History CripplingOverspecialization / VideoGames

* Vanderkaum in ''VideoGame/XenoGears'' over-relies on large, clumsy naval cannons in combat, which prove almost entirely useless against the speedy mobile Gears that have become standard in warfare since his heyday. He persists in this tactic despite having anti-Gear weapons ready to deploy, causing Fei and company to easily pick apart his fleet and destroy his flagship. He fares a little better once he gets into a Gear himself, but not by much [[spoiler:at least until he makes a deal with the devil to gain absurd powers, but that doesn't end well for him either.]]

* Vanderkaum in ''VideoGame/XenoGears'' over-relies on large, clumsy naval cannons in combat, which prove almost entirely useless against the speedy mobile Gears that have become standard in warfare since his heyday. He persists in this tactic despite having anti-Gear weapons ready to deploy, causing Fei and company to easily pick apart his fleet and destroy his flagship. He fares a little better once he gets into a Gear himself, but not by much [spoiler: at least until he makes a deal with the devil to gain absurd powers, but that doesn't end well for him either.]

* Vanderkaum in ''VideoGame/XenoGears'' over-relies on large, clumsy naval cannons in combat, which prove almost entirely useless against the speedy mobile Gears that have become standard in warfare since his heyday. He persists in this tactic despite having anti-Gear weapons ready to deploy, causing Fei and company to easily pick apart his fleet and destroy his flagship.

* ''VideoGame/{{Palworld}}'' has the [[{{mon}} Pal]] Shadowbeak, a BioweaponBeast with high attack, high defense, high HP and a bevy of attacks, including a particularly powerful SecretArt. It's also nearly useless as a worker at your base with only a gathering skill of 1.

** Also averted with the Undead Hunter Paladin kit. While it sounds very niche at a glance, undead enemies are extremely common throughout the series, and their bonuses apply to all of them, as opposed to the Ranger only getting bonuses against a very specific sub-type. They also get complete immunity to two very nasty status effects regardless of source (Hold and Level Drain). The only thing they lose in exchange is the ability to Lay on Hands, but that's a very small tradeoff for all the benefits you get.

** A number of civs have abilities that are basically designed to exploit specific tricks and crumble without them. The classic example is a civilization with strong ship units, which can dominate maps with lots of islands but are limited to raiding trade routes on Pangaea-style maps. This is allayed a bit by giving most civs a "start bias" -- a naval-focused civ will always start on the coast, for instance. Venice in ''V'' is the king of this, though; [[LandOfOneCity it cannot found or annex other cities,]] but it can buy city-states as {{Puppet State}}s to steal the allies of other civs, can purchase in puppets to make them difficult to conquer, and receives twice as many trade routes, allowing it to be rolling in gold and bribe the allegiance of the puppets they haven't bought. This makes it the king of diplomatic victories, which are achieved by having as many city-state allies as possible, but near-useless at anything else (inability to annex means conquering is not as profitable, only being able to build in the capitol means the Wonders and Archaeologists needed for a cultural win aren't practical, and the reduced science yield of puppets makes scientific victories difficult), on top of being [[GlassCannon incredibly vulnerable to conquest themselves.]] This also makes Venice into the game's most notorious SkillGateCharacter; the fairly passive AI is likely to not consider Venice a threat until it snowballs out of control, while human players will recognize its potential and ruin its chances by raiding its caravans, declaring embargos against it, or just conquering the city itself.

** Also averted with the Undead Hunter Paladin kit. While it sounds very niche, undead enemies are extremely common throughout the series, and their bonuses apply to all of them, as opposed to the Ranger only getting bonuses against a very specific sub-type. They also get complete immunity to two very nasty status effects regardless of source (Hold and Level Drain). The only thing they lose in exchange is the ability to Lay on Hands, but that's a very small tradeoff for all the benefits you get.

* In the ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'' series the Lancer is the most extreme example of this. They wear blast-proof suits that let them shrug off explosives and fire anti-tank Lances, and that's it, really. They're sitting ducks against infantry and their lances are too inaccurate to be effective against anything but big, stationary targets (curiously they inflict no splash damage either, unlike grenades or mortars), and they have very low movement meters; only Snipers are slower than they are. Bring one if you need a Tank or heavy emplacement destroyed, otherwise there's little point to using them.

* In the ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'' series the Lancer is the most extreme example of this. They wear blast-proof suits that let them shrug off explosives and fire anti-tank Lances, and that's it, really. They're sitting ducks against infantry and their lances are too inaccurate to be effective against anything but big, stationary targets (and curiously they inflict no splash damage either, unlike grenades), and they have very low movement meters; only Snipers are slower than they are. Bring one if you need a Tank or heavy emplacement destroyed, otherwise there's little point to using them.

* Vanderkaum in ''VideoGame/XenoGears'' over-relies on large, clumsy naval cannons in combat, which prove almost entirely useless against the speedy mobile Gears that have become standard in warfare since his heyday. He persists in this tactic despite having anti-Gear weapons ready to deploy, causing Fei and company to easily pick apart his fleet and destroy his flagship. He fares a little better when he gets into a Gear himself, but not by much.

* Vanderkaum in ''VideoGame/XenoGears'' over-relies on large, clumsy naval cannons in combat, which prove almost entirely useless against the speedy mobile Gears that have become standard in warfare since his heyday. He persists in this tactic despite having anti-gear weapons ready to deploy, causing Fei and company to easily pick apart his fleet and destroy his flagship.

* Vanderkaum in ''VideoGame/XenoGears'' over-relies on large naval guns in combat, which prove almost entirely useless against the speedy mobile Gears the party use. He persists in this tactic despite killing more of his own men than his enemies and constantly losing battles. How he remains a military commander is anyone's guess.

* Vanderkaum in ''VideoGame/XenoGears'' over-relies on large naval guns in combat, which prove almost entirely useless against the speedy mobile Gears the party use. He persists in this tactic despite the fact that he gets more of his own men killed than his enemies and constantly loses battles. How he remains a military commander is anyone's guess.

*** Skirmishers are [[MoreDakka all about attacking]]. They can attack twice per turn naturally (if they don't move), and all of their abilities are either a form of attack or a movement ability to better position them for an attack. Their [[BladeBelowTheShoulder Ripjack]] is as strong as a Ranger's sword, and they get two abilities that either pull them to an enemy to attack, or pull an enemy to them to attack. Additionally, a lot of their attack abilities are free actions, allowing Skirmishers to [[AttackAttackAttack put out a lot of damage]]. However, their Bullpup Rifle has mediocre damage[[note]]Better than a Reaper's rifle, but less powerful than an equivalent XCOM rifle]] and a small magazine size, meaning their endless attacks are hampered by having to stop and reload constantly, and while they have excellent attack abilities, that's ''all'' they have: with the exception of the Whiplash attack, they have no crowd control abilities and their multi-enemy damage is restricted to grenades. Finally, their high mobility encourages flanking tactics, but that has a tendency to put them in harm's way, where they have nothing that helps them survive more effectively. They combine the high-mobility and flanking of the shotgun-armed Ranger with the strong single-target damage of the Sharpshooter, but their range is limited and they're vulnerable frequently due to their ammunition concerns.

** ''VideoGame/XCOM2'' has two examples in the faction soldiers introduced in ''War of the Chosen'':
*** Reapers are [[ArmyScout brilliant scouts]] and can net decisive blows while never revealing themselves, but if their Shadow concealment is busted and cannot be re-entered, their Vektor rifles are no more powerful than assault rifles and their lack of item slots severely diminishes their utility. This is especially glaring compared to the other stealth-oriented class, the Ranger, who can bring the pain with their [[ShotgunsAreJustBetter deadly shotgun]] and a [[TheMusketeer machete-like sword]].
*** Templars are ''monsters'' in melee combat, but if forced to engage in ranged combat without Focus, their only weapon is an autopistol that has long-range penalties and [[ATeamFiring their aim is abhorrent even by XCOM standards]].

* In the ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'' series the Lancer is the most extreme example of this. They wear blast-proof suits that let them shrug off explosives and fire anti-tank Lances, and that's it, really. They're sitting ducks against infantry and their lances are too inaccurate to be effective against anything but big, stationary targets (and curiously they inflict no splash damage either, unlike grenades), and they have very low movement meters; only the Sniper is slower than they are. Bring one if you need a Tank or heavy emplacement destroyed, otherwise there's little point to using them.

* In the ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'' series the Lancer is the most extreme example of this. They wear blast proof suits that let them shrug off explosives and fire anti-tank Lances, and that's it, really. They're sitting ducks against infantry and their lances are too inaccurate to be effective against anything but a big, stationary target (and curiously inflict no splash damage either, unlike grenades). Bring one if you need a Tank or heavy emplacement destroyed, otherwise there's little point to using them.

* ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarII'' gives us Hugh Thompson, a biologist who comes armed with the ability to learn techniques which are especially effective against biological enemies. The problem is that few biologics have high defense that would require techniques to bypass, plus other characters will likely have techniques which are just as effective, if not ''more'', than anything Hugh can throw out, save for his instant death spells which [[UselessUsefulSpell tend to miss often, anyway]].

* Vanderkaum in ''VideoGame/Xenogears'' over-relies on large naval guns in combat, which prove almost entirely useless against the speedy mobile Gears the party use. He persists in this tactic despite the fact that he gets more of his own men killed than his enemies and constantly loses battles. How he remains a military commander is anyone's guess.

** In ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros64'', the 1P-only bosses could historically only be used through the [[DebugRoom Debug Menu]], but they have started to see more use through the GameMod ''Video/ making them fully PromotedToPlayable. However, they're [[CrutchCharacter not nearly as effective as they look]].
*** [[ChromeChampion Metal Mario]] has [[StoneWall absurdly high damage resistance]] due to his weight. Unfortunately for him, it also makes him the fastest-falling character in the entire series to such an extreme degree that it prevents him from having any functional recovery capability; it may take a bit longer to send him off of the edge of the stage, but if you manage to even once, [[ArmoredButFrail he isn't coming back]]. On top of that, while most aerial combos don't work on him because he falls too fast for the opponent to follow up, he can't perform many aerial combos of his own eithWer.

* ''VideoGame/{{Underrail}}'': A lot of character builds suffer from this effect. There's no such thing as a perfect character, and everybody is going to have a weakspot. As an example a [[SquishyWizard full Psionic build]] will have a plethora of PsychicPowers to deal with most enemies in the game - they can electrify you, melt you with beams of burning energy, skewer you on icicles, freeze you solid, blast you into gibs, strangle you ''with your own shadow'', drive you violently insane or into despair so soul-crushing that you become an ExtremeDoormat who doesn't react to ''anything''... but full Psionics can do hardly anything against robotic enemies. Robots can outright NoSell most forms of direct energy damage and all thought control abilities, and are immune to most forms of crowd control too. Conversely playing as a [[BoringButPractical Tin Can Assault Tank]], basically an assault rifle-toting MightyGlacier clad in PoweredArmor, could see you being effortlessly torn apart by Psi Beetles, as psionic powers can ignore armour. Energy shields work fantastically well against plasma blasts and provide good protection against shrapnel and bullets as well, [[RockBeatsLaser but a guy with a]] [[DropTheHammer sledgehammer]] [[RockBeatsLaser is going to do a number on your spine]]. A StealthExpert with a crossbow can also negate energy shields and also be a bitch to fight against by cleverly using poison, traps, the environment and stalking and ambush tactics... but good luck ever winning a direct firefight against guys with guns, or any kind of protracted melee. The game does however provide you with some wiggle room; [[BoringButPractical bear traps, caltrops, throwing nets and flashbang grenades are handy devices that almost any kind of character can use against any kind of foe, and they are fairly cheap and easy to get hold of too]].

* ''VideoGame/SDGundamGGeneration'' does this with the [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamThe08thMSTeam RX-79 [G] Ez-8 Gundam Ez8]]. In ''Gather Beat'' and its UpdatedRerelease ''Advance'', the Ez-8 starts out as a normal ground-only unit. When Shiro gets his ass kicked by Ghinias Sahalin and the Aspalaus III, [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Doctor J]] upgrades it to be space capable, the Ez-8 Kai. J later creates two specialty packs for the Ez-8 Kai, the Heavy Armed Custom and the High Mobility Custom. The Heavy Armed Custom gives him a powerful ''Salamis''-class beam cannon, but it draws too much power and he's stuck with a normal 100mm machinegun as a basic range weapon. The High Mobility Custom slaps on a lot of thrusters but is so powerful speed wise that only aces can control it. Even more, it uses so much power that the Mobile Suit can only use a modified beam spray gun.

** ''VideoGame/Persona4'': Naoto, the final party member, specialises in the [[LightEmUp Light]], [[CastingAShadow Dark]] and [[InfinityPlusOneElement Almighty]] spells, which are all things that only the protagonist can normally use. Unfortunately, Light and Dark are instant-kill attacks that don't hit often ''and'' are entirely useless against bosses. Almighty can't be blocked or resisted, but it uses up a massive amount of SP, meaning that if Naoto wants to hit anything reliably she's not going to be doing it for long. She's almost totally useless in boss fights and doesn't have much extended usability in normal dungeon play. Fortunately, the UpdatedRerelease ''Persona 4 Golden'' solved this problem by giving Naoto access to the highest-level single-target spells of the other four elements, meaning that Naoto now has a way to harm bosses and avoid running out of SP.