History Main / MetaPowerUp

Video games have lots of powerups. Some make you stronger. Some make you faster. And some make you get stronger faster.

A meta powerup doesn't add to the combat ability of a character. It does make improvements go farther. Maybe it increases the number of [[StatGrinding skill or ability points that you get]]. Maybe it makes [[StatusBuff short-term powerups]] last longer. Whatever it is, it doesn't power you up, it powers up whatever powers you up.

* In ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar: Dark Crusade'', you get powerups to your hero to increase his combat potential, while controlling certain regions gets you increased population cap, the ability to start with your base already built, etc.

Despite the name, it has little to do with having powers over the FourthWall or outright AuthorPowers.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' there's equipment that can double or triple AP gain. AP is used to improve Materia, which enhance your characters.
* The Updated Rerelease of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' gave abilities that doubled AP gain. AP is used to level up Jobs to gain new abilities.

** The ''really'' brain-bending meta items are the Sphere Distillers. Using a Sphere Distiller on an enemy forces that enemy to drop spheres (essentially a currency that allows you to buy stat boosts in the game's complicated level-up boardgame) instead of whatever else it would have dropped. Not only does this make up for some types of spheres absolutely refusing to drop at the right time, abusing Sphere Distillers and farmable {{Bonus Boss}}es that drop ludicrous amounts of items is the powergamers' way to raise your Aeons, and can also be necessary when filling in the entire sphere grid.

** There are various items which promote EV gain. EV, Effort Values, before Generation VI, were hidden, and control what stat increases a Pokemon got on level up.
** Also the insanely hard to get "Pokerus" that doubles EV gain, infects multiple Pokemon, and goes away at midnight. the chances of getting it from a wild Pokemon are approximately 1 in 24000. Thanks to the Global Trade Station, however, it's much easier to obtain considering that if you have ONE pokemon with the virus, you can infect as many as you want and put them up for trade. Many players consider infecting trade Pokemon a common courtesy due to the virus' usefulness.

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'': The series has a few:
** The Blossom skill, which raises stat growths at the cost of halving experience gained. It appears in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' has Blossom which raises stat growths at the cost of halving experience gained.
** ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'' has the Aptitude, which raises growth rates by 20%.

** Also from ''Persona 4'' Some Arcana Chance effects fall under this category (e.g. guaranteed Player Advantage for a limited time) However, there is a risk of the card coming up upside-down instead, which will end up changing the beneficial effect to a bad one.

* ''VideoGame/{{Sekiro}}'' has two passive abilities, both from the [[BareFistedMonk Temple Martial Arts]] [[SkillScoresAndPerks skill tree.]] Virtuous Deed, and its upgrade Most Virtuous Deed, [[MoneyMultiplier increase]] the amount of [[FictionalCurrency Sen]] and [[RandomDropBooster items]] that drop from slain enemies. Devotion instead lengthens the amount of time that consumed [[StatusBuff Buddhist Candies]] affect the [[PlayerCharacter One-Armed Wolf.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Sekiro}}'' has two passive abilities, both from the [[BareFistedMonk Temple Martial Arts]] [[SkillScoresAndPerks skill tree.]] Virtuous Deed, and its upgrade Most Virtuous Deed, increase the amount of [[FictionalCurrency Sen]] and items that drop from slain enemies. Devotion instead lengthens the amount of time that consumed [[StatusBuff Buddhist Candies]] affect the [[PlayerCharacter One-Armed Wolf.]]

* ''VideoGame/Sekiro'' has two passive abilities, both from the [[BareFistedMonk Temple Martial Arts]] [[SkillScoresAndPerks skill tree.]] Virtuous Deed, and its upgrade Most Virtuous Deed, increase the amount of [[FictionalCurrency Sen]] and items that drop from slain enemies. Devotion instead lengthens the amount of time that consumed [[StatusBuff Buddhist Candies]] affect the [[PlayerCharacter One-Armed Wolf.]]

* A non-video game (but RPGMechanicsVerse) example: In ''LightNovel/IsItWrongToTryToPickUpGirlsInADungeon'', Bell's "Realis Pharse" Skill allows him to {{Stat Grind|ing}} at a faster rate.

** The ''really'' brain-bending meta items are the Sphere Distillers. Using a Sphere Distiller on an enemy forces that enemy to drop spheres (essentially a currency that allows you to buy stat boosts in the game's complicated level-up boardgame) instead of whatever else it would have dropped. Not only does this make up for some types of spheres absolutely refusing to drop at the right time, abusing Sphere Distillers and farmable {{Bonus Boss}}es that drop ludicrous amounts of items is the powergamers' way to raise your Aeons, and can also be necessary when [[{{Whoring}} filling in the entire sphere grid.

