Line #58 Main/SpellLevels


1	->'''Popp:''' With such a tiny ember! Is the Dark King's Kafrizz spell that much stronger than mine?!\
2	'''Vearn:''' A Kafrizz spell? That was no Kafrizz spell. It was Frizz.\
3	'''Popp:''' Frizz?!\
4	''[...]''\
5	'''Vearn:''' ''[Creates a fiery phoenix]'' This is my Kafrizz.
6	-->-- ''Manga/DragonQuestTheAdventureOfDai''
7
8	An attribute of FunctionalMagic, where each known spell is assigned to a category roughly reflecting its power. Particularly popular in {{RPG}}s, where it is used in conjunction with a CharacterLevel system to restrict the usage of powerful spells (i.e. a wizard of level N can only use spells up to level M).
9
10	Sometimes connected to some observable factor like the number of verses in its MagicalIncantation, or the number of InstantRunes which appear in the air while casting.
11
12	Compare {{Whatevermancy}} and ElementalTiers. A common component of VancianMagic. May be subject to RankInflation and commonly overlaps with TieredByName.
13
14	ExperiencePoints get involved when they're used to measure how far a character has progressed towards the next level of ability.
15	----
16	!!Examples:
17
18	[[foldercontrol]]
19
20	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
21	* In ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'', spells are ranked by power output: D is pretty much a parlor trick, S is a tactical nuke.
22	* The Jutsu techniques in ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' are ranked E (basic illusions and such) all the way to to S (often a DangerousForbiddenTechnique, in that some jutsu of this caliber require a literal sacrifice, either [[CastFromLifespan from yourself]] or [[PoweredByAForsakenChild a hapless somebody else]].
23	* Kido in ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' is ranked from 1-99, and the higher the level, the more difficult (and powerful) a kido is to perform.
24	* Spells in ''Manga/ZatchBell'' often contain prefixes outlining their power, with the most consistent prefixes from weakest to strongest being ''Gigano'', ''Dioga'', and ''[[PersonOfMassDestruction Shin]]''. Other strengthening prefixes like ''Teo'', ''Go'', and ''Ma'' also exist, but it's more ambiguous where their power levels align in the hierarchy when compared to the main three. There's also the ''Baou'' prefix, used only by Zatch, which is in a league of its own, even above ''Shin''.
25	* In ''Manga/BlackClover'' certain magics have been shown to have stronger forms, which are expressed in their different naming. When at his limits, Vetto's Beast Magic becomes Mythical Beast Magic, which breaks magical rules and copies unknown animals. Mages in the Heart Kingdom use magics like True Lightning Magic and True Flame Magic, which involve the use of the actual element through natural mana. [[spoiler:At the moment of his death, Rades's rage and hatred transforms his Wraith Magic into True Wraith Magic, allowing him to recall souls and fully resurrect the dead.]]
26	* ''Manga/BoukenNiTsuitekonaideOkaaSan'': The name of the series translates to "Don't follow me on my adventures, Mom!", since the protagonist's adoptive MamaBear keeps casting low-level magic to protect him. Unfortunately, as said mother is a) overprotective, b) a dragon, and c) ate a demon king, thus giving her SuperBoss stats, even the most basic spell translates to apocalyptic-level destruction.
27	** She cast a level 1 fire spell to kill a trio of goblins threatening her son. It results in a PlanarShockwave with an impact crater a mile wide.
28	** Similarly, just trying to kiss her son good luck results in a town-wide max heal (one character is even heard saying [[Literature/{{Heidi}} Klara]] can walk again).
29	[[/folder]]
30
31	[[folder:Literature]]
32
33	* Magic in ''Literature/TheCharmedSphere'' is tiered according to the color spectrum, with a mage able to cast any spell at or below their color rank:
34	** Red spells are the easiest to cast and the most common type of mage. These spells create light and heat.
35	** Orange spells soothe physical pain.
36	** Yellow spells soothe emotions.
37	** Green spells can detect emotions and intent. Powerful green spells can even "nudge" or "direct" emotions one way or another. Mage Mistress Della No Cozen is a "jade" mage, while Chime is at a higher "emerald" rank. Chime uses her green spells to boost the confidence and morale of Aronsdale's troops [[MilitaryMage in battle]].
38	** Blue spells [[HealingMagicIsTheHardest heal physical injuries]]. At the time the story takes place, the only living mage capable of casting blue spells is Healer Skylark, an elderly woman (70+) who works as Castle Suncroft's resident medic.
39	** Indigo spells heal emotional injuries, though Mage Mistress Della No Cozen at first indicated her disbelief that indigo mages and spells could exist, since there were no reliable records of them in Aronsdale's history. Jarid's mother was an indigo mage, but she kept the extent of her powers a secret and let the rest of the court believe she was a blue healer. [[spoiler: Anvil the Forged and Muller are both indigo mages.]]
40	** Violet mages were only theoretical before the discovery of Jarid's powers - they have the ability to [[spoiler: give life with their magic, or to take it away]].
41	** [[spoiler: A "Rainbow Mage" like Iris, who uses all the colors of the spectrum in her spellcasting, had never been recorded in Aronsdale's history]].
42	* In ''Literature/LabyrinthsOfEcho'', the Plain Magic spells are categorized into 234 levels (the highest tiers mostly include just one well-known spell). All levels above the 4th are considered a breach of the BanOnMagic and punishable by law--but then again, most people cannot go above the 20th. [[TheArchMage The world's greatest mage]] has once almost pulled off a 235 level spell.
43	* The Hedge Witches in ''Literature/TheMagicians'' use a system of 250 levels to create a hierarchy within their network of safehouses. Levels are marked by sequential tattoos known as 'stars', and entrance to a safehouse is contingent on level. A magician with no stars must perform the level 1 spell to gain admission.
44	* ''Literature/Overlord2012'': Spell levels were introduced to the New World at some time in the distant past, when a ritual intended to draw power from other dimensions inadvertently summoned players from the Earth {{MMORPG}} Yggdrasil.
45	** In Yggdrasil, spellcasting was organized into Tiers 1 to 10 plus "[[BrokeTheRatingScale Super-Tier]]" magic above that.[[note]]A {{Homage}} to ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons 3rd Edition'', including many of the same spells at the same levels.[[/note]] The New World currently recognizes 6[[superscript:th]] Tier spells as the pinnacle of human potential, with 7[[superscript:th]] Tier the realm of God-gifted artifacts and 8[[superscript:th]] Tier purely mythical. They get a humbling lesson in RankInflation when another player of Yggdrasil shows up [[TheArchmage with Super-Tier spells at his fingertips]].
46	** Before "Tier Magic" was introduced, the New World used a style of spellcasting now referred to as "Wild Magic". Wild Magic is DifficultButAwesome, with no tiers and very few of the limitations normally associated with an RPGMechanicsVerse. E.g. the wild-enchanted sword Razor Edge [[WrongContextMagic is unblockable by anything from Yggdrasil since it doesn't have a level or damage number to manipulate]], but simply [[AbsurdlySharpBlade "cuts everything"]]. Unfortunately, Wild Magic techniques are almost extinct, so [[ScissorsCutsRock there are very few beings in the New World with the raw power to take advantage of this]].
47	* ''Literature/ProphecyApprovedCompanion'': Lesser Healing is a spell, and the Lesser in the name implies a Greater Healing, or some higher level.
48	[[/folder]]
49
50	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
51	* The TropeCodifier is probably ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':
52	** In early editions, arcane (wizard) and [[ReligionIsMagic divine (cleric) spells]] are split into nine and seven tiers, respectively, with characters of certain level getting only so many spells of certain levels to [[VancianMagic memorize]]. Certain AntiMagic and DispelMagic effects are restricted to only affecting spells below a certain level.
