History Main / SpellLevels

*** 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://media.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".

* Some ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' 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 FFX 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.

** 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.
** VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII introduced the spell Curasa into the Cure line.

*** 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, [[https://media.tumblr.com/f4f6d5b1c2f1b5c468dbdbbd8745f99a/tumblr_inline_oe74g62TBU1rvez8u_raw.png one book]] containing records of 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".

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' 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.

* While the system varies from game to game, ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' and particularly the ''Persona'' series have four main elements - ''Agi'' for fire, ''Bufu'' for ice, ''Zio'' for lightning, and ''Zan or Garu'' for wind and other key words such as ''Dia'', healing - that get more powerful with prefixes or suffixes: e.g. Maragi hits all enemies with fire, Zionga is a stronger lightning attack, Mediarama heals all allies instead of just one for more health. The franchise's folder explains in more detail.

* ''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.

** ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' borrows the naming system, although whatever they name 4th tier magic seems to fly all over the place; ''II'' had "-agun" as the suffix for Reaction Commands in a certain boss fight, ''Birth By Sleep'' has "-za" for Zero Graviza, ''3D'' also has "-za" for the cutscene-exclusive Stopza, and ''0.2'' has "-aja" for the magic-based Situation Commands in the English dub, but "-agun" in the Japanese dub.

* 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.

* 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.

** 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 damaging than -- the first three spells.

** 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 the first three spells.

** The elemental 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.

** ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' borrows the naming system, although whatever they name 4th tier magic seems to fly all over the place; ''II'' had -agun as the suffix for Reaction Commands in a certain boss fight, ''Birth By Sleep'' has ''-za'' for Zero Graviza, ''3D'' also has ''-za'' for the cutscene-exclusive Stopza, and ''0.2'' has -aja for the magic-based Situation Commands in the English dub, but -agun in the Japanese dub.

** ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' borrows the naming system, though the Ja tier is replaced by -agun/-za depending on the translation.

** FinalFantasyXIII introduced the spell Curasa into the Cure line.

** ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' borrows the naming system, though the Ja tier is replaced by Gun/Za depending on the translation.

* In ''War Dragons'', each dragon has two or three spells that come standard. But, you can also craft extras of those spells in your Forge to attach to dragons that don't normally carry them. The only drawback is that standard-equipment spells can be used as often as you get enough rage in your meter to use them. Crafted spells can only be used once or twice during an attack.

** 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.

* While the system varies from game to game, ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' and particularly the ''Persona'' series have four main elements - ''Agi'' for fire, ''Bufu'' for ice, ''Zio'' for lightning, and ''Zan'' for wind and other key words such as ''Dia'', healing - that get more powerful with prefixes or suffixes: e.g. Maragi hits all enemies with fire, Zionga is a stronger lightning attack, Mediarama heals all allies instead of just one for more health. The franchise's folder explains in more detail.

* The Justsu techniques in ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' are ranked E to S.

* ''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.