'' of early checks, which succeeding at is unremarkable, and failing at is really funny. Successfully hitting on Klaasje just leads to a friendly rejection - failing to hit on her leads you to say "I want to have fuck with you" which makes her laugh in your face and drop hints about the upcoming storyline ("and for the record... I didn't do it".) When Garte challenges you on the bill you owe for trashing the place, passing the check makes you run away while he jeers at you, while failing the check makes your character attempt a backwards jump out of the door while FlippingTheBird with both hands and colliding into an old lady in a wheelchair, causing Garte to reduce your bill out of fear of your reactions (and allowing you to haggle him down even further). When Kim asks your name, passing the Conceptualization check leads to some inessential {{Foreshadowing}} of your "[[IKnowYourTrueName true name]]", while failing it leads to your character naming himself Raphael Ambrosius Costeau, which becomes a RunningGag. If you investigate Sylvie's reason for leaving her job and pass the Empathy check, you discover more of your AlcoholInducedStupidity and can even get her and Garte to make things up - if you fail the Empathy check, Garte will break his code of not being a bartender and ''give you alcohol!!''... after you lecture him on some absurd misogynistic nonsense about how Sylvie is "going round and round on the cock carousel".

*** 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 [[PaddedSumoGameplay long, drown out and incredibly dull fights]] with not only bosses, but with [[IncrediblyDurableEnemies a simple level-scaled mook]]. Further, enemy damage ''is not capped'', making those very same mook-like enemies far more dangerous.

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* ''VideoGame/CaveStory'' has a couple of weapons that are better at lower levels. Fortunately, levelling up your weapons isn't permanent in this game, as you lose experience whenever you get hurt.

* In ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII - Throne of Bhaal'', the initial fight with Illasera is relatively easy, but she gets more spells and powers if your character is of a high enough level and you have at least one companion. For example, if you are beyond level 21, she casts Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting, which is one of the most devastating spells in game. Depending on the number of companions and your level, she will also bring up to four henchmen that can be quite annoying if you don't prepare in advance with traps and buffs.
** The first level of the Watcher's Keep also implements a form of LevelScaling since if you go there during chapter 2 of Shadows of Amn you will find enemies that are way easier ot fight than those you could find in chapter 6 or during the beginning of ToB. Since you can withdraw and return any time, you could simply quickly clear the first level in chapter 2, get all the loot, XP and powerful equipment available for your gain, then return later to challenge the other levels of the keep when you are ready.
* In ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'', you can temporarily adjust your level to anything below your "real" level to get better item drop rates.
* The ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series:
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'' remakes from 'Dawn of Souls' and up, 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 original NES and Origins versions worked differently: 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.
** 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.
** 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. Not a significant problem, however, as either being level 99 or having Knights of the Round means he doesn't stand a chance against your party.
** The leveling in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' was a whole element of strategy because the enemies level up with you. The game can be beaten at disgustingly low levels. (There are no-level-up runs.) Despite no-level-up rounds... party members may ''still'' have maxed out stats and Ultimecia will be at a ridiculously low level on her first form. Indeed, it is far easier to beat the game at low levels than at high levels because of the way the magic junctioning system works - spells add a fixed amount to your stats, regardless of your level, meaning that you can become hyper-powerful at level 1, and the enemies will still be weak. There is even a convenient item which turns enemies into cards (and prevents you from gaining XP from them) you find fairly early on to make maintaining your low level easier.
*** If you ''do'' level up, it's best to wait until you have 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 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.
** ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'' also does this. If you are leveling up to get that one move that you can spam like crazy, your opponent also levels with you, and probably gained some move that trumps yours.
*** There are also accessory builds that take advantage of the massive multipliers you can get from certain booster accessories if there's a large level gap between you and your enemy: being able to be killed in a single HP attack ceases to be a problem when you can always survive any hit with 1 HP when you have more than that, almost always have an assist available to escape the enemy's attack when you're down to 1 HP, never stay at 1 HP longer than it takes for you to land a HP attack and regardless of your low stats, always break the enemy in a single hit, gain an equal amount of BRV and more often than not can finish them off with a single HP attack afterwards.

