{ "schemaVersion": 20, "license": { "name": "CC BY 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" }, "count": 23, "scaling": [ { "id": "ability-collection", "name": "Ability Collection", "status": "unverified", "axis": "horizontal", "scope": "ability", "bases": [ "character-level", "attribute", "skill-rank", "unlock" ], "definition": "A character gains many abilities over play at roughly the same power but can carry or use only a limited set at once, so growth lies in the size of the pool and the choice of what to equip rather than in magnitude", "aliases": [ "Skill Collection", "Ability Loadout" ], "media": [ "tabletop-rpg", "video", "board-card" ], "mechanics": [ "equipment-loadouts", "experience-levels", "hand-management", "skill-trees" ], "examples": [ { "title": "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Players Handbook", "year": 1978, "year_approx": false, "medium": "tabletop-rpg", "creator": "Gary Gygax (TSR)", "basis": [ "unlock", "character-level", "attribute" ], "note": "An antecedent of a mixed form. A magic-user adds spells found in captured spell books or on scrolls to its own books, up to a maximum per spell level set by Intelligence, and must select and memorise spells before an adventure; new spell levels also open as the character rises in level.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Mega Man", "year": 1987, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Capcom", "basis": [ "unlock" ], "note": "Each time Mega Man out-duels one of his six foes he acquires new firepower for the final stage, and the manual lists a weapon energy capsule beside the life capsule.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Mega Man 2", "year": 1988, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Capcom", "basis": [ "unlock" ], "note": "Each defeated boss robot gives Mega Man its weapon, chosen one at a time from the pause menu and run on its own energy meter; the manual says the weapons work with varying effectiveness on different opponents rather than ranking them.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Final Fantasy V", "year": 1992, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Square", "basis": [ "unlock" ], "note": "Ability points won in battle raise a job's level, which teaches that job's abilities; a learned ability can then be set onto a character in another job through the Ability Screen, and the Blue Mage adds enemy skills to its list by being hit by them.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Guild Wars", "year": 2005, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "ArenaNet", "basis": [ "unlock", "character-level" ], "note": "Skill points from each level and quest rewards add skills from the primary and secondary professions, while the Skill Bar holds at most eight, equipped only in towns and outposts; the level cap is 20.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Gloomhaven", "year": 2017, "year_approx": false, "medium": "board-card", "creator": "Isaac Childres (Cephalofair Games)", "basis": [ "unlock", "character-level" ], "note": "Each level adds one ability card of that level or lower to the character's pool, and at the start of a scenario the player takes cards from the pool up to the class's hand size, which levelling never changes.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Hogwarts Legacy", "year": 2023, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Avalanche Software (Warner Bros. Games)", "basis": [ "unlock", "skill-rank" ], "note": "Learned spells, Expelliarmus for one through a professor's assignment, are placed in Spell Sets of four slots, switched during exploration or battle; three Spell Knowledge talents, at levels 5 and 16, add a set each, up to 16 slots.", "latest": true } ], "provenance": { "title": "Mega Man", "year": 1987, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "confidence": "low", "note": "Provenance is scoped to the form in which growth lies in the pool rather than in magnitude. Mega Man's manual says that each time Mega Man out-duels one of his six foes he acquires new firepower, the earliest documented use cited; the choice of one weapon at a time from a menu is first documented in Mega Man 2's manual (1988). The Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Players Handbook (1978) is an antecedent of a mixed form, in which a magic-user's spell books grow by found spells and a limited number is memorised, but spell levels also rise with character level. Earlier action and role-playing video games remain unsurveyed, so no origin is defended." }, "established": null, "sources": [ { "key": "mega-man-instruction-manual-nes-1987", "canonical": false, "title": "Mega Man instruction manual (NES)", "author": "Capcom USA", "year": 1987, "year_approx": true, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/details/mega-man-nes-manual", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Helpful Game-Playing Hints, pp. 4-5", "note": "The weapon energy capsule beside the life energy capsule, and new firepower acquired each time Mega Man out-duels one of his six foes, needed for the final stage against Dr. Wily." }, { "key": "advanced-dungeons-dragons-players-handbook-1978", "canonical": false, "title": "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Players Handbook", "author": "Gary Gygax (TSR)", "year": 1978, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/download/pdfy-my6p8niGqahpilXi/TSR02010B%20-%20Player%27s%20Handbook%20%28Revised%20Cover%20-%20Orange%20Spine%29_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Intelligence, p. 10 (Maximum Number of Spells/Level; Acquisition of Heretofore Unknown Spells); Magic-User, p. 25; Character Spells, p. 40", "note": "Spells known held in spell books up to a maximum set by Intelligence, new spells gained from captured books or scrolls, a book for each higher spell level that becomes usable, and spells selected and memorised before an adventure." }, { "key": "mega-man-2-instruction-manual-nes-1989", "canonical": false, "title": "Mega Man 2 instruction manual (NES)", "author": "Capcom USA", "year": 1989, "year_approx": true, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/download/mega-man-2-nes-manual/Mega-Man-2-Game-Manual_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Controlling Mega Man, p. 4; Robot weapons, p. 15", "note": "Changing weapons through the START menu, a separate energy meter for the selected weapon, the power acquired from each defeated enemy, and the weapons' varying effectiveness against different opponents." }, { "key": "final-fantasy-v-advance-instruction-booklet-agb-bz5p-2007", "canonical": false, "title": "Final Fantasy V Advance instruction booklet (AGB-BZ5P)", "author": "Square Enix", "year": 2007, "year_approx": true, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/download/final-fantasy-v-advance-fhug-manual/3.5%20Manual%20Scan_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Jobs and Abilities, pp. 22-23; Jobs, Blue Mage", "note": "Ability points raising job level, abilities learned and then usable in a different job, the Ability Screen where a learned ability is set, and the Blue Mage's Learning." }, { "key": "the-skill-bar-2006", "canonical": false, "title": "The Skill Bar", "author": "ArenaNet", "year": 2006, "year_approx": true, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "http://web.archive.org/web/20060209213149/http://guildwars.com/gameplay/combat/skillbar/", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Gameplay, Combat, Skill Bar", "note": "A Skill Bar of at most eight skills, chosen from all available skills, equipped only in towns and outposts." }, { "key": "skills-2006", "canonical": false, "title": "Skills", "author": "ArenaNet", "year": 2006, "year_approx": true, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "http://web.archive.org/web/20060204175019/http://www.guildwars.com/gameplay/skills/", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Gameplay, Skills", "note": "Up to eight skills equipped at once from the whole array known, and the term \"build\" for the chosen assortment of skills and attributes." }, { "key": "leveling-up-2006", "canonical": false, "title": "Leveling Up", "author": "ArenaNet", "year": 2006, "year_approx": true, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "http://web.archive.org/web/20060209213842/http://guildwars.com/gameplay/gettingstarted/levelingup/", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Gameplay, Getting Started, Leveling Up", "note": "The level cap of 20, one skill point per level spent on new skills, and skills given as quest rewards." }, { "key": "gloomhaven-leveling-a-character-up", "canonical": false, "title": "Gloomhaven, Leveling a character up", "author": "Dized Rules", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": null, "accessed": null, "locator": null, "note": "One ability card of the new level or lower added to the active pool at each level, cards taken into a scenario up to the number on the character mat, and a hand size fixed for each class." }, { "key": "how-to-get-more-spell-slots-change-loadout-in-hogwarts-legacy-2023", "canonical": false, "title": "How to get more spell slots & change loadout in Hogwarts Legacy", "author": "Ben Williams (GGRecon)", "year": 2023, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://ggrecon.com/guides/hogwarts-legacy-spell-slots-get-more-change-loadout", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "The starting Spell Set of four, Expelliarmus learned through Professor Hecat's assignment, three Spell Knowledge talents adding a set each to 16 slots, their level requirements of 5 and 16, and switching sets in exploration or battle." } ], "n_examples": 7, "n_sources": 9, "word_count": 548, "updated": "2026-10-27", "url": "/scaling/ability-collection" }, { "id": "ability-ranks", "name": "Ability Ranks", "status": "unverified", "axis": "vertical", "scope": "ability", "bases": [ "character-level", "attribute", "skill-rank" ], "definition": "A single ability carries its own level or rank, raised by points, use, books or training, and its damage, duration, cost or reach is set by that rank, so the same spell or skill grows stronger as it is ranked up", "aliases": [ "Spell Ranks", "Skill Levels", "Gem Levels" ], "media": [ "tabletop-rpg", "video" ], "mechanics": [ "experience-levels", "skill-trees", "socketing" ], "examples": [ { "title": "Worlds of Wonder", "year": 1982, "year_approx": false, "medium": "tabletop-rpg", "creator": "Chaosium", "basis": [ "skill-rank", "attribute" ], "note": "An antecedent. In the Magic World booklet each spell must be learned and increased as a separate percentile skill, rising by 5% after an adventure in which it succeeded, up to 100%; the effect is set per casting by the POW spent, at most half the caster's INT.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Final Fantasy II", "year": 1988, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Square", "basis": [ "skill-rank" ], "note": "Each spell has its own level, which rises as its caster uses it, increasing both its potency and its MP cost; the level equals the MP the spell costs, and a spell at a higher level can be cast only at that level.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Diablo", "year": 1996, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Blizzard North", "basis": [ "skill-rank" ], "note": "Reading a book of a spell raises the character's ability with that spell, and no single book teaches all of it; as knowledge of Firebolt grows, its flame becomes hotter and faster for less exertion, while the Magic needed to memorise the spell rises.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Diablo II", "year": 2000, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Blizzard North", "basis": [ "skill-rank", "character-level" ], "note": "Each character level gives a skill point that adds a level to one skill. On Blizzard's undated expansion-era page, the Sorceress's Lightning costs 8 mana for 1-43 damage at level 1 and 17 mana for 1-293 at level 20, plus 8% damage per level of three other lightning skills.", "latest": false }, { "title": "World of Warcraft", "year": 2004, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Blizzard Entertainment", "basis": [ "skill-rank", "character-level" ], "note": "Spells come in ranks bought from class trainers at set levels; the Druid's Hurricane deals 75 Nature damage a second at rank 2 (level 50) and 101 at rank 3 (level 60). Patch 4.0.1 of October 2010 removed ranks, so a spell is learned once and grows with the character.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Path of Exile", "year": 2013, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Grinding Gear Games", "basis": [ "skill-rank", "character-level" ], "note": "Skills are gems that level up independently as they gain experience while socketed, each gem level carrying a character-level requirement; the 2012 overview shows a level 17 Cleave gem requiring character level 57.", "latest": false }, { "title": "The Elder Scrolls Online", "year": 2014, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "ZeniMax Online Studios", "basis": [ "skill-rank" ], "note": "An active skill has four ranks, I to IV, that improve through use rather than by spending points, after which it can be morphed; a morphed skill can rise four ranks more.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Last Epoch", "year": 2024, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Eleventh Hour Games", "basis": [ "skill-rank", "character-level" ], "note": "A skill in one of five specialisation slots earns experience and levels, by default to 20, reached around character level 75; each level is a point in the skill's own tree, and items with +Level of Skills raise the cap.", "latest": true } ], "provenance": { "title": "Final Fantasy II", "year": 1988, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "confidence": "low", "note": "Provenance is scoped to the form in which an ability's rank sets its magnitude. The earliest documented use cited is Final Fantasy II, whose spells increase in potency and MP cost as the caster uses them, on the account of BradyGames' official guide to the Final Fantasy Origins re-release (2003); the scanned text of the 1988 Famicom manual is not legible enough to confirm the rule. Magic World in Worlds of Wonder (1982) is an antecedent in which each spell is its own percentile skill, so the rank sets the chance of casting rather than the effect. RuneQuest (1978) and video role-playing games of the 1980s remain unsurveyed." }, "established": null, "sources": [ { "key": "worlds-of-wonder-magic-world-1982", "canonical": false, "title": "Worlds of Wonder, Magic World", "author": "Steve Perrin (Chaosium)", "year": 1982, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/download/chaosium_worlds_of_wonder_1982/MagicWorld_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "III. Magic: How Magic Works; Costs of Magic; Levels of Effect, pp. 7-8", "note": "Each spell learned and increased as a separate skill, the 5% gain after a successful adventure, the 100% maximum, and extra levels of POW per casting capped at half the caster's INT." }, { "key": "final-fantasy-origins-official-strategy-guide-2003", "canonical": false, "title": "Final Fantasy Origins: Official Strategy Guide", "author": "BradyGames", "year": 2003, "year_approx": false, "type": "book", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/download/final-fantasy-origins-i-ii-bradygames-strategy-guide/Final%20Fantasy%20Origins%20(I%20%26%20II)%20Bradygames%20Strategy%20Guide_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Final Fantasy II: Spells", "note": "Spells in Final Fantasy II increasing in proficiency as the caster uses them, in both potency and MP cost, the spell's level equal to its MP cost, and casting only at the current level." }, { "key": "diablo-manual-1996", "canonical": false, "title": "Diablo manual", "author": "Blizzard North", "year": 1996, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/download/diablo-manual-e/Diablo%20-%20MANUAL_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Items: Books, pp. 40-41; Magic: Firebolt, c. p. 43", "note": "Books that increase the character's ability with one spell, the rising magic requirement to memorise it, and Firebolt growing in intensity and speed with knowledge of the spell." }, { "key": "diablo-ii-manual-2000", "canonical": false, "title": "Diablo II manual", "author": "Blizzard North", "year": 2000, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/download/diablo-ii-manual/Diablo%20II%20Manual_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Developing Your Character: The Skill Tree, p. 30", "note": "A skill point at each level, one point assigned to a skill per click, descriptions showing the gain at the next level, and permanent assignment." }, { "key": "diablo-ii-sorceress-lightning-spells", "canonical": false, "title": "Diablo II: Sorceress Lightning Spells", "author": "Blizzard Entertainment", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "https://classic.battle.net/diablo2exp/skills/sorceress-lightning.shtml", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Lightning table", "note": "Lightning's mana cost and damage at skill levels 1 to 20, its bonuses from three other skills, and items that add skill levels; the page is undated and reflects the expansion era." }, { "key": "world-of-warcraft-official-strategy-guide-2004", "canonical": false, "title": "World of Warcraft: Official Strategy Guide", "author": "Michael Lummis and Danielle Vanderlip", "year": 2004, "year_approx": false, "type": "book", "publisher": "BradyGames", "url": "https://archive.org/download/World_of_Warcraft_World_of_Warcraft_BradyGames_Official_Strategy_Guide/World_of_Warcraft_World_of_Warcraft_BradyGames_Official_Strategy_Guide_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Learn Class Abilities First; Druid ability tables, Hurricane", "note": "Visiting class trainers every even level for new abilities, and ability tables by rank with level, mana, cost to train and effect." }, { "key": "patch-4-0-1-information-roundup-2010", "canonical": false, "title": "Patch 4.0.1 information roundup", "author": "Michael Gray (Engadget)", "year": 2010, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.engadget.com/2010-10-12-patch-4-0-1-information-roundup.html", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "Spell ranks gone, a spell learned once, and spells levelling up in damage with the character; 12 October 2010." }, { "key": "path-of-exile-game-overview-closed-beta-2012", "canonical": false, "title": "Path of Exile game overview (closed beta)", "author": "Grinding Gear Games", "year": 2012, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20121102053426/http://www.pathofexile.com:80/game", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "Skills as gems that level up independently, with gem levels, experience and character-level requirements shown on the sample items." }, { "key": "online-skills", "canonical": false, "title": "Online:Skills", "author": "The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "wiki", "publisher": null, "url": null, "accessed": null, "locator": null, "note": "Active skills with four ranks that improve through use, morphing after rank IV, and four further ranks after a morph." }, { "key": "passives-and-skills-2026", "canonical": false, "title": "Passives and Skills", "author": "LizardIRL (Maxroll)", "year": 2026, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "https://maxroll.gg/last-epoch/resources/passives-and-skills", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Skill Specialization", "note": "Skills earning experience to a default maximum of 20 around level 75, +Level of Skills affixes above 20, points in each skill's tree, and slots opened at levels 4, 8, 20, 35 and 50." }, { "key": "skill-and-rune-changes-2012", "canonical": false, "title": "Skill and Rune Changes", "author": "Jay Wilson (Blizzard Entertainment)", "year": 2012, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "http://web.archive.org/web/20120623182317/http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/4475014", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "The decision to give Diablo III's skill runes no ranks, so that players would not be clicking a button to pump points into skills; 18 February 2012." } ], "n_examples": 8, "n_sources": 11, "word_count": 549, "updated": "2026-10-27", "url": "/scaling/ability-ranks" }, { "id": "attribute-scaling", "name": "Attribute Scaling", "status": "verified", "axis": "vertical", "scope": "ability", "bases": [ "character-level", "attribute", "item-tier" ], "definition": "The magnitude of an attack, spell or other effect keyed to one of the user's statistics, so that damage or accuracy rises with strength, dexterity, intelligence or a similar attribute as that attribute is raised", "aliases": [ "Stat Scaling", "Weapon Scaling" ], "media": [ "tabletop-rpg", "video" ], "mechanics": [ "damage-types", "experience-levels", "point-buy" ], "examples": [ { "title": "Dungeons & Dragons", "year": 1974, "year_approx": false, "medium": "tabletop-rpg", "creator": "Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson (TSR)", "basis": [ "attribute", "character-level" ], "note": "A dexterity above 12 fires any missile at +1 and one under 9 at -1, while strength gives no combat bonus; the fire ball's dice follow the caster's level instead of a statistic, a 6th-level magic-user throwing a 6-die missile.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Dungeons & Dragons Supplement I: Greyhawk", "year": 1975, "year_approx": false, "medium": "tabletop-rpg", "creator": "Gary Gygax and Robert Kuntz (TSR)", "basis": [ "attribute" ], "note": "A strength table adds hit probability and damage, from -2 to hit and -1 damage at strength 3 or 4 to +2 and +3 at 18; fighters with 18 roll percentile dice for exceptional strength, up to +4 to hit and +6 damage at 18/00.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Diablo", "year": 1996, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Blizzard North", "basis": [ "attribute", "item-tier" ], "note": "A high Strength gives a bonus to damage in close combat and Dexterity governs the chance to hit; the Damage rating shown is based on the weapon, the character's attributes, level and magical bonuses.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Diablo II", "year": 2000, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Blizzard North", "basis": [ "attribute", "item-tier" ], "note": "Strength increases the total damage of the character's attacks, and Dexterity raises the attack rating that sets how often melee and ranged attacks land; the character screen shows the resulting damage for each selected skill.", "latest": false }, { "title": "World of Warcraft", "year": 2004, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Blizzard Entertainment", "basis": [ "attribute", "item-tier" ], "note": "Strength raises attack power with melee weapons and Agility raises it with ranged weapons, and for Rogues and Hunters partly in melee; damage per second rises with attack power.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Demon's Souls", "year": 2009, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "FromSoftware", "basis": [ "attribute", "item-tier" ], "note": "Each weapon lists its stat bonuses as letter grades against four statistics, and upgrade stones shift them, Bladestone raising the Dexterity bonus and lowering Strength's while other paths add magic damage that scales with the Magic or Faith statistic.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Dark Souls", "year": 2011, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "FromSoftware", "basis": [ "attribute", "item-tier" ], "note": "Each weapon adds a parameter bonus to its attack from Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence or Faith, graded E, D, C, B, A and S in ascending order; ascension at a blacksmith turns it into another version, such as a Fire or Occult weapon, with changed properties.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Dungeons & Dragons, 5th edition", "year": 2014, "year_approx": false, "medium": "tabletop-rpg", "creator": "Wizards of the Coast", "basis": [ "attribute" ], "note": "A weapon attack adds the same ability modifier to damage as to the attack roll, Strength for melee and Dexterity for ranged, with finesse and thrown weapons as exceptions; a spell states whether to add a modifier.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Elden Ring", "year": 2022, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "FromSoftware (Bandai Namco)", "basis": [ "attribute", "item-tier" ], "note": "A weapon's attack power shows a base figure, raised by smithing stones, plus a bonus from attribute scaling; letter grades against Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Faith and Arcane set how much each point adds, an E grade little and an A grade much.", "latest": true } ], "provenance": { "title": "Dungeons & Dragons", "year": 1974, "year_approx": false, "medium": "tabletop-rpg", "confidence": "medium", "note": "Men & Magic's table of bonuses and penalties due to abilities lets a dexterity above 12 fire any missile at +1 and one under 9 at -1, an accuracy keyed to a statistic; it is the earliest documented use cited. Strength there has no combat bonus, and the fire ball's dice follow the caster's level. Greyhawk (1975) adds strength's hit probability and damage adjustment. House rules of the Blackmoor and Greyhawk campaigns before 1974 remain unsurveyed." }, "established": { "title": "Dungeons & Dragons Supplement I: Greyhawk", "year": 1975, "year_approx": false, "medium": "tabletop-rpg", "confidence": "low", "note": "Greyhawk's strength table extended the 1974 missile bonus to hit probability and damage, the form later Dungeons & Dragons rules keep up to the 5th edition's ability modifier, and computer role-playing games such as Diablo and World of Warcraft add attribute bonuses to weapon damage. The line from Greyhawk to those games is not documented, so the claim rests on continuity within one game line." }, "sources": [ { "key": "dungeons-dragons-volume-1-men-magic-1974", "canonical": false, "title": "Dungeons & Dragons, Volume 1, Men & Magic", "author": "Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson (Tactical Studies Rules)", "year": 1974, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/download/dndbook1/dungeons_and_dragons_book_1_-_men_and_magic_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Abilities, pp. 10-11; Bonuses and Penalties to Advancement due to Abilities, p. 11; Explanation of Spells, Fire Ball, p. 25", "note": "Dexterity's +1 and -1 to firing missiles, strength as the fighter's prime requisite and aid in opening traps with no combat bonus, and the fire ball's dice set by the caster's level." }, { "key": "dungeons-dragons-supplement-i-greyhawk-1975", "canonical": false, "title": "Dungeons & Dragons Supplement I: Greyhawk", "author": "Gary Gygax and Robert Kuntz (TSR)", "year": 1975, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/download/tsr02003supplement1greyhawk/tsr02003%20-%20Supplement%201%20-%20Greyhawk_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Determination of Abilities (Additions and Changes), Strength table, p. 7", "note": "Strength's hit probability, damage, weight and door columns, and the percentile roll for exceptional strength of 18." }, { "key": "diablo-manual-1996", "canonical": false, "title": "Diablo manual", "author": "Blizzard North", "year": 1996, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/download/diablo-manual-e/Diablo%20-%20MANUAL_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Attributes; Combat Statistics, pp. 26-28", "note": "Strength's bonus to close-combat damage, Dexterity's effect on hitting, and the Damage rating based on weapon, attributes, level and magic." }, { "key": "diablo-ii-manual-2000", "canonical": false, "title": "Diablo II manual", "author": "Blizzard North", "year": 2000, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/download/diablo-ii-manual/Diablo%20II%20Manual_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Character Screen (Strength, Dexterity)", "note": "Strength increasing the total damage of attacks, and Dexterity raising the attack rating." }, { "key": "world-of-warcraft-official-strategy-guide-2004", "canonical": false, "title": "World of Warcraft: Official Strategy Guide", "author": "Michael Lummis and Danielle Vanderlip", "year": 2004, "year_approx": false, "type": "book", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/download/World_of_Warcraft_World_of_Warcraft_BradyGames_Official_Strategy_Guide/World_of_Warcraft_World_of_Warcraft_BradyGames_Official_Strategy_Guide_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Glossary: Agility, Attack Power, Strength", "note": "Strength affecting melee attack power, Agility ranged attack power and Rogue and Hunter melee attack power, and damage per second rising with attack power." }, { "key": "demon-s-souls-black-phantom-edition-strategy-guide-2010", "canonical": false, "title": "Demon's Souls (Black Phantom Edition) Strategy Guide", "author": "Wayne Gibson and Matthew Whisker (Namco Bandai Partners)", "year": 2010, "year_approx": false, "type": "book", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/download/DemonsSoulsBlackPhantomEditionStrategyGuide/Demons_Souls_Black_Phantom_Edition_Strategy_Guide_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Weapons tables, Stat Bonuses column, pp. 48-60; Upgrades, upgrade stones table", "note": "Letter grades for each weapon's stat bonuses, and upgrade stones that raise or lower the Strength and Dexterity bonuses or add damage scaling with Magic or Faith." }, { "key": "dark-souls-the-official-guide-2011", "canonical": false, "title": "Dark Souls: The Official Guide", "author": "Future Press", "year": 2011, "year_approx": true, "type": "book", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/download/dark-souls-the-official-guide-future-press/Dark%20Souls%20The%20Official%20Guide%20-%20Future%20Press_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Game System: Strength and Dexterity, p. 20; Parameter Bonuses, p. 24; Blacksmiths, p. 32; Weapons legend, Parameter Bonus, p. 228", "note": "Attack bonuses from Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence and Faith graded E, D, C, B, A and S in ascending order, and ascension changing a weapon into another version." }, { "key": "dungeons-dragons-basic-rules-2014-2014", "canonical": false, "title": "Dungeons & Dragons Basic Rules (2014)", "author": "Wizards of the Coast", "year": 2014, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/basic-rules-2014/combat#DamageRolls", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Combat: Attack Rolls, Ability Modifier; Damage Rolls", "note": "The ability modifier added to weapon damage as to the attack roll, Strength for melee and Dexterity for ranged, finesse and thrown exceptions, and spells stating their own modifiers." }, { "key": "how-does-weapon-scaling-work-in-elden-ring-2022", "canonical": false, "title": "How does weapon scaling work in Elden Ring", "author": "Brandon Moore (Sportskeeda)", "year": 2022, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.sportskeeda.com/esports/how-weapon-scaling-work-elden-ring", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "Base attack power raised by smithing stones, the bonus from scaling, the Attribute Scaling section with letter grades for Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Faith and Arcane, and the E and A examples." }, { "key": "elden-ring-ashes-of-war-explained-2022", "canonical": false, "title": "Elden Ring: Ashes Of War Explained", "author": "Charles Burgar (TheGamer)", "year": 2022, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.thegamer.com/elden-ring-ashes-of-war-infusions-guide", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "Infusions applied with an Ash of War changing which statistics a weapon scales from, such as Intelligence, or Strength and Dexterity equally." } ], "n_examples": 9, "n_sources": 10, "word_count": 575, "updated": "2026-10-27", "url": "/scaling/attribute-scaling" }, { "id": "bounded-accuracy", "name": "Bounded Accuracy", "status": "verified", "axis": "normalizing", "scope": "character", "bases": [ "character-level", "attribute" ], "definition": "A rule set keeps attack, defence and check bonuses within a narrow band at every level and fixes target numbers to the task, so that levels add hit points, damage and options more than accuracy and weak foes stay a threat", "aliases": [], "media": [ "tabletop-rpg", "video" ], "mechanics": [ "advantage-disadvantage", "experience-levels", "saving-throws", "target-numbers" ], "examples": [ { "title": "Dungeons & Dragons, 5th edition", "year": 2014, "year_approx": false, "medium": "tabletop-rpg", "creator": "Wizards of the Coast", "basis": [ "character-level", "attribute" ], "note": "The proficiency bonus rises from +2 at 1st level to +6 at 17th, no ability score can be raised above 20, and a task's difficulty class runs from 5 for very easy to 30 for nearly impossible whatever the character's level.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Solasta: Crown of the Magister", "year": 2021, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Tactical Adventures", "basis": [ "character-level" ], "note": "The game is based on the fifth edition's SRD 5.1 ruleset, licensed from Wizards of the Coast; a free update raised the level cap from 10 to 12, adding class features and 6th-level spells.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Baldur's Gate 3", "year": 2023, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Larian Studios", "basis": [ "character-level" ], "note": "The proficiency bonus, added to proficient attacks, saving throws and checks and to the spell save DC, starts at +2, becomes +3 at level 5 and +4 at level 9, by character level rather than class level; the level cap is 12.", "latest": true }, { "title": "Dungeons & Dragons, 2024 edition", "year": 2024, "year_approx": false, "medium": "tabletop-rpg", "creator": "Wizards of the Coast", "basis": [ "character-level", "attribute" ], "note": "The Character Advancement table keeps the proficiency bonus at +2 to +6 across twenty levels, based on total character level rather than level in a class, and ability score increases still cannot raise a score above 20.", "latest": false } ], "provenance": { "title": "Dungeons & Dragons, 5th edition", "year": 2014, "year_approx": false, "medium": "tabletop-rpg", "confidence": "medium", "note": "The fifth edition is the earliest published rule set cited that is built on the principle. Rodney Thompson named and described it in the Legends and Lore column \"Bounded Accuracy\" of 4 June 2012 as a system \"we're experimenting with\" for the next iteration of the game. Level-less systems such as Traveller (1977) and RuneQuest (1978) are possible antecedents with no levels to bound, and remain unsurveyed." }, "established": { "title": "Dungeons & Dragons, 5th edition", "year": 2014, "year_approx": false, "medium": "tabletop-rpg", "confidence": "medium", "note": "Video games built on the fifth edition's rules carry its narrow proficiency bonus: Solasta is based on the SRD 5.1 ruleset under licence from Wizards of the Coast, and Baldur's Gate 3 uses the same +2 to +4 steps up to its cap. The 2024 edition keeps the table unchanged. The line runs through one rule set and its adaptations; no adoption outside that rule set is cited." }, "sources": [ { "key": "bounded-accuracy-2012", "canonical": false, "title": "Bounded Accuracy", "author": "Rodney Thompson (Wizards of the Coast)", "year": 2012, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "http://web.archive.org/web/20120606190213/http://www.wizards.com:80/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4ll/20120604", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Legends and Lore, 4 June 2012", "note": "The bounded accuracy system against the maxim that \"the numbers go up\"; levels shown through hit points, damage and new abilities; DCs not scaling with level; a +1 bonus meaning 5% better; four goblins at 1st level and twelve at 5th; an iron-banded door at DC 17 at any level." }, { "key": "basic-rules-2014-step-by-step-characters-2014", "canonical": false, "title": "Basic Rules (2014), Step-by-Step Characters", "author": "Wizards of the Coast", "year": 2014, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/basic-rules-2014/step-by-step-characters", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Beyond 1st Level: Character Advancement; Class Features and Hit Dice", "note": "The proficiency bonus by level, +2 at 1st to +6 at 17th and 20th, and no ability score raised above 20." }, { "key": "basic-rules-2014-using-ability-scores-2014", "canonical": false, "title": "Basic Rules (2014), Using Ability Scores", "author": "Wizards of the Coast", "year": 2014, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/basic-rules-2014/using-ability-scores", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Proficiency Bonus; Ability Checks, Typical Difficulty Classes; Advantage and Disadvantage", "note": "The proficiency bonus determined by level and added once, difficulty classes from 5 to 30 by task, and two sources of advantage still giving one extra d20." }, { "key": "creating-a-character-d-d-beyond-free-rules-2024", "canonical": false, "title": "Creating a Character (D&D Beyond free rules)", "author": "Wizards of the Coast", "year": 2024, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/free-rules/creating-a-character", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Level Advancement: Character Advancement; Adjust Ability Scores; Multiclassing, Proficiency Bonus", "note": "The 2024 table with the proficiency bonus at +2 to +6, based on total character level, and ability score increases capped at 20." }, { "key": "dungeons-dragons-4th-edition-player-s-handbook-2008", "canonical": false, "title": "Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition, Player's Handbook", "author": "Rob Heinsoo, Andy Collins, and James Wyatt (Wizards of the Coast)", "year": 2008, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/download/pdfy-nzQtTTSYHQFtdao3/Player%27s%20Handbook_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Chapter 2 (Making Characters): Attack, Skill Check, Ability Check; Defenses", "note": "The contrasting form, one-half the character's level added to every attack, skill check, ability check and defence." }, { "key": "solasta-crown-of-the-magister-steam-store-page-2021", "canonical": false, "title": "Solasta: Crown of the Magister (Steam store page)", "author": "Tactical Adventures", "year": 2021, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "https://store.steampowered.com/app/1096530/Solasta_Crown_of_the_Magister/", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "The game based on the SRD 5.1 ruleset under licence from Wizards of the Coast, its release on 27 May 2021, and the update raising the level cap from 10 to 12." }, { "key": "what-is-the-level-cap-in-baldur-s-gate-3-2023", "canonical": false, "title": "What is the level cap in Baldur's Gate 3?", "author": "Jesse Lennox (Digital Trends)", "year": 2023, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/baldurs-gate-3-level-cap/", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "The level cap of 12 at release, raised from a planned 10, and early access limited to level 5." }, { "key": "proficiency-bonus", "canonical": false, "title": "Proficiency bonus", "author": "bg3.wiki", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "wiki", "publisher": null, "url": null, "accessed": null, "locator": null, "note": "The bonus at +2, +3 from level 5 and +4 from level 9, by character level, and what it is added to." } ], "n_examples": 4, "n_sources": 8, "word_count": 486, "updated": "2026-10-27", "url": "/scaling/bounded-accuracy" }, { "id": "catch-up-acceleration", "name": "Catch-Up Acceleration", "status": "verified", "axis": "normalizing", "scope": "character", "bases": [ "character-level", "item-tier", "release", "content-level" ], "definition": "A character behind the front of progression, whether behind its party, its player's highest character or a season's schedule, gains experience, power or gear faster than one at the front, so the gap narrows", "aliases": [ "Catch-Up Experience", "Catch-Up Gear" ], "media": [ "tabletop-rpg", "video" ], "mechanics": [ "appointment-mechanics", "experience-levels", "item-modification" ], "examples": [ { "title": "Dungeons & Dragons", "year": 1974, "year_approx": false, "medium": "tabletop-rpg", "creator": "Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson (Tactical Studies Rules)", "basis": [ "character-level", "content-level" ], "note": "Experience is awarded relative to level, so an 8th-level magic-user on the 5th dungeon level receives 5/8 of it, or 7/8 for a 7th-level troll, and no character receives more than one for one. A lower-level companion in the same place gains in full.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Dungeons & Dragons, 3rd edition", "year": 2000, "year_approx": false, "medium": "tabletop-rpg", "creator": "Wizards of the Coast", "basis": [ "character-level" ], "note": "In the revised Dungeon Master's Guide of 2003, each character's award for a monster is read by its own level against the challenge rating and falls as level rises; a 7th-level character earns 1,050 XP for a vrock that pays 9th-level companions 675.", "latest": false }, { "title": "World of Warcraft", "year": 2004, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Blizzard Entertainment", "basis": [ "release" ], "note": "Patch 2.3 of 2007 cut the experience needed for each level from 20 to 60 by approximately 15%, keeping characters at their current percentage of a level, and raised quest experience between 30 and 60.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn", "year": 2013, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Square Enix", "basis": [ "character-level" ], "note": "The armoury bonus raises the experience of every combat class or job other than the player's highest. Patch 3.0 of 2015 made it 100% below level 50 and 50% from 50, and patch 7.0 moved the 100% band to below level 90.", "latest": false }, { "title": "World of Warcraft: Dragonflight", "year": 2022, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Blizzard Entertainment", "basis": [ "release", "item-tier" ], "note": "Patch 10.1 of 2023 limited Shadowflame Crest Fragments to 150 of each type a week, a cap that rises as the season progresses, and halved the Flightstone cost of upgrading an item up to the power of the best one owned in its slot, for every character on the account.", "latest": true } ], "provenance": { "title": "Dungeons & Dragons", "year": 1974, "year_approx": false, "medium": "tabletop-rpg", "confidence": "medium", "note": "Men & Magic (1974) makes experience awards relative: a character above the level of the dungeon or of the monster receives the corresponding fraction, never more than one for one, so that a lower-level character on the same expedition gains faster than a higher one. It is the earliest documented use cited. The rule is framed against the dungeon level rather than against the party, and the explicit purpose of letting a character who has fallen behind catch up is first cited in the revised third edition Dungeon Master's Guide (2003), whose per-level award table is reportedly that of the 2000 edition. Other rule sets of the 1970s and multi-user dungeons remain unsurveyed." }, "established": null, "sources": [ { "key": "dungeons-dragons-volume-1-men-magic-1974", "canonical": false, "title": "Dungeons & Dragons, Volume 1, Men & Magic", "author": "Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson (Tactical Studies Rules)", "year": 1974, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/download/dndbook1/dungeons_and_dragons_book_1_-_men_and_magic_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Experience Points", "note": "Gains in experience points relative to the dungeon level and the monster's level, the worked example of an 8th-level magic-user receiving 5/8 or 7/8, the one-for-one ceiling, and the recommendation of at most one level per adventure." }, { "key": "dungeon-master-s-guide-v-3-5-2003", "canonical": false, "title": "Dungeon Master's Guide, v.3.5", "author": "Monte Cook, Jonathan Tweet and Skip Williams (Wizards of the Coast)", "year": 2003, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": null, "accessed": null, "locator": "Chapter 2, Table 2-6: Experience Point Awards (Single Monster), p. 38; Behind the Curtain: When a PC Falls Behind", "note": "Awards by character level against challenge rating, falling as level rises, and the statement that bigger awards to lower-level characters let a character behind by a level or two catch up, with the vrock example; first printing of July 2003." }, { "key": "world-of-warcraft-patch-2-3-levelling-improvements-2007", "canonical": false, "title": "World of Warcraft patch 2.3 levelling improvements", "author": "David Bowers (Engadget)", "year": 2007, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.engadget.com/2007-10-08-leveling-improvements-for-patch-2-3.html", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "Blizzard's post on reducing the experience needed for each level by approximately 15% between levels 20 and 60, characters keeping their level percentage, and more quest experience between 30 and 60." }, { "key": "patch-3-0-notes-full-release-2015", "canonical": false, "title": "Patch 3.0 Notes (Full Release)", "author": "Square Enix (The Lodestone)", "year": 2015, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "https://eu.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/topics/detail/464263b3ce6026cdf98a49bf8f98c204c6199e5a", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "The armoury bonus below level 50 increased to 100% more experience, and a 50% bonus from level 50." }, { "key": "patch-7-0-notes-2024", "canonical": false, "title": "Patch 7.0 Notes", "author": "Square Enix (The Lodestone)", "year": 2024, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/topics/detail/d7db61f938f9cea65e4c5cd261918edb036b3004", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "The armoury bonus below level 90 increased from 50% to 100%, applied to all available Disciples of War and Magic other than the highest-level job or class, and 50% from level 90." }, { "key": "armoury-bonus", "canonical": false, "title": "Armoury bonus", "author": "Consolegameswiki (FFXIV)", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "wiki", "publisher": null, "url": null, "accessed": null, "locator": null, "note": "The bonus applying to combat classes below the highest class, and only to experience from defeating enemies and FATE rewards." }, { "key": "embers-of-neltharion-upgrade-system-overview-2023", "canonical": false, "title": "Embers of Neltharion Upgrade System Overview", "author": "Blizzard Entertainment", "year": 2023, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com/news/23944889", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "The weekly cap of 150 Crest Fragments (10 Crests) of each type, rising as the season progresses, the higher Crests a week behind, and the account-wide discount on upgrades up to the power of the best item owned." } ], "n_examples": 5, "n_sources": 7, "word_count": 563, "updated": "2026-10-27", "url": "/scaling/catch-up-acceleration" }, { "id": "class-switching", "name": "Class Switching", "status": "verified", "axis": "horizontal", "scope": "character", "bases": [ "character-level", "unlock" ], "definition": "One character keeps separate progress in each of several classes or jobs and changes the active one freely, so that growth lies in the number of classes raised and held ready rather than in the power of one class", "aliases": [ "Job System", "Job Change", "Job Switching" ], "media": [ "tabletop-rpg", "video" ], "mechanics": [ "experience-levels", "multiclassing", "variable-player-powers" ], "examples": [ { "title": "Dungeons & Dragons", "year": 1974, "year_approx": false, "medium": "tabletop-rpg", "creator": "Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson (TSR)", "basis": [ "character-level" ], "note": "An antecedent. Elves begin as fighting-men or magic-users and freely switch class from adventure to adventure, but not during a single game, with a limit of 4th level as a fighting-man and 8th as a magic-user. The rule does not say how experience is divided between the two classes.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Final Fantasy III", "year": 1990, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Square", "basis": [ "unlock", "character-level" ], "note": "Jobs, opened as the party reaches each crystal, can be changed at any time outside battle for capacity points earned in fights. The character level carries over, a level 10 Fighter becoming a level 10 Wizard, while each job keeps its own skill measure, which lowers the capacity needed to change out of it and slightly raises attack and hit rate.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Final Fantasy XI", "year": 2002, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Square", "basis": [ "unlock", "character-level" ], "note": "A character changes job in its Mog House and has a separate level in each job, extra jobs opening through quests from level 30. Weapon skill carries across jobs, capped by the level in the new job.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn", "year": 2013, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Square Enix", "basis": [ "unlock", "character-level" ], "note": "Under the Armoury System, changing class is a matter of changing the weapon held. Each class learns its actions as it gains levels, reportedly on its own level track, and mastery in several classes unlocks jobs.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Bravely Default II", "year": 2021, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Claytechworks (Square Enix)", "basis": [ "unlock", "character-level" ], "note": "Each party member sets a job and a sub-job from the jobs won from bosses, and jobs reportedly level by job points apart from the character level, to a limit of 15 late in the game. The Freelancer's Late Bloomer raises all statistics by the number of jobs the character has mastered.", "latest": true } ], "provenance": { "title": "Final Fantasy III", "year": 1990, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "confidence": "medium", "note": "Provenance is scoped to the form in which each class keeps its own progress while one is active. The earliest documented use cited is Final Fantasy III (1990), whose manual describes changing jobs at will for capacity points, with a skill measure kept for each job. Men & Magic (1974) lets elves switch freely between two classes with a level limit in each, an antecedent whose rule leaves the division of experience unstated. Wizardry (1981) restarts a changed character at first level and keeps one track. Other computer role-playing games of the 1980s remain unsurveyed." }, "established": { "title": "Final Fantasy III", "year": 1990, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "confidence": "low", "note": "The Famicom manual presents the Job Change system as adopted for Final Fantasy III. Square's Final Fantasy XI and Square Enix's Final Fantasy XIV and Bravely Default II keep one active job with progress kept for each, but the line runs inside one publisher's games, and no source cited states that other studios took the form from it." }, "sources": [ { "key": "dungeons-dragons-volume-1-men-magic-1974", "canonical": false, "title": "Dungeons & Dragons, Volume 1, Men & Magic", "author": "Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson", "year": 1974, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": "Tactical Studies Rules", "url": "https://archive.org/download/dndbook1/dungeons_and_dragons_book_1_-_men_and_magic_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Character classes and races: Elves; Changing Character Class", "note": "Elves switching freely between fighting-man and magic-user from adventure to adventure, with a level limit in each, and the separate rule for men changing class." }, { "key": "final-fantasy-iii-instruction-manual-famicom-english-translation-1990", "canonical": false, "title": "Final Fantasy III instruction manual (Famicom), English translation", "author": "Square (translation hosted on the Internet Archive)", "year": 1990, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/download/final-fantasy-iii-manual-translated/final%20fantasy%20III%20manual%20translated_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Job Change, pp. 36-41", "note": "Changing jobs at any time outside battle for capacity, the character level carried into the new job, a skill measure for each job lowering the capacity needed and raising attack and hit rate, and jobs added by crystals." }, { "key": "final-fantasy-xi-official-strategy-guide-2003", "canonical": false, "title": "Final Fantasy XI Official Strategy Guide", "author": "Michael Lummis and Elizabeth M. Hollinger with Edwin Kern and Kathleen Pleet (BradyGames)", "year": 2003, "year_approx": false, "type": "book", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/details/ffxi-2003-guide", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Glossary of Terms: Extra Job, Mog House, Support Job; Weapons", "note": "Job changes in the Mog House, extra jobs from level 30, the support job capped at half the main job's level, and weapon skill capped by the character's level in the new job." }, { "key": "final-fantasy-xiv-a-realm-reborn-the-game-armoury-system", "canonical": false, "title": "Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, The Game: Armoury System", "author": "Square Enix", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/a_realm_reborn/game/", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "Changing class by changing what the character holds, actions learned as a class's level rises, and jobs unlocked by mastery in several classes." }, { "key": "bravely-default-ii-job-list-abilities-and-how-to-unlock-all-classes-2021", "canonical": false, "title": "Bravely Default II Job list, abilities, and how to unlock all classes", "author": "RPG Site Staff", "year": 2021, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.rpgsite.net/feature/10809-bravely-default-ii-job-list-abilities-and-how-to-unlock-all-classes", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "A job and a sub-job for each party member, jobs won by defeating Asterisk bosses, the level 15 limit late in the game, and Late Bloomer raising statistics by the number of jobs mastered." }, { "key": "bravely-default-ii-best-jobs-job-combinations-subjobs-2021", "canonical": false, "title": "Bravely Default II: Best Jobs, Job Combinations & Subjobs", "author": "RPG Site Staff", "year": 2021, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.rpgsite.net/feature/10816-bravely-default-ii-best-jobs-job-combinations-subjobs", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "JP Boost abilities used to max out other jobs, and breaking the level limit to reach job level 15." }, { "key": "wizardry-proving-grounds-of-the-mad-overlord-manual-1981", "canonical": false, "title": "Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord manual", "author": "Andrew Greenberg and Robert Woodhead (Sir-Tech)", "year": 1981, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/download/adoc_wizardry/wizardry_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Change Class, pp. 12-13", "note": "The contrasting class change, which makes the character first level in the new class with zero experience while keeping maximum hit points and known spells." } ], "n_examples": 5, "n_sources": 7, "word_count": 485, "updated": "2026-10-27", "url": "/scaling/class-switching" }, { "id": "cosmetic-progression", "name": "Cosmetic Progression", "status": "unverified", "axis": "horizontal", "scope": "character", "bases": [ "character-level", "unlock", "release", "difficulty-tier" ], "definition": "A track or list of rewards that change only how a character or profile looks, such as armour sets, skins, sprays and titles, earned by play or through a bought pass, so that long-term progress adds no power", "aliases": [ "Cosmetic Unlocks" ], "media": [ "video" ], "mechanics": [ "achievements", "appointment-mechanics", "loot-boxes" ], "examples": [ { "title": "Resident Evil", "year": 1996, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Capcom", "basis": [ "unlock" ], "note": "Finishing the game with Chris or Jill gives a Special Key in a saved game; on the next play it opens a wardrobe closet in the mansion where the character changes into a new outfit, a bomber jacket for Chris and a midriff top and jeans for Jill.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Halo 3", "year": 2007, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Bungie", "basis": [ "unlock", "difficulty-tier" ], "note": "Multiplayer armour sets for Spartans and Elites are mixed piece by piece; a few are open from the start, and others unlock by finishing campaign missions on set difficulties up to Legendary, by Gamerscore thresholds of 750 and 1000, or by named achievements.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Overwatch", "year": 2016, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Blizzard Entertainment", "basis": [ "character-level" ], "note": "The director said in December 2015 that progression would reward cosmetics and never player power, with no better guns or more hit points; at launch each player level reportedly gave a loot box of skins, emotes and similar items.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Fortnite", "year": 2017, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Epic Games", "basis": [ "release", "unlock" ], "note": "The Battle Pass of Season 2 (14 December 2017) replaced the Season Store; it is bought for cosmetic items and then levelled by play to 65 or more rewards by the season's end, which Epic put at 75 to 150 hours of play.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Valorant", "year": 2020, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Riot Games", "basis": [ "release", "unlock" ], "note": "The Act I pass had 50 tiers in ten chapters on a free and a Premium path, both advanced by experience from missions and matches, giving weapon skins, player cards, gun buddies, sprays and titles; it closed with the Act, about two months.", "latest": true }, { "title": "Marvel Rivals", "year": 2024, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "NetEase Games", "basis": [ "release", "unlock" ], "note": "A bought Luxury battle pass does not expire, so its rewards can be earned without a time limit, and the premium currency buys only cosmetic items with no gameplay benefit.", "latest": false } ], "provenance": { "title": "Resident Evil", "year": 1996, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "confidence": "low", "note": "The earliest documented use cited is Resident Evil, whose official strategy guide of 1996 describes a Special Key given on finishing the game that opens a wardrobe closet on the next play, where the character changes into a new outfit. That is one appearance reward per character; Halo 3's multiplayer armour of 2007, whose pieces its Prima guide lists with unlock conditions in missions, difficulty, Gamerscore and achievements, is a later and longer list. Costume rewards in other console games of the 1980s and 1990s, and titles in early online games, remain unsurveyed, so confidence is low." }, "established": { "title": "Fortnite", "year": 2017, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "confidence": "low", "note": "Fortnite's Season 2 Battle Pass set the form of a bought seasonal track levelled by play for cosmetic rewards. Valorant's pass of 2020 and Marvel Rivals' of 2024 have the same structure of tiers advanced by experience, but no cited source traces them to Fortnite, and Dota 2's tournament Compendium of 2013 is often named as a forerunner." }, "sources": [ { "key": "resident-evil-the-official-strategy-guide-1996", "canonical": false, "title": "Resident Evil: The Official Strategy Guide", "author": "Zach Meston", "year": 1996, "year_approx": false, "type": "book", "publisher": "Dimension Publishing", "url": "https://archive.org/download/resident-evil-the-official-strategy-guide/Resident%20Evil%20-%20The%20Official%20Strategy%20Guide_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "The Secrets: The Special Key, pp. 146-147", "note": "The Special Key given after the ending and saved with the game, the wardrobe closet it opens on the next play, and the new outfits for Chris and Jill." }, { "key": "halo-3-the-official-strategy-guide-2007", "canonical": false, "title": "Halo 3: The Official Strategy Guide", "author": "James Price (Prima Games)", "year": 2007, "year_approx": false, "type": "book", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/download/james-price-halo-3-the-official-strategy-guide-prima-games-2007/James%20Price%20-%20Halo%203_%20The%20Official%20Strategy%20Guide-Prima%20Games%20%282007%29_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Multiplayer: armor sets, p. 158", "note": "Armour sets for Spartan and Elite bodies, mixed and matched, a few open from the start, and a table of unlock conditions by piece (missions on Normal or Legendary, 750 and 1000 Gamerscore, named achievements)." }, { "key": "overwatch-s-next-beta-will-include-a-cosmetic-progression-system-so-you-play-dress-up-2015", "canonical": false, "title": "Overwatch's next beta will include a cosmetic progression system so you play dress up", "author": "Fraser Brown (PCGamesN)", "year": 2015, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://pcgamesn.com/overwatch/overwatchs-next-beta-will-include-a-cosmetic-progression-system-so-you-play-dress-up", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "Jeff Kaplan on a progression system focused on cosmetic rewards that gives no player power, better guns or hit points." }, { "key": "fortnite-battle-royale-season-2-battle-pass-is-here-2017", "canonical": false, "title": "Fortnite Battle Royale Season 2 Battle Pass is here", "author": "Epic Games", "year": 2017, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "http://web.archive.org/web/20250804012553/https://www.fortnite.com/news/fortnite-battle-royale-season-2-battle-pass-is-here", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "The pass bought for cosmetic loot and levelled by play to 65 or more rewards in 75 to 150 hours, launched in v1.11 on 14 December 2017 as the Season Store retired." }, { "key": "what-is-the-valorant-battlepass-2020", "canonical": false, "title": "What is the VALORANT Battlepass?", "author": "David Cole (Riot Games)", "year": 2020, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://playvalorant.com/en-us/news/game-updates/what-is-the-valorant-battlepass", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "Fifty tiers in ten chapters, free and Premium paths advanced by experience from missions and matches, cosmetic rewards, no pay to win, and expiry with the Act." }, { "key": "valorant-store-and-cosmetic-content-2020", "canonical": false, "title": "VALORANT Store and Cosmetic Content", "author": "Joe Lee (Riot Games)", "year": 2020, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://playvalorant.com/en-us/news/dev/valorant-store-and-cosmetic-content/", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "Optional extras that will never affect gameplay, and skins not intended to give an advantage." }, { "key": "marvel-rivals-premium-battle-passes-won-t-expire-once-purchased-on-ps5-2024", "canonical": false, "title": "Marvel Rivals' Premium Battle Passes Won't Expire Once Purchased on PS5", "author": "Stephen Tailby (Push Square)", "year": 2024, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2024/12/marvel-rivals-premium-battle-passes-wont-expire-once-purchased-on-ps5", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "A Luxury battle pass that does not expire once owned, and a premium currency spent only on cosmetic items with no gameplay benefit." } ], "n_examples": 6, "n_sources": 7, "word_count": 486, "updated": "2026-10-27", "url": "/scaling/cosmetic-progression" }, { "id": "difficulty-gradient", "name": "Difficulty Gradient", "status": "verified", "axis": "vertical", "scope": "world", "bases": [ "content-level", "difficulty-tier" ], "definition": "Opposition and rewards are fixed to places and rise with dungeon depth, zone or map tier, so that the world itself forms a ladder that the character climbs by choosing how far down or out to go", "aliases": [ "Zone Levels", "Area Level", "Dungeon Depth" ], "media": [ "tabletop-rpg", "video" ], "mechanics": [ "difficulty-settings", "experience-levels", "exploration-procedures", "procedural-generation", "random-tables" ], "examples": [ { "title": "Dungeons & Dragons", "year": 1974, "year_approx": false, "medium": "tabletop-rpg", "creator": "Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson (Tactical Studies Rules)", "basis": [ "content-level" ], "note": "Wandering monsters are drawn from six monster level tables through a matrix keyed to the level beneath the surface, shifting toward the stronger tables with depth until the thirteenth level and below use only the sixth. Room treasure rises the same way, from silver in hundreds on the first level to thousands of silver and gold below the twelfth.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Rogue", "year": 1980, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Michael Toy, Glenn Wichman, and Ken Arnold", "basis": [ "content-level" ], "note": "Each new monster is drawn from a list of 26 types running from the kobold to the purple worm, at a position set by the dungeon level plus or minus up to five, and takes its type's fixed statistics. The status line's Level counts how deep the character has gone.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord", "year": 1981, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Sir-Tech", "basis": [ "content-level" ], "note": "The manual places the most important magic items in the depths of the maze, usually guarded by fearsome monsters, makes the chance of fleeing a fight depend on depth, and offers further scenarios with greater perils and rewards for the same characters.", "latest": false }, { "title": "World of Warcraft", "year": 2004, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Blizzard Entertainment", "basis": [ "content-level" ], "note": "Each zone carries a level range, from 1 to 10 in starting zones such as Elwynn Forest and Tirisfal Glades through 10 to 20 in Loch Modan to 53 to 60 in the Eastern Plaguelands, and the official guide tabulates the ranges beside each zone's PvP status.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Path of Exile", "year": 2013, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Grinding Gear Games", "basis": [ "content-level", "difficulty-tier" ], "note": "End-game areas are Map items, each with a Map Level, 61 on the developer's sample, and modifiers that alter its challenges and rewards. A map is used once to open its area.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Path of Exile 2", "year": 2024, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Grinding Gear Games", "basis": [ "content-level", "difficulty-tier" ], "note": "End-game maps are opened with Waystones in numbered tiers, reportedly setting area level from 65 at tier 1 to 80 at tier 16. Content Update 0.2.0 made Waystones drop at no lower tier than the current map, and those from map bosses one tier higher.", "latest": true } ], "provenance": { "title": "Dungeons & Dragons", "year": 1974, "year_approx": false, "medium": "tabletop-rpg", "confidence": "medium", "note": "The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures (1974) keys wandering monsters and room treasure to the level beneath the surface, the earliest rules cited for opposition and reward set by place. Arneson's and Gygax's campaigns before publication and the PLATO dungeon games of the mid 1970s remain unsurveyed, so confidence is medium. Rogue (1980) carried the depth-keyed draw into a computer game, and World of Warcraft (2004) shows the zone form." }, "established": null, "sources": [ { "key": "dungeons-dragons-volume-3-the-underworld-wilderness-adventures-1974", "canonical": false, "title": "Dungeons & Dragons, Volume 3, The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures", "author": "Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson", "year": 1974, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": "Tactical Studies Rules", "url": "https://archive.org/download/tsr02002bboxedsetvolume3underworldandwildernessadventuresocr/tsr02002B%20-%20boxed%20set%20-%20Volume%203%20-%20Underworld%20And%20Wilderness%20Adventures%20-%20OCR_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Treasure by level beneath the surface, p. 7; Monster Determination and Level of Monster Matrix, p. 10; Number of Wandering Monsters Appearing, p. 11", "note": "Treasure amounts and chances rising with the level beneath the surface, the matrix that selects monster level tables by dungeon level, and numbers appearing set by how the dungeon level corresponds to the monster's level; page numbers from OCR markers." }, { "key": "rogue-3-6-source-code-monsters-c-1981", "canonical": false, "title": "Rogue 3.6 source code, monsters.c", "author": "Michael Toy, Ken Arnold and Glenn Wichman", "year": 1981, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/RoguelikeRestorationProject/rogue3.6/master/monsters.c", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "monsters.c, lvl_mons, randmonster and new_monster", "note": "The 26-type monster list, the draw at the dungeon level plus or minus five, and each monster given its type's fixed statistics." }, { "key": "a-guide-to-the-dungeons-of-doom", "canonical": false, "title": "A Guide to the Dungeons of Doom", "author": "Michael C. Toy and Kenneth C. R. C. Arnold", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": "Computer Systems Research Group, University of California, Berkeley (4.4BSD User's Supplementary Documents, USD:30)", "url": "https://docs-archive.freebsd.org/44doc/usd/30.rogue/paper.pdf", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Section 3.1, The bottom line", "note": "The status line's Level, which starts at one and rises as the character goes deeper into the dungeon." }, { "key": "wizardry-proving-grounds-of-the-mad-overlord-manual-1981", "canonical": false, "title": "Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord manual", "author": "Andrew Greenberg and Robert Woodhead (Sir-Tech)", "year": 1981, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/download/adoc_wizardry/wizardry_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Introduction; Combat options, Run, p. 30; Magic Items, p. 35", "note": "Arcane items guarded in the more inaccessible depths, further scenarios with greater perils and rewards, the chance of escape depending on depth in the maze, and the most important magic items found in the depths guarded by fearsome monsters." }, { "key": "world-of-warcraft-official-strategy-guide-2004", "canonical": false, "title": "World of Warcraft Official Strategy Guide", "author": "Michael Lummis and others (BradyGames)", "year": 2004, "year_approx": false, "type": "book", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/details/World_of_Warcraft_World_of_Warcraft_BradyGames_Official_Strategy_Guide", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Eastern Kingdoms region table: level range and PvP status", "note": "Level ranges for every Eastern Kingdoms zone, from 1-10 starting regions to 53-60 for the Eastern Plaguelands." }, { "key": "path-of-exile-game-overview-2013", "canonical": false, "title": "Path of Exile game overview", "author": "Grinding Gear Games", "year": 2013, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "http://web.archive.org/web/20131013220227/https://www.pathofexile.com/game", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "End-game areas found as Map items whose mods alter their challenges and rewards, and a sample Underground River Map with a Map Level of 61, used once in the Eternal Laboratory." }, { "key": "content-update-0-2-0-path-of-exile-2-dawn-of-the-hunt-2025", "canonical": false, "title": "Content Update 0.2.0 -- Path of Exile 2: Dawn of the Hunt", "author": "Grinding Gear Games", "year": 2025, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3740562", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "Waystones no longer dropping at a lower tier than the current map, map bosses' Waystones one tier higher, drop chances scaling down at higher Map Tiers, and Doryani selling Waystones at tier 1 or one below the highest completed tier." }, { "key": "list-of-waystones", "canonical": false, "title": "List of waystones", "author": "Path of Exile 2 Wiki", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "wiki", "publisher": null, "url": null, "accessed": null, "locator": null, "note": "Area levels by Waystone tier, from 65 at tier 1." } ], "n_examples": 6, "n_sources": 8, "word_count": 501, "updated": "2026-10-27", "url": "/scaling/difficulty-gradient" }, { "id": "enemy-level-scaling", "name": "Enemy Level Scaling", "status": "verified", "axis": "normalizing", "scope": "world", "bases": [ "character-level", "content-level", "difficulty-tier" ], "definition": "The levels, statistics or equipment of enemies, and often of loot, are set from the player character's level, so that the opposition keeps pace with the character instead of staying fixed where it was placed", "aliases": [ "Level Scaling", "Enemy Scaling", "Monster Scaling", "Levelled Enemies" ], "media": [ "video", "tabletop-rpg" ], "mechanics": [ "difficulty-settings", "experience-levels", "loot-tables" ], "examples": [ { "title": "NetHack", "year": 1987, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "NetHack DevTeam", "basis": [ "character-level", "content-level" ], "note": "From version 3.0 of 1989, a new monster's level rises by a quarter of the amount by which the player's experience level exceeds the monster's base level, and the strongest monster that can be generated is set by the average of the dungeon level's difficulty and the player's experience level.", "latest": false }, { "title": "The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall", "year": 1996, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Bethesda Softworks", "basis": [ "character-level" ], "note": "Humanoid enemies are generated at the character's own level, with every skill at five times that level plus 30, while each creature type keeps one level throughout, rats at 1 and Ancient Liches at 21. Humanoids already generated do not rise when the character levels.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Final Fantasy VIII", "year": 1999, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Square", "basis": [ "character-level" ], "note": "An enemy's level is the party's average level, rounded down, plus or minus a random fifth of it, capped at 100, and higher-level enemies carry better magic to draw. Some areas override the rule, fixing enemies at level 5 in the Fire Cavern and at 100 on the Island Closest to Hell.", "latest": false }, { "title": "The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion", "year": 2006, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Bethesda Game Studios", "basis": [ "character-level" ], "note": "Most generic enemies, such as bandits, level up with the player, whose level also selects which creatures spawn, with stronger variants from level 15. The quality of weapons and armour, the gold found and many quest rewards depend on the player's level as well.", "latest": false }, { "title": "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim", "year": 2011, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Bethesda Game Studios", "basis": [ "content-level", "character-level" ], "note": "Enemies and loot follow the encounter zone the player is in, as in Fallout 3, so they can stand above or below the character's level; a zone reportedly takes its level from the character on first entry, within the zone's own minimum and maximum.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Dungeons & Dragons, 5th edition", "year": 2014, "year_approx": false, "medium": "tabletop-rpg", "creator": "Wizards of the Coast", "basis": [ "character-level" ], "note": "The game master builds a combat encounter against experience thresholds set by each character's level, from 25 XP for an easy encounter at 1st level to 12,700 for a deadly one at 20th, multiplying the monsters' total for groups.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Diablo IV", "year": 2023, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Blizzard Entertainment", "basis": [ "character-level", "difficulty-tier" ], "note": "Open-world monster levels follow the player's level within bounds set by the World Tier, 1 to 50 in Tiers I and II, 55 to 70 in III and 75 to 100 in IV. From patch 1.1.0a of July 2023, monsters in Tiers III and IV trail the player by up to five levels.", "latest": true } ], "provenance": { "title": "NetHack", "year": 1989, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "confidence": "medium", "note": "The earliest documented use cited is NetHack 3.0, released by the DevTeam in July 1989, whose source code raises a new monster's level with the player's experience level and bounds the strongest monster generated by the average of the dungeon level and the player's level. The makemon.c of NetHack 2.3e (dated December 1987) and Rogue 3.6 (1981) key monsters to dungeon depth alone. Daggerfall (1996), whose official guide warns that monsters gain power as the character does, is a later and fuller form, and Final Fantasy VIII (1999) keys every ordinary encounter to the party's average level. MUDs and tabletop encounter rules before 1989 remain unsurveyed, so an earlier use is possible." }, "established": null, "sources": [ { "key": "source-nethack-3-0-0-makemon-c", "canonical": false, "title": "Source:NetHack 3.0.0/makemon.c", "author": "NetHack Wiki (source code by the NetHack DevTeam)", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "wiki", "publisher": null, "url": null, "accessed": null, "locator": "makemon.c, functions adj_lev and rndmonst", "note": "The 3.0 source, SCCS-dated April 1988, in which adj_lev raises a monster's level by a quarter of the player's level above it and rndmonst sets the strongest monster at the average of the dungeon difficulty and the player's level." }, { "key": "nethack-3-0-0", "canonical": false, "title": "NetHack 3.0.0", "author": "NetHack Wiki", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "wiki", "publisher": null, "url": null, "accessed": null, "locator": null, "note": "Release of NetHack 3.0.0 to comp.sources.games in July 1989, the first by the DevTeam." }, { "key": "source-nethack-2-3e-makemon-c", "canonical": false, "title": "Source:NetHack 2.3e/makemon.c", "author": "NetHack Wiki", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "wiki", "publisher": null, "url": null, "accessed": null, "locator": null, "note": "The earlier monster generator, SCCS-dated December 1987, which chooses monsters and their hit points from the dungeon level without reference to the player's level." }, { "key": "rogue-3-6-source-code-monsters-c-1981", "canonical": false, "title": "Rogue 3.6 source code, monsters.c", "author": "Michael Toy, Ken Arnold and Glenn Wichman", "year": 1981, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/RoguelikeRestorationProject/rogue3.6/master/monsters.c", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "monsters.c, randmonster and new_monster", "note": "Monsters chosen by dungeon level with a random spread and given the fixed statistics of their type, with no reference to the player's level." }, { "key": "the-daggerfall-chronicles-1996", "canonical": false, "title": "The Daggerfall Chronicles", "author": "Ronald Wartow", "year": 1996, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/download/daggerfall-chronicles/Daggerfall%20Chronicles_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Close Encounters of the RPG Kind: Magical Combat (p. 154)", "note": "Bethesda's official guide, warning that as the character gains strength, experience and more powerful spells, so do the monsters." }, { "key": "final-fantasy-viii-official-strategy-guide-1999", "canonical": false, "title": "Final Fantasy VIII Official Strategy Guide", "author": "David Cassady (BradyGames)", "year": 1999, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/download/final-fantasy-viii-bradygames-strategy-guide/Final%20Fantasy%20VIII%20Strategy%20Guide_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Game Basics chapter, tips and the Draw System", "note": "The statement that the enemies level up as the characters level up, growing stronger and learning new spells, and that higher-level monsters carry better magic to draw." }, { "key": "diablo-iv-patch-notes-1-0-1-2-2023", "canonical": false, "title": "Diablo IV Patch Notes (1.0 - 1.2)", "author": "Blizzard Entertainment", "year": 2023, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "https://news.blizzard.com/en-us/article/24092662/diablo-iv-patch-notes-1-0-1-2", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "1.1.0a (July 18, 2023), World Tier; 1.2.0 (October 17, 2023), Monsters", "note": "Open-world monster levels scaling with the player's level within World Tier bounds, and the change that has monsters in World Tiers III and IV trail the player by up to five levels, with its exceptions." }, { "key": "the-2-0-ptr-what-you-need-to-know-2024", "canonical": false, "title": "The 2.0 PTR: What You Need to Know", "author": "Blizzard Entertainment", "year": 2024, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "https://news.blizzard.com/en-us/diablo4/24130178/the-2-0-ptr-what-you-need-to-know", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "World Tiers changed to Difficulties, monster levels no longer displayed and scaling to the Difficulty, and the developers' note on launch feedback about level scaling and feeling weak." }, { "key": "basic-rules-for-dungeons-dragons-2014-2014", "canonical": false, "title": "Basic Rules for Dungeons & Dragons (2014)", "author": "Wizards of the Coast", "year": 2014, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/basic-rules-2014/building-combat-encounters", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Chapter 13: Building Combat Encounters", "note": "The XP Thresholds by Character Level table, with four thresholds per level, and the encounter multipliers for groups of monsters." }, { "key": "daggerfall-monsters", "canonical": false, "title": "Daggerfall:Monsters", "author": "The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "wiki", "publisher": null, "url": null, "accessed": null, "locator": null, "note": "Humanoids always at the character's level and not rising once generated, fixed levels for each creature type, and skill and spell point formulas keyed to enemy level." }, { "key": "final-fantasy-viii-tips-character-enemy-leveling", "canonical": false, "title": "Final Fantasy VIII Tips, Character/Enemy Leveling", "author": "Jegged.com", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "https://jegged.com/Games/Final-Fantasy-VIII/Tips-and-Tricks/Character-Enemy-Leveling.html", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "The party-average rule with its random modifier and cap of 100, the areas with fixed or offset levels, and the warning that levelling up can make battles harder." }, { "key": "oblivion-leveling", "canonical": false, "title": "Oblivion:Leveling", "author": "The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "wiki", "publisher": null, "url": null, "accessed": null, "locator": null, "note": "Generic enemies levelling with the player, level-dependent spawns and loot, and the \"Leveling Problem\", in which levelling up can reduce the player's effectiveness relative to enemies." }, { "key": "the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-interview-2011", "canonical": false, "title": "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Interview", "author": "GameBanshee (Bruce Nesmith, Todd Howard and Matt Carofano)", "year": 2011, "year_approx": false, "type": "interview", "publisher": null, "url": "http://www.gamebanshee.com/k6p4", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "Nesmith's answer that enemies and loot are based on the encounter zone, as in Fallout 3, and can be higher or lower than the player's level." }, { "key": "elder-scrolls-iv-oblivion-s-levelling-system-was-a-mistake-admits-designer-but-it-still-haunts-the-remaster-2025", "canonical": false, "title": "Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion’s levelling system was a “mistake”, admits designer, but it still haunts the remaster", "author": "Talal Musa (VideoGamer)", "year": 2025, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.videogamer.com/news/elder-scrolls-iv-oblivion-levelling-system-mistake-admits-designer-haunts-remaster", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "Bruce Nesmith's view that the world levelling with the player was a mistake and that Skyrim found another way to keep the challenge." } ], "n_examples": 7, "n_sources": 14, "word_count": 539, "updated": "2026-10-27", "url": "/scaling/enemy-level-scaling" }, { "id": "horizontal-expansion", "name": "Horizontal Expansion", "status": "unverified", "axis": "horizontal", "scope": "content", "bases": [ "unlock", "release" ], "definition": "A release adds content, skills, classes or progression tracks while keeping the existing level cap and gear ceiling, so earlier characters and equipment stay current and the new options broaden play rather than raise power", "aliases": [], "media": [ "video", "tabletop-rpg" ], "mechanics": [ "equipment-loadouts", "experience-levels", "skill-trees" ], "examples": [ { "title": "Guild Wars Factions", "year": 2006, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "ArenaNet", "basis": [ "release", "unlock" ], "note": "A stand-alone campaign whose FAQ said the maximum character level would remain 20, \"a fundamental balance mechanism\", while adding two professions and 300 skills, 90 of them elite, for the new and the core professions; existing characters kept their items and skills.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Advanced Player's Guide", "year": 2010, "year_approx": false, "medium": "tabletop-rpg", "creator": "Paizo", "basis": [ "release", "unlock" ], "note": "A companion volume to the Core Rulebook with six new 20-level base classes, thematic archetypes for all eleven core classes, such as the antipaladin and the urban ranger, and new feats, spells and prestige classes, so the additions sit within the core classes' twenty levels.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns", "year": 2015, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "ArenaNet", "basis": [ "release", "unlock" ], "note": "The first expansion kept the level 80 limit and added masteries, upgrades such as the hang glider that ArenaNet called the endgame progression system, and a specialisation for each profession that unlocks a new set of combat abilities for maximum-level characters.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Xanathar's Guide to Everything", "year": 2017, "year_approx": false, "medium": "tabletop-rpg", "creator": "Wizards of the Coast", "basis": [ "release", "unlock" ], "note": "Billed by its publisher as the first major expansion for the fifth edition, it adds over twenty-five subclasses for the Player's Handbook classes, dozens of spells and racial feats, options taken within an advancement table that still ends at 20th level.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons", "year": 2022, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "ArenaNet", "basis": [ "release", "unlock" ], "note": "Adds nine elite specializations, one per profession, a Canthan Jade Tech mastery track with a jade bot, and new legendary weapons, which the Guild Wars 2 Wiki describes as no stronger than ascended gear, the top tier.", "latest": true } ], "provenance": { "title": "Guild Wars Factions", "year": 2006, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "confidence": "low", "note": "ArenaNet's Factions FAQ, captured in February 2006 before the campaign's release, rules out lifting the level 20 ceiling and calls it a fundamental balance mechanism for a game that revolves around player skill, while listing new professions and skills. It is the earliest documented use cited of a release that holds the ceiling as a stated policy. Earlier online expansions held a level cap without stating it as policy. EverQuest's The Scars of Velious (2000) and The Shadows of Luclin (2001) came between its cap raises to 60 and 65 and added high-level zones. Final Fantasy XI passed its old limit of 75 in June 2010, by Engadget's account for the first time in years, so its expansions from 2003 reportedly held that cap while adding jobs. Neither game is documented as holding the gear ceiling as well, so both are antecedents. Tabletop supplements that add classes or spells within existing levels, and card-game expansions, remain unsurveyed, so no origin is defended." }, "established": { "title": "Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns", "year": 2015, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "confidence": "low", "note": "PC Gamer presented Heart of Thorns as ArenaNet's alternative to the traditional MMO expansion template of a raised level cap and new gear tiers, with masteries and specialisations in their place. Path of Fire and End of Dragons each repeated the elite specializations, and the Guild Wars 2 Wiki calls horizontal progression the game's driving philosophy. The lineage runs within one game line, and no cited source shows other games taking the form from it." }, "sources": [ { "key": "guild-wars-factions-faq-2006", "canonical": false, "title": "Guild Wars Factions FAQ", "author": "ArenaNet", "year": 2006, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "http://web.archive.org/web/20060206021528/http://guildwars.com:80/aboutgw/faq/guildwarsfactions-faq.php", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Will the Character Level ceiling of 20 be lifted?", "note": "The maximum level remaining 20 as a fundamental balance mechanism, the stand-alone campaign, characters keeping items and skills, and 300 new skills including 90 elite skills; Wayback snapshot of February 2006." }, { "key": "heart-of-thorns-and-the-future-of-guild-wars-2-2015", "canonical": false, "title": "Heart of Thorns and the future of Guild Wars 2", "author": "Phil Savage (PC Gamer)", "year": 2015, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.pcgamer.com/heart-of-thorns-and-the-future-of-guild-wars-2/", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "The traditional MMO expansion template of a raised level cap and new gear tiers, Heart of Thorns keeping the level 80 limit, masteries as the endgame progression system, and a specialisation per profession for maximum-level players." }, { "key": "guild-wars-2-end-of-dragons", "canonical": false, "title": "Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons", "author": "ArenaNet", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.guildwars2.com/en/end-of-dragons/", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "Nine new elite specializations, one per profession, the Canthan Jade Tech mastery track and jade bot, and third-generation legendary weapons." }, { "key": "endgame", "canonical": false, "title": "Endgame", "author": "Guild Wars 2 Wiki", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "wiki", "publisher": null, "url": null, "accessed": null, "locator": null, "note": "No gear treadmill, horizontal progression through masteries, cosmetics and elite specializations, one elite specialization per profession in each expansion, and legendary gear as strong as ascended gear." }, { "key": "xanathar-s-guide-to-everything-2017", "canonical": false, "title": "Xanathar's Guide to Everything", "author": "Wizards of the Coast", "year": 2017, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "http://web.archive.org/web/20171213224038/http://dnd.wizards.com/products/tabletop-games/rpg-products/xanathars-guide-everything", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "The first major expansion for fifth edition, with over twenty-five subclasses for the Player's Handbook classes, dozens of spells and racial feats; Wayback snapshot of December 2017." }, { "key": "pathfinder-roleplaying-game-advanced-player-s-guide-ogl-2010", "canonical": false, "title": "Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Advanced Player's Guide (OGL)", "author": "Paizo Publishing", "year": 2010, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "http://web.archive.org/web/20120115222429/http://paizo.com:80/products/btpy8fo1", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "The product description of the companion to the Core Rulebook, with expanded rules for the eleven core classes, six new 20-level base classes, thematic archetypes for all eleven core classes, and new feats, spells and prestige classes; Wayback snapshot of January 2012." }, { "key": "basic-rules-2014-step-by-step-characters-2014", "canonical": false, "title": "Basic Rules (2014), Step-by-Step Characters", "author": "Wizards of the Coast", "year": 2014, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/basic-rules-2014/step-by-step-characters", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Beyond 1st Level, Character Advancement table", "note": "The fifth-edition advancement table ending at 20th level with 355,000 experience points." }, { "key": "the-game-archaeologist-a-history-of-everquest-expansions-2013", "canonical": false, "title": "The Game Archaeologist: A history of EverQuest expansions", "author": "Justin Olivetti (Engadget)", "year": 2013, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.engadget.com/2013-10-12-the-game-archaeologist-a-history-of-everquest-expansions.html", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "The Ruins of Kunark (April 2000) raising the level cap to 60, The Scars of Velious (December 2000) and The Shadows of Luclin (December 2001) adding zones and high-level content, and The Planes of Power (October 2002) a path to level 65." }, { "key": "june-version-update-goes-live-for-final-fantasy-xi-2010", "canonical": false, "title": "June version update goes live for Final Fantasy XI", "author": "Eliot Lefebvre (Engadget)", "year": 2010, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.engadget.com/2010-06-21-june-version-update-goes-live-for-final-fantasy-xi.html", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "The level cap passing the old limit of 75 for the first time in years, with a new quest to reach the new cap of 80." } ], "n_examples": 5, "n_sources": 9, "word_count": 578, "updated": "2026-10-27", "url": "/scaling/horizontal-expansion" }, { "id": "item-level", "name": "Item Level", "status": "unverified", "axis": "vertical", "scope": "item", "bases": [ "character-level", "item-tier", "difficulty-tier" ], "definition": "Each item carries a number that places it on a ladder, setting which properties it can roll and how strong they are, and the level or average of a character's equipment becomes a measure of readiness", "aliases": [ "ilvl", "Gear Score", "Item Power", "Light Level" ], "media": [ "video", "tabletop-rpg" ], "mechanics": [ "equipment-loadouts", "experience-levels", "loot-tables" ], "examples": [ { "title": "Diablo", "year": 1996, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Blizzard North", "basis": [ "item-tier" ], "note": "Each dropped item gets an item creation level, the monster's level for a normal monster and twice the dungeon level for chests, barrels and similar objects; a magic item's prefix and suffix must have a quality level between half that number and the number itself, so deeper levels yield stronger properties.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Diablo II", "year": 2000, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Blizzard North", "basis": [ "item-tier" ], "note": "Every item has an item level, which for a monster's drop is the monster's level; a magic item draws its prefixes and suffixes only from those whose listed level is within reach of the item level, so deeper areas and harder monsters yield stronger properties.", "latest": false }, { "title": "World of Warcraft", "year": 2004, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Blizzard Entertainment", "basis": [ "item-tier", "character-level" ], "note": "Each item's level reflects its usefulness, sets the minimum character level to use it, and is a budget the item spends on primary and secondary statistics. Hidden until patch 3.2 of 2009, it later shows as an average on the character sheet and gates the queues for dungeons and raids.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Dungeons & Dragons, 4th Edition", "year": 2008, "year_approx": false, "medium": "tabletop-rpg", "creator": "Wizards of the Coast", "basis": [ "item-tier", "character-level" ], "note": "Magic items have levels as characters, powers and monsters do; an item's level measures its power and matches the average level of the character using it, sets its price, and caps the Enchant Magic Item ritual at the enchanter's own level, though a character may use an item of any level.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Destiny", "year": 2014, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Bungie", "basis": [ "item-tier" ], "note": "The character's own level stops at 20; beyond it, rare, legendary and exotic armour carries Light, and the summed Light of the gear sets the level the game recognises, from 21 at 20 Light to 30 at 120 or more, with per-piece caps of 15, 28 and 36 by rarity.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Starfinder", "year": 2017, "year_approx": false, "medium": "tabletop-rpg", "creator": "Paizo", "basis": [ "item-tier", "character-level" ], "note": "All armour, equipment and weapons have an item level, which sets hardness and Hit Points and marks the character level at which the item is usually available and craftable; a typical settlement sells items up to the character's level plus one, a major one up to plus two.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Diablo IV", "year": 2023, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Blizzard Entertainment", "basis": [ "item-tier", "difficulty-tier" ], "note": "Gear carries an Item Power drawn from a range set by the dropping monster's level. Patch 1.2.0 of October 2023 set Sacred items, found from World Tier III, at 625 to 750, and Ancestral items at 780 to 925, a level 100 monster dropping 830 to 925.", "latest": true } ], "provenance": { "title": "Diablo", "year": 1996, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "confidence": "low", "note": "Jarulf's Guide to Diablo and Hellfire defines for Diablo an item creation level set by the drop's source, the monster's level or a multiple of the dungeon level, and bounds the quality level of a magic item's prefix and suffix by it; Blizzard's Arreat Summit describes the same rule for Diablo II (2000). The guide is a players' strategy guide (version 1.62), undated, and describes the patched game without naming a version change in item creation, so the rule at the 1996 release rests on it alone. Moria, a roguelike of the 1980s, is an antecedent: its source gives every kind of object a minimum dungeon level and enlarges enchantment bonuses with the level an item is generated at, but the item carries no level of its own. MUDs and tabletop treasure rules before Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition (2008) remain unsurveyed." }, "established": { "title": "World of Warcraft", "year": 2009, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "confidence": "low", "note": "Patch 3.2 of 2009 made World of Warcraft's item level visible in the game, where only add-ons had read it before; JudgeHype's report of July 2009 on the patch's interface options shows the setting that displays it. The GearScore add-on reportedly reduced equipment to one readiness score in the same period, and the average item level built into the character sheet reportedly replaced it with Cataclysm (2010). Destiny's Light (2014) and Diablo IV's Item Power (2023) present the same visible ladder and average, but no source cited traces them to it." }, "sources": [ { "key": "jarulf-s-guide-to-diablo-and-hellfire", "canonical": false, "title": "Jarulf's Guide to Diablo and Hellfire", "author": "Pedro Faria (Jarulf)", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "book", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/download/Diablo_Hellfire_Strategy_Guide_Jarulf/Diablo__Hellfire_Strategy_Guide_Jarulf_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Version 1.62, 3.8 Item creation in dungeon, p. 38; 3.8.3 Item properties, p. 41", "note": "The item creation level defined by the source of a drop (monster level, or twice the dungeon level for most objects) and the range of prefix and suffix quality levels it allows, with the higher range for unique monsters." }, { "key": "the-arreat-summit-items-magic", "canonical": false, "title": "The Arreat Summit - Items: Magic", "author": "Blizzard Entertainment", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "http://classic.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/magic.shtml", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "The item level of a monster's drop defined as the monster's level, prefixes and suffixes chosen only from those whose level is within reach of the item level, and the fixed level of imbued items." }, { "key": "the-arreat-summit-items-basic-item-information", "canonical": false, "title": "The Arreat Summit - Items: Basic Item Information", "author": "Blizzard Entertainment", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "http://classic.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/basics.shtml", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Quality Level", "note": "The quality level carried by every item and used in the formula for affix level, and drops improving as monster and dungeon levels rise, not with the character's level." }, { "key": "umoria-source-code-data-treasure-cpp-treasure-cpp", "canonical": false, "title": "UMoria source code (data_treasure.cpp, treasure.cpp)", "author": "Robert A. Koeneke and James E. Wilson (Umoria maintainers)", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dungeons-of-moria/umoria/master/src/data_treasure.cpp", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "The object table giving each kind of object the minimum dungeon level on which it can be found, and, in treasure.cpp, enchantment bonuses whose spread grows with the level an item is generated at; copyright lines of 1981-86 and 1987-94." }, { "key": "item-level", "canonical": false, "title": "Item level", "author": "Warcraft Wiki", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "wiki", "publisher": null, "url": null, "accessed": null, "locator": null, "note": "Item level as a measure of usefulness and the minimum level to use an item, the stat budget, hidden until patch 3.2, the average on the character sheet, and its use as a queue requirement." }, { "key": "des-screenshots-des-options-de-l-interface-2009", "canonical": false, "title": "Des screenshots des options de l'interface", "author": "JudgeHype", "year": 2009, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://worldofwarcraft.judgehype.com/news/des-screenshots-des-options-de-l-interface-118077/", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "Screenshots of patch 3.2's interface options of 9 July 2009, with the new option to display the item level of objects, a value many players did not know, and the strongest items then at item level 258." }, { "key": "gear-score", "canonical": false, "title": "Gear score", "author": "Warcraft Wiki", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "wiki", "publisher": null, "url": null, "accessed": null, "locator": null, "note": "The GearScore add-on and its displacement by the average equipped item level of Cataclysm; seen only in a search summary." }, { "key": "dungeons-dragons-4th-edition-player-s-handbook-2008", "canonical": false, "title": "Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition, Player's Handbook", "author": "Rob Heinsoo, Andy Collins, and James Wyatt (Wizards of the Coast)", "year": 2008, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/download/pdfy-nzQtTTSYHQFtdao3/Player%27s%20Handbook_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Chapter 7 (Equipment): Magic Items, p. 223", "note": "Magic items having levels like characters, powers and monsters, an item's level as a measure of its power and the average level of the character using it, no restriction on use by level, the Enchant Magic Item ritual capped at the enchanter's level, and prices by level." }, { "key": "destiny-how-do-i-level-past-20-2014", "canonical": false, "title": "Destiny: How do I level past 20?", "author": "Jeremy Duff (Gaming Nexus)", "year": 2014, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.gamingnexus.com/News/33980/Destiny-How-do-I-level-past-20", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "The Guardian's level stopping at 20, Light on armour, the summed Light setting the recognised level with its thresholds from 21 to 30, and the per-piece caps by rarity." }, { "key": "destiny-bungie-explains-how-to-go-beyond-the-game-s-soft-level-cap-2014", "canonical": false, "title": "Destiny: Bungie Explains How to Go Beyond the Game's Soft Level Cap", "author": "Stephen Daly (Gameranx)", "year": 2014, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://gameranx.com/updates/id/23395/article/destiny-bungie-explains-how-to-go-beyond-the-game-s-soft-level-cap/", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "The level cap of 20 before release and progress past it through equipment, with the character screen still showing level 20." }, { "key": "starfinder-core-rulebook-2017", "canonical": false, "title": "Starfinder Core Rulebook", "author": "Paizo", "year": 2017, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": "Paizo", "url": "https://archive.org/details/starfinder-core-rulebook", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Equipment chapter, Item Level, p. 167", "note": "An item level on all armour, equipment and weapons, setting hardness and Hit Points and the level at which an item is expected and craftable, and purchase up to character level plus one or plus two." }, { "key": "diablo-iv-patch-notes-1-0-1-2-2023", "canonical": false, "title": "Diablo IV Patch Notes (1.0 - 1.2)", "author": "Blizzard Entertainment", "year": 2023, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "https://news.blizzard.com/en-us/diablo4/24092662", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "1.2.0 (Build #46228, October 17, 2023), Gameplay Updates, Items", "note": "Item Power ranges for Sacred and Ancestral items before and after the patch, and the ranges dropped by monsters of each level." }, { "key": "how-to-obtain-sacred-items-in-diablo-iv-2023", "canonical": false, "title": "How to Obtain Sacred Items in Diablo IV", "author": "Kazuma Hashimoto (Siliconera)", "year": 2023, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.siliconera.com/how-to-obtain-sacred-items-in-diablo-iv/", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "Sacred items obtained only after the campaign in World Tier III, and Ancestral Uniques dropping in World Tier IV." } ], "n_examples": 7, "n_sources": 13, "word_count": 553, "updated": "2026-10-27", "url": "/scaling/item-level" }, { "id": "level-cap-increase", "name": "Level Cap Increase", "status": "verified", "axis": "vertical", "scope": "content", "bases": [ "release" ], "definition": "A release raises the highest level a character can reach, often with a new tier of gear, so that progression that had stopped at the old maximum resumes and the rewards of the old ceiling tend to lose their place", "aliases": [ "Level Cap Raise" ], "media": [ "tabletop-rpg", "video" ], "mechanics": [ "experience-levels", "loot-tables", "skill-trees" ], "examples": [ { "title": "Dungeons & Dragons, Expert Set", "year": 1981, "year_approx": false, "medium": "tabletop-rpg", "creator": "David Cook with Steve Marsh (TSR)", "basis": [ "release" ], "note": "The Basic rulebook covers characters from 1st to 3rd level; the Expert rulebook presents itself as a continuation of it, \"allowing characters to advance to the 14th level\", and offers interim suggestions for higher levels until a Companion supplement details levels up to 36.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Dungeons & Dragons, Companion Set", "year": 1984, "year_approx": false, "medium": "tabletop-rpg", "creator": "Frank Mentzer (TSR)", "basis": [ "release" ], "note": "The Companion rules take characters from 15th to 25th level, the Expert Set having covered levels 1 to 14, and leave levels 26 to 36 to a Master Set, though the 1981 Basic rulebook had promised a Companion supplement reaching 36th level.", "latest": false }, { "title": "EverQuest: The Ruins of Kunark", "year": 2000, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Verant Interactive", "basis": [ "release" ], "note": "The first expansion raised the level cap from 50 to 60 beside a new continent and the playable Iksar; its manual supplement of April 2000 lists abilities received past 50th level and melee disciplines at levels 51 to 60. Later expansions raised it again, to 65 with The Planes of Power (2002) and then in steps of five to 100 with Rain of Fear (2012).", "latest": false }, { "title": "World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade", "year": 2007, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Blizzard Entertainment", "basis": [ "release" ], "note": "Blizzard's FAQ of 2005 announced that the level cap would rise from 60 to 70 and that every class would gain additional talents and abilities or spells while levelling from 60 to 70.