53	*** ''Arcane Age: Netheril: Empire of Magic'', being set in a highly magic-oriented society at a time when magic was more powerful and easier to use, bumps up the arcane spell tiers to eleven (technically twelve, but there's only a single twelfth-level spell, and its one use led directly to magic becoming limited to ninth-level spells), allows divine spellcasters easier access to "Quest" spells (a special category above the seventh tier that in the modern day is limited to special dispensation from their patron god), and allows ''every'' Netherese, spellcaster or not, to use minor spell-effects called "cantras" (effectively prototypes of the 0th level spells of 3[[superscript:rd]] Edition).
54	** 3[[superscript:rd]] Edition:
55	*** Clerics, druids, sorcerers, and wizards have ten spell levels (0-9); bards and [[MagicKnight duskblades]] have Levels 0-6; the [[NonPlayerCharacter adept]] gets Levels 0-5; and [[ThePaladin paladins]] and [[ForestRanger rangers]] have Levels 1-4. The highest spell level a spellcasting character can use is determined by their CharacterLevel in the class. Metamagic feats allow adding a modifier to a spell (such as increased range or alternate damage types) by spending a higher-level slot, though the spell's actual level does not increase. Epic-level characters (those who have broken the normal level {{Cap}} of 20) can both unlock higher-level spell slots (only useful for metamagic, since no spells above 9th level exist) and learn Epic Spells (which exist outside of the normal level system and [[SpellCrafting have effects designed by the player]]).
56	*** [[PsychicPowers Psionic powers]] also have levels (1-9 for psions, wilders and ardents; 1-6 for psychic warriors and lurks) but they don't come up as often. Most powers [[TimTaylorTechnology can be "augmented" to create higher-level effects by spending more energy]], and since psychics have both a limited repertoire and a small ManaMeter compared to spellcasters' plentiful [[VancianMagic slots]], they will often pick low-level powers for maximum flexibility.
57	*** [[DealWithTheDevil Warlocks]] and Dragonfire Adepts have spell-like abilities divided into Least, Lesser, Greater and Dark tiers, though each ability still has an effective spell level for the purpose of interactions with proper spells. Likewise most [[DivertingPower Incarnum]] classes unlock the Least, Lesser and Greater chakra binds in turn, followed by the Heart and then Soul chakras.
58	** 4[[superscript:th]] Edition does away with the concept, instead simply listing the minimum class level to gain a "power" in the description. There are still instances of 'Lesser' and 'Greater' which were lesser and greater powered version of the spell, respectively.
59	** The 5[[superscript:th]] Edition is similar to the 3[[superscript:rd]]; while spells have ten levels (0-9), most classes have no access to spells beyond a certain level. In addition, spells can be cast at a higher level than their default to magnify their effects, like producing more creatures with SummonMagic or prolonging the effect of a {{Geas}}.
60	* In ''TabletopGame/{{Rolemaster}}'' spells were arranged by level within spell lists. In order to cast a spell, a character's skill rank for that spell's spell list had to be greater than or equal to the spell's level.
61	* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' has sorcery and necromancy spells divided into three levels each. Generally, the higher the spell's level (or circle), the more time it takes to cast it and the more motes and willpower it requires, as well as the more powerful the spell is. The main exceptions are the countermagic and banishment spells, which are quick and relatively inexpensive for their circle.
62	* In ''TabletopGame/PoniesAndParasprites'', Arcane skills are split into 'Magic' and 'Rituals'. Magic is inherent to Unicorns and doesn't follow a leveling system, growing as the Unicorn does. Rituals are divided based on their power: Common > Uncommon > Protected > Arcane > Lost.
63	* In ''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening'', the PointBuildSystem divides magic into ten "Arcana" of influence and five levels of power from "Initiate" to "Master", so each spell requires a minimum score in one or more Arcana. Characters with higher scores than the minimum can cast the spell with additional modifiers, like affecting a wider area or targeting it via SympatheticMagic.
64	* ''TabletopGame/ArsMagica'': Every spell has a Spell Level determined by how complex or powerful its effects are, how long it lasts, how much it affects, and how distant the caster can be from the target. Whether a mage can cast the spell depends in part on chance, their skill in the types of magic the spell uses, and their means of casting it; RitualMagic lets them cast spells of a higher Level than they otherwise could, while improvisational spellcasting limits them to lower-Level spells than specific "rotes" that they learn through study.
65	* ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasyRoleplay'':
66	** In a bit of EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, 1[[superscript:st]] Edition classifies spells by discipline (e.g.: Battle Magic) and level (from 1 to 4, plus Petty Magic). Access is limited by a character's spellcasting {{class and level\|System}}.
67	** Later editions replace spell levels with a "casting number" that must be achieved in a [[SkillScoresAndPerks spellcasting test]] to cast the spell, indirectly limiting weaker spellcasters' ability to use more advanced magic.
68	[[/folder]]
69
70	[[folder:Video Games]]
71	* ''VideoGame/BlackAndWhite'': Miracles have three possible tiers -- base level, Increase, and Extreme -- with increasing areas and/or magnitudes of effect, such as [[ShockAndAwe Lightning]] arcing to more targets or MiracleFood creating a greater yield. Higher-tier miracles have a higher {{Mana}} cost and need to be learned on their own, regardless of whether you know the base version, but also grant access to the lower-tier versions when learned.
72	* ''Videogame/BreathOfFireIV'' in a couple of the dragon forms had the Korean versions of these spells which added more syllables to denote how much more powerful the spell was. Usually these were just restricted with the elemental attack magics.
73	* The Elements system ''Videogame/ChronoCross'' assigns each element a level from 1 to 8 indicating what area of a character's element grid they can occupy. Most elements also have a 'margin' that allows them to be equipped higher or lower than the intended level (with matching effect on its actual power).
74	* In ''VideoGame/DigimonStoryCyberSleuth'':
75	** Each element has three single target physical skills, three single target magic skill, and three multi-target skills (whether physical or magical depend on the element). Each skill in a group has the same name, with I, II, or III at the end denoting the power. Fire physical skill would be Wolkenapalm I, Wolkenapalm II, and Wolkenapalm III, from weakest to strongest. Each element also have a weaker attack that causes an ailment.
76	*** Fire: Wolkenapalm I-III (ST physical), Burst Flame I-III (ST magical), Meteor Fall I-III (MT physical), Panic Fire (causes Panic)
77	*** Water: Ice Archery I-III (ST physical), Hydro Water I-III (ST magical), Ocean Wave I-III (MT magical), Idle Bubble (causes Sleep)
78	*** Plant: Crescent Leaf I-III (ST physical), Gaia Element I-III (ST magical), Rune Forest I-III (MT magical), Venom Trap (causes Poison)
79	*** Electric: Nanomachine Break I-III (ST physical), Heaven's Thunder (ST magical), Thunder Fall I-III (MT physical), Ripping Net (causes paralysis)
80	*** Earth: Comet Hammer I-III (ST physical), Grand Rock I-III (ST magical), Awesome Quake I-III (MT physical), Shock (causes Stun)
81	*** Wind: Wind Claw I-III (ST physical), Sonic Void I-III (ST magical), Gale Storm I-III (MT physical), Texture Blow (causes Dot)
82	*** Light: Saint Knuckle I-III (ST physical), Holy Light I-III (ST magical), Shining Laser I-III (MT magical), Support End (disables Support Skills)
83	*** Dark: Destruction Cannon I-III (ST physical), Nightmare I-III (ST magical), Hell Crusher I-III (MT magical), Destruction (low chance of instant death)
84	*** Neutral: Heavy Strike I-III (ST physical), Power Energy I-III (ST magical), Mach Rush I-III (MT physical), Character Reversal (causes Bugged)
85	** For healing spells, it's Heal for single target healing, and Aura for multi-target. Second tier adds "X" prefix, while the strongest tier adds "Final" prefix. e.g. Aura, X-Aura, Final Aura.