Some variants that we have, as its subtropes, are:

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'': The Golden Amulet, which doubles License Point gains.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' has weapon properties that double and triple the AP gain of the wielder and one which converts [[LimitBreak Overdrive]] gained into AP[[note]](which stacks with Double/Triple Overdrive for insane results)[[/note]], armor properties which increase item strength.
** The ''really'' brain-bending meta items are the Sphere Distillers. Using a Sphere Distiller on an enemy forces that enemy to drop spheres (essentially a currency that allows you to buy stat boosts in the game's complicated level-up boardgame) instead of whatever else it would have dropped. Not only does this make up for some types of spheres absolutely refusing to drop at the right time, abusing Sphere Distillers and farmable {{Bonus Boss}}es that drop ludicrous amounts of items is the powergamers' way to raise your Aeons, and can also be necessary when [[{{Whoring}} filling in the entire sphere grid.]]

A meta powerup doesn't add to the combat ability of a character. It does make improvements go farther. Maybe it [[ExperienceBooster doubles]] the ExperiencePoints that you get. Maybe it [[MoneyMultiplier increases money gain]]. Maybe it increases the number of [[StatGrinding skill or ability points that you get]]. Maybe it makes [[StatusBuff short-term powerups]] last longer, or makes [[RareCandy rare powerups]] drop more often, or lets you [[PowerCopying steal abilities from defeated foes]]. Whatever it is, it doesn't power you up, it powers up whatever powers you up.

* Similarly, the Updated Rerelease of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' gave abilities that doubled EXP and AP gain.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' had GF abilities that affected stat gains. You could theoretically wait to gain levels until you had the maximum level in said abilities, causing your character to grow by leaps and bounds.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' has the Golden Amulet, which doubles License Point gains, and the Embroidered Tippet, which doubles XP. Sadly you can only wear one at a time.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' has weapon properties that double and triple the AP gain of the wielder and one which converts [[LimitBreak Overdrive]] gained into AP[[note]](which stacks with Double/Triple Overdrive for insane results)[[/note]], armor properties which increase gil received and item strength.

* ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' has an accessory that turns experienced gained into money instead (though you probably don't need it by the time you get it).

** There are various items which promote EV gain. EVs are values, that before Generation VI, were hidden, that control what stat increases a Pokemon got on level up.

* ''VideoGame/StarOceanFirstDeparture'' may win a prize for this trope. It has a skill that reduces the [[ExperiencePoints EXP]] cost to level, a specialty that increases skill points per level, a specialty that increases EXP, and even a superspecialty that empowers item creation abilities (to make equipment that powers you up). Many of these elements were carried over into the sequel, ''VideoGame/StarOceanSecondEvolution''.
* ''VideoGame/StarOceanTheLastHope'' has a variety of ways to increase XP gain, equipment factors that give permanent boosts, food that gives a boost for a set number of fights, and the bonus board. The bonus board also has elements that give the party bonus skill points, used to both power up skills and invent items.
* ''VideoGame/SpheresOfChaos'' has point multiplier and point bonus powerups. While these may not seem spectacular, points earn you lives. It's not like your typical arcade game, though. Enemies are generally worth about 100-300 points each, depending on size and type, most of them are [[AsteroidsMonster Asteroids Monsters]] (so there's a ton of them), and extra lives come every 10,000 points at first, only going up by about 5,000 every 300,000-500,000 points or so to accommodate the fact that there are many more enemies. Point-increasing items give 3,000-8,000 points each, and multipliers start at 6x and slowly decrease until returning to 1x.
* The ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic'' series often has Heroes with the skill called "learning" that would give you a extra % bonus in EXP that you gained.
* In ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'', some of those styling outfits you get increase your experience points received.

* ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' had the Crystal Ring, which decreased the time needed to [[ChargedAttack charge]] for the Light Speed Dash (granted by an earlier item).

* Many of the Day Job bonuses in ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' work like this, giving the player things like bonus XP or certain guaranteed item drops upon mission completion. A few others give discount tickets for certain vendor services.
* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'' has the ability "EXP walker" that gives you experience for every step you take. You learn it by synthesizing it.

* Masteries in ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' often give small increases to certain stats, but there are others that increase the amount of experience gained, or the duration of buffs received from neutral monsters.
%%* There is a ''DragonBallZ'' game, set during the Buu saga, which has RPGElements. There are pieces of equipment that, when equipped, increase the Exp. you gain per kill, but decrease your walking speed.

* In ''VideoGame/OdinSphere'', you can buy a Spirit Gem from the very first merchant you encounter, after the first stage of the game. Equiping this item increases the experience that your Psypher Weapon gains when you absorb phozons. You don't need to have it equipped all of the time, so you can just swap it on whenever you're done killing a wave (or entire level) of enemies. It's also a handy part of the Phozon Farming Abuse trick, which involves using the Phozon Release skill to turn some of your "magic points" into free-floating phozons. Equip the Spirit Gem, release all of the phozons you're carrying, and then reabsorb the phozons. This restores your MP guage (though not to the same level as before), allowing you release and reabsorb all of your phozons again and again. Doing this often will grind up your Psypher Level, especially with the Gem.
* ''VideoGame/FireEmblem:'' ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' have the skills Paragon and Blossom which double experience gained and raise stat growths at the cost of halving experience gained, respectively.
** Paragon returns in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'' as a DLC skill. The vanilla also has the Aptitude, which raises growth rates by 20%.
* Some of the best buildings and Wonders in ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}}'' are ones that let you build faster. Waterwheel is a perfect example of this.
* ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'' has equipment and buffs that increase item drops, meat (currency) drops, stat gains, familiar experience and monster level (thereby increasing stat gains). Figuring out the optimal use of these powerups is the main challenge of the speed game.
* Some ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' series games, including ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'', include the "Growth" line of abilities that allow your [[{{Mons}} demons and personas]] to earn experience even when they're not used in a fight, effectively multiplying your experience gain across your whole summoning repertoire - almost a necessity late in the game to secure more powerful abilities for fusion without ridiculous amounts of grinding for every demon or persona.

