History Main / EquipmentBasedProgression

* In ''VideoGame/SpiralKnights'', the players don't gain experience themselves, instead, you can craft different pieces of armor and weapons, each one with its own [[ElementalRockPaperScissors elemental bonuses and weaknesses]], and each item requires Experience points (or "Heat") separately, and usually has an additional bonus when they reach its level cap. They (and the levels' difficulty) are also divided on tiers. In order to be allowed to go deeper on the clockworks, you also need to craft better equipment(usually using a level capped item of a lower tier).

* In ''VideoGame/MegaMan'' the entire point of the series was to acquire new weapons from one boss to take down the next. Since you could fight them in any order, the trick was discovering the optimum sequence to fight them in.

* ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'' runs on this trope as well. Your power is based completely on the equipment you own, and the point of the game revolves almost entirely around finding new ways to create new gear. You hunt monsters to skin them for body parts, of course, but you also have to mine for ores, catch fish and bugs, collect herbs and mushrooms and plant crops to ''really'' get the most out of everything.

[[folder:Rogue]]

* While multiplayer characters in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' do gain experience and upgrade their skills, their levels are {{cap}}ped at 20 (single-player cap is ''60'') and the players have to reset them back to level 1 if they want to keep advancing up the score ladder. This effectively renders character progression meaningless in a long term, while rare weapons, weapon upgrades, and advanced equipment mods (randomly awarded for winning online matches) become crucial on higher difficulty settings.

* ''[[VideoGame/VandalHearts Vandal Hearts 2]]'' has an interesting hybrid between this and LevelLockedLoot: The main game itself does not use class system, and any character can be seamlessly re-oriented from one specialization to the other simply by changing their equipment (that is, if you want to make a mage out of a swordsman, just swap the sword for a staff and the armor for a robe). However, characters do gain EXP and level, and level determines the maximum amount of HP and SP one will get out of a piece of armor. That being said, the characters are not prohibited outright to equip anything that is above their level; they just couldn't utilize said equipment to their fullest
potential.

* ''[[VideoGame/VandalHearts Vandal Hearts 2]]'' has an interesting hybrid between this and LevelLockedLoot: The main game itself does not use class system, and any character can be seamlessly re-oriented from one specialization to the other simply by changing their equipment (that is, if you want to make a mage out of a swordsman, just swap the sword for a staff and the armor for a robe). However, characters do gain EXP and level, and level determines the maximum amount of HP and SP one will get out of a piece of armor. That being said, the characters are not prohibited outright to equip anything that is above their level; they just couldn't utilize said equipment to their fullest potential.

* ''TabletopGame/HcSvntDracone'' 1st edition has no "XP", skills are improved by purchasing a SleepLearning device while attributes gain one dot every three sessions up to a threshold, at which point augmentations will need to be bought.

* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'' 0% growth runs players have a wide variety of options to increase their stats due to not gaining any of level ups such as: promotional bonuses, reclassing, stat boosters, tonics, meals/provisions, skills, forges and for the few games that have them, accessories or stat boosting talk conversations. With strong experimentation, even unpromoted units can find ways to be on par with promoted units in this mode.

* ''VideoGame/{{Zombidle}}'': Unlike most prestige-based Clicker and {{Idle Game}}s, there are no {{Skill Point}}s, {{Tech Tree}}s or Artifacts to use your prestige points (White Orbs) on. All your upgrades and improvements are based on the benefits from various items collected or crafted, and you use White Orbs to buy even more equipment.

* ''VideoGame/{{Zombidle}}'': Unlike most prestige-based Clicker and {{Idle Game}}s, there are no SkillPoints, {{Tech Tree}}s or Artifacts to use your prestige points (White Orbs) on. All your upgrades and improvements are based on the benefits from various items collected or crafted, and you use White Orbs to buy even more equipment.

** [[VideoGame/EarlyGameHell The 'hobo' phase]], where you'll be VERY lucky to have guns that don't jam every 10 shots, two full reloads or more for each, and an armor capable of preventing four shots from being lethal;

** [[EarlyGameHellThe 'hobo' phase, where you'll be VERY lucky to have guns that don't jam every 10 shots, two full reloads or more for each, and an armor capable of preventing four shots from being lethal]];

* ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}'': Your character's abilities come entirely from whatever gear you happen to be wearing.

In a game, there are typically two ways the player can become more powerful; they can [[CharacterLevel level up]] by gaining ExperiencePoints in a ClassAndLevelSystem or they can get better equipment, {{Equipment Upgrade}}s and/or items which [[RareCandy permanently enhance their stats]]. This trope is about games which only use the latter method or make it the main component.

This trope typically occurs in more action-oriented games, where the focus is less on character building (since this is one of things which defines the {{RPG}} genre, examples which are purely this trope are rare) and more on exploration or combat, making StatGrinding less attractive as a gameplay element (since it keeps the player from progressing or breaks up the action). Exploration based games (particularly in the {{Metroidvania}} subgenre, although some also use RPGElements) will often combine this trope with UtilityWeapon; expecting the player to use their new abilities to get to the next set, while combat based games will simply make the player more powerful. Since items can be given and [[BagOfSpilling taken away]] freely, it also allows the game to make the player less powerful (although a good designer [[FakeDifficulty won't abuse this]]). If the items can be picked up in any order (and they're balanced, rather than offering a simple increase in power), it can also make the game less linear. Finding an extra RareCandy is also a good way to reward the player for exploring.