86	** Buff/Debuff spells has the format "[Stat] Charge/Break". Multi-target versions adds "Field". For example, Mental Break Field means debuff all enemy's INT stat.
87	* ''VideoGame/DungeonCrawl'' has spells with numeric levels from 1 (least) to 9 (greatest). A spell's level determines how much MP and hunger it costs to cast, as well as the odds of successful casting. A character can only have a total number of spell levels memorized based on their CharacterLevel and Spellcasting skill.
88	* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'':
89	** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'' has all spells divided into five difficulty levels (Novice, Apprentice, Journeyman, Expert, and Master), and you can only learn higher-level spells after raising your skill in the corresponding magical school to a certain level.
90	** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'' keeps the tiers (although Journeyman is renamed to Adept), but the magic system is slightly different. Since skills are no longer tiered, theoretically, any character can cast any spell at any time. In practice, your spells are still limited by several factors:
91	*** If you're low-level and/or haven't bothered to level up your magicka, you simply won't have enough magicka to cast the spell. Yeah, that 298 MP Expert-level fire spell may be cool, but it's not going to do you any good if your max magicka is 100.
92	*** You may find spell tomes in random loot, but they're level-locked; for example, Apprentice-level spell tomes only begin to show up at level 11, and Adept-level tomes show up at level 23. This applies to your character level, not your skill levels; you can play a warrior who has a skill level of 15 (the minimum) in every school of magic and you'll still find high-level spell tomes as you advance in overall level.
93	*** Merchants who sell spell tomes will only sell Adept- and Expert-level tomes when the PC's skill level in the relevant school of magic is above a certain level (40 and 65, respectively).
94	*** In order to use Master-level magic, you first have to level up your skill in the relevant school of magic to 100 (the {{cap}}) and then complete a {{sidequest}} for that school's trainer at the College of Winterhold. You'll get one Master-level spell tome free for completing the quest, and then you'll be able to buy the other Master-level tomes at the College. No other merchants sell them, and they don't appear in loot.
95	* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
96	** Some games have tiers of spells that even have their own set of spell uses. It's a staple to have some more advanced spells under the naming format "[spell]", "[spell](a)ra", "[spell](a)ga", and "[spell](a)ja", though the English translations only began to use it since ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' (before, spells were simply named "[spell] 1", "[spell] 2", etc. due to limited characters). For example, the fire spells in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' are Fire, Fira, and Firaga. Interestingly enough, some games replace Curaja with Curaga and rename Curaga as Curada as per their original names: exactly why this specific spell is different from the others is anyone's guess.
97	** Besides the "Fire/Fira/Firaga" distinction, ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'', ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII'', ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'', and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyDimensions'' have spells sorted into tiers in a very ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''-esque fashion. This is understandable, since the former borrows heavily from D&D, the middle two expand on the first's formula, and the latter is a throwback. Naturally, the more recent SpiritualSuccessor ''VideoGame/BravelyDefault'' follows suit.
98	** The "Flare" spells have a different form of progression using metric prefixes, starting with Flare, then Megaflare, Gigaflare, Teraflare, then skipping over Peta- and going for Exaflare. [[spoiler: ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'' and ''VideoGame/BravelyDefault'' has an even more powerful Flare move used, which follows this progression and later made it's debut in the endgame of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXVI''. Zettaflare/Zeta Flare.]] ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'' features another Flare variant that not only is the name of an actual solar phenomenon, but it takes this progression in the opposite direction by using a fractional metric prefix. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanoflare Nanoflare]].
99	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'' needed to differentiate between single-target and [=AoE=] spells, so it combined both naming conventions. All spells receive a roman numeral to rank their power, and [=AoE=] spells receive the -aga suffix. Fire III would be the third tier single target fire spell, while Firaga III is the third tier [=AoE=] Fire spell. Healing worked the same between Cure II vs Curaga II, but confusingly also had a Cura line which was also [=AoE=] - the difference between Cura and Curaga lines being that Cura could only be centered on the caster, while Curaga could be centered on any party member. Buff spells also used the -ra suffix rather than -aga to designate [=AoE=]. Damage spells eventually had an -aja line of powerhouse spells added after the level cap was raised.
100	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' decided to have both "[spell]aga" ''and'' "[spell]aja," at least for the Cure line. The order was Cure/Cura/Curaga/Curaja/Renew, with Cure/Curaga being single-target, Cura/Curaja being multi-target, and Renew being a Full-Restore for the entire team. No "[spell]ada", however, and the Fire/Fira/Firaga stayed the same, with "[spell]aja" only used as super powered attacks for [[SummonMagic Espers]] when the party fights them.
101	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' introduced the spell Curasa into the Cure line.
102	** ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' borrows the naming system, although the English version is {{inconsistent\|Dub}} about the suffix for fourth-tier spells (the Japanese version consistently identifies them with the suffix "-gun"). ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI I]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII II]]'' use "-gun", ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance 3D]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII III]]'' use "-za", and ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHearts02BirthBySleepAFragmentaryPassage 0.2]]'' uses "-ja".
103	** Uniquely, ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'' subjected spells to the same StatGrinding system as the stats: instead of finding/learning more powerful spells, using the same spells over and over again made them more powerful but also more MP intensive.
104	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'':
105	*** The game has a bit of an odd take on this: [[BlackMage Black Mages]], [[WhiteMage White Mages]] and [[SummonMagic Summoners]] all learn II, III and IV levels of their base spells. ''Unlike'' many other examples however the upper tier spells aren't necessarily better. For example Fire III does a lot more damage then Fire, but cost about three times the mana and takes about three times as long to cast. Cure III meanwhile heals for about 1.5x what the basic Cure does, but for over three times the cost. Cure III does heal everyone in a smallish area, so it's better for when your party is grouped together.
106	*** A late optional dungeon in ''Heavensward'' also lampshades the more-exotic spell tier naming used in other entries in the series. The Great Gubal Library (Hard) has multiple books found on the ground containing flavor text, with [[https://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/f4f6d5b1c2f1b5c468dbdbbd8745f99a/tumblr_inline_oe74g62TBU1rvez8u_raw.png one book]] recording the Amdapori Council of Magi's debate over the name for a Cure spell stronger than Curaga. After arguing over "Curago", "Curaza", "Curuja" and "Curagura", those present gave up and voted, 17-3, to abolish the existing naming standards entirely in favor of "Cure I" through "Cure IV".
107	* The ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' series does this with both spells and weapons, by dividing them up into Weapon Levels dictating when a character is skilled to use stronger weapons. Ranks E-S or in some games E-SS. The typical progression for weapons is Iron, Steel, Silver. Magic was further standardized in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' giving basic magic, 'El' magic, 'Arc' magic, a named long range attack, named high level, and then 'Rex' for the ultimate (e.g. Wind, Elwind, Arcwind, Blizzard, Tornado, Rexcalibur).
108	* ''VideoGame/GloryOfHeracles'' has three levels of spells in each set. For instance, the single heal spell is Pow, Powra and Powtes. For offensive spells, the effects changes the higher the level: the level I spell (the base) targets a single enemy, the level II spell targets a row of enemy, and the level III spell targets all enemies. Each spell also has three upgradable levels based on a minigame event in the touch screen, but that is extra and not really relevant to this trope.
109	* In ''VideoGame/GranblueFantasy'', most of the skills than can be assigned to the protagonist are based on tiers, with a Roman numeral indicating the level of the skill (i.e. Rage IV, Bounty Hunter III, Phalanx II).
110	* ''VideoGame/{{Grandia}}'' games have three tiers of magic, each with their own sets of magic points.
111	* In the ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}'' series, elemental spells and the heal spell have the more advanced levels given prefixes: "mega", "giga", "omega", "tera", and so on.