* You get a title in ''VideoGame/{{Tales of Symphonia}}'' for remaining below a certain level when you defeat a boss. Also, later titles boost growth rates more, though carrying over titles in NewGamePlus will lead to even better stats than just not grinding as much.
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
** The mons tend to learn moves faster at lower EvolutionaryLevels. Therefore, sometimes it's better 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 their evolved forms, so it's better to not evolve them until 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 too early, they won't be able to get it at all.[[note]]This was actually a plot point early on in the [[Anime/{{Pokemon}} anime]]. Pikachu was able to beat Lt. Surge's much more powerful Raichu by using a strategy involving a very fast move that Raichu never learned. Surge had evolved it too soon.[[/note]]
** In a related case, leveling up traded Pokemon beyond levels supported by your badges will make them disobey you. It isn't nearly enough though: the level they have to be at is so much higher than anything you can meet before acquiring the required badge that they can easily crush anyone even when only making a move every third or fourth turn.
** In the flip side to the AntiGrinding in most games from ''Black and White'' on, monsters would receive more experience from an enemy the lower the level of said monster. The original equation used in the fifth generation 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. This mechanic is also present in the sixth generation, but it isn't nearly as exploitable.
* ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'':
** Much of the difficulty in [[BrutalBonusLevel the Pit of 100 Trials]] your resources being stretched thin. However, if you go in at a low level, [[LevelUpFillUp the regular level-ups will heal you]] and reduce the strain.
** The "[[CriticalStatusBuff Danger Mario]]" setup stops working at level 72 (out of 99) as the game forces you to upgrade HP (pulling you out of permanent danger) because you maxed out flower and badge points. But to actually get to that point you'll have to grind like crazy. This strategy is also possible in the original ''VideoGame/PaperMario'', but because of the much lower level cap, you need to be much more careful about maintaining your low level. You can only hit level 18 out of 27, before the game forces you to upgrade HP.
* In ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory'', the stats the Bros gain upon level-up are in direct relation to Bowser's level. Keep their levels sufficiently low until Bowser hits level 37, and you're pretty much free to grind away.
* ''VideoGame/{{Knights of the Old Republic}}'': it can be advantageous, depending on your class, not to level up much on Taris (before you get your Jedi powers) since you get better stat bonuses as a Jedi. (This doesn't mean you can't gain XP though; just don't click "level up".) Soldiers definitely should save levels; they have nothing to lose. For scouts and scoundrels, on the other hand, the matter is a bit more complex. Both classes have more skill points per level than even the Sentinel (the so-called skills class; this was fixed in the sequel), as well as special feats that may help the player a great deal down the line. [[note]] A normally-leveled PC will exit Taris at level 8. Scouts get the three implant classes for free at levels 1, 4, and 8, while scoundrels have two levels of Scoundrel's Luck (+4 defense) and four levels of Sneak Attack (+4d6 damage when flanking, coming out of Stealth, or against an opponent unable to react).[[/note]]
* ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'': Lightsiders can train as many as four of their party members as Jedi (Atton, Bao-Dur, Handmaiden/Disciple, and Mira). As in the first game, Jedi characters outclass their Muggle counterparts, and the Sentinel class (Atton, Mira, Visas, possibly the PC) actually has an appropriate skill progression. However, there are reasons not to save levels. Mira picks up the Precise Shot feats (bonus damage with ranged weapons) for free every 4 levels until 20. Atton is essential on Citadel Station (you only have two party members for the duration) and also has the Scoundrel's Luck and Sneak Attack feats. Bao-Dur has a crafting ability that far outclasses anybody else in the party (including ''T3'' at first). However, the Handmaiden and Disciple are both soldiers, making it a clear choice to save levels for them.

*** Another issue with the system is that some of your allies during the main quest ''don't'' level up with the player, or have low level equipment even at high levels. If you delay too long, allies are rendered useless and {{Escort Mission}}s become extremely difficult. On the other hand, if you immediately jump into the main quest, you'll find your allies much stronger than the enemies, rendering things too ''easy'' and having said allies basically win by themselves. The same goes for summoned creatures--overpowered if acquired early, little more then [[WeHaveReserves cannon fodder]] when used later.

* In ''[[VideoGame/StarOceanTillTheEndOfTime Star Ocean: Till the End of Time]]'', there are some trophies to be earned if the player beats certain bosses with minimal levels.
** The most obvious example of this being the trophy asking you to beat the {{final boss}} with all three of your party members at level one. And he doesn't scale with your levels. Needless to say, just being able to challenge him like this requires quite a commitment throughout the game.
* In ''VideoGame/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.
* ''VideoGame/TacticsOgre'''s GaidenGame ''[[VideoGame/TacticsOgreTheKnightOfLodis 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.
* ''VideoGame/AdventureQuest'' and ''VideoGame/DragonFable'', due to almost all the enemies being level-scaled, often rather harshly.
* ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'' has the character Emeralda, who has a certain side-quest in Disc 2 that [[spoiler: turns her into an adult form]]. After that quest, she has insane stat growth with every level up. If you keep her level low at the beginning and do some grinding after the quest, then she can be even more powerful than her own HumongousMecha.
* Resource management is a key feature in the mini {{Roguelike}} ''VideoGame/DesktopDungeons'', and levelling up will restore your HitPoints, ManaPoints and status. Hence, a widely-used tactic is to start fighting a boss while a few XP short of a level-up, burn through your resources, and then go squish a low-level monster for a mid-fight heal.

* The Brave Clear system of ''[[Videogame/NocturneRPGMaker Nocturne: Rebirth]]'' rewards players with an extra item if they beat a dungeon boss under a certain level. The FinalBoss has to be beaten this way to unlock the BonusBoss, who also has to be Brave Cleared to unlock NewGamePlus.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Zombicide}}'', the number and types of zombies that spawn at the end of each round or whenever you open a door are based on the highest-leveled player. Thus if one player has been grabbing all the objectives and scoring a lot of kills, their teammates may not have the skills or equipment they need to deal with the latest wave of zombies.
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Rifts}}'' the Rifts Conversion Book allowed Diabolists or Wizards to change their O.C.C. to Techno-Wizard, but only if they were level 1 or 2. Many parasites from Atlantis and Splynn gave huge initial power but came with huge side effects as time/XP go by. Juicers reflect this too. Underseas' Cultists of the Deep reward for a high level is to be eaten by the Lord of the Deep.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{MysticChina}}'' the NinjasAndSuperspies supplement by Erick Wujcik, a Reformed Demon began at its most powerful and lost stats as they leveled up and became more human.
* In any Palladium game, the common See Aura spell or psi gives an indication of level, meaning a high level character can be perceived as more of a threat.

*** If you're 'lucky' enough to get a Black Knight to drop their weapon, of which there are a couple easily stumbled upon in the early game, this will bump you up to weapon level 5 before you're likely to have encountered a blacksmith and enough upgrade materials to get another weapon up to that level. Even worse is the high stat requirements of the Black Knight weapons.
*** The Dragon Form's unarmed attacks, however, ''bypasses'' the weapon level summoning range. It also scales with the covenant level. Meaning that if you could make it to the Path of the Dragon covenant and offer 80 Dragon Scales without levelling your character, upgrading any equipment or picking up any of the rare weapons, you can exploit the matchmaking mechanics and effectively [[CurbStompBattle curbstomp most of the newcomers]] by [[OneHitKill clawing them to death in one hit]].

** ''[[VideoGame/DarkSoulsI Dark Souls Remastered]]'' also bases invasion on on both Soul Level ''and'' the level of the most upgraded item in your possession. Purchasing any item from Quelana of Izalith [[note]]you can make Quelana appear in Blighttown by summoning anyone with Pyromancy Flame +10 or above by using password matchmaking.[[/note]] also affects you summoning range. Spells, however, do not affect the summoning range.

** 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.

* There are many civilizations in game like ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpires'' or ''VideoGame/EmpireEarth'' that thrive during early ages, only to become obsolete and fail to catch up in later ages. For example, the Greeks in Empire Earth have a bonus on spear damage, thus their hoplites and cavalry get a conspicuous advantage until the Renaissance. Then, they just fall behind those civs with bonuses in riflemen or armored vehicles. Thus, in a full game from the prehistoric beginning, they should try to win as soon as possible. This won't qualify per se as a proper low level advantage, since rivals will advance regardless of your choice, so even if you stick to the bronze age with the Greeks, good luck facing the Austrians that just unlocked gunpowder. However, during game setup, it may come in line depending on the settings chosen by the players. You could agree that ages should range from the copper age to the dark ages, in order to get the benefits of the Greeks. But if you accept to allow to get to the digital age or worse the space age, some other players could choose civs that have an early disadvantage while getting increased values for futuristic techs, like Novaja Russia when cyborgs enter the frail; and your Greeks would face the opposite situation. So, if you really like the Greeks and for whatever reason you dislike choosing other civilizations, you won't really want to play games set in more modern ages, unless you want an increased challenge.

* There are many civilizations in game like ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpires'' or ''VideoGame/EmpireEarth'' that thrive during early ages, only to become obsolete and fail to catch up in later ages. For example, the Greeks in Empire Earth have a bonus on spear damage, thus their hoplites and cavalry get a cospicuous advantages until the Renaissance. Then, they just fall behind those civs with bonuses in riflemen or armored vehicles, thus in a full game from the beginning they should try to win as soon as possible. Good luck starting in a modern age or worse in the digital age with them, facing civs that get increased values for futuristic techs, like Novaja Russia when cyborgs enter the frail.

*** The "[[GameBreaker Danger Mario]]" setup, which stops working at level 72 (out of 99) as the game forces you to upgrade HP (pulling you out of permanent danger) because you maxed out flower and badge points. But to actually get to that point you'll have to grind like crazy so the set up has quite a bit of use until then.
*** This strategy is also possible in the original ''VideoGame/PaperMario'', but because of the much lower level cap, you need to be much more careful about maintaining your low level. You can only hit level 18 out of 27, before the game forces you to upgrade HP.

* In the card game ''TabletopGame/{{Munchkin}}'', some of the more powerful monsters will allow low-level characters to retreat without having to make a die roll to successfully run away. And because it's ''Munchkin'', it's of course quite legal to play a "gain a level" card on a ''rival'' who just so happens to be in that sort of situation...
** This doesn't quite tell the whole story. The ''intended'' use of the "Go up a level" card was only ever to be used on yourself. But since the typical player of the game is, well, a {{Munchkin}}, people quickly caught on that there was no rule ''against'' using it on someone else. The devs even admitted in an FAQ that this was far too munchkin-y of a behavior for them to say no to.

*** 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 level-scaled mook who are now, inexplicably, {{Damage Sponge Boss}}es. Further, enemy damage ''is not capped'', making those very same mook-like enemies far more dangerous.

** In the fifth generation, 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.
** This mechanic is also present in the sixth generation, but it isn't nearly as exploitable.
* A very general example: In a lot of [=RPGs=], [[LevelUpFillUp leveling up heals you]].
** ''[[VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door]]'' has two places where this mechanic can be abused. In the Pit of 100 Trials, your resources will be stretched thin, but if you go in at a low level, the regular level-ups will heal you and reduce the strain. Also, near the end of the game, there is a place where two bosses must be fought sequentially without an opportunity to heal. However, if you time it so that you level up after the first fight, you will have all your HP and FP back for the second boss.

** In ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory'', the stats the Bros gain upon level-up are in direct relation to Bowser's level. Keep their levels sufficiently low until Bowser hits level 37, and you're pretty much free to grind away.

* In ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'', a lower level means better battle rewards. Downplayed since you can [[DePower adjust your level]] as much as you want.

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 [[PermanentlyMissableContent lost]] 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.

*** The Dragon Form's unarmed attacks, however, ''bypasses'' the weapon level summoning range. It also scales with the covenant level. Meaning that if you could make it to the Path of the Dragon covenant and offer 80 Dragon Scales without levelling your character, upgrading any equipment or picking up any of the rare weapons, you can exploit the matchmaking mechanics and effectively [[CurbStompBattle curbstomp most of the newcomers]] by [[OneHitKill clawing them in one hit]].

*** The Dragon Form's unarmed attacks, however, ''bypasses'' the weapon level summoning range. It also scales with the covenant level. Meaning that if you could make it to the Path of the Dragon covenant and offer 80 Scales without levelling your character, upgrading any equipment or picking up any of the rare weapons, you can exploit the matchmaking mechanics and effectively [[CurbStompBattle curbstomp most of the newcomers]] by [[OneHitKill clawing them in one hit]].

** ''[[VideoGame/DarkSoulsI Dark Souls Remastered]]'' also bases invasion on on both Soul Level ''and'' the level of the most upgraded item in your possession. Purchasing any item from Quelana of Izalith [[note]]you can make Quelana appear in Blighttown by summoning anyone with Pyromancy Flame +10 or above by using password matchmaking.[[/note]] also affects you summoning range.
*** If you're 'lucky' enough to get a Black Knight to drop their weapon, of which there are a couple easily stumbled upon in the early game, this will bump you up to weapon level 5 before you're likely to have encountered a blacksmith and enough upgrade materials to get another weapon up to that level. Even worse is the high stat requirements of the Black Knight weapons

Compare AntiGrinding. Contrast EarlyGameHell and HardModePerks.