Level up: Difference between revisions

Upon leveling up in this game, Mario or one of his [[List of allies|allies]] can chose one of three stat combinations to get a bonus on along with the regular stat boost. The three choices are attack and defense, represented by a hammer; max [[Heart Point|HP]], represented by a [[Mushroom]]; and magic attack and magic defense, represented by a star. These bonuses are slightly boosted at certain levels: physical bonuses are higher on levels that are 3n (n being an integer), HP bonuses are higher on levels that are 3n + 1, and magic bonuses are higher on levels that are 3n - 1. At certain levels, the characters will learn a new special magic ability. The maximum level is 30.

[[File:PM Level Up.png|thumb|right|The level-up screen in ''Paper Mario''.]]

At each level up, Mario must choose one of his stats to boost. If he chooses [[Heart Point|HP]] or [[Flower Point|FP]], his maximum for that stat increase by five points. If he chooses [[Badge Point|BP]], his maximum BP will increase by three points. The stats not chosen remain unchanged. Unlike most RPGs, leveling up will never directly increase Mario's attack power.

In ''Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door'', [[Merlon]] can level up Mario's partners, for three [[Shine Sprites]] each. One level up will upgrade a partner to Super Rank. To level up the partners again, Mario must first obtain the [[Up Arrow]]. After doing so, Merlon can level them up to the Ultra Rank.

In both ''Paper Mario: Sticker Star'' and ''Paper Mario: Color Splash'', stats such as HP and attack power do not increase via enemy battles, as in previous installments.  Instead, Mario gradually gets stronger as he progresses through the story, with progressively stronger [[Sticker (Paper Mario: Sticker Star)|Sticker]]s or [[Battle Card (Paper Mario: Color Splash)|Battle Card]]s appearing more often as Mario collects more [[Royal Sticker]]s and [[Big Paint Star]]s. However, items that permanently increase Mario's stats also exist, similarly to leveling up from previous games in the series. By collecting [[MAX UP Heart|HP-Up Heart]]s, Mario's HP will increase by a certain amount (5 points in ''Sticker Star'' and 25 points in ''Color Splash''), allowing for a grand total of 100 HP in ''Sticker Star'' and 200 HP in ''Color Splash''. Mario's [[First Strike]] attack power also increases whenever he collects two HP-Up Hearts in the former game or a [[Big Paint Star]] in the latter game.

In ''Paper Mario: Color Splash'', defeating enemies yields [[Hammer Scraps]], which function similarly to [[Star Points]] from the first two games in the series. By collecting a certain number of these, Mario's [[Paint Hammer|paint]] storage will grow bigger, up to a maximum of 600 points.

In these games, max HP, max [[Bros. Point|BP]] (''[[Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga]]'', ''[[Mario & Luigi: Dream Team]]'', ''[[Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam]]'', ''[[Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions]]'' and ''[[Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey]]'') or max [[Brawl Point|SP]] (''[[Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story]]'' only), [[Power]], [[Defense]], [[Speed]], and [[Stache]] (Horn for Bowser) are all initially increased immediately after leveling up (though in ''Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time'' and ''Mario & Luigi: Dream Team'', Stache will never increase on its own), generally anywhere from zero to five points, but as high as fourteen in ''[[Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time]]''. The player can then choose any stat they want and give additional points to it, though this is not possible in ''Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam''.

A roulette (carried by a [[Fishin' Lakitu]] in the first three games in the series, or a [[Boo]], in the case for Bowser in ''Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story'' and its remake) determines how many additional points are added. The possibilities are one to five in ''Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga'', ''Mario & Luigi: Dream Team'', ''Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions'' and ''Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey'', one to six in ''Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time'', and one to nine in ''Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story''. However, the roulette will often not include this entire range, since the numbers that appear on the roulette are reduced with each level-up a given stat is upgraded and increased with each level-up that it is not upgraded.

In ''Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story'' and its following games (excluding ''Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions''), if the player reaches a certain level, they will [[rank]] up, and receive special benefits.

When a player levels up, a fanfare will play depending on which character levels up: