History Main / LevelScaling

* ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beneath_Apple_Manor Beneath Apple Manor]]'', which actually predated ''VideoGame/{{Rogue}}'' by two years. Each time you entered a new level the creatures' hit points and damage done were increased to be proportionate to your damage done and hit points, but you could spend ExperiencePoints to increase your stats at any time. This meant that you started off a level fairly vulnerable to monster attacks but became more powerful over the course of the level, easily defeating monsters at the end.

* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'', enemies and bosses in story missions are set at fixed levels, but [[SideQuest Paralogues]] are based on how far you are in the game. It's the same in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'', but Fates does the same thing with [[DownloadableContent Xenologues]].

* Done as far back as in 1986's ''The Realm of Angbar: Elfhelm's Bane'' for UsefulNotes/AppleII, where as the player's statistics grow, the monsters become more numerous and come in more powerful types.

* Optional in ''VideoGame/PillarsOfEternity'' and ''VideoGame/PillarsOfEternityIIDeadfire''. The player is given a number of options when setting up their game, and this is one of them. If not enabled, general progression is established by a well-placed BeefGate whenever a player strays ahead of where they should be. Interestingly, both games give the option to only scale encounters ''up,'' preserving the difficulty spikes but bringing anything that should be a CurbStompBattle up to the player's average strength.

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There are three kinds of foe level scaling systems that are commonly used. One is where enemies simply have their stats and/or equipment improved. Another is a system where the number of enemies are increased. The third is a system where weaker enemies are replaced by different, stronger ones. Taking an encounter with a 25 hitpoint wolf in its den as an example - In the first system, the same wolf may have 100 hitpoints at a later level. In the second system, an entire pack of wolves will be encountered at higher levels. In the third system, the wolf will be replaced by a dire wolf or a bear after a certain level is reached. There may also be a combination of the three, so you may encounter wolves that progressively get stronger and increase in number, up until a certain point, where they'll be joined by dire wolves (with dire wolves growing more common at higher levels) or replaced by bears who also progressively get stronger as you level up. Most games employing level scaling also make use of a level cap for certain enemies and/or certain areas, so the cellar in the first tavern you enter isn't going to filled with level 100 rats when you return later.

When done well, it does exactly as intended, providing a constant challenge that keeps the game fun, and will keep itself largely unobtrusive. Otherwise, it can head straight into EmptyLevels and cause situations where leveling your character can actually make the game more difficult, such as by having things like regular enemies outleveling friendly [=NPCs=] in the game, making things like [[EscortMission escort]] and [[HoldTheLine defense]] missions a lot more difficult at higher levels. [[LowLevelAdvantage Underleveling]] (purposefully keeping yourself or your party at a low level) can become a viable tactic (and, under certain circumstances, a {{Gamebreaker}}) if this trope is in effect. It can also lead to, (usually) unintentional cases of ImprobablePowerDiscrepancy, depending on when a player first enters an area.

This is becoming more common in [=RPGs=], especially [[WideOpenSandbox sandbox]]-style [=RPGs=], as it makes it easier to keep the player challenged, while limiting the need for predicting the level the player will be at when they reach a certain point.

Compare KillOneOthersGetStronger, where killing foes makes others stronger. Compare HardModeMook, which is when enemies appear based on difficulty level. Contrast SortingAlgorithmOfEvil, where the enemies get tougher as you go along, regardless of your own level. Also contrast BeefGate, which relies on an aversion of this trope.

* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': Lampshaded. Haley's old rival, Crystal, is sent to kill her, and when Celia tries to reason that Haley must be stronger, having spent so much time away, Haley retorts that, as a personal rival, Crystal will always be the same level as her, if not higher.

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'': At the start of the game, most enemies in the game world consist chiefly of basic, relatively low-level types, and gradually get replaced with stronger variants the more enemies you defeat. The game uses a system where, each time an enemy is defeated, a number of points are added to a hidden ledger; the weakest enemies give none, stronger enemies give more, and bosses give the most. Certain monsters in the game, usually one or two in each camp, are marked with a specific tag; every time a specific points threshold is reached, all tagged monsters of a specific type are upgraded to the next strongest tier. By the time you've finished the main quest and found a good percentage of the Shrines, it's not uncommon to see at least one Silver enemy at every encampment. This extends to [[BossInMookClothing Lynels]] as well; if you thought the only Silver Lynel you'd ever see is at the Coliseum Ruins, you'd be dead wrong. The power of the weapons that amiibo gives scales as well depending on progression. This can lead into PermanentlyMissableContent, as one feature of the game involves getting pictures of enemies for the game's MonsterCompendium, and after a certain the weakest enemies may simply stop spawning (thankfully pictures can also be bought).

** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'' has a much improved system (borrowing elements from its Bethesda ''{{VideoGame/Fallout}}'' sister series) after the struggles of its predecessor. Most enemies simply get replaced by tougher variants in high-level areas, while some do directly scale with player level. Random loot also scales, as do many pieces of unique equipment (which makes it advantageous to wait to collect some of them, lest they become [[SoLastSeason less useful later on]]). It is still possible to grind non-combat skills and end up facing very difficult opponents relative to one's combat ability, although almost every skill has ''some'' combat utility if applied with creativity, so the game never becomes straight-up unwinnable. Though due to how magic works in this game (doing a set amount of damage and having very little in the way to squeeze out more damage) spell slingers can find themselves being outmatched by tougher and tougher foes while doing the same damage they were doing levels ago.

** In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'', the level scaling is based on your level when you enter an area and is never adjusted again for that area, so in the starting areas, you'll deal with easy enemies, and as you get stronger and go further out, the enemies will also get stronger, but if you back to the beginning areas, you'll be dealing with the weak enemies again. In addition, enemies are largely prebuilt to a certain level and pulled off a list to set what's appropriate, instead of having scaled stats and equipment ''a la'' ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'', and the exceptions are less jarring. There ''are'' exceptions, however; if ''Broken Steel'' is installed you can encounter the freakishly tough Super Mutant Overlords, Albino Radscorpions, and Feral Ghoul Reavers as early as Level 10 when they're a difficult fight for max level characters. See the "DemonicSpiders" RPG page for more detail on them.

** ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'' scales similarly to ''3'', with higher maximum enemy ranks, stats and equipment the farther you travel from the starting location; unlike ''3'', the scale can adjust somewhat when enemies respawn at a previously-visited location. Enemies that are a much higher level than the player, such as the first Deathclaw in Concord, have a skull next to their name, similar to the ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'' series. Some bosses (e.g. [[ThatOneBoss Kellogg]]) and high-ranking mooks level with the player indefinitely.

* ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac'' has the somewhat controversial Damage Scaling mechanic introduced in Afterbirth, where certain bosses have an "armor" value that, to make a complex calculation ''very'' simple, caps the damage inflicted per second to said bosses. Generally it's seen as something of a ScrappyMechanic as, while it ''does'' stop certain {{Bonus Boss}}es from becoming {{Breather Boss}}es, it ends up making them every bit as disappointing by turning said bosses into {{Damage Sponge}}s who simply will ''not'' die. Also, due to somewhat poor implementation, having too high of damage build can actually break the calculation and render these bosses basically impossible to kill.

* This is what your rival does in ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}''. As soon as you progress in leveling up your Pokemon during the storyline, your rival's Pokemon will also level up.

Compare KillOneOthersGetStronger, where killing foes makes others stronger. Contrast SortingAlgorithmOfEvil, where the enemies get tougher as you go along, regardless of your own level. Also contrast BeefGate, which relies on an aversion of this trope.