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail", "year": 2024, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Square Enix", "basis": [ "release" ], "note": "Patch 7.0, released with the expansion, raised the level cap of every combat class and job, and of the crafting and gathering classes, to 100. It added the viper and pictomancer jobs, which have no corresponding class and begin at level 80.", "latest": false }, { "title": "World of Warcraft: The War Within", "year": 2024, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Blizzard Entertainment", "basis": [ "release" ], "note": "Raised the level cap to 80. Days after launch Blizzard said players arriving in Dragonflight endgame gear were extremely powerful against the opening content, and a hotfix strengthened enemies below level 80, most at level 70.", "latest": true } ], "provenance": { "title": "Dungeons & Dragons, Expert Set", "year": 1981, "year_approx": false, "medium": "tabletop-rpg", "confidence": "medium", "note": "The Expert rulebook, first printed in January 1981, describes itself as a continuation of the Basic rules, which \"allowed characters to progress to 3rd level\", and raises the ceiling to 14th level; the Basic rulebook of the same month names the Expert Set as the release that adds levels 4 to 14. It is the earliest documented use cited of a release raising the maximum level of an existing game. The 1974 rules set no ceiling to raise: Men & Magic states that there is no theoretical limit to how high a character may progress, so the longer level tables of Greyhawk (1975) extend an open progression. The Holmes Basic Set (1977) allows only the first three levels and directs players who want more to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, a separate game, an antecedent. Multi-user dungeons of the period remain unsurveyed. The earliest video form cited is EverQuest's first expansion, The Ruins of Kunark (2000)." }, "established": { "title": "EverQuest: The Ruins of Kunark", "year": 2000, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "confidence": "low", "note": "EverQuest raised its cap with Kunark and then with many later expansions, from 60 to 100 by 2012, and World of Warcraft raised its own with The Burning Crusade (2007). By 2015 PC Gamer could describe an increased level cap and new tiers of gear as the traditional template for an MMO expansion. No cited source traces the template to EverQuest directly, so the claim rests on the order of release." }, "sources": [ { "key": "dungeons-dragons-volume-1-men-magic-1974", "canonical": false, "title": "Dungeons & Dragons, Volume 1, Men & Magic", "author": "Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson (Tactical Studies Rules)", "year": 1974, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/download/dndbook1/dungeons_and_dragons_book_1_-_men_and_magic_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Statistics Regarding Classes, Levels, c. p. 17", "note": "No theoretical limit to how high a character may progress, with distinct titles only for the base levels." }, { "key": "dungeons-dragons-basic-set-rulebook-holmes-edition-1977", "canonical": false, "title": "Dungeons & Dragons (Basic Set rulebook, Holmes edition)", "author": "J. Eric Holmes, from Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson (TSR)", "year": 1977, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/details/holmes_basic", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Preface; Creating Characters, Fighting Men", "note": "Rules allowing only the first three levels of progression, with players who want to go beyond the basic game directed to the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons books; second printing of January 1978." }, { "key": "dungeons-dragons-basic-rulebook-1981", "canonical": false, "title": "Dungeons & Dragons, Basic Rulebook", "author": "Tom Moldvay (TSR)", "year": 1981, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/details/dn-d-basic-rules-moldvay", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Part 1: Introduction, c. p. B3", "note": "The rulebook covering the 1st to 3rd levels, the Expert Set adding the 4th to 14th, and a Companion supplement promised for the 15th to 36th." }, { "key": "dungeons-dragons-expert-rulebook-1981", "canonical": false, "title": "Dungeons & Dragons, Expert Rulebook", "author": "David Cook with Steve Marsh (TSR)", "year": 1981, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/details/dn-d-expert-rules-cook", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Part 1: Introduction, How To Use This Book; Part 2: Player Character Information, higher levels", "note": "The continuation of the Basic rules allowing characters to advance to 14th level, the first printing of January 1981, and the suggested benefits beyond 14th level pending the Companion supplement." }, { "key": "dungeons-dragons-companion-set-players-companion-book-one-1984", "canonical": false, "title": "Dungeons & Dragons, Companion Set: Players Companion, Book One", "author": "Frank Mentzer (TSR)", "year": 1984, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/details/dungeons-and-dragons-set-3-companion-rules", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Upper Level Games, Characters", "note": "Levels 1 to 14 in the Expert Set, 15 to 25 in the Companion Set, and 26 to 36 in the Master Set." }, { "key": "the-game-archaeologist-a-history-of-everquest-expansions-2013", "canonical": false, "title": "The Game Archaeologist: A history of EverQuest expansions", "author": "Justin Olivetti (Engadget)", "year": 2013, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.engadget.com/2013-10-12-the-game-archaeologist-a-history-of-everquest-expansions.html", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "The Ruins of Kunark (April 2000) raising the level cap to 60, and later cap raises to 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95 and 100 between 2002 and 2012." }, { "key": "everquest-the-ruins-of-kunark-manual-supplement-2000", "canonical": false, "title": "EverQuest: The Ruins of Kunark, Manual Supplement", "author": "Verant Interactive", "year": 2000, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20010307063049/http://www.everquest.com:80/guidebook/media/manual_supplement.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Additional and New Information: Melee Disciplines; Warrior, Monk and Rogue Disciplines", "note": "Revised 24 April 2000; skills and abilities for buyers of the expansion, the automatic skills and abilities characters receive past 50th level, and disciplines gained at levels 51 to 60." }, { "key": "the-burning-crusade-faq-2005", "canonical": false, "title": "The Burning Crusade FAQ", "author": "Blizzard Entertainment", "year": 2005, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "http://web.archive.org/web/20051202024412/http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/burningcrusade/faq.html", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Will the level cap be raised?", "note": "The cap raised to 70 from the current maximum of 60, with additional talents and abilities or spells for every class from level 60 to 70; Wayback snapshot of December 2005." }, { "key": "blizzard-reveals-three-new-world-of-warcraft-expansions-starting-with-the-war-within-2023", "canonical": false, "title": "Blizzard reveals three new World of Warcraft expansions, starting with The War Within", "author": "Wesley LeBlanc (Game Informer)", "year": 2023, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.gameinformer.com/news/2023/11/06/blizzard-reveals-three-new-world-of-warcraft-expansions-starting-with-the-war", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "The War Within announced at BlizzCon 2023 with the level cap raised to 80." }, { "key": "final-fantasy-xiv-update-10-64-released-for-patch-7-0-dawntrail-2024", "canonical": false, "title": "Final Fantasy XIV Update 10.64 Released for Patch 7.0 Dawntrail", "author": "Damien Seeto (MP1st)", "year": 2024, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://mp1st.com/title-updates-and-patches/final-fantasy-xiv-update-10-64-released-for-patch-7-0-dawntrail", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "The 7.0 patch notes raising the level cap for the Disciples of War and Magic and of the Hand and Land to 100, and the viper and pictomancer jobs, without corresponding classes, beginning at level 80." }, { "key": "blizzard-is-nerfing-leveling-in-wow-the-war-within-and-people-hate-it-2024", "canonical": false, "title": "Blizzard is nerfing leveling in WoW The War Within, and people hate it", "author": "Will Nelson (PCGamesN)", "year": 2024, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.pcgamesn.com/world-of-warcraft/the-war-within-leveling-nerf", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "Blizzard's statement that players in Dragonflight endgame gear were extremely powerful against the opening content, the hotfix of 28 August 2024 strengthening enemies below level 80, most at level 70, and the players' objections." }, { "key": "heart-of-thorns-and-the-future-of-guild-wars-2-2015", "canonical": false, "title": "Heart of Thorns and the future of Guild Wars 2", "author": "Phil Savage (PC Gamer)", "year": 2015, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.pcgamer.com/heart-of-thorns-and-the-future-of-guild-wars-2/", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "An increased level cap, new tiers of gear and a shift in the economy as the traditional template for an MMO expansion, often followed by players abandoning old zones and dungeons." } ], "n_examples": 6, "n_sources": 12, "word_count": 556, "updated": "2026-10-27", "url": "/scaling/level-cap-increase" }, { "id": "level-sync", "name": "Level Sync", "status": "verified", "axis": "normalizing", "scope": "character", "bases": [ "character-level", "content-level" ], "definition": "A character's effective level is temporarily set to that of the content entered or of a partner, usually scaling a higher character down, so that characters of different levels can play together and old content keeps its challenge", "aliases": [ "Downscaling", "Sidekicking", "Dynamic Level Adjustment", "Battle Leveling" ], "media": [ "video" ], "mechanics": [ "cooperative-play", "experience-levels", "group-finder" ], "examples": [ { "title": "Final Fantasy XI", "year": 2002, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Square", "basis": [ "character-level" ], "note": "Level Sync, added in a version update of September 2008, lets a party leader bring any higher-level members down to the leader's level, so that the whole party earns equivalent experience.", "latest": false }, { "title": "City of Heroes", "year": 2004, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Cryptic Studios", "basis": [ "character-level" ], "note": "At launch a lower-level hero could become a mentor's sidekick, gaining combat and level bonuses near the mentor; the later manual sets the sidekick one level below the mentor within 200 feet. Issue 2 of September 2004 added the Exemplar, lowering a hero to a teammate's level without the powers chosen above it and with Enhancements reduced; auto-exemplaring later did so for task forces.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Guild Wars 2", "year": 2012, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "ArenaNet", "basis": [ "content-level" ], "note": "A high-level character in a lower-level zone is scaled down to suit it. In January 2013 ArenaNet revised the attribute formula, because downscaled characters were still too powerful, and raised the rewards they earn there.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn", "year": 2013, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Square Enix", "basis": [ "content-level" ], "note": "A character above a duty's level is synced down to it on entry, losing actions above that level except role actions and having HP, damage, healing and gear effects reduced. The sync works only downward, and FATEs require it more than five levels above their own.", "latest": false }, { "title": "The Elder Scrolls Online", "year": 2014, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "ZeniMax Online Studios", "basis": [ "content-level" ], "note": "Battle leveling, introduced in Update 1 for the Alliance War, scaled a lower-level character's attributes and abilities up to the content. The One Tamriel update of October 2016 applied it to the whole world.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail", "year": 2024, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Square Enix", "basis": [ "content-level" ], "note": "Patch 7.0, released with the expansion, brought two treasure dungeons, the Excitatron 6000 and the Shifting Gymnasion Agonon, under level sync, adjusting player levels to 90.", "latest": true } ], "provenance": { "title": "City of Heroes", "year": 2004, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "confidence": "medium", "note": "Guinness World Records lists City of Heroes (2004) as the first MMORPG to use a mentoring system, the sidekick raised toward a mentor's level; the downward Exemplar followed in Issue 2 of September 2004, on the patch notes kept by Paragon Wiki. Final Fantasy XI is a reported earlier content-keyed form: BG Wiki dates level caps of 25 and 50 on two mission battlefields to an update of February 2003, and update notes of February 2004 name a \"level cap battle\". Both rest on fan wikis, and the official update notes of 2003 are not cited." }, "established": { "title": "Final Fantasy XI", "year": 2008, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "confidence": "low", "note": "Final Fantasy XI's version update of 2008 gave the form the name Level Sync, which Square Enix kept for Final Fantasy XIV's duties, FATEs and later expansions. The line runs inside one publisher's games, and no source cited states that other studios took the form from it." }, "sources": [ { "key": "first-mmorpg-to-use-a-mentoring-system", "canonical": false, "title": "First MMORPG to use a mentoring system", "author": "Guinness World Records", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/first-mmorpg-to-use-a-mentoring-system", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "City of Heroes, 2004, as the first MMORPG with a mentoring system, whose sidekick gains combat and level bonuses while near the mentor so newer players can join veterans." }, { "key": "city-of-heroes-manual-2009", "canonical": false, "title": "City of Heroes Manual", "author": "NCsoft", "year": 2009, "year_approx": true, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/download/cityofheroesmanual/CoH_Manual_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Sidekicks (p. 82); Exemplars (p. 83)", "note": "A later printing, copyright 2004-2009. The sidekick's effective level raised to one below the mentor's within 200 feet; the Exemplar fighting at the Aspirant's combat level without powers chosen above it and with Enhancements reduced; auto-exemplaring into lower-level task forces and trials." }, { "key": "the-history-of-final-fantasy-xi-2003", "canonical": false, "title": "The History of Final Fantasy XI/2003", "author": "BG Wiki", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "wiki", "publisher": null, "url": null, "accessed": null, "locator": null, "note": "An update of 5 February 2003 giving the Rank 3 dragon battlefield a level cap of 25 and the Rank 5 Fei'Yin battlefield a cap of 50." }, { "key": "february-26-2004-update-notes-ffxi", "canonical": false, "title": "February 26, 2004 Update Notes (FFXI)", "author": "ZAM (Allakhazam)", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "wiki", "publisher": null, "url": null, "accessed": null, "locator": null, "note": "A transcription naming Shattering Stars, the red mage's limit-break fight, as a \"level cap battle\"." }, { "key": "patch-notes-2004-09-14", "canonical": false, "title": "Patch Notes/2004-09-14", "author": "Paragon Wiki", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "wiki", "publisher": null, "url": null, "accessed": null, "locator": null, "note": "Issue 2's Exemplar, described as reverse sidekicking, lowering a character to the Aspirant's level with powers and Enhancements reduced, and sidekicking restricted to teams." }, { "key": "new-final-fantasy-xi-leveling-changes-detailed-scrutinized-2008", "canonical": false, "title": "New Final Fantasy XI leveling changes detailed, scrutinized", "author": "Kyle Horner (Engadget)", "year": 2008, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.engadget.com/2008-09-09-new-final-fantasy-xi-leveling-changes-detailed-scrutinized.html", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "Level Sync letting a party leader bring higher-level members down to the leader's level for equivalent experience, alongside the removal of gear level restrictions and a reduced experience curve." }, { "key": "dynamic-leveling-adjustment-2013", "canonical": false, "title": "Dynamic Leveling Adjustment", "author": "Isaiah Cartwright (ArenaNet)", "year": 2013, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "https://guildwars2.com/en/news/dynamic-leveling-adjustment/", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "High-level characters in lower-level zones being too powerful, the revised formulas for attributes and rewards when scaled down, and the aim of matching a similarly geared character of that level." }, { "key": "level-sync", "canonical": false, "title": "Level Sync", "author": "Final Fantasy XIV Online Wiki (Consolegameswiki)", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "wiki", "publisher": null, "url": null, "accessed": null, "locator": null, "note": "Downward-only sync for duties, instanced quest battles and FATEs, the actions and statistics affected, item level sync, and unsynced unrestricted parties." }, { "key": "online-battle-leveling", "canonical": false, "title": "Online:Battle Leveling", "author": "The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "wiki", "publisher": null, "url": null, "accessed": null, "locator": null, "note": "Battle leveling scaling a character's attributes and abilities up, its introduction in Update 1 for the Alliance War, and its extension to the whole world with One Tamriel in October 2016." }, { "key": "ffxiv-patch-7-0-early-notes-new-msq-jobs-areas-more-2024", "canonical": false, "title": "FFXIV Patch 7.0 early notes: New MSQ, jobs, areas, more", "author": "Liam Ho (Dexerto)", "year": 2024, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.dexerto.com/final-fantasy/ffxiv-patch-7-0-notes-2796591/", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "The Excitatron 6000 and the Shifting Gymnasion Agonon made level synced in patch 7.0, adjusting player levels to 90." }, { "key": "final-fantasy-xiv-update-10-64-released-for-patch-7-0-dawntrail-2024", "canonical": false, "title": "Final Fantasy XIV Update 10.64 Released for Patch 7.0 Dawntrail", "author": "Damien Seeto (MP1st)", "year": 2024, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://mp1st.com/title-updates-and-patches/final-fantasy-xiv-update-10-64-released-for-patch-7-0-dawntrail", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "The preliminary 7.0 patch notes, stating that the Excitatron 6000 and the Shifting Gymnasion Agonon will now be level synced, adjusting player levels to 90." } ], "n_examples": 6, "n_sources": 11, "word_count": 507, "updated": "2026-10-27", "url": "/scaling/level-sync" }, { "id": "post-cap-progression", "name": "Post-Cap Progression", "status": "verified", "axis": "vertical", "scope": "character", "bases": [ "character-level", "skill-rank" ], "definition": "Once a character reaches the level cap, or a high level near it, further experience feeds a second long or uncapped track of points or ranks that adds small increments of power, so play at the cap still advances the character", "aliases": [ "Alternate Advancement", "Paragon Levels", "Champion Points" ], "media": [ "tabletop-rpg", "video" ], "mechanics": [ "experience-levels", "skill-trees" ], "examples": [ { "title": "Dungeons & Dragons, Companion Set", "year": 1984, "year_approx": false, "medium": "tabletop-rpg", "creator": "Frank Mentzer (TSR)", "basis": [ "character-level" ], "note": "Dwarves, elves and halflings stop at 12th, 10th and 8th level, but their players keep counting experience past the maximum, and each further step, every 200,000 XP for a dwarf after 660,000, raises an attack rank up to M, improving hit rolls and adding extra attacks.", "latest": false }, { "title": "EverQuest: The Shadows of Luclin", "year": 2001, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Verant Interactive (Sony Online Entertainment)", "basis": [ "character-level", "skill-rank" ], "note": "Characters of level 51 and above can switch their experience into an alternative advancement pool instead of the levelling bar; each filled amount gives a point spent on enhancements such as small permanent statistic and resistance boosts and class skills, some with prerequisites.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Diablo III", "year": 2012, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Blizzard Entertainment", "basis": [ "character-level" ], "note": "From patch 1.0.4, experience past the level cap earned Paragon levels with fixed bonuses, up to 100. Patch 2.0.1 of 2014 removed that limit, shared Paragon levels across an account's heroes, and gave a point per level in four rotating categories, three of them filled by Paragon 800.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Dungeons & Dragons, 5th edition", "year": 2014, "year_approx": false, "medium": "tabletop-rpg", "creator": "Wizards of the Coast", "basis": [ "character-level" ], "note": "The Dungeon Master's Guide offers epic boons as a form of advancement for 20th-level characters with no more levels to gain, suggesting one for every 30,000 XP earned above 355,000, or an ability score increase beyond 20 or a new feat instead.", "latest": false }, { "title": "The Elder Scrolls Online", "year": 2014, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "ZeniMax Online Studios", "basis": [ "character-level", "skill-rank" ], "note": "From Update 6 of March 2015, accounts with maximum-rank characters earn Champion Points, invested in passive abilities. The system unlocks when a character reaches level 50, experience then yields points in three constellations, and points above 3,600 cannot be spent.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Tiny Tina's Wonderlands", "year": 2022, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Gearbox Software", "basis": [ "character-level", "skill-rank" ], "note": "At the level cap, 40 at launch, further experience fills a Myth Rank bar that awards a Myth Point each time it fills. Points go to four constellations in turn, Druid, Archmage, Blademaster and Deadeye, so they spread across all four while power keeps rising.", "latest": true } ], "provenance": { "title": "Dungeons & Dragons, Companion Set", "year": 1984, "year_approx": false, "medium": "tabletop-rpg", "confidence": "medium", "note": "The Players Companion, first printed in April 1984, tells the player of a demi-human to keep track of experience earned after the maximum level is reached, and its class descriptions and the Dungeon Masters Companion's hit roll charts turn that experience into attack ranks while the level stays fixed. It is the earliest documented use cited. The Expert rulebook of 1981 states the dwarf's 12th-level maximum without any further track. The earliest video form cited is EverQuest's alternate advancement in The Shadows of Luclin (December 2001). Multi-user dungeons and other role-playing games of the 1980s and 1990s remain unsurveyed, so an earlier use is possible." }, "established": null, "sources": [ { "key": "dungeons-dragons-companion-set-players-companion-book-one-and-dungeon-masters-companion-book-two-1984", "canonical": false, "title": "Dungeons & Dragons, Companion Set: Players Companion, Book One, and Dungeon Masters Companion, Book Two", "author": "Frank Mentzer (TSR)", "year": 1984, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/details/dungeons-and-dragons-set-3-companion-rules", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Players Companion: Demi-humans, Experience Points (c. p. 28), and Demi-human Character Class Descriptions (pp. 29-31); Dungeon Masters Companion: Hit Roll Charts, All Demi-humans", "note": "Demi-humans keeping track of experience after maximum level, attack ranks A to M by experience total for each race, extra attacks and spell resistance for dwarves at set totals; first printing of April 1984." }, { "key": "dungeons-dragons-expert-rulebook-1981", "canonical": false, "title": "Dungeons & Dragons, Expert Rulebook", "author": "David Cook with Steve Marsh (TSR)", "year": 1981, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/details/dn-d-expert-rules-cook", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Dwarves (class description)", "note": "Dwarves able to attain 12th level at most, with no progression described beyond it." }, { "key": "everquest-the-shadows-of-luclin-manual-2001", "canonical": false, "title": "EverQuest: The Shadows of Luclin, manual", "author": "Sony Online Entertainment", "year": 2001, "year_approx": true, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://mocagh.org/miscgame/everquestluclin-manual.pdf", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Features (p. 2); Alternate Advancement Summary (p. 5)", "note": "Alternate forms of advancement for characters above level 50, experience toggled into an alternative advancement pool, training points spent on enhancements with prerequisites, and death's experience loss taken only from the levelling pool." }, { "key": "the-game-archaeologist-a-history-of-everquest-expansions-2013", "canonical": false, "title": "The Game Archaeologist: A history of EverQuest expansions", "author": "Justin Olivetti (Engadget)", "year": 2013, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.engadget.com/2013-10-12-the-game-archaeologist-a-history-of-everquest-expansions.html", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "The Shadows of Luclin released in December 2001 with alternative advancement abilities, and later expansions adding further AA abilities." }, { "key": "reaper-of-souls-first-look-paragon-2-0-2014", "canonical": false, "title": "Reaper of Souls First Look: Paragon 2.0", "author": "Blizzard Entertainment (Wuluxar)", "year": 2014, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "http://web.archive.org/web/20140301204512/http://us.battle.net:80/d3/en/blog/13020718", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "What's Changing?; Change #1 to Change #3", "note": "The Paragon system of patch 1.0.4 giving bonuses for experience past the level cap and maxing at level 100, and patch 2.0.1 removing that cap, sharing Paragon levels across an account, and replacing the fixed bonuses with spendable points, with three categories filled by Paragon 800." }, { "key": "dungeon-master-s-guide-5th-edition-2014", "canonical": false, "title": "Dungeon Master's Guide (5th edition)", "author": "Wizards of the Coast", "year": 2014, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": null, "accessed": null, "locator": "Chapter 7: Treasure, Other Rewards, Epic Boons and Alternatives to Epic Boons", "note": "Epic boons as a form of advancement for characters who have no more levels to gain, one for every 30,000 XP earned above 355,000, and ability score increases or feats as alternatives; first printing of December 2014." }, { "key": "the-elder-scrolls-online-update-6-lets-you-be-bad-extends-endgame-2015", "canonical": false, "title": "The Elder Scrolls Online Update 6 Lets You Be Bad, Extends Endgame", "author": "Jon Gregory (Game Informer)", "year": 2015, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2015/03/06/the-elder-scrolls-online-update-6-lets-you-be-bad-extends-endgame", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "Update 6 of 6 March 2015 letting players with veteran characters on their account earn Champion Points to invest in passive abilities for maximum-rank characters." }, { "key": "online-champion-system", "canonical": false, "title": "Online:Champion System", "author": "The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "wiki", "publisher": null, "url": null, "accessed": null, "locator": null, "note": "The system unlocked when a character reaches level 50, experience thereafter yielding Champion Points, the cap of 3,600 spendable points, the three constellations, and the Enlightenment pool that multiplies experience." }, { "key": "myth-rank-tiny-tina-s-wonderlands-game-guide-2022", "canonical": false, "title": "Myth Rank (Tiny Tina's Wonderlands game guide)", "author": "2K and Gearbox Software", "year": 2022, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "http://web.archive.org/web/20221209113931/https://playwonderlands.2k.com/game-guide/about/myth-rank/", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "Myth Rank unlocked at the level cap, 40 at launch, experience filling a new bar for Myth Points, the four quadrants visited clockwise, and the statement that it further increases the character's power." } ], "n_examples": 6, "n_sources": 9, "word_count": 572, "updated": "2026-10-27", "url": "/scaling/post-cap-progression" }, { "id": "power-creep", "name": "Power Creep", "status": "unverified", "axis": "vertical", "scope": "content", "bases": [ "release" ], "definition": "Across releases, newly added cards, units or characters are on average stronger than older ones at the same cost, so older options lose relevance unless rotation, bans or buffs to old content intervene", "aliases": [ "Powercreep" ], "media": [ "board-card", "video" ], "mechanics": [ "deck-building", "loot-boxes" ], "examples": [ { "title": "Magic: The Gathering", "year": 1993, "year_approx": false, "medium": "board-card", "creator": "Richard Garfield (Wizards of the Coast)", "basis": [ "release" ], "note": "Wizards' Sam Stoddard wrote in 2013 that over time the cards become more powerful, early sets pairing strong spells with weak creatures that later sets moved closer to even; a 2024 survey traces later creatures, ending with Orchard Strider, that outclass Alpha's Craw Wurm.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Hearthstone", "year": 2014, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Blizzard Entertainment", "basis": [ "release" ], "note": "In February 2016 Blizzard announced a Standard format limited to the Basic and Classic sets and those of the current and previous calendar year, so Curse of Naxxramas and Goblins vs Gnomes left it first; every card stayed playable in Wild, the new name for the format without rotation.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Honkai: Star Rail", "year": 2023, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "miHoYo", "basis": [ "release" ], "note": "In February 2025 the developers said that difficulty deploying older characters was already on the schedule, and the 3.2 livestream announced buffs for Silver Wolf, Kafka, Blade and Jingliu in version 3.4; press describe them as power-crept by newer characters and tougher Memory of Chaos bosses.", "latest": true } ], "provenance": { "title": "Magic: The Gathering", "year": 1993, "year_approx": false, "medium": "board-card", "confidence": "low", "note": "Magic is the earliest documented case cited of power creep in a game sold in expansions, though the record of the creep itself is retrospective: Sam Stoddard's 2013 article for Wizards of the Coast describes creatures rising in power across sets from the game's early years, and names the creation of the rotating Standard format as the most important response of those years. That format was announced as Type II in The Duelist of spring 1995 (p. 57), for variety and for newer players' access rather than for power, and the term appears in the same magazine by September 1998 (p. 4), where Mark Rosewater calls it the biggest danger of printing more tournament-quality cards. The 2013 article calls Alpha, the first set, the strongest of all time for its spells, so in Magic the creep is documented for creatures rather than for the game as a whole. Wiktionary's earliest citation of the term is a Usenet post of May 1992 in rec.games.frp about player characters, before Magic's release; it is a reported antecedent of the word, not a documented case of creep across releases. Earlier candidates, such as wargame army lists and tabletop role-playing supplements, remain unsurveyed." }, "established": { "title": "Magic: The Gathering", "year": 1993, "year_approx": false, "medium": "board-card", "confidence": "low", "note": "The published design discussion of power creep centres on Magic, in Wizards' own publications (Rosewater in The Duelist, 1998; Stoddard, 2013) and in its press (StarCityGames, 2012; Commander's Herald, 2024), and its pairing of creep with a rotating Standard format reappears in Hearthstone's Standard format of 2016, which takes the same name. No cited source traces the later forms to Magic directly." }, "sources": [ { "key": "optimizing-play-why-theorycrafting-breaks-games-and-how-to-fix-it-2024", "canonical": false, "title": "Optimizing Play: Why Theorycrafting Breaks Games and How to Fix It", "author": "Christopher A. Paul", "year": 2024, "year_approx": false, "type": "book", "publisher": "MIT Press", "url": "https://archive.org/details/mit_press_book_9780262378338", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Chapter 5, EA SPORTS FC and NBA 2K, pp. 98 and 108", "note": "New Ultimate Team cards across a season as a power creep, so that the dominant cards at its end were not in the game at its start; the creep as a reason to keep playing and spending." }, { "key": "a-word-from-the-director-1995", "canonical": false, "title": "A Word from the Director", "author": "Steve Bishop (The Duelist)", "year": 1995, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/details/DuelistMagazineIssue4-Spring1995", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "The Duelist #4 (Spring 1995), p. 57; Type II Tournament Rules, p. 58", "note": "The Duelists' Convocation sanctioning Type I, Type II and Sealed Deck tournaments; Type II limited to the Revised Edition and the latest two expansions, for an \"ever-shifting play environment\" and for newer players." }, { "key": "magic-is-like-a-box-of-chocolates-1998", "canonical": false, "title": "Magic Is Like a Box of Chocolates", "author": "Mark Rosewater (The Duelist)", "year": 1998, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/details/duelist-29", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "The Duelist #29 (September 1998), p. 4", "note": "Editorial naming power creep the biggest concern of printing more tournament-viable cards, as new cards force older ones out and push the power level higher." }, { "key": "dealing-with-power-creep-2013", "canonical": false, "title": "Dealing With Power Creep", "author": "Sam Stoddard (Wizards of the Coast)", "year": 2013, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/feature/dealing-power-creep-2013-08-09", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "Power creep as cards becoming more powerful over time, managed rather than stopped; the creation of Standard as the key early response; Alpha as the strongest set; creatures moved closer to spells in power." }, { "key": "power-creep-2012", "canonical": false, "title": "Power Creep", "author": "Cassie LaBelle (StarCityGames)", "year": 2012, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://articles.starcitygames.com/articles/power-creep/", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "Power creep measured by the best cards of a set, the two power-downs from Urza's Destiny to Mercadian Masques and from Fifth Dawn to Champions of Kamigawa, and the writer's view that Magic has no serious power creep issue; signed Chas Andres." }, { "key": "six-examples-of-power-creep-in-magic-2024", "canonical": false, "title": "Six Examples of Power Creep in Magic", "author": "Nick Wolf (Commander's Herald)", "year": 2024, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://commandersherald.com/six-examples-of-power-creep-in-magic/", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "A definition of power creep, chains of later commons outclassing Craw Wurm and others, and Mark Rosewater's statements of 2021 and 2024 on rotation and on whether Magic creeps." }, { "key": "a-new-way-to-play-2016", "canonical": false, "title": "A New Way to Play", "author": "Daxxarri (Blizzard Entertainment)", "year": 2016, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://news.blizzard.com/en-us/article/19995505/a-new-way-to-play", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "Blizzard's announcement of Standard (Basic, Classic, and the sets of the current and previous calendar year) and Wild; Naxxramas and Goblins vs Gnomes excluded; the stated aims of more impact for each new card and \"more freedom to design exciting new cards\"." }, { "key": "hearthstone-s-new-standard-format-will-cycle-out-old-expansions-to-keep-the-game-fresh-2016", "canonical": false, "title": "Hearthstone's new Standard format will cycle out old expansions to keep the game fresh", "author": "Eric David (SiliconANGLE)", "year": 2016, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://siliconangle.com/?p=266406", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "The Standard format of the current and previous calendar year's sets plus Basic and Classic, the first sets phased out, Wild keeping every card, and the re-evaluation of Basic and Classic cards; 2 February 2016." }, { "key": "standard-format", "canonical": false, "title": "Standard format", "author": "Hearthstone Wiki", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "wiki", "publisher": null, "url": null, "accessed": null, "locator": null, "note": "Standard and Wild released with Whispers of the Old Gods on 26 April 2016; seen only in a search summary." }, { "key": "honkai-star-rail-announces-buffs-to-older-characters-are-already-in-the-works-2025", "canonical": false, "title": "Honkai: Star Rail announces buffs to older characters are already in the works", "author": "Kurt Lozano (GosuGamers)", "year": 2025, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.gosugamers.net/honkai-star-rail/news/74256-honkai-star-rail-announce-buffs-to-older-characters-are-already-in-the-works", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "The Developer Radio statement that difficulty deploying older characters is already on the schedule, and the characters players describe as power-crept (Seele, Jingliu, Blade); dated Wednesday 5 February." }, { "key": "hsr-confirms-it-will-buff-old-characters-in-response-to-powercreep-complaints-2025", "canonical": false, "title": "HSR Confirms It Will Buff Old Characters in Response to Powercreep Complaints", "author": "Sanmay Chakrabarti (Beebom)", "year": 2025, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://beebom.com/hsr-confirms-buff-old-characters-in-response-to-powercreep-complaints/amp/", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "Buffs for Silver Wolf, Kafka, Blade and Jingliu in version 3.4 announced in the 3.2 livestream, and the rising health of Memory of Chaos bosses; 28 March 2025." }, { "key": "power-creep", "canonical": false, "title": "power creep", "author": "Wiktionary", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "wiki", "publisher": null, "url": null, "accessed": null, "locator": null, "note": "Definition across updates and expansions; earliest citation a rec.games.frp Usenet post by Donald A. Bachman, 8 May 1992, on \"munchkin power creep\"." } ], "n_examples": 3, "n_sources": 12, "word_count": 545, "updated": "2026-10-27", "url": "/scaling/power-creep" }, { "id": "pvp-normalization", "name": "PvP Normalization", "status": "verified", "axis": "normalizing", "scope": "item", "bases": [ "character-level", "item-tier", "unlock", "content-level" ], "definition": "In player-versus-player modes the game sets aside the level and gear statistics players have earned and substitutes a fixed level, a stat template or a common floor, so that matches turn on choices and play rather than on accumulated power", "aliases": [ "PvP Templates", "Gear Normalization" ], "media": [ "video" ], "mechanics": [ "equipment-loadouts", "experience-levels", "handicapping", "rating-and-matchmaking" ], "examples": [ { "title": "Guild Wars", "year": 2005, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "ArenaNet", "basis": [ "content-level", "unlock" ], "note": "A PvP Only character is restricted to the competitive areas and starts at the highest level, 20, built from a provided template or from skills unlocked by a roleplaying character, with its equipment chosen on a selection screen at creation.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Guild Wars 2", "year": 2012, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "ArenaNet", "basis": [ "content-level", "unlock" ], "note": "Structured PvP excludes levelling, PvE gear and expensive potions, and everyone in the Mists lobby is set to level 80 with all skills unlocked; World versus World is the contrast, where gear is a factor and lower-level players are at a disadvantage.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Destiny", "year": 2014, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Bungie", "basis": [ "content-level", "character-level" ], "note": "Crucible matches are found by skill rather than character level, and ordinary playlists reportedly ignore level and gear; the Iron Banner turns level advantages on, with the largest advantage held to about seven levels.", "latest": false }, { "title": "World of Warcraft: Legion", "year": 2016, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Blizzard Entertainment", "basis": [ "content-level", "item-tier" ], "note": "On entering a PvP instance, gear statistics are nullified and replaced by a set configured for the specialization, with set bonuses, enchants, legendary and trinket effects off; average item level adds 0.1 percent to those statistics per point.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Destiny 2", "year": 2017, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Bungie", "basis": [ "content-level", "item-tier" ], "note": "Most competitive modes remove the effect of Power, while Iron Banner and Trials of Osiris add it, so a higher Power gives a damage and defence edge; in 2020 Bungie announced that the seasonal Artifact's Power bonus would be disabled in those two modes.", "latest": true } ], "provenance": { "title": "Guild Wars", "year": 2005, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "confidence": "medium", "note": "The earliest documented use cited is Guild Wars (2005), whose official Prima guide of the same year describes PvP Only characters created at the level cap with templates, unlocked skills and chosen equipment, beside roleplaying characters who start at level 1. Earlier online games with arena or battle modes, such as console role-playing games of the early 2000s and text MUDs, remain unsurveyed, so an earlier use is possible." }, "established": null, "sources": [ { "key": "guild-wars-official-game-guide-2005", "canonical": false, "title": "Guild Wars Official Game Guide", "author": "Prima Games (David Ladyman, Andrea Silva and Rebecca Chastain, eds.)", "year": 2005, "year_approx": false, "type": "book", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/download/Guild_Wars_Strategy_Guide_PrimaGames/Guild_Wars_Strategy_Guide_PrimaGames_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Character chapter (Heather Rothwell), Character Creation and Starting Play", "note": "The choice between a roleplaying and a PvP Only character, the PvP character starting at level 20 from a template or unlocked skills, and its equipment selection screen." }, { "key": "guild-wars-2-signature-series-guide-2012", "canonical": false, "title": "Guild Wars 2: Signature Series Guide", "author": "Michael Lummis, Kathleen Pleet, Edwin Kern and Kurt Ricketts (BradyGames)", "year": 2012, "year_approx": false, "type": "book", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/download/bradygames-gw2-digital-strategy-guide-en/bradygames-gw2-digital-strategy-guide-en_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "PvP overview, p. 121; Player versus Player, The Hall of Memories, p. 306", "note": "Structured PvP excluding levelling, PvE gear and potions, gear as a factor in World versus World, and everyone set to level 80 in the PvP lobby with all skills unlocked." }, { "key": "bungie-weekly-update-10-10-2014-2014", "canonical": false, "title": "Bungie Weekly Update, 10/10/2014", "author": "DeeJ (Bungie), via the Bungie.org archive", "year": 2014, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "https://destiny.bungie.org/bwu/48", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "Matches found by skill rather than character level, defence and attack offsetting level in the Iron Banner, and the largest advantage held to about seven levels." }, { "key": "lord-saladin-returns-as-destiny-s-latest-iron-banner-kicks-off-2014", "canonical": false, "title": "Lord Saladin Returns As Destiny's Latest Iron Banner Kicks Off", "author": "Mike Futter (Game Informer)", "year": 2014, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/12/16/lord-saladin-returns-as-destiny-s-latest-iron-banner-kicks-off", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "Iron Banner's level advantages enabled to a greater degree in December 2014." }, { "key": "legion-pvp-preview-2015", "canonical": false, "title": "Legion PvP Preview", "author": "Blizzard Entertainment", "year": 2015, "year_approx": true, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com/news/19994381", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "Gear statistics nullified in PvP instances and replaced by a predetermined set per specialization, effects deactivated, and 0.1 percent per point of average item level, with a 25-level gap giving 2.5 percent." }, { "key": "the-history-and-future-of-pvp-gearing-which-systems-would-work-best-in-shadowlands-2020", "canonical": false, "title": "The History and Future of PvP Gearing: Which Systems Would Work Best in Shadowlands?", "author": "Mystzr (Wowhead)", "year": 2020, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.wowhead.com/news/the-history-and-future-of-pvp-gearing-which-systems-would-work-best-in-317982", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "Legion's normalized item level and stat templates, and their removal in Battle for Azeroth, after which gear mattered again and scaling only narrowed item-level gaps." }, { "key": "bungie-will-disable-the-artifact-for-destiny-2-iron-banner-and-trials-of-osiris-2020", "canonical": false, "title": "Bungie will disable the Artifact for Destiny 2 Iron Banner and Trials of Osiris", "author": "Stefan L (TheSixthAxis)", "year": 2020, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.thesixthaxis.com/2020/02/28/bungie-will-disable-the-artifact-for-destiny-2-iron-banner-and-trials-of-osiris/", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "Most competitive modes removing the effects of Power, Iron Banner and Trials adding it, and Luke Smith's statement disabling the Artifact for Power-enabled PvP until a Power cap could be built." } ], "n_examples": 5, "n_sources": 7, "word_count": 505, "updated": "2026-10-27", "url": "/scaling/pvp-normalization" }, { "id": "real-time-training", "name": "Real-Time Training", "status": "unverified", "axis": "vertical", "scope": "character", "bases": [ "skill-rank", "real-time" ], "definition": "A character's skills or research rise in level as time passes on the real-world clock, played or not, toward whatever the player has set in training, so that capability grows with elapsed days rather than with play", "aliases": [ "Offline Training", "Skill Queue", "Time-Based Training" ], "media": [ "video" ], "mechanics": [ "appointment-mechanics", "skill-trees" ], "examples": [ { "title": "OGame", "year": 2002, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Gameforge", "basis": [ "real-time", "skill-rank" ], "note": "In the publisher's present-day description, research progresses automatically in real time while the player is offline, and buildings, research and ships are managed through a queue the game works through on its own. News of 2002 records research that could be cancelled and that finished on the server, and drive research adding 10%, 20% or 30% speed per level.", "latest": false }, { "title": "EVE Online", "year": 2003, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "CCP Games", "basis": [ "real-time", "skill-rank" ], "note": "A skill trains in real time toward the next of its five levels whether or not the player is connected, one skill at a time per account, in under an hour to several days. Rank multiplies the time and two attributes set the rate (2005 guide). The 2009 skill queue held up to 50 skills starting within 24 hours.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Clash of Clans", "year": 2012, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Supercell", "basis": [ "real-time", "skill-rank" ], "note": "The Laboratory raises a troop or spell one level at a time, each level adding hit points and damage, and an upgrade takes hours or days, up to 14 days in a 2014 guide, while the troop cannot be trained. A 2018 update cut research times.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Albion Online", "year": 2017, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Sandbox Interactive", "basis": [ "skill-rank", "real-time" ], "note": "Destiny Board nodes advance with Fame earned in play, but a Premium character also receives a Learning Point every 48 minutes, online or not, 30 a day, to spend on completing nodes; on the outer specialization nodes this raises item power (2024 announcement).", "latest": false }, { "title": "EVE Echoes", "year": 2020, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "NetEase Games and CCP Games", "basis": [ "real-time", "skill-rank" ], "note": "A queued skill gains 30 skill points a minute, more for Omega clones, even offline, and skills can be added while less than 24 hours is queued. When the queue runs dry, free skill points accrue at half the rate, to be applied later.", "latest": true } ], "provenance": { "title": "OGame", "year": 2002, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "confidence": "low", "note": "The earliest documented use cited is OGame (2002). Its developer's news page, captured in February 2003, lists research and the cancelling of research among the functions working before 9 May 2002, states in September 2002 that each level of Combustion Drive research raises the speed of ships using it by 10%, and in October 2002 asks players to report research that no longer finishes. Durations are given there only for ships, in seconds, which keeps confidence low. Planetarion's manual of 2000 times research in hour-long ticks, one item at a time, but each item is a single unlock in its tech tree rather than a level that raises a value, so it is an antecedent. EVE Online's player guide, captured in 2005, states that training time \"is measured in real time and training continues regardless of whether or not a player is connected\"." }, "established": { "title": "EVE Online", "year": 2003, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "confidence": "low", "note": "CCP's 2005 guide calls the training system \"unheard of in other MMORPGs\", and a 2008 Engadget column contrasts it with experience from kills and quests. EVE Echoes (2020) keeps the same training and the 24-hour queue, but it carries the same licence, and no source cited shows another studio taking the form from EVE." }, "sources": [ { "key": "ogame-news-archive-wayback-capture-2002", "canonical": false, "title": "OGame news archive (Wayback capture)", "author": "Legor (OGame)", "year": 2002, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20030220205119/http://ogame.de:80/game/archiv.php", "accessed": "2026-10-28", "locator": "Entries of 9 May (undated foot entry), 18 and 26 September, 21 October and 25 November 2002", "note": "Research and cancelling research working before 9 May 2002, ship build times in seconds, each drive research level adding 10%, 20% or 30% to ship speed, and research that must finish on the server." }, { "key": "planetarion-manual-list-of-researches-wayback-capture-2000", "canonical": false, "title": "Planetarion manual: List of researches (Wayback capture)", "author": "Planetarion", "year": 2000, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20001017104437/http://bw.planetarion.com:80/manual/researches.html", "accessed": "2026-10-28", "locator": "List of all researches", "note": "Each research item with a time of 12 to 72, its cost and the construction or ship it enables, with no levels." }, { "key": "planetarion-manual-research-and-terminology-wayback-captures-2000", "canonical": false, "title": "Planetarion manual: Research and Terminology (Wayback captures)", "author": "Planetarion", "year": 2000, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20001017131454/http://bw.planetarion.com:80/manual/research.shtml", "accessed": "2026-10-28", "locator": "Research; Terminology (manual/terminology.shtml, same date): Tick", "note": "Research one item at a time beside construction, each completed item allowing a construction further down the tech tree, and a tick defined as a period of one hour." }, { "key": "eve-online-player-guide-skills-wayback-capture-2005", "canonical": false, "title": "EVE Online Player Guide: Skills (Wayback capture)", "author": "CCP Games", "year": 2005, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20050305234820/http://www.eve-online.com:80/guide/en/g07.asp", "accessed": "2026-10-28", "locator": "Skills and Character Death; A Guide To Attributes and Skills", "note": "Training measured in real time and continuing whether or not the player is connected, one skill at a time per account, five levels per skill, rank multiplying training time, attributes, learning skills and implants setting the rate, and switching skills without losing points." }, { "key": "eve-evolved-eve-s-skill-system-demystified-part-1-2008", "canonical": false, "title": "EVE Evolved: EVE's skill system demystified, part 1", "author": "Brendan Drain (Engadget)", "year": 2008, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.engadget.com/2008-05-05-eve-evolved-skill-system-demystified-part-1.html", "accessed": "2026-10-28", "locator": null, "note": "Skills trained in real time until complete, even offline, attributes affecting only the rate, five levels per skill, and the contrast with experience from kills and quests." }, { "key": "more-queue-queue-2009", "canonical": false, "title": "More Queue Queue", "author": "CCP Eris Discordia (CCP Games)", "year": 2009, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "https://eveonline.com/article/more-queue-queue", "accessed": "2026-10-28", "locator": null, "note": "The planned skill queue, the worry that players might set a queue for a year and become less active, setting an alarm to change skills, and the rule that queued skills start within 24 hours." }, { "key": "patch-notes-for-apocrypha-2009", "canonical": false, "title": "Patch Notes for Apocrypha", "author": "CCP Games", "year": 2009, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.eveonline.com/news/view/patch-notes-for-apocrypha-1", "accessed": "2026-10-28", "locator": "Skill queue", "note": "Automatic training of multiple skills, up to 50 in a queue as long as all start within 24 hours, released 10 March 2009." }, { "key": "browser-game-for-daily-sessions-ogame-in-15-minutes-daily", "canonical": false, "title": "Browser Game for Daily Sessions, OGame in 15 Minutes Daily", "author": "Gameforge", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "https://gameforge.com/en-GB/games/browser-game-daily-sessions.html", "accessed": "2026-10-28", "locator": null, "note": "Mines producing around the clock, buildings constructed in real time, research progressing automatically, and the game continuing without the player." }, { "key": "browser-strategy-game-without-time-pressure-play-ogame-at-your-own-pace", "canonical": false, "title": "Browser Strategy Game Without Time Pressure, Play OGame at Your Own Pace", "author": "Gameforge", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "https://gameforge.com/en-GB/games/building-game-without-time-pressure-browser.html", "accessed": "2026-10-28", "locator": null, "note": "Buildings, research and ships managed through a queue that the game works through independently, without the player present." }, { "key": "ogame-front-page-wayback-capture-2002", "canonical": false, "title": "OGame front page (Wayback capture)", "author": "Gameforge", "year": 2002, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20020814110439/http://www.ogame.de:80/", "accessed": "2026-10-28", "locator": null, "note": "The German login and registration page, live on 14 August 2002." }, { "key": "laboratory-clash-of-clans-building-breakdown-2014", "canonical": false, "title": "Laboratory, Clash of Clans building breakdown", "author": "Peter Willington (Pocket Gamer)", "year": 2014, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.pocketgamer.com/clash-of-clans/laboratory-clash-of-clans-building-breakdown", "accessed": "2026-10-28", "locator": null, "note": "The Laboratory upgrading troops and spells, research times in hours and days up to 14 days, and research paused while the Laboratory itself is upgraded." }, { "key": "introduction-to-clash-of-clans-part-3-troops-2015", "canonical": false, "title": "Introduction to Clash of Clans, Part 3: Troops", "author": "Dan Knight (Low End Mac)", "year": 2015, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://lowendmac.com/2015/introduction-to-clash-of-clans-part-3-troops/", "accessed": "2026-10-28", "locator": null, "note": "Troop levels raised only through the Laboratory, each level adding hit points and damage, a six-hour upgrade, and hours or days before an upgrading troop can be deployed again." }, { "key": "clash-of-clans-town-hall-12-balance-update-cuts-game-timers-2018", "canonical": false, "title": "Clash of Clans Town Hall 12 balance update cuts game timers", "author": "Christopher Groux (Newsweek)", "year": 2018, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.newsweek.com/entertainment/video-games/clash-clans-th12-balance-update-cuts-game-timers-996117", "accessed": "2026-10-28", "locator": null, "note": "The June 2018 update reducing building upgrade, troop upgrade and research times, and players less willing to wait hours or days." }, { "key": "learning-points-and-how-to-use-them-2024", "canonical": false, "title": "Learning Points and How To Use Them", "author": "Ekki Mukk (Sandbox Interactive, Steam community announcement)", "year": 2024, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "https://api.steampowered.com/ISteamNews/GetNewsForApp/v2/?appid=761890&count=1&maxlength=0&enddate=1729100000", "accessed": "2026-10-28", "locator": null, "note": "A Learning Point every 48 minutes with Premium, online or not, 30 a day, spent to complete Destiny Board nodes in proportion to the Fame they need, and item power raised at specialization nodes." }, { "key": "eve-echoes-beginner-tips-to-a-successful-life-in-new-eden-2020", "canonical": false, "title": "Eve Echoes: Beginner Tips To A Successful Life In New Eden", "author": "Mitchell Gassner (GameSpace)", "year": 2020, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://gamespace.com/featured/eve-echoes-beginner-tips-to-a-successful-life-in-new-eden/", "accessed": "2026-10-28", "locator": null, "note": "Thirty skill points a minute for a queued skill even offline, more for Omega clones, the 24-hour queue, and free skill points at half rate when the queue is empty." } ], "n_examples": 5, "n_sources": 15, "word_count": 554, "updated": "2026-10-28", "url": "/scaling/real-time-training" }, { "id": "roster-unlocks", "name": "Roster Unlocks", "status": "unverified", "axis": "horizontal", "scope": "character", "bases": [ "unlock" ], "definition": "Play opens further playable characters, classes, weapons or starting kits, each a different way to play at about the power of those already held, so the roster grows in breadth rather than in strength", "aliases": [ "Unlockable Characters", "Hidden Characters" ], "media": [ "video", "board-card" ], "mechanics": [ "achievements", "legacy-campaign", "roguelike-meta-progression", "variable-player-powers" ], "examples": [ { "title": "Streets of Rage 3", "year": 1994, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Sega", "basis": [ "unlock" ], "note": "A tips column of September 1994 explains that the boss Shiva can be played once the player defeats him and holds B until the next stage; after the player's lives run out, he can be chosen on the character selection screen when continuing.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Tekken", "year": 1994, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Namco", "basis": [ "unlock" ], "note": "The arcade game's sub-bosses were not playable. In the PlayStation port of 1995 eight fighters are open at the start; Edge counted nine extra boss characters to control and reported that Kunimitsu becomes usable in two-player mode once the game is completed on Ultra Hard. The sub-bosses are reportedly opened by clearing Arcade Mode with different characters.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Super Smash Bros.", "year": 1999, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "HAL Laboratory (Nintendo)", "basis": [ "unlock" ], "note": "Hidden fighters, reportedly four, become playable once their conditions are met in play; the manual's Backup Clear option erases the Challenger data, after which the hidden characters can no longer be used.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Gloomhaven", "year": 2017, "year_approx": false, "medium": "board-card", "creator": "Isaac Childres (Cephalofair Games)", "basis": [ "unlock" ], "note": "A character who fulfils a personal quest retires, and the player opens a sealed box or envelope that usually holds a new class, available to anyone starting a character; new characters may start at any level up to the town's prosperity level.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Slay the Spire", "year": 2019, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Mega Crit", "basis": [ "unlock" ], "note": "Only the Ironclad is open at first; a run with the Ironclad unlocks the Silent, whose larger and cheaper starting deck and separate card pool change the play rather than its strength.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Hades", "year": 2020, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Supergiant Games", "basis": [ "unlock" ], "note": "Only the Stygian Blade is open at first; the other Infernal Arms are bought with Chthonic Keys, 24 keys in all, and each has its own attack and special. Aspects bought with Titan Blood then add ranked bonuses to each weapon.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Valorant", "year": 2020, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Riot Games", "basis": [ "unlock" ], "note": "At launch each agent had a ten-tier contract; tier 5 gave the agent, and play or payment could reach it, while tiers 6 to 10 had to be earned in play.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Vampire Survivors", "year": 2022, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "poncle", "basis": [ "unlock" ], "note": "Each character starts with its own weapon and passive bonus. A character's condition must be met before it can be bought with gold, and every purchase raises the price of the next by 10% of the base; secret characters are found through hidden enemies and other secrets.", "latest": true } ], "provenance": { "title": "Streets of Rage 3", "year": 1994, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "confidence": "low", "note": "The earliest documented use cited is Streets of Rage 3, for which Mean Machines Sega's tips pages of September 1994 explain that the boss Shiva becomes selectable on continuing once the player has defeated him and held B until the next stage; the unlock joins a play condition to a held button. Tekken's PlayStation port of 1995 opened its sub-bosses through conditions met in play, as Edge's review of June 1995 records. Hidden characters in other action and fighting games of 1993 and 1994 remain unsurveyed, and a single tips column is thin evidence, so confidence is low." }, "established": null, "sources": [ { "key": "testscreen-tekken-1995", "canonical": false, "title": "Testscreen: Tekken", "author": "Edge", "year": 1995, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": "Future Publishing", "url": "https://archive.org/download/edge-021-june-1995/EDGE%20021%20-%20June%201995_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Edge 21 (June 1995), pp. 66-67", "note": "The PlayStation port's eight fighters open at startup, Kuma among the fighters not accessible at the outset, Kunimitsu usable in two-player mode once the game is completed on Ultra Hard, and nine extra boss characters to control." }, { "key": "megadrive-tips-1994", "canonical": false, "title": "Megadrive Tips", "author": "Mean Machines Sega", "year": 1994, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": "EMAP Images", "url": "https://archive.org/download/mean-machines-sega-magazine-23/MMSega_23_Sep_1994_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Mean Machines Sega 23 (September 1994): Streets of Rage 3", "note": "Shiva made playable by defeating him and holding B until the next stage, then choosing him on the character selection screen after continuing." }, { "key": "super-smash-bros-instruction-manual-en-aus-1999", "canonical": false, "title": "Super Smash Bros. instruction manual (EN-AUS)", "author": "Nintendo and HAL Laboratory", "year": 1999, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": "Nintendo", "url": "https://archive.org/download/super-smash-bros-n64-manual/SuperSmashBros_instructionmanualEN-AUS_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Options: Backup Clear", "note": "The Newcomers option erasing Challenger data, after which the hidden characters can no longer be used." }, { "key": "gloomhaven-rulebook-2017", "canonical": false, "title": "Gloomhaven rulebook", "author": "Isaac Childres (Cephalofair Games)", "year": 2017, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://cdn.1j1ju.com/medias/8d/c5/21-gloomhaven-rulebook.pdf", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Sealed Boxes and Envelopes, p. 40; Announcing Retirement, p. 48", "note": "Sealed boxes making a new class available for anyone starting a character, personal quests that usually unlock a new class, and new characters starting at any level up to the prosperity level." }, { "key": "tekken-a-playstation-history-2025", "canonical": false, "title": "Tekken: A PlayStation history", "author": "Heidi Kemps (PlayStation Blog)", "year": 2025, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://blog.playstation.com/2025/03/05/tekken-a-playstation-history/", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "The PlayStation port adding content absent from the arcade original, including playable sub-boss characters and a hidden unlockable character." }, { "key": "wikipedia", "canonical": true, "title": "Wikipedia", "author": "Wikipedia contributors", "year": 2024, "year_approx": false, "type": "wiki", "publisher": null, "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/", "accessed": null, "locator": "Tekken (video game): Characters; Development and release", "note": "Sub-bosses and Heihachi made unlockable on the PlayStation by clearing Arcade Mode with different characters, citing Edge, June 1995, pp. 66-70." }, { "key": "valorant-store-and-cosmetic-content-2020", "canonical": false, "title": "VALORANT Store and Cosmetic Content", "author": "Joe Lee (Riot Games)", "year": 2020, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://playvalorant.com/en-us/news/dev/valorant-store-and-cosmetic-content/", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "Ten contract tiers per agent, the agent at tier 5 reachable by play or purchase, and tiers 6 to 10 earned only through play." }, { "key": "slay-the-spire-wiki-silent", "canonical": false, "title": "Slay the Spire Wiki, Silent", "author": "Slay the Spire Wiki (Fandom)", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "wiki", "publisher": null, "url": null, "accessed": null, "locator": null, "note": "The Silent unlocked by a run with the Ironclad; its 12-card starting deck against 10 for the other characters." }, { "key": "hades-wiki-infernal-arms", "canonical": false, "title": "Hades Wiki, Infernal Arms", "author": "Hades Wiki (Fandom)", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "wiki", "publisher": null, "url": null, "accessed": null, "locator": null, "note": "The Stygian Blade open by default, the other weapons bought with Chthonic Keys (24 in all), and Aspects unlocked with Titan Blood." }, { "key": "vampire-survivors-wiki-characters", "canonical": false, "title": "Vampire Survivors Wiki, Characters", "author": "Vampire Survivors Wiki", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "wiki", "publisher": null, "url": null, "accessed": null, "locator": null, "note": "Unlock conditions, purchase with gold at a price rising 10% per character bought, each character's own starting weapon and passive bonus, and secret characters." } ], "n_examples": 8, "n_sources": 10, "word_count": 543, "updated": "2026-10-27", "url": "/scaling/roster-unlocks" }, { "id": "sidegrade", "name": "Sidegrade", "status": "unverified", "axis": "horizontal", "scope": "item", "bases": [ "unlock" ], "definition": "An acquired alternative to a default item, usually a weapon, sits at roughly the same power and trades one property for another, so that gaining it widens the choice for a slot rather than raising capability", "aliases": [ "Side-grade" ], "media": [ "video", "tabletop-rpg" ], "mechanics": [ "achievements", "equipment-loadouts", "variable-player-powers" ], "examples": [ { "title": "Team Fortress 2", "year": 2007, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Valve", "basis": [ "unlock" ], "note": "From the Medic update of April 2008, unlockable weapons replace the stock ones with a trade-off; the Blutsauger restores 3 health on each hit but never scores critical hits, and the Kritzkrieg's charge grants critical hits instead of invulnerability.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Helldivers 2", "year": 2024, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Arrowhead Game Studios (Sony Interactive Entertainment)", "basis": [ "unlock" ], "note": "In February 2024 Arrowhead's Johan Pilestedt wrote that \"we really applied ourselves to not make it p2w even though items are functionally different\"; Warbond weapons, in paid passes too, are unlocked through play and are presented as different from the starting kit rather than stronger.", "latest": true }, { "title": "Dungeons & Dragons, 2024 edition", "year": 2024, "year_approx": false, "medium": "tabletop-rpg", "creator": "Wizards of the Coast", "basis": [ "unlock" ], "note": "The longsword, rapier and battleaxe all deal 1d8 damage but carry different mastery properties (Sap, Vex, Topple), usable only by a character with a feature such as Weapon Mastery, so the choice among them trades one rider for another at the same damage die.", "latest": false } ], "provenance": { "title": "Team Fortress 2", "year": 2008, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "confidence": "low", "note": "Team Fortress 2's Medic update of April 2008 is the earliest documented use cited: Valve's update page sets each unlockable weapon against the stock one (the Blutsauger draws health on each hit but cannot score critical hits), and Robin Walker said in an interview of 16 April 2008 that items were given the same trade-offs as classes. The year is that of the update; the game was released in 2007. Guild Wars (2005) is a reported antecedent of a different kind, a low level cap with the best gear reached quickly and later rewards cosmetic, which holds the ceiling without pairing items by trade-off. Battlefield 2 (2005), which reportedly unlocked weapons by rank, remains unsurveyed as an earlier form; no cited source describes those weapons as designed trade-offs. Priced weapon lists in tabletop role-playing games and earlier video games remain unsurveyed as sidegrade forms. The word was used earlier in software sales, for a discounted switch from another product; its first use in the game sense is undocumented." }, "established": { "title": "Team Fortress 2", "year": 2008, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "confidence": "low", "note": "Team Fortress 2's class updates from 2008 state the trade-off design in the developer's own words and on Valve's Gold Rush update page, and Walker described the plan of three unlockable weapons and about 35 achievements for each class. Later uses, such as Helldivers 2's Warbond weapons described as functionally different rather than stronger, follow the same form, but no cited source traces them to Team Fortress 2." }, "sources": [ { "key": "team-fortress-2-gold-rush-update-2008", "canonical": false, "title": "Team Fortress 2 - Gold Rush Update", "author": "Valve", "year": 2008, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.teamfortress.com/goldrush/", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "The Blutsauger draws health on each hit but cannot score critical hits; the Kritzkrieg's Ubercharge grants critical hits instead of invulnerability; the three weapons unlocked at one third, two thirds and all of the 36 new Medic achievements." }, { "key": "valve-s-robin-walker-on-new-team-fortress-2-content-future-maps-and-awesomeball-2008", "canonical": false, "title": "Valve's Robin Walker on New Team Fortress 2 Content, Future Maps, and Awesomeball", "author": "Nick Breckon (Shacknews)", "year": 2008, "year_approx": false, "type": "interview", "publisher": null, "url": "https://shacknews.com/article/52238/valves-robin-walker-on-new", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "Items given the same trade-offs as classes, the Blutsauger's 3 health per hit against its lost critical hits, and the aim that players choose a trade-off when choosing an item; 16 April 2008." }, { "key": "valve-reveals-final-team-fortress-2-medic-weapons-2008", "canonical": false, "title": "Valve Reveals Final Team Fortress 2 Medic Weapons", "author": "Nick Breckon (Shacknews)", "year": 2008, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://shacknews.com/article/52236/valve-reveals-final-team-fortress", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "The Blutsauger and Ubersaw as replacements for the stock syringe gun and bonesaw, the Blutsauger's loss of critical hits, and the Kritzkrieg's critical-hit charge in place of invulnerability; 15 April 2008." }, { "key": "helldivers-2-no-quiere-forzar-a-los-jugadores-a-comprar-micropagos-2024", "canonical": false, "title": "Helldivers 2 no quiere forzar a los jugadores a comprar micropagos", "author": "Ulises Contreras (LevelUp)", "year": 2024, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.levelup.com/noticias/775410/Helldivers-2-no-quiere-forzar-a-los-jugadores-a-comprar-micropagos", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "Johan Pilestedt's post on X that the team worked to keep Warbonds from being pay-to-win although the items are functionally different, with the revolver as the joking exception; 12 February 2024." }, { "key": "helldivers-2-dev-says-games-need-to-earn-the-right-to-monetise-2024", "canonical": false, "title": "Helldivers 2 dev says games 'need to earn the right to monetise'", "author": "Andy Robinson (Video Games Chronicle)", "year": 2024, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/helldivers-2-dev-says-games-need-to-earn-the-right-to-monetise/", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "Pilestedt's words \"we really applied ourselves to not make it p2w even though items are functionally different\", and Warbond items unlocked through play even when the pass is bought; 12 February 2024." }, { "key": "equipment-d-d-beyond-free-rules-2024", "canonical": false, "title": "Equipment (D&D Beyond free rules)", "author": "Wizards of the Coast", "year": 2024, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/free-rules/equipment", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Weapons; Mastery Properties", "note": "Each weapon's mastery property, usable only by a character with a feature such as Weapon Mastery, and the damage and mastery of the longsword (Sap), rapier (Vex) and battleaxe (Topple)." }, { "key": "enduring-impressions-guild-wars-2011", "canonical": false, "title": "Enduring Impressions: Guild Wars", "author": "The Game Design Forum", "year": 2011, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.quaddicted.com/webarchive/thegamedesignforum.com_20160521/reviews/enduringimpressions/guild_wars.html", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "The level cap of twenty, the best gear available quickly, and endgame rewards that are mostly cosmetic and equal to or weaker than items already held; archived copy of a page dated by its 2011 footer." } ], "n_examples": 3, "n_sources": 7, "word_count": 546, "updated": "2026-10-27", "url": "/scaling/sidegrade" }, { "id": "skill-variants", "name": "Skill Variants", "status": "unverified", "axis": "horizontal", "scope": "ability", "bases": [ "character-level", "skill-rank", "unlock" ], "definition": "One ability comes in several alternative versions, chosen from a set and often changeable, each altering its behaviour, area or damage type at about the same power, so that the choice widens a build rather than strengthening it", "aliases": [ "Skill Runes", "Skill Morphs", "Rune Variants" ], "media": [ "video" ], "mechanics": [ "equipment-loadouts", "skill-trees", "socketing" ], "examples": [ { "title": "Diablo III", "year": 2012, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Blizzard Entertainment", "basis": [ "unlock", "character-level" ], "note": "Each active skill has about five runes, unlocked from character level 6 and swapped at any time during play; a rune alters the skill's behaviour, as Living Lightning turns the Wizard's Shock Pulse into a drifting being of energy, or shifts its damage, as the Fire Bolts rune does toward fire.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Path of Exile", "year": 2013, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Grinding Gear Games", "basis": [ "unlock" ], "note": "Patch 3.23 (2023) added over 100 transfigured skill gems, variants of existing skills that are often almost completely different from their starting point; the Divine Font at the end of the Eternal Labyrinth turns a skill gem into a random transfigured gem of the same colour.", "latest": false }, { "title": "The Elder Scrolls Online", "year": 2014, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "ZeniMax Online Studios", "basis": [ "unlock", "skill-rank" ], "note": "When an active skill reaches rank IV through use, a further skill point morphs it into one of two versions that add different effects; a morphed skill cannot be morphed again, so taking the other version requires refunding the points.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Overwatch 2", "year": 2022, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Blizzard Entertainment", "basis": [ "unlock", "character-level" ], "note": "From Season 15 (February 2025) a hero earns perk levels in a match through damage, eliminations and healing, choosing one of two minor perks at level 2 and one of two major perks at level 3; one Torbjörn perk lets Deploy Turret be thrown 50% farther and attach to walls and ceilings.", "latest": true }, { "title": "Last Epoch", "year": 2024, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Eleventh Hour Games", "basis": [ "skill-rank" ], "note": "Points from a specialised skill's levels are spent in that skill's own tree, whose nodes can transform the skill entirely as well as empower it; a skill can be respecialised, starting again at the minimum skill level.", "latest": false } ], "provenance": { "title": "Diablo III", "year": 2012, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "confidence": "low", "note": "The earliest documented use cited is Diablo III, whose game director Jay Wilson announced on 18 February 2012, for beta patch 13, that runes would be skill runes built into the skill system, unlocked by level and without ranks; the BradyGames guide of the same year documents runes unlocking at level 6 and swapped freely. The system had earlier been designed as runestone items in five quality levels. Earlier action and online role-playing games remain unsurveyed, so an earlier form is possible." }, "established": null, "sources": [ { "key": "skill-and-rune-changes-2012", "canonical": false, "title": "Skill and Rune Changes", "author": "Jay Wilson (Blizzard Entertainment)", "year": 2012, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "http://web.archive.org/web/20120623182317/http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/4475014", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "Runes to augment or completely alter skills, around 600 rune variants for about 120 base skills, the end of runestone items and their five quality levels, runes without ranks, and unlocking from level 6; 18 February 2012." }, { "key": "diablo-iii-signature-series-guide-2012", "canonical": false, "title": "Diablo III Signature Series Guide", "author": "Doug Walsh (BradyGames)", "year": 2012, "year_approx": false, "type": "book", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/download/Diablo-III-Signature-Series-Guide/Diablo-III-Signature-Series-Guide_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Foreword by Jay Wilson; Basics: Leveling Up, That New Skill Smell; Wizard chapter: Shock Pulse runes, Conflagration (c. p. 112)", "note": "The rune system letting two characters with the same abilities play very differently, runes unlocking at level 6 and swapped at any time, and runes that change Shock Pulse's behaviour or shift Wizard skills toward fire damage." }, { "key": "online-skills", "canonical": false, "title": "Online:Skills", "author": "The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "wiki", "publisher": null, "url": null, "accessed": null, "locator": null, "note": "Two morph options adding different effects after rank IV, a skill point to morph, no second morph, and the refund of skill points at shrines and, from Update 49, from the Skills screen." }, { "key": "path-of-exile-3-23-affliction-2023", "canonical": false, "title": "Path of Exile 3.23 Affliction", "author": "Ken Allsop (PCGamesN)", "year": 2023, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.pcgamesn.com/path-of-exile/3-23-affliction", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "Over 100 transfigured skill gems as variants of existing skills, the Divine Font at the end of the Eternal Labyrinth, and the system combining three earlier systems that modified skill behaviour." }, { "key": "overwatch-2-retail-patch-notes-february-2025-2025", "canonical": false, "title": "Overwatch 2 Retail Patch Notes, February 2025", "author": "Blizzard Entertainment", "year": 2025, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "https://overwatch.blizzard.com/en-us/news/patch-notes/live/2025/02/", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Season 15, Perks", "note": "Perk progress from damage, eliminations and healing, a choice between a left and a right perk, progress kept per hero, and Torbjörn's Deploy Turret perk." }, { "key": "overwatch-2-perks-explained-2025", "canonical": false, "title": "Overwatch 2 perks explained", "author": "Aaron Down (PCGamesN)", "year": 2025, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.pcgamesn.com/overwatch-2/perks-best", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "A minor perk at level 2 and a major perk at level 3, two options of each to choose from each match, and perks as mid-match upgrades to a hero's abilities." }, { "key": "passives-and-skills-2026", "canonical": false, "title": "Passives and Skills", "author": "LizardIRL (Maxroll)", "year": 2026, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "https://maxroll.gg/last-epoch/resources/passives-and-skills", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Skill Specialization", "note": "Points in a skill's specialisation tree that empower the skill and can transform it entirely, and respecialisation to the minimum skill level." } ], "n_examples": 5, "n_sources": 7, "word_count": 541, "updated": "2026-10-27", "url": "/scaling/skill-variants" }, { "id": "soft-caps", "name": "Soft Caps", "status": "unverified", "axis": "normalizing", "scope": "character", "bases": [ "attribute", "item-tier" ], "definition": "Past one or more thresholds, each further point invested in a statistic returns less, through a smaller gain per point or a higher price per point, so that stacking one value pays less than spreading points across several", "aliases": [ "Soft Cap", "Stat Diminishing Returns" ], "media": [ "video", "tabletop-rpg" ], "mechanics": [ "equipment-loadouts", "experience-levels", "point-buy" ], "examples": [ { "title": "Diablo II", "year": 2000, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Blizzard North", "basis": [ "attribute", "item-tier" ], "note": "Magic Find from equipment raises the chance of better drops; from a patch after the 2001 expansion, reportedly, its bonus for rare, set and unique items passes through a curve, MF times K over MF plus K, with K 600, 500 and 250, so 50 percent becomes 46, 45 and 42. Magic items take it in full.