Absurdly High Level Cap: Difference between revisions

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* ''[[Mass Effect]]'' trilogy:

** ''[[Mass Effect (video game)|Mass Effect 1]]'' has a level cap of 60, which is impossible to achieve in one playthrough (because levels 51-60 are unlocked by beating the game) and difficult to achieve in two (because of the ridiculously high amounts of experience needed to gain the last 10 levels<ref>fun fact: it takes more XP to level from 59 to 60 than it does to level from 1 to 45</ref>).

** ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'' averts this, though; the level cap is 30, which is easily reached in one playthrough. Plus, if you [[Old Save Bonus|import a level 60 character from the first game]], you [[Restart At Level One|Restart At Level Five]], making it easier to hit the cap, especially if you have the [[DLC]].

** ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'' averts this, though; the level cap is 30, which is easily reached in one playthrough. Plus, if you [[Old Save Bonus|import a level 60 character from the first game]], you [[Restart At Level One|Restart At Level Five]], making it easier to hit the cap, especially if you have the [[Downloadable Content|DLC]].

** ''[[Mass Effect 3]]'' increases the level cap back to 60 (once again impossible to achieve in one playthrough), but with a twist. Your ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'' levels [[Old Save Bonus|carry over into]] ''Mass Effect 3'', meaning that a max-level character from the second game will start the third game at level 30. However, this trope ''still'' applies; a level 30 import Shepard that does everything possible in the game will end up somewhere in the mid-50s, meaning you still have to start a [[New Game+]] to reach the cap.

* ''[[Dragon Age]]: Origins'' has a level cap of 25, which is impossible to reach without the [[Level Grinding|Elfroot grind]] or [[Good Bad Bugs|Ostagar exploit]]. Getting to level 20 gains you a class-specific achievement, while new characters in the "Awakening" expansion start at level 18. "Awakening" itself is an aversion, however; if you import a level 25 character, it gives you just enough content to go up to the increased cap of 35 before the [[Final Boss]].

* ''[[Dragon Age II]]'' plays it utterly straight again. The level cap is 50, which is currently reachable only through a (now fixed) bug exploit; in a single playthrough, you can go up to level 25, tops, which is about one fourth of the XP needed to reach the cap. The likely explanation is that the cap was set with future [[DLC]] campaigns in mind, but even with all the DLC, getting to the cap is impossible without the aforementioned bug.

* ''[[Dragon Age II]]'' plays it utterly straight again. The level cap is 50, which is currently reachable only through a (now fixed) bug exploit; in a single playthrough, you can go up to level 25, tops, which is about one fourth of the XP needed to reach the cap. The likely explanation is that the cap was set with future [[Downloadable Content|DLC]] campaigns in mind, but even with all the DLC, getting to the cap is impossible without the aforementioned bug.

* Since the release of the [[Epic Level Handbook]] in ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' 3.0 there literally was NO level cap. You could make a level 1 million wizard if you took the time out to do it (although it would be useless cause no sane [[Game Master|Dungeon Master]] would ever let you use it, or put the time into running a campaign where it could be used), but still technically possible.

** In practice, its difficult to get a character from level one all the way to twenty. In a pencil and paper rpg, real life tends to disrupt the game before that point and if you're lucky you have a group that can play ''once'' a week. Be grateful if you have a DM motivated enough to keep the game going that long. Also, modules and monsters written for this level are less common. For this reason, ''Pathfinder'' hasn't yet released rules that go beyond this level (aside from a brief few paragraphs for just in case.) And their adventures paths take characters from level one to about level sixteen.