112	* In ''VideoGame/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban'', most spells have a "Duos" or "Trio" variant that is stronger than the base version, which doesn't appear to be the case in the [[Literature/HarryPotter source material]].
113	* ''VideoGame/MagicShop'': Each spell has a small, medium, and max variation depending on how charged it is, which changes how much of the game board it affects.
114	* In the ''VideoGame/{{Mother}}'' series, the tiers for PSI powers are given by the Greek letters alpha, beta, gamma, and omega. Sometimes, sigma is used as well, generally with two-tiered support powers as 'use alpha-level of this power on all of one side', for example, the Shield powers.
115	* All skills in ''VideoGame/Onmyoji2016'' are like this. You can level-up a ''shikigami''[='s=] skill by melting another one of the same specie, while doing so for an ''[[PlayerCharacter onmyōji]]''[='s=] skill requires completing side quests.
116	* Similar to the ''Final Fantasy'' example (and actually predating its translated use in America by a large margin), ''VideoGame/PhantasyStar'' introduced technique tiers in the second game. They were grouped as "[technique]", "Gi[technique]", and "Na[technique]", with the additional "Sa[technique]" if you wanted multiple targets. For the former, examples would be Foi, Gifoi and Nafoi; for the latter, there is Ner and Saner.[[note]]If you want to get REALLY technical, Res exemplifies both at once, because its name in Japanese is Resta, which multi-targets as Sa-Resta with its own upgraded forms. This was lost in English as the multi-target version was just "Sar" due to character limits.[[/note]]
117	* ''VideoGame/PillarsOfEternity'' generally follows the ''D&D 3E'' model of unlocking new spells/powers at every even CharacterLevel for its magic-using classes. This includes wizards, clerics, druids, and ciphers.
118	* ''VideoGame/PrayerOfTheFaithless'': The description lists as a Feature, specifically rejecting "stronger versions of old skills":
119	--> More skills, more tools: New skills acquired through leveling up and finding weapons add more options to your arsenal, rather than simply stronger versions of old skills
120	* ''VideoGame/ShadowHeartsCovenant'' and ''[[VideoGame/ShadowHeartsFromTheNewWorld From the New World]]'' use four-tier magic system. Spell tiers differ not only in damage, but also in AreaOfEffect type[[note]]Single, line, AOE, or line with AOE[[/note]], angle[[note]]Normal, tossed into the air, knocked down, or BlownAcrossTheRoom[[/note]], number of hits, and hit area[[note]]Flying enemies can't be hit with ground-moving attacks, while anti-air attacks will miss grounded enemies[[/note]].
121	** All attacking spells have two-part names. The first part denotes the element - Red (Fire), Hail (Water), Gale (Wind), Rock (Earth), Bright (Light), and Evil (Dark). The second part is unique for all spells but the tier four ones, which are all "Crest". For some reason all unique spell names were changed between two games, but "Crest" tier remained intact.
122	** An example of Light spell progression from ''Covenant'': Bright Light (Small AOE, 1 hit, down) > Bright Crime (Small AOE, 5 hits, high) > Bright Banish (Small AOE, 9 hits, down) > Bright Crest (Large AOE, 1 hit, down).
123	** Multi-target support spells are a tier higher than the single-target ones, and have the prefix "Arc".
124	* ''VideoGame/{{Shantae}}'': Also a form of TieredByName for most spells, where Super is better than without Super. Super Pike Balls are the better version of Pike Balls.
125	** ''VideoGame/ShantaeRiskysRevenge'': Mega Pike Ball is better than Super Pike Ball, because it has one more ball.
126	** ''VideoGame/ShantaeHalfGenieHero'':
127	*** Triple Fireball is "Even more [[blue:FIREBALL]] coverage than before!". It's an upgrade to Fireball.
128	*** Super Mega Puff is better than Mega Puff which is better than Storm Puff.
129	* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'':
130	** The elemental damage spells follow this format: root (weak tier) < root followed by an extra consonant-vowel formation (medium tier) < root followed by ''-dyne'' (heavy tier) < root followed by ''-barion'' (introduced in ''V'') or completely different name (severe tier, in every other appearance in a given game if it exists). The "Ma-" prefix indicates that the spell targets all enemies. For example, the Ice spells go from Bufu (weak), Bufula (medium), Bufudyne (heavy), and the severe tier spell has varying names across games, commonly Niflheim, Ice Age or Bufubarion. The multi-target variants thus also go from Mabufu, Mabufula, Mabufudyne, and a severe tier spell if it exists; Mabufubarion if it doesn't. There are specially named single-target elemental spells in V; these are heavy-tier spells that ignore elemental resistances.
131	*** Four most-commonly used spell families are Agi[lao] (Fire), Bufu[la] (Ice), Zio[nga] (Lightning), and Zan[ma] (Force).
132	*** Rarer spell families include Garu[la] (Wind), Magna[ra][=/=]Tera[zi] (Earth), Aqua[es] (Water), Psi[o] (Psychokinesis), Frei[la] (Nuclear), and Gry[va] (Gravity).
133	** Light and Dark spells: Hama/Mudo (weak or low chance of instant kill) < Hamaon/Mudoon (strong or medium chance of instant kill) < Hamabarion/Mudobarion (severe chance to instant kill) or a completely different name that is usually exclusive to certain demons. Like the elemental damage skills, multi-target variants have the "Ma-" prefix.
134	*** There also exist Light and Dark spells that are not used for instant kill, namely Kouha (Light) and Eiha (Dark). Their second tiers just replace "h" with "g" and their third tiers add an "-on" suffix like their instant-kill counterparts.
135	** Almighty spells: Megido (weak) < Megidola (medium) < Megidolaon (strong). ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'' has Megidoladyne used by the ultimate {{Superboss}}, but how it works is significantly different from -- and ''far'' more devastating (as in, it gets stronger the more it's cast, to the point where it can inflict a map-wide OneHitKill) than -- the first three spells.
136	** Healing spells: Dia (weak) < Diarama (medium) < Diarahan (full heal). "Me-" indicates that the spell heals the entire party.
137	** Status shift spells: Ma- is multitarget if not innate; -kaja increases the stat; -nda decreases the stat. -taru- is might; -maka- is magic (if separate from -taru-); -raku- is defense; -suku- is agility (which determines hit rate and evasion). "De-" is a negation prefix; Dekaja is a StatusBuffDispel, while Dekunda is an AntiDebuff.
138
139	* ''Videogame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'' makes no distinction between physical and magical attacks with its "Pin" system, but each pin has an assigned "rank" which places some limits on how many can be equipped simultaneously. Namely, you can't equip more than one of the same A-rank pin (or more than one of ''any'' star-rank pin) at the same time.
140	* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' used to have ranks for most spells and abilities, with higher ranks becoming available for training for players as they leveled up. For the most part, there was no real reason to go back to a lower rank after that, and this was eventually replaced with abilities simply becoming stronger with each CharacterLevel. In addition, most healing spells initially came in three strenghts: Lesser, (Normal) and Greater. The latter were the most efficient, but also took the longest to cast and were rarely used because of that. The general concept still exists for healers, if with different spells. For example, Priests use ''Flash Heal'' as the quick but costly healing spell, ''Greater Heal'' (with a much shorter casting time) for the slow but effective healing and while the normal version Heal still exists, no one really uses it and its slated for removal in the next expansion.
141	[[/folder]]
142
143	[[folder:Web Comics]]
144
145	* ''Webcomic/TheGreatWizardTranscendent'' has wizards' power levels based on mana circles. The more mana circles the wizard has, the more types of spells he can cast.
146
147	[[/folder]]
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149
150	----
151	[[Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick L-E-V-E-L-S.]] [[TheStinger There.]] [[ExactWords I did it.]]

Context Main / SpellLevels