History Main / StatGrinding

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' has a mechanic that is officially called Base Points (Commonly referred as Effort Value by fans). A Pokémon gains Base Points by gaining experience from battle, whether they defeated a Pokémon themselves or [[LeakedExperience just took part]], however briefly; number and category of Base Points received determined by the opponent's species. For every 4 Base Points in a stat, the Pokémon will get +1 to that stat at Level 100 (scaling linearly if they're at a lower level); each stat can have up to 252 Base Points (255 prior to Generation 6), but the maximum total Base Points a Pokémon can have is 510, which means only 2 stats can be maxed out at once. [[ImposedHandicapTraining There are certain held items that boost how Base Points grow, but they all cuts the holder's speed by half]]. Vitamins can also boost the Base Points of a Pokémon (there's one type of vitamin for each stat), but until Generation VIII, they could not raise a Pokémon's Base Points over 100. Generation VI introduced Super Training, allowing Pokémon to increase Base Points by playing a mini-game instead of battling other Pokémon. It also allows the player to see how many Base Points a Pokémon has overall, though not the exact number for individual stats unless a Reset Bag is used on a Pokémon.
** Prior to Generation 3, the system worked slightly differently: whenever a Pokémon is defeated, its Species Stats (Known by the fans as Base Stats. Yes, it's confusing.) are converted into "Stat EXP" and then are factored into the stats of the Pokémon that defeated them. Unlike future generations, there isn't a limit on the ''total'' number of stat EXP a Pokémon can have, and can have up to 65535 in each stat; however, this doesn't amount to much difference in the total values of the individual stat, as Gens 1&2 use the ''square root'' of the stat EXP/4, rather than directly pulling from the Base Stat/4.

* Despite the reputation this trope has for being strange, complicated, and unintuitive, this is in fact the way real life works. Lift weights get stronger. Study math to get better at math. Speak in public to get better at public speaking.

* In the classic ''Franchise/XCom'' titles before [[VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown the Firaxis reboot]], your soldiers become better over time by putting their skills to the test. Several statistics (Time Units, Strength, etc.) gain experience for any successful action, while more active stats like Firing/Throwing Accuracy are trained by hitting aliens. Psi Strength, on the other hand, is trained by [[RemovedAchillesHeelbeing hit by psionic attacks until the soldier learns how to resist them]].

* This is how the stats system ''LightNovel/IsItWrongToTryToPickUpGirlsInADungeon'' works for the most part; stats are increased by experience and repeated use. However, they can only be effective by the in-universe process called ''falna'', or the blessing of one of the [[GodInHumanForm Gods in Human Form]].

** Cain works this way, as his Lucky Foot prevents him from getting bad stat-down pills. Playing as Cain you do everything you can to get your hands on more pills, buy Mom's Coin Purse and Placebo if it kills you, and if you get your hands on Safety Cap never let it go.

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' has a mechanic that is officially called Base Points (Commonly referred as Effort Value by fans). A Pokémon gains Base Points by defeating a Pokemon. Each stats can have up to 252 Base Points(255 prior to Generation 6) with the maximum amount Base Pointsa Pokémon can have is 510, which means only 2 stats can be maxed at maximum. There are certain items that boost how Base Points grow, but they all cuts the holder's speed by half. Vitamin can also boost the Base Points of the Pokémon, but it will not boost when one of the Pokémon's Base Points has reached over 100. Generation 6 included Super Training, allowing Pokémon to increase Base Points without battling a Pokémon. It also allows the player to see how many Base Points a Pokémon has overall, though not the number unless a Reset Bag is used on a Pokémon.
** Prior to Generation 3, the system worked slightly differently: effectively whenever a Pokémon is defeated, its Species Stats (Known by the fans as Base Stats. Yes, it's confusing.) are converted into "Stat EXP" and then are factored into the stats of the Pokémon that defeated them. Unlike future generations, there isn't a limit on the ''total'' number of stat EXP a Pokémon can have, and can have up to 65535 in each stat; however, this doesn't amount to much difference in the total values of the individual stat, as Gens 1&2 use the ''square root'' of the stat EXP/4, rather than directly pulling from the Base Stat/4.

* In the classic ''Franchise/XCom'' titles before [[VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown the Firaxis reboot]], your soldiers become better over time by putting their skills to the test. Several statistics (Time Units, Strength, etc.) gain experience for any successful action, while more active stats like Firing/Throwing Accuracy are trained by hitting aliens. Psi Strength, on the other hand, is trained by being hit by psionic attacks until the soldier learns how to resist them.

* In the ''Franchise/{{X-COM}}'' titles, this is how your soldiers become better over time. Several statistics (Time Units, Strength, etc.) gain experience for any successful action, while more active stats like Firing/Throwing Accuracy are trained by hitting aliens.
** ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'' did away with this: characters gain stats based on their specialization when they're promoted. The Second Wave modifier arguably make things easier and harder by completely randomizing all stat gains regardless of class.

* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'' and ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' allowed you to farm for specific synthesis items, then use those to craft stat boosts, providing a way to raise your stats besides traditional LevelGrinding or using equipment, though you couldn't raise Sora's HP and MP this way. ''[[UpdatedRerelease Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix+]]'' had also [[BonusBoss data battles]], some of which dropped these stat boosts, though farming for items was comparatively quicker (especially on [[HarderThanHard Critical]] difficulty, [[HardModePerks which gave Sora]] two copies of the ability increasing enemy drop rates).

* In ''Webcomic/ManlyGuysDoingManlyThings'' Riddick tries to convince Jared that D&D doesn't work that way so he'll stop wasting time [[http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/archives/comic/in-which-duke-nukem-carefully-considers-a-dorito sneaking up on chickens]].

** Its "SpiritualSuccessor", ''VideoGame/SecretOfEvermore'', also had this system, but with much lower level caps for weapons. Alchemy spells could be raised to level 9, and could be cast in quick succession for easy leveling (provided you had enough reagents to use them).

* ''Dungeons of Daggorath'', released in 1982, was one of the first games to use this system.

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' has a mechanic that is officially called Base Points (Commonly referred as Effort Value by fans). A Pokémon gains Base Points by defeating a Pokemon. Each stats can have up to 252 Base Points(255 prior to Generation 6) with the maximum amount Base Pointsa Pokémon can have is 510, which means only 2 stats can be maxed at maximum. There are certain items that boost how Base Pointsgrow, but they all cuts the holder's speed by half. Vitamin can also boost the Base Points of the Pokémon, but it will not boost when one of the Pokémon's Base Points has reached over 100. Generation 6 included Super Training, allowing Pokémon to increase Base Points without battling a Pokémon. It also allows the player to see how many Base Points a Pokémon has overall, though not the number unless a Reset Bag is used on a Pokémon.

* Dungeons of Daggorath, released in 1982, was one of the first games to use this system.

** Magic was also a different story entirely, and was almost as big of a Catch22 as evasion stats. You had to cast spells and after a specific time, they'd level up. This unfortunately meant that while magic can be powerful after all, it's just too tedious to level up since your characters can become just as powerful after a few rounds of masochism than they would fighting a million battles with magic. It also didn't help that you could still inflict dinky damage with the most powerful spell in the game's world because your intellect stat was still low.

[[folder: MMORP Gs ]]

** ''VideoGame/Disgaea5'' has four forms of this trope. In battle, any enemies in [[SuperMode Revenge Mode]] that are killed by the player will drop a Revenge Shard. There are eight kinds, one for each of the stats, which will permanently boost that stat when used, and the stats given scale based off the enemy's strength. Captured enemies can be converted into a "Magic Extract" which does the same as a Revenge Shard, but gives stats across the board based on the enemies used to create it. Finally, the Chara World has board events where the unit in question can receive direct stat increases. Shards, Extracts and Chara World boosts are all relegated to the same pool.

* ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts'' and ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' allowed you to farm for specific synthesis items, then use those to craft stat boosts, providing a way to raise your stats besides traditional LevelGrinding or using equipment, though you couldn't raise Sora's HP and MP this way. ''Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix+'' had also [[BonusBoss data battles]], some of which dropped these stat boosts, though farming for items was comparatively quicker (especially on [[HarderThanHard Critical]] difficulty, [[HardModePerks which gave Sora]] two copies of the ability increasing enemy drop rates).

* ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts'' and ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' allowed you to farm for specific synthesis items, then use those to craft stat boosts, providing a way to raise your stats besides traditional LevelGrinding or using equiment barring HP and MP. ''Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix+'' had also [[BonusBoss data battles]] some of which dropped these stat boosts, though farming for items is comparatively quicker (especially on [[HarderThanHard Critical]] difficulty, [[HardModePerks which gives Sora]] two copies of the ability increasing enemy drop rates).

* ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts'' and ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' allowed you to farm for specific synthesis items, then use those to craft stat boost, providing a way to raise your stats besides traditional LevelGrinding or using equiment barring HP and MP. ''Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix+'' had also [[BonusBoss data battles]] some of which dropped these stat boosts, though farming for items is comparatively quicker (especially on [[HarderThanHard Critical]] difficulty, [[HardModePerks which gives Sora]] two copies of the ability increasing enemy drop rates).

* ''VideoGame/Persona5'': Training in either [=LeBlanc=]'s attic or at the Protein Lovers gym increases Ren Amamiya's HP and SP each time at the cost of an afternoon or evening. Continued training at Protein Lovers will eventually unlock harder training regimens that further increase these stats, and drinking a Protein Shake beforehand will add even more gains per session.