Discussion Main / ImprobablePowerDiscrepancy

Would it also count as this trope if your allies were improbably scaled?

For context, I played a JRPG where new party members would start (or return after an absence) at the level of the area you gained them in. This wouldn't be noteworthy except for a late game incident where one character who'd fought exactly twice before and whose power wasn't fully awakened was the same level as another who had been at it two years longer than the protagonist and is explicitly a match for the rest of the party combined (Solo Character Runs notwithstanding). The protagonist can also easily be a few levels above them both at that point, though that part can be justified as a Power of Friendship thing.

Removed a lot of natter from under World Of Warcraft. Put here in case anyone wants to try integrating more of it under a single bullet.

What makes this fun is Aggro Radius. Aggro Radius, you see, the math that determines when any given mob will notice you are there and begin to attack you, alters as you level. Enemies that are significantly lower in level than you will not attack you until you pretty much stand on top of them. The reverse is also true. A level 54 rotting, undead bear can spot a level 14 from half a mile away. If, in your zeal to explore a new game world, you miss not very subtle environmental hints (like flavor-graphic corpses, lava, flames, tortured earth, barricades and so on), you will aggro large amounts of monsters you have no chance of defeating and no real hope of getting away.

• There are also too many cases to mention of enemies who should be strong compared to other creatures in the world, yet are anything but. The local wildlife remains a curiously perfectly suitable challenge all the way up to the level cap. By contrast, the greatest enemy of the playable Darkspear trolls, Zalazane(who according to the manual has the power to instantly brainwash trolls), is single-handedly defeated by level 10 or so orc and troll players every so often.
  • Upcoming patch makes Zalazane into the Raid Boss he should be, there will be a Wrath Gate type event where the Echo Isles will be retaken by vast military force. Apparently, Zalazane was only pretending to be level 12.
• It's strangely funny how, depending on the area, many "important" NP Cs such as captains, generals, etc., can have a low level, while regular city guards are many levels above them...
• Another thing worth noteing is the fact that Azeroth lacks any areas with monsters level 61-68 outside of a few dungeons. Why? They're all in Outland, which is the remains of an exploded planet.
• There are even a few cases within the same zone. In Outlands, some areas are only acessible once you learn to use flying mounts (which used to be at the expansions level cap), so obviously the enemies there are tuned for a higher level than those found in the lower areas.
• Also, the format differences between outdoor zones, dungeons and raids can mean that the same NPC can suddenly vary wildly in power. In Icecrown Citadel, players meet some Argent Crusade NP Cs again that they used to do fairly menial tasks for about 5 levels earlier. Since they actually fight alongside you for a specific event, they've suddenly become pretty badass fighters with fairly impressive health pools while their quest versions had less than most enemies in that zone (and certainly less than the players). The same thing can also happen to reccuring villains, although the Lich King averts it by being pretty much invincible in every situation outside of the raid encounter, but you never have to fight him directly elsewhere either.
• Okay, so, how long has Thrall been aware of the demon cultist invasion in Orgrimmar's basement? Five years, has it been five years now since the demon cultists took over the basement of Orgrimmar? The capital city of the Horde? The level 13 demon cultist invasion? Whereas Thrall requires no less than 25 well-armed level 80 players to defeat him? Five years? Really?
  • Likewise, how long has the prisoner riot been going on in the Stockades? Why hasn't Stormwind City Watch asked some of the trainers to go down and end things? Even the damned fishing trainer could probably unleash some whoop-ass, never mind the warrior trainer.

<I>** It gets even worse. In the 20-30 level bracket, you fight Lost Mutates (minions) and Anathema (lieutenants). The leaders of the two groups, Headmen (lieutenatns) and Aberrants (bosses), are fought 5-20, making them notably weaker. The same happens to Arachnos Fortunata and Fortunata Seers, Wolfpack/Warcry Mk. II/I robots, and many others .</i>

I'm not sure there's any actual indication in the game that the Headmen and Aberrants are the leaders of the Lost, only the bosses of the weaker ones. In fact, it's actually quite noticeable that while the low(5-20) level minions look like hobos, the Mutates look like Headmen, and in turn the Anathema resemble the Aberrants. And the Lost bosses at 20-30 are shrouded in cloaks, but provide a clue to what's really going on They look like Rikti, which of course is what they are; the ranks within the Lost represent the degree to which they've mutated towards full Rikti-ness.