History Main / SpellLevels

** 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; Bufubarion if it doesn't. There are specially named single-target elemental spells in V; these are heavy-tier spells that ignore elemental resistances.
*** Four most-commonly used spell families are Agi[lao] (Fire), Bufu[la] (Ice), Zio[ga] (Lightning), and Zan[ma] (Force).

*** 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", but they otherwise obey normal rules for elemental spells.
** 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 with chance to instakill enemy weak to element) or a completely different name that is usually exclusive to certain demons. Like the elemental damage skills, multi-target variants have the "Ma-" prefix.

*** 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 its better for when your party is grouped together.

* ''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.

* 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 the [[TitleCharacter eponymous hero]], which is in a league of its own, even above ''Shin''.

Compare {{Whatevermancy}} and ElementalTiers. A common component of VancianMagic. May be subject to RankInflation.

* All skills in ''[[VideoGame/{{Onmyoji}} Onmyōji]]'' 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.

** The "Flare" spells have a different form of progression using decimal unit prefixes, starting with Flare, then Megaflare, Gigaflare, Teraflare, then skipping over Peta- and going for the most powerful variant seen in the series so far, Exaflare. [[spoiler: Though ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'' and ''VideoGame/BravelyDefault'' has an even more powerful Flare move used, which follows this progression. Zettaflare/Zeta Flare.]]

* ''LightNovel/{{Overlord}}'': 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.

* ''VideoGame/ShadowHearts Covenant and From the New World'' introduced tier levels for their magic system. The tier not only affects the power of the spell but also the Area of Effect, number of hits, trajectory and launch type i.e if the enemy gets tossed into the air (High Angle), slammed into the ground or (Knock Down) or knocked clean out their feet (Hard Hit). For example, the fire spells in ''Covenant'' are Red Rave (Fire Class Special Damage. Circular, small/1 hit/Hard Hit), Red Blaze (Fire Class Special Damage. Circular, Medium/1 hit/ Hard Hit), Red Cradle (Fire Class Special Damage. Circular, large/1 hit/ High Angle) and Red Crest (Fire Class Special Damage. Circular, large/1 hit/Hard Hit with odds of [[StatusEffects Physical Attack Down]]).

** The four 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; Bufubarion if it doesn't. There are specially named single-target elemental spells in V; these are heavy-tier spells that ignore elemental resistances.

** 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).

** Almighty spells: Megido (weak) < Megidola (medium) < Megidolaon (strong). ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'' has Megidoladyne used by the ultimate BonusBoss, 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.

* 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.
* All skills in ''[[VideoGame/{{Onmyoji}} Onmyōji]]'' 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.

* ''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.
* 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).
* 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).
* ''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.
* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'':
** ''[[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.
** ''[[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:
*** 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.
*** 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.
*** 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).
*** 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.
* ''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.

* ''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.
* ''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.

* ''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.
* ''VideoGame/ShadowHearts Covenant and From the New World'' introduced tier levels for their magic system. The tier not only affects the power of the spell but also the Area of Effect, number of hits, trajectory and launch type i.e if the enemy gets tossed into the air (High Angle), slammed into the ground or (Knock Down) or knocked clean out their feet (Hard Hit). For example, the fire spells in ''Covenant'' are Red Rave (Fire Class Special Damage. Circular, small/1 hit/Hard Hit), Red Blaze (Fire Class Special Damage. Circular, Medium/1 hit/ Hard Hit), Red Cradle (Fire Class Special Damage. Circular, large/1 hit/ High Angle) and Red Crest (Fire Class Special Damage. Circular, large/1 hit/Hard Hit with odds of [[StatusEffects Physical Attack Down]]).
* ''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.
* ''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.

** ''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/KingdomHeartsDreamDropDistance 3D]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII III]]'' use "-za", and ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHearts02BirthBySleepAFragmentaryPassage 0.2]]'' uses "-ja".

** ''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"). ''Kingdom Hearts I'' and ''II'' use "-gun", ''Dream Drop Distance'' and ''III'' use "-za", and ''0.2'' has "-ja".

** ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' borrows the naming system, although whatever they name 4th tier magic seems to fly all over the place in the English dub (while the Japanese version consistently uses the suffix "-gun" to identify 4th tier spells). ''Kingdom Hearts I'' and ''II'' has "-gun" as the suffix for accessories, armor, and two Reaction Commands in a certain boss fight; ''Dream Drop Distance'' and ''III'' use "-za", and ''0.2'' has "-ja".

** The four elemental damage spells follow this format: root (weak tier) < root followed by an extra consonant-vowel formation (medium tier) < root followed by ''-dyne'' (strong 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 (strong), and the severe tier spell has varying names across games, commonly Niflheim or Ice Age. The multi-target variants thus also go from Mabufu, Mabufula, Mabufudyne, and a severe tier spell if it exists.
** Light and Dark spells: Hama/Mudo (weak or low chance of instant kill) < Hamaon/Mudoon (strong or medium chance of instajt kill) < Hamabarion/Mudobarion (severe) or a completely different name that is usually exclusive to certain demons. Like the elemental damage skills, multi-target variants have the "Ma-" prefix.

->'''Vaarsuvius:''' Aha! A new spell level!\\
'''Roy:''' L-E-V-E-L.\\
'''Vaarsuvius:''' Huh?
-->-- ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick''

** The four elemental damage spells follow this format: root (weak tier) < root followed by an extra consonant-vowel formation (medium tier) < root followed by ''-dyne'' (strong tier) < completely different name (severe tier, if it exists in a given game). The "Ma-" prefix indicates that the spell targets all enemies. For example, the Ice spells go from Bufu (weak), Bufula (medium), Bufudyne (strong), and the severe tier spell has varying names across games, commonly Niflheim or Ice Age. The multi-target variants thus also go from Mabufu, Mabufula, Mabufudyne, and a severe tier spell if it exists.

->'''Vaarsuvius:''' Aha! A new spell level!
->'''Roy:''' L-E-V-E-L.
->'''Vaarsuvius:''' Huh?

* ''VideoGame/ShadowHearts Covenant and From the New World'' introduced tier levels for their magic system. The tier not only affects the power of the spell but also the Area of Effect, number of hits, trajectory and launch type i.e if the enemy gets tossed into the air (High Angle), slammed into the ground or (Knock Down) or knocked clean out their feet (Hard Hit). For example, the fire spells in ''Covenant'' are Red Rave (Fire Class Special Damage. Circular, small/1 hit/Hard Hit), Red Blaze (Fire Class Special Damage. Circular, Medium/1 hit/ Hard Hit), Red Cradle (Fire Class Special Damage. Circular, large/1 hit/ High Angle) and Red Crest (Fire Class Special Damage. Circular, large/1 hit/Hard Hit with odds of [[StandardStatusAilments Physical Attack Down]]).

* In the ''VideoGame/HarryPotter and the [[Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban Prisoner of Azkaban]]'' games, 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]].

-->--Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick