History Main / AbsurdlyLowLevelCap

** In ''VideoGame/SouthParkTheFracturedButWhole'', the level cap is also at 15. However, due to the way that leveling up works (you gain XP from completing milestoneson your character sheet rather than completing peoples' quests, along with combat), you level up at a much slower rate, [[spoiler:but even then, the max level you need to reach in order to unlock all 8 Artifact slots is level 9.]]

* ''VideoGame/SouthParkTheStickOfTruth'' has its level cap at 15, which can be easily reached by the halfway point of the game before the player gets to Canada. Even then, the enemies in Canada give so much experience, you'll definitely hit the level cap by the time you leave. In ''VideoGame/SouthParkTheFracturedButWhole'', the level cap is also at 15. However, due to the way that leveling works (you gain XP from completing milestoneson your character sheet rather than completing peoples' quests, along with combat), you level up at a much slower rate.

* ''VideoGame/SouthParkTheStickOfTruth'' has its level cap at 15, which can be easily reached by the halfway point of the game before the player gets to Canada. Even then, the enemies in Canada give so much experience, you'll definitely hit the level cap by the time you leave.
%%* In ''Videogame/SouthParkTheFracturedButWhole'', the level cap is 20. However, due to the way that leveling works (you gain XP from completing milestones rather than just combat) you level up at a much slower rate.

* Some players found the level cap of 20 in the original ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' to be a bit low; though it was enough for most players, meticulously levelers could reach it well before the PointOfNoReturn, let alone the final dungeon. Worse, this effectively limited how many levels you could gain as a Jedi (since you had to complete a short tutorial mission on a starship and then a whole planet before you became one) and how useful teammates could be (since they join at whatever level you're currently at, which can handicap the ones you get past the opening if they join you at level 19), which encouraged serious players to deliberately ''not'' get levels during the first planet, followed by heavy grinding to make up for it. In response, [[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords the sequel]] simply let players ''begin'' as a Jedi, had allies join you at level 1 with retroactive experience to bring them to your level, and gave an AbsurdlyHighLevelCap of 50 that even total completionists probably won't reach without abusing specific instances of RespawningEnemies.

* Many players feel this way about ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'' as you could theoretically reach the cap by the time you leave the ''tutorial'' dungeon, or simply by running to the holds instead of fast traveling, Leveling was made to take longer in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' to fix this but some players still think it's too easy to hit the cap, which is why the legendary skills were added via DLC.

* In the second edition of ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'', [[TheSixStats ability scores]] have a [[DiminishingReturnsForBalance soft cap]] of 18. Unless you're purposefully trying to spread your stats out and be a JackOfAllStats, you ''will'' hit this threshold at level 1.

* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' games have most characters cap at Level 20 until they promote which give them another 20 (or 10 in the case of [[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]) levels to gain. This can be particularly troublesome for Lords, whose promotions tend to be plot-linked and are ''very'' prone to hitting the cap long before that point. In some games, certain characters and classes can't promote, which tends to be trouble for their long-term usability.

* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' have most characters cap at Level 20 until they promote which give them another 20 (or 10 in the case of [[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]) levels to gain. This can be particularly troublesome for Lords, whose promotions tend to be plot-linked and are ''very'' prone to hitting the cap long before that point.

%% Please see thread to discuss a new image.

[[quoteright:114:[[VideoGame/SouthParkTheStickOfTruth https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/south_park.PNG]]]]
[[caption-width-right:114:You'll see this about halfway through.]]

!!Examples

* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' have most characters cap at Level 20 until they promote which give them another 20 (or 10 in the case of [[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]) levels to gain.

* In the second edition of ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'', [[TheSixStats ability scores]] have a soft cap of 18. You can still increase them as high as you want, but each boost becomes a +1 instead of a +2, if the stat is 18 or higher. (Notably, only increases to even scores matter) Unless you're purposefully trying to spread your stats out and be a JackOfAllStats, you ''will'' hit this cap at level 1.

* In the second edition of ''TabletopGame/Pathfinder'', [[TheSixStats ability scores]] have a soft cap of 18. You can still increase them as high as you want, but each boost becomes a +1 instead of a +2, if the stat is 18 or higher. (Notably, only increases to even scores matter) Unless you're purposefully trying to spread your stats out and be a JackOfAllStats, you ''will'' hit this cap at level 1.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' has a fairly low level cap of 21. However, the main quest is timed so if you spend too much time grinding up your level, you'll end up getting the worst ending for most of the areas.

* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestBuilders2'' has a rising level cap, starting at 10 and then raising by an additional 10 at the beginning of the second and third chapters [[spoiler:plus another 5 for Malhalla]]. Given the fact that the player gains EXP for enemies that [=NPCs=] kill in addition to the ones they fight themselves, they are all but guaranteed to be within 2 levels of the cap by the time of each of the bosses. This switches over to AbsurdlyHighLevelCap in the post-game, where the cap instead becomes 99.

This is not necessarily level caps with a low number - if the highest level in a game is Level 1000, but it's easy to reach Level 1000 by the halfway point, it's still an Absurdly Low Level Cap. Conversely, if the level cap is 10, but it's a struggle just to get to level 5 by the game's end, [[AbsurdlyHighLevelCap that's a different, contrasting trope]].

* ''VideoGame/PaperMario64'''s level cap is 27. The game itself is easy enough that you can beat it without maxing it out, but by level 20 or so, the only enemy that can give appreciable amount of star points are [[MetalSlime Amayzee Dayzees]].

* In ''Videogame/SouthParkTheFracturedButWhole'', the level cap is 20. However, due to the way that leveling works (you gain XP from completing milestones rather than just combat) you level up at a much slower rate.

* ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'': In Ultimortal difficulty (the maximum[[note]]not counting [[UnwinnableJokeGame Reallyjoel's Dad]][[/note]] difficulty level), the inability to improve any other stat than Health makes 9 (accessible at the end of sector 3) a ''de facto'' level cap: You can actually reach higher levels (up to 30, slightly more with supercharges), but [[EmptyLevels they bring no improvement]].

* Many players feel this way about ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'' as you could theoretically reach the cap by the time you leave the ''tutorial'' dungeon, or simply by running to the holds instead of fast traveling, Leveling was made to take longer in ''VideoGame/{{Skyrim}}'' to fix this but some players still think it's too easy to hit the cap, which is why the legendary skills were added via DLC.

* ''Videogame/{{Warframe}}'' has a level cap of thirty for the titular Warframes and all weapons. It's quite possible to take a fresh Warframe with Level 0 weapons, and end up with all four items maxed out at the end of the week. However, once you reach level 30 on any frame or weapon, you are free to modify it once, which resets the level back to 0. Spamming Defense and Survival missions, its possible to bring a weapon from 0-30 in as little as half a day's grinding. When a weapon comes out, expect to see someone with a fully [[NewGamePlus forma'ed]] version of it running tower 4 survivals in a week.

* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' isn't too bad about level caps. [[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Most]] characters cap at Level 20 until they promote, and it's rare to his the second level cap after promotion. The process needs promotion items, which are usually handed relatively early on - say, when most characters are at level 12 -- so they won't be wasting too much time on it... with one exception: [[TheHero the main lord]]. Almost always, their promotion comes at a specific point of the plot, and in many cases they come pretty late. So you will be stuck for a third of the game with a character which can't earn any experience. This, combined with the fact that [[CantDropTheHero they need to attend all battles]], means that you will have the lord lagging behind walls of allies and sometimes unarmed if you want to keep him from fighting in order to optimize the exp gain.

An AbsurdlyLowLevelCap occurs when a level cap is easily reachable before the end of a game. Whether it's because the enemies give a ton of experience, an AbilityRequiredToProceed is obtainable from these levels, or the game [[EmptyLevels doesn't give that much of a reward for leveling up in the first place]], hitting the maximum level is not only to be expected, but so easy to do that a player wouldn't have to go out of their way to reach it.

This is not necessarily level caps with a high number - if the highest level in a game is Level 1000, but it's easy to reach Level 1000 by the halfway point of the game, it's still an Absurdly Low Level Cap. Conversely, if the level cap is 10, but it's a struggle just to get to level 5 by the game's end, [[AbsurdlyHighLevelCap that's a different trope]].

Contrast AbsurdlyHighLevelCap, although the two are by no means mutually exclusive. A form of AntiGrinding.