** Also from ''Persona 4'' is the variety of Arcana Chance effects fall under this category (e.g. 2x EXP or Yen, increased treasure gains, guaranteed Player Advantage for a limited time, etc.) However, there is a risk of the card coming up upside-down instead, which will end up changing the beneficial effect to a bad one.
* Most {{Idle Game}}s prominently feature upgrades that increase whatever resource ({{money|multiplier}}, [[ExperienceBooster experience]], [[MacGuffin prestige drops]]...) you use to buy upgrades.
* The IdleGame ''VideoGame/{{Zombidle}}'' features the Son of the Lich skill. It doesn't increase [[WeirdCurrency Skulls]] gain, increase damage, or increase critical hits. What it ''does'' do is to double the effect of every other active skill, meaning that [[MoneyMultiplier Pillage and Plunder]] gives even more Skulls, [[CriticalHit Blackest of Plagues]] always causes you to critical hit instead of giving an extra 50% chance, [[StatusBuff King's Presence]] triples damage dealt instead of doubling it, and so on and so forth.

* ''VideoGame/TerraBattle'' has several skills like this. Seasoned Pro increases EXP gain in battle, Money Bag increases Coin gain, Treasure Hunter increases item drop probability, and Negotiator increases the chance of a monster being recruited. They're relatively rare, so Adventurers or Companions with these skills are highly sought after, regardless of their other qualities. The 4.0.0 patch gave the Primordial Dragon Z companion, which doubles your EXP gain.

* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'' had an accessory that doubled all experience gained by the character wearing it.

* In ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story]]'', there are a lot of examples, such as EXP-boosting socks and gear to make attacked enemies drop items when hit.
* Some of the microtransaction items in ''VideoGame/BattlefieldHeroes'' increase XP and other earnable points.
* ''[[VideoGame/{{Diablo}} Diablo II]]'' had some very high level items that increased XP gain, and items ranging from low to high levels that increase gold drops or the chance that randomly dropped items will be magical (and the power of magical items that drop).
** ''Diablo III'' has similar items at lower level. +1-2 XP per kill, +x% chance of magic drops, more gold.
* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', the experience egg doubles gained experience.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' has the EXP Plus and Gil Plus materia, as well as equipment that can double or triple AP gain.

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' has the RandomlyDrops Lucky Egg, which doubles XP gain, as well as various items which promote EV gain.

* Some of the best buildings and Wonders in VideoGame/{{Civilization}} are ones that let you build faster. Waterwheel is a perfect example of this.

* ''FireEmblem:'' ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTellius Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTellius Radiant Dawn]]'' have the skills Paragon and Blossom which double experience gained and raise stat growths at the cost of halving experience gained, respectively.

* Some ''ShinMegamiTensei'' series games, including ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'', include the "Growth" line of abilities that allow your [[{{Mons}} demons and personas]] to earn experience even when they're not used in a fight, effectively multiplying your experience gain across your whole summoning repertoire - almost a necessity late in the game to secure more powerful abilities for fusion without ridiculous amounts of grinding for every demon or persona.

* Most IdleGames prominently feature upgrades that increase whatever resource ({{money|multiplier}}, [[ExperienceBooster experience]], [[MacGuffin prestige drops]]...) you use to buy upgrades.

A meta powerup doesn't add to the combat ability of a character. It does make improvements go farther. Maybe it [[ExperienceBooster doubles]] the ExperiencePoints that you get. Maybe it increases the number of [[StatGrinding skill or ability points that you get]]. Maybe it makes [[StatusBuff short-term powerups]] last longer, or makes [[RareCandy rare powerups]] drop more often, or lets you [[PowerCopying steal abilities from defeated foes]]. Whatever it is, it doesn't power you up, it powers up whatever powers you up.

* Most IdleGames prominently feature upgrades that increase whatever ressource (money, experience, MacGuffin...) you use to buy upgrades.

* Masteries in ''LeagueOfLegends'' often give small increases to certain stats, but there are others that increase the amount of experience gained, or the duration of buffs received from neutral monsters.

* KingdomOfLoathing has equipment and buffs that increase item drops, meat (currency) drops, stat gains, familiar experience and monster level (thereby increasing stat gains). Figuring out the optimal use of these powerups is the main challenge of the speed game.