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Dark Souls", "year": 2011, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "FromSoftware", "basis": [ "attribute" ], "note": "Maximum HP rises by 225 between Vitality 30 and 40 but by 88 between 50 and 60, and stamina stops at 160 from Endurance 40; the official guide advises other statistics once Vitality nears 40, and says Intelligence and Faith add little to spell power above 50.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Dungeons & Dragons, 5th edition", "year": 2014, "year_approx": false, "medium": "tabletop-rpg", "creator": "Wizards of the Coast", "basis": [ "attribute" ], "note": "The variant point-buy rule spends 27 points on ability scores, each step from 8 to 13 costing one point and the steps to 14 and 15 two each, with 15 the highest score that can be bought before racial increases.", "latest": false }, { "title": "World of Warcraft: Shadowlands", "year": 2020, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Blizzard Entertainment", "basis": [ "attribute", "item-tier" ], "note": "Secondary statistics bought with rating from gear take more rating per percent in bands above a threshold, 25 percent in the beta reported in August 2020, and rating cannot raise one past 106 percent; buffs outside rating are exempt.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Lies of P", "year": 2023, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Neowiz and Round8 Studio (Neowiz)", "basis": [ "attribute" ], "note": "Each statistic raised at level-up adds less to its derived values past a soft cap, which GGRecon puts at levels 30 and 40 for most statistics, with Vitality the exception; past it a level-up adds one to three points instead of about six or seven.", "latest": true } ], "provenance": { "title": "Dark Souls", "year": 2011, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "confidence": "low", "note": "The earliest documented use cited is Dark Souls (2011), whose official Future Press guide describes Vitality giving much lower gains from about 40 and spell power barely rising above 50 Intelligence or Faith, with tables of the falling gains. Earlier forms are reported but thinly dated: Diablo II's diminishing returns on Magic Find, reportedly absent at the expansion's launch in 2001 and documented only on later guide sites, and the point-buy variant of the 3rd edition of Dungeons & Dragons (2000), reported to price scores above 14 higher, which is unconfirmed. Massively multiplayer games of the 2000s and earlier tabletop cost tables remain unsurveyed, so an earlier use is likely." }, "established": null, "sources": [ { "key": "dark-souls-the-official-guide-2011", "canonical": false, "title": "Dark Souls: The Official Guide", "author": "Future Press", "year": 2011, "year_approx": true, "type": "book", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/download/dark-souls-the-official-guide-future-press/Dark%20Souls%20The%20Official%20Guide%20-%20Future%20Press_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Game System: Vitality and HP table, p. 19; Endurance, Intelligence and Faith, p. 20", "note": "Much lower gains for every point of Vitality from about level 40, the HP and stamina tables by level, and little increase in spell power above 50 Intelligence or Faith." }, { "key": "basic-rules-for-dungeons-dragons-2014-2014", "canonical": false, "title": "Basic Rules for Dungeons & Dragons (2014)", "author": "Wizards of the Coast", "year": 2014, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/basic-rules-2014/step-by-step-characters", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Chapter 1: Step-By-Step Characters, Variant: Customizing Ability Scores", "note": "The 27-point budget, the Ability Score Point Cost table from 8 (0) to 15 (9), and 15 as the highest score bought." }, { "key": "gold-magic-find", "canonical": false, "title": "Gold & Magic Find", "author": "Maxroll", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "https://maxroll.gg/d2/resources/gold-magic-find", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "The diminishing-returns formula for rare, set and unique items, with constants 600, 500 and 250, and the full bonus for magic items." }, { "key": "shadowlands-changes-how-secondary-stats-scale-on-gear-2020", "canonical": false, "title": "Shadowlands changes how secondary stats scale on gear", "author": "Matthew Rossi (Blizzard Watch)", "year": 2020, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://blizzardwatch.com/?p=129324", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "The bands of rating penalty for critical strike, haste, mastery and versatility from 25 percent, the 106 percent ceiling, the exemption of buffs, and Wowhead's reading that the change answers end-of-expansion scaling." }, { "key": "what-are-the-stat-caps-in-lies-of-p-2023", "canonical": false, "title": "What are the stat caps in Lies of P?", "author": "Amy Eastland (GGRecon)", "year": 2023, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.ggrecon.com/guides/lies-of-p-stat-caps/", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "A soft cap as the level after which a statistic yields less, levels 30 and 40 as the usual points, Vitality as the exception, and one to three points per level-up past it." } ], "n_examples": 5, "n_sources": 5, "word_count": 533, "updated": "2026-10-27", "url": "/scaling/soft-caps" }, { "id": "stat-growth", "name": "Stat Growth", "status": "verified", "axis": "vertical", "scope": "character", "bases": [ "character-level", "attribute" ], "definition": "What each level adds to a character's statistics, either fixed amounts set by class or gains drawn against per-statistic growth rates, so that hit points, attack and other values rise in step with level", "aliases": [ "Growth Rates", "Stat Gains" ], "media": [ "tabletop-rpg", "video" ], "mechanics": [ "experience-levels", "hit-points", "point-buy" ], "examples": [ { "title": "Dungeons & Dragons", "year": 1974, "year_approx": false, "medium": "tabletop-rpg", "creator": "Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson (TSR)", "basis": [ "character-level", "attribute" ], "note": "Each class table gives every level its dice for accumulative hits and a Fighting Capability, a Fighting-Man rising from 1+1 dice as a Veteran to 9+3 as a Lord; hit points are rolled on those dice, a constitution of 15 or more adds 1 to each die, and the progressions continue past the listed levels.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord", "year": 1981, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Sir-Tech", "basis": [ "character-level" ], "note": "A character past an experience threshold learns of the new level on staying at the Adventurer's Inn, which reports the changes to its statistics; the player's guide says they change usually for the better.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Dragon Quest", "year": 1986, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Chunsoft (Yuji Horii)", "basis": [ "character-level" ], "note": "The hero's strength, agility and maximum hit points rise as the level goes up, with nothing allocated by the player; the North American manual of 1989 describes each of them as increasing with level.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light", "year": 1990, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Intelligent Systems (Nintendo)", "basis": [ "character-level" ], "note": "The manual says that every parameter but magic defence and movement rises at a level according to the unit's character, so a unit may gain strength at every level and never gain luck. A fan analysis reports per-unit growth rates drawn from one random number matched against a short list of stored level-up patterns.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Pokémon Red and Green", "year": 1996, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Game Freak", "basis": [ "character-level" ], "note": "Every stat is computed from the species' base value, a hidden individual value and accumulated stat experience, multiplied by the level over 100, plus 5 (or the level plus 10 for hit points), and capped at 999, so all stats rise at each level and members of one species diverge.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Diablo II", "year": 2000, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Blizzard North", "basis": [ "character-level" ], "note": "Each level awards five stat points that the player distributes among Strength, Dexterity, Vitality and Energy, one point per click; every assignment is permanent, so the size of the gain is fixed and its direction chosen.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Pokémon Scarlet and Violet", "year": 2022, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Game Freak (Nintendo, The Pokémon Company)", "basis": [ "character-level" ], "note": "Stats rise with level from the species' base stats, individual values of 0 to 31 and effort values earned in play (at most 252 in one stat and 510 in all), and a nature raises one stat by 10% and lowers another. Hyper Training, paid in Bottle Caps, treats individual values as 31.", "latest": true }, { "title": "Baldur's Gate 3", "year": 2023, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Larian Studios", "basis": [ "character-level", "attribute" ], "note": "Maximum hit points rise by a fixed amount per class level instead of a roll, a Fighter starting at 10 and gaining 6 a level and a Wizard starting at 6 and gaining 4, with the Constitution modifier added at every level.", "latest": false } ], "provenance": { "title": "Dungeons & Dragons", "year": 1974, "year_approx": false, "medium": "tabletop-rpg", "confidence": "high", "note": "Men & Magic gives each class a table that sets, level by level, the dice for accumulative hits and a Fighting Capability, and says how the progressions continue beyond the listed levels; it is the earliest documented use cited. The Fighting Capability column reads its values (Man, Hero, Superhero) from Chainmail's fantasy combat, whose figures are an antecedent of fixed strength with no growth. Experience levels themselves have the same provenance." }, "established": { "title": "Dungeons & Dragons", "year": 1974, "year_approx": false, "medium": "tabletop-rpg", "confidence": "medium", "note": "The per-class table of what each level adds passed into computer role-playing games: Wizardry's player's guide (1981) reports changed statistics at each level, and Dragon Quest's manual has strength, agility and maximum hit points rise with level. Those games' debt to Dungeons & Dragons is widely noted, but the line is not documented for this feature itself." }, "sources": [ { "key": "dungeons-dragons-volume-1-men-magic-1974", "canonical": false, "title": "Dungeons & Dragons, Volume 1, Men & Magic", "author": "Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson (Tactical Studies Rules)", "year": 1974, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/download/dndbook1/dungeons_and_dragons_book_1_-_men_and_magic_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Bonuses and Penalties to Advancement due to Abilities, p. 11; Statistics Regarding Classes, pp. 17-19", "note": "The per-level dice for accumulative hits and Fighting Capability by class, hit points rolled on those dice, the Chainmail key, the progressions beyond the listed levels, and constitution's +1 or -1 to each hit die." }, { "key": "wizardry-proving-grounds-of-the-mad-overlord-player-s-guide-1981", "canonical": false, "title": "Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord, Player's Guide", "author": "Sir-Tech", "year": 1981, "year_approx": true, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/download/sir-tech-wizardry-1-a2-v2.1-black-manual-ph/components/wizardry%20players%20guide_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Experience; The Adventurer's Inn", "note": "Statistics and characteristics changing, usually for the better, when a character makes a level, with the changes reported at the Inn." }, { "key": "dragon-warrior-instruction-manual-1989", "canonical": false, "title": "Dragon Warrior instruction manual", "author": "Nintendo of America", "year": 1989, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/download/DragonWarriorNESHiResScans/Dragon%20Warrior%20-%20Manual%20%28Searchable%29_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "More About Your Character, pp. 14-15", "note": "The North American localisation of Dragon Quest; strength, agility and maximum HP rising as the level goes up." }, { "key": "fire-emblem-ankoku-ry-to-hikari-no-tsurugi-instruction-manual-1990", "canonical": false, "title": "Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi instruction manual", "author": "Nintendo", "year": 1990, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/download/fire-emblem-ankoku-ryuu-to-hikari-no-tsurugi-hvc-vx-fc-jp-manual-600-dpi/Fire%20Emblem%20-%20Ankoku%20Ryuu%20to%20Hikari%20no%20Tsurugi%20%5BHVC-VX%5D%28FC%29%28JP%29%20-Manual%28600DPI%29_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Parameters (パラメーター): EXP (けいけんち)", "note": "The Japanese manual of the first Fire Emblem; a level at 100 experience, and every parameter but magic defence and movement rising at a level according to the unit's character, a unit's strength rising each time while its luck never rises." }, { "key": "fire-emblem-dark-dragon-and-the-sword-of-light-part-32", "canonical": false, "title": "Fire Emblem: Dark Dragon and the Sword of Light, Part 32", "author": "DKII (The Let's Play Archive)", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "https://lparchive.org/Fire-Emblem-Dark-Dragon-and-the-Sword-of-Light/Update%2032", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "A fan analysis of the first Fire Emblem's level-ups, with seven statistics that can rise, per-unit growth rates, and one random number matched to a stored list of level-up patterns." }, { "key": "pok-mon-red-and-blue-disassembly-pokered", "canonical": false, "title": "Pokémon Red and Blue disassembly (pokered)", "author": "pret", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pret/pokered/master/home/move_mon.asm", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "home/move_mon.asm, CalcStat", "note": "The stat formula of the English release, from base value, individual value (DV), stat experience and level, the added 5 or level plus 10, and the cap at 999." }, { "key": "diablo-ii-manual-2000", "canonical": false, "title": "Diablo II manual", "author": "Blizzard North", "year": 2000, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/download/diablo-ii-manual/Diablo%20II%20Manual_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Character Attributes", "note": "Five points per level distributed among Strength, Dexterity, Vitality and Energy, one per click, each assignment permanent." }, { "key": "diablo-manual-1996", "canonical": false, "title": "Diablo manual", "author": "Blizzard North", "year": 1996, "year_approx": false, "type": "rulebook", "publisher": null, "url": "https://archive.org/download/diablo-manual-e/Diablo%20-%20MANUAL_djvu.txt", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "Character Level and Experience; Attributes, pp. 26-28", "note": "A level giving additional points to spend on attributes; Life based on class, level and Vitality." }, { "key": "how-to-improve-your-stats-and-nature-in-pokemon-scarlet-violet-2023", "canonical": false, "title": "How To Improve Your Stats And Nature In Pokemon Scarlet & Violet", "author": "Santi Leguiza (TheGamer)", "year": 2023, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.thegamer.com/pokemon-scarlet-violet-complete-stats-and-natures-guide/", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "Base stats, individual values of 0 to 31, effort values capped at 252 per stat and 510 in all, natures of plus and minus 10%, and Hyper Training with Bottle Caps." }, { "key": "stats", "canonical": false, "title": "Stats", "author": "Serebii.net", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "wiki", "publisher": null, "url": null, "accessed": null, "locator": null, "note": "The stat formulas with base stat, individual value, effort value, level and nature, and stats rising with level." }, { "key": "hit-points", "canonical": false, "title": "Hit points", "author": "bg3.wiki", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "wiki", "publisher": null, "url": null, "accessed": null, "locator": null, "note": "Hit points at first level and the fixed gain at each level by class, with the Constitution modifier added at every level." } ], "n_examples": 8, "n_sources": 11, "word_count": 559, "updated": "2026-10-27", "url": "/scaling/stat-growth" }, { "id": "stat-squish", "name": "Stat Squish", "status": "unverified", "axis": "normalizing", "scope": "content", "bases": [ "release", "reset" ], "definition": "The developer of a live game rescales accumulated numbers downward, such as item statistics, health, damage or character levels, so that magnitudes inflated across releases return to a smaller range while relative power is kept", "aliases": [ "Item Squish", "Level Squish", "Value Downscaling" ], "media": [ "video" ], "mechanics": [ "experience-levels", "hit-points", "prestige-resets" ], "examples": [ { "title": "World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor", "year": 2014, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Blizzard Entertainment", "basis": [ "release", "reset" ], "note": "Patch 6.0.2, ahead of the expansion, moved item statistics from an exponential to a linear scale and lowered creature statistics to match; on Blizzard's figures for item level 530, a character's health fell from 490,873 to 30,375. Item levels and character levels were left unchanged.", "latest": false }, { "title": "World of Warcraft: Shadowlands", "year": 2020, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Blizzard Entertainment", "basis": [ "release", "reset" ], "note": "The pre-expansion patch 9.0.1 cut the maximum character level from 120 to 50 and squished item levels and statistics, Battle for Azeroth's item levels of 340 to 485 becoming 60 to 140; the expansion then raised the cap to 60.", "latest": true }, { "title": "Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker", "year": 2021, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Square Enix", "basis": [ "release", "reset" ], "note": "Patch 6.0, released with the expansion, downscaled attributes, damage dealt and taken, crafting values and experience from level 51 upward on a non-linear curve, to about a fifth of their former size at level 80, with all totals kept relative to what they had been.", "latest": false }, { "title": "Diablo IV", "year": 2023, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "creator": "Blizzard Entertainment", "basis": [ "release", "reset" ], "note": "Patch 2.0 of October 2024, which reportedly accompanied the Vessel of Hatred expansion, lowered the level cap from 100 to 60 and converted the Paragon points of characters above level 50 into Paragon levels, with stat and damage numbers squished alongside.", "latest": false } ], "provenance": { "title": "World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor", "year": 2014, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "confidence": "medium", "note": "Blizzard presented the squish at BlizzCon 2013, set it out in its Dev Watercooler \"Pruning the Garden of War\" of 27 February 2014, which Engadget quoted the same day, and shipped it in patch 6.0.2 of 2014, the release that brought Warlords of Draenor. The post reduced \"the scale of stats throughout the game\", from creatures to gear, and called the change not a nerf. A Blizzard developer blog of November 2011 reportedly discussed item level inflation without committing to a remedy. No earlier rescaling in another online game is cited, though MUDs and other online games before 2014 remain largely unsurveyed, so an earlier instance is possible." }, "established": { "title": "World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor", "year": 2014, "year_approx": false, "medium": "video", "confidence": "low", "note": "The same squish of 2014 is the earliest documented use and the form later games are described in: Final Fantasy XIV's value downscaling of 2021 is popularly called a stat squish, and the press described Diablo IV's patch 2.0 of 2024 as squishing stats and damage numbers. No source cited states that either developer followed Blizzard, so the line rests on the name." }, "sources": [ { "key": "dev-watercooler-pruning-the-gardens-of-war-2014", "canonical": false, "title": "Dev Watercooler: Pruning the Gardens of War", "author": "Matthew Rossi (Engadget)", "year": 2014, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.engadget.com/2014-02-27-dev-watercooler-pruning-the-gardens-of-war.html", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "Blizzard's post quoted at length, reducing the scale of stats for creatures, spells, abilities, consumables and gear, because health and damage numbers were too big to grasp, with a Fireball cut from 450,000 of 3,000,000 health to 30,000 of 200,000, still 15 per cent, and the change described as not a nerf." }, { "key": "warlords-of-draenor-is-making-big-changes-to-wow-s-number-game-2014", "canonical": false, "title": "Warlords of Draenor is making big changes to WoW's number game", "author": "Justin Olivetti (Engadget)", "year": 2014, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.engadget.com/2014-02-28-warlords-of-draenor-is-making-big-changes-to-wows-number-game.html", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "Blizzard's plan to squish stats across the board so that numbers are easier to comprehend, its statement that the change is not a nerf and keeps players as strong relative to content, and added scaling against lower-level targets for soloing old content." }, { "key": "stat-squish", "canonical": false, "title": "Stat squish", "author": "Warcraft Wiki", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "wiki", "publisher": null, "url": null, "accessed": null, "locator": null, "note": "The squishes of patches 6.0.2, 8.0.1, 9.0.1 and 12.0.0, the linear item scale of 6.0.2, the BlizzCon 2013 figures at item level 530, the cut from 120 to 50 in 9.0.1, the item level tables, and the developer blog of November 2011." }, { "key": "wow-shadowlands-expansion-will-revamp-the-leveling-system-2019", "canonical": false, "title": "'WoW' Shadowlands expansion will revamp the leveling system", "author": "Richard Lawler (Engadget)", "year": 2019, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.engadget.com/2019-11-02-blizzcon-2019-wow-shadowlands.html", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "The BlizzCon 2019 announcement that characters would enter the Shadowlands at level 50 and reach 60, compressing the old progression." }, { "key": "world-of-warcraft-will-reduce-everyone-s-level-to-avoid-a-grind-2019", "canonical": false, "title": "World Of Warcraft Will Reduce Everyone's Level To Avoid A 'Grind'", "author": "Nathan Grayson (Kotaku)", "year": 2019, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://kotaku.com/world-of-warcraft-will-reduce-everyones-level-to-avoid-1839699485", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "The maximum level of 120 reduced to 50 in what Blizzard calls a level squish, and John Hight's statement that power against the things being fought would stay the same." }, { "key": "how-world-of-warcraft-shadowlands-will-change-leveling-2020", "canonical": false, "title": "How World of Warcraft Shadowlands Will Change Leveling", "author": "Jason M. Gallagher (Den of Geek)", "year": 2020, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.denofgeek.com/games/world-of-warcraft-shadowlands-leveling/", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "A level squish from 120 to the new cap of 60 alongside a new starting experience." }, { "key": "value-downscaling", "canonical": false, "title": "Value downscaling", "author": "Final Fantasy XIV Online Wiki (Consolegameswiki)", "year": null, "year_approx": false, "type": "wiki", "publisher": null, "url": null, "accessed": null, "locator": null, "note": "The downscaling of patch 6.0 from level 51, non-linear and to about 20% at level 80, the values affected, and the reasons Naoki Yoshida gave at the Endwalker announcement, with boss health of 440,000,000 in patch 5.5." }, { "key": "final-fantasy-xiv-6-0-patch-notes-are-here-to-remind-us-the-end-times-are-near-2021", "canonical": false, "title": "Final Fantasy XIV 6.0 patch notes are here to remind us the end times are near", "author": "Quinton O'Connor (RPG Site)", "year": 2021, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://www.rpgsite.net/news/12053-final-fantasy-xiv-60-patch-notes-are-here-to-remind-us-the-end-times-are-near", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "The overarching changes to stat calculations in patch 6.0, a dramatic decrease in stat totals that stay relative to what players had, and numbers lowered across the board." }, { "key": "diablo-4-s-next-update-is-going-to-completely-change-the-game-2024", "canonical": false, "title": "Diablo 4's Next Update Is Going To Completely Change The Game", "author": "Zack Zwiezen (Kotaku)", "year": 2024, "year_approx": false, "type": "article", "publisher": null, "url": "https://kotaku.com/diablo-4-big-changes-update-2-0-ptr-patch-notes-dlc-pc-1851636919", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": null, "note": "The level cap lowered from 100 to 60, the Paragon points of characters above level 50 converted into Paragon levels, and the change squishing stats and damage numbers." }, { "key": "diablo-iv-patch-notes-2-0-2024", "canonical": false, "title": "Diablo IV Patch Notes (2.0)", "author": "Blizzard Entertainment", "year": 2024, "year_approx": false, "type": "website", "publisher": null, "url": "https://news.blizzard.com/en-us/article/24140808/diablo-iv-patch-notes-2-0", "accessed": "2026-10-27", "locator": "2.0.1 (Build #58145, October 7, 2024)", "note": "The date of the first 2.0 build and the Paragon changes of the patch, with a maximum Paragon level of 300." } ], "n_examples": 4, "n_sources": 10, "word_count": 539, "updated": "2026-10-27", "url": "/scaling/stat-squish" } ] }