History Main / TierSystem

* Most of the subtropes were made or codified by {{Tabletop RPG}}s (especially ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''). The reason that {{Character Level}}s exists is so that the GameMaster can make tougher encounters for the party as they continue on.

Enemies tend to be a bit muddier, though {{Palette Swap}}s and {{Underground Monk|ey}}ies of older monsters are usually stronger. {{Degraded Boss}}es are bosses reduced to EliteMooks because they were encountered in an area with lower tier enemies first. The chain of progression for these tiers is {{Mooks}} > GoddamnBats > MiniBoss > DemonicSpiders > EliteMooks > BossInMookClothing > [[BossBattle Standard Boss]] > FinalBoss > TrueFinalBoss > {{Superboss}}. Of course, it's all relative to the area they dwell in.

* ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaHarmonyOfDissonance'': Single coins are worth $1, and the rest are money bags that go in ColorCodedItemTiers, with yellow for $5, red = 25 and grey = 100.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Shantae}}'' series: Oblong step cut gems are worth 5 gems, where as round cut ones are worth 1:
** ''VideoGame/ShantaeRiskysRevenge'': Also the third tier of size are beveled rectangular cuts which are 10 gems worth.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Shantae}}'' series: In ''VideoGame/ShantaeAndThePiratesCurse'' and ''VideoGame/ShantaeHalfGenieHero'': Oblong step cut gems are worth 5 gems, where as round cut ones are worth 1.

* ''VideoGame/ShantaeHalfGenieHero'': Oblong step cut gems are worth 5 gems, where as round cut ones are worth 1.

* TierInducedScrappy

* ''VideoGame/{{Ultrakill}}'' divides its enemies into Lesser, Greater, and Supreme, along with ??? for unranked enemies or bosses. [[spoiler:Prime is reserved for the {{Bonus Boss}}es fought in [[BrutalBonusLevel Prime Sanctums]].]]

For item tiers, usually the lower tier weapons and armor include VendorTrash and starting equipment, while higher tier items include ArmorOfInvincibility, an InfinityPlusOneSword and {{Bragging Rights Reward}}s that aren't {{Cosmetic|Award}}. {{Joke Weapon}}s could be their own tier or be lumped in with the low tier items (except for maybe the LethalJokeWeapon).

Enemies tend to be a bit muddier, though {{Palette Swap}}s and {{Underground Monk|ey}}ies of older monsters are usually stronger. {{Degraded Boss}}es are bosses reduced to EliteMooks because they were encountered in an area with lower tier enemies first. The chain of progression for these tiers is {{Mooks}} > GoddamnBats > MiniBoss > DemonicSpiders > EliteMooks > BossInMookClothing > [[BossBattle Standard Boss]] > FinalBoss > BonusBoss > TrueFinalBoss. Of course, it's all relative to the area they dwell in.

Subtropes include:

!!Examples:

[[folder:First Person Shooter]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* Most of the subtropes were made of codified by {{Tabletop RPG}}s (Especially ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'') The reason that {{Character Level}}s exists is so that the GameMaster can make tougher encounters for the party as they continue on.
* ''TabletopGame/DescentJourneysInTheDark'' has three tiers of enemies: minions, master monsters (like minions but with more HP and some unique abilities), and lieutenants (named enemies who grow stronger, the more heroes are on the field, and can perform skill checks unlike the monsters).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Role Playing Game]]

* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' enemy mobs come in five tiers: [[ZergRush critter]], [[{{Mooks}} normal]], {{elite|Mooks}}, {{boss|Battle}}, and [[BonusBoss elite boss]]. Weapons and armor are also tiered by the material they're made from.

[[folder: Turn Based Strategy]]

* ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}'' has 3 tiers and 40 ranks for their items. The Ranks denote how powerful they are when you acquire them, and the Tiers (Normal, Rare and Legendary) denote how powerful they can be. You can level up items in the game by going into the [[RandomlyGeneratedLevels Item World]], but the tier of the item dictates how many floors you can travel in the item (and thus how many levels the item gets.)
** Dimension 2 made it so that items could upgrade in tiers as their Item World is cleared (finish the 30 floors in a Common item? It becomes Rare, and once the 60 floors in a Rare item are cleared, it permanently becomes Legendary), and Disgaea 5 introduced a brand-new tier for items, Epic, which must be worked up towards.

** Planets have a size and a climate hazard, both with numerical values. Size were grouped into small (1-3), medium (4-6), and large (7-10), where each new size allowed larger platforms and more stations. Climate hazard was grouped into nice (easily colonisable), unfriendly (colonisable, but expensive), and prohibitive (not colonisable).

[[/folder]]

[[folder: MMORPG]]

Enemies tend to be a bit muddier, though {{Palette Swap}}s and {{Underground Monk|ey}}ies of older monsters are usually stronger. {{Degraded Boss}}es are bosses reduced to EliteMooks because they were encountered in an area with lower tier enemies first. The chain of progression for these tiers is {{Mooks}} > GoddamnBats > MiniBoss > DemonicSpiders > EliteMooks > BossInMookClothing > BossFight > FinalBoss > BonusBoss > TrueFinalBoss. Of course, it's all relative to the area they dwell in.

Enemies tend to be a bit muddier, though {{Palette Swap}}s and {{Underground Monk|ey}}ies of older monsters are usually stronger. {{Degraded Boss}}es are bosses reduced to EliteMooks because they were encountered in an area with lower tier enemies first. The chain of progression for these tiers is {{Mooks}} > GoddamnBats > MiniBoss > DemonicSpiders > EliteMooks > BossInMookClothing > FinalBoss > BonusBoss > TrueFinalBoss. Of course, it's all relative to the area they dwell in.

* KingdomOfLoathing has a tier system for consumables: crappy, decent, good, awesome, and epic, ColorCodedForYourConvenience as grey, black, green, blue, and purple, respectively. For adventure-giving consumables, the quality is determined by how many adventures it gives divided by how many points of stomach/liver/spleen consuming it uses, with a range for each tier. For others, it's a bit murkier.

* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' enemy mobs come in three tiers: normal, elite, and boss. Weapons and armor are also tiered by the material they're made from.

* This is the center of the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' {{metagame}}. All Pokemon have a spot in Smogon.com's fanmade tier system (one of many such established systems), said to ensure fairness on competition. The Highest tier (Uber) is for most of the Olympus Mons you see in the games. The Standard Tier would be OU (Over Used).

* This is the center of the ''{{Pokemon}}'' {{metagame}}. All Pokemon have a spot in Smogon.com's fanmade tier system (one of many such established systems), said to ensure fairness on competition. the Highest tier (Uber) is for most of the Olympus Mons you see in the games. The Standard Tier would be OU (Over Used).

* VideoGame/SwordOfTheStars used several different tiers, usually with three tiers.

* This is the center of the ''{{Pokemon}}'' {{metagame}}. All Pokemon have a spot in Smogon.com's fanmade tier system (one of many such established systems), said to ensure fairness on competition. the Highest tier (Uber) is mains of most of the Olympus Mons you see in the games. The Standard Tier would be OU (Over Used).