Become a total womanizing jerk

Tired of hacking and slashing your way to RPG dominance? Try these sneaky strategies instead.

In oddball PlayStation JRPG Thousand Arms (1998), main character Meis improves his skill as a Spirit Blacksmith by flirting with and dating pretty much every female in the game.

Today, the date-girls-to-win-fights mechanic is alive and well in the Persona series.

(Image credit: Altus)

(Gallery sponsored by Knights & Dragons)

Charm your way to the top

Struggling to make your way through Fallout 4‘s post-apocalyptic wastes? You’d better be a suave, handsome, charming guy — it makes things easier. In fact, sometimes you can get experience points just by persuading someone to give you money.

Other perks of being charismatic include discounts when shopping, attack bonuses to members of the opposite sex, the ability to tame animals, and hold your alcohol better.

Just like in real life … ?

(Image credit: Bethesda Game Studios)

Collect all the poop you can

Plenty of games let you gain experience by using items, but to our knowledge, only Mother 3 allows you to level up your character by collecting feces.

Bring all your spare dung to the oasis-dwelling beetle Wan Sum Dung. He’ll be thrilled to have excrement to roll; you’ll be thrilled when you get an experience bonus in return.

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Pimp your wardrobe

Gathering materials such as metal or feathers can yield you some sweet armor in Knights & Dragons … and it can get you experience points too.

Devour the undead

Wraiths (such as the Witcher 3 horror shown here) are nasty undead creatures — they’re notorious for draining adventurers’ experience levels.

But in the old school Rogue-like PC game NetHack (1987), wraiths can actually boost your levels. You just need to eat them after you kill them.

Delicious.

(Image credit: WB Games)

Build the post-apocalyptic shanty town of your dreams

Fact: Fallout 4‘s post-apocalyptic Boston has some amazing real estate opportunities. All you need is a couple of gently irradiated plots of land, along with a handful of hotplates, used bathtubs, and other scrap.

Once you have a settlement built, you can reap the benefits of low, I’m-the-mayor pricing at your weapon and armor stores.

(Image credit: Bethesda Game Studios)

Smash. Every. Last. Pot.

Where do all the magically reappearing ceramic pots in Hyrule come from? And why are they always filled with valuable rupees, arrows, or hearts?

RocketJump’s classic YouTube video Pot Smasher definitely sheds some light on The Legend of Zelda mystery.

(Image credit: RocketJump)

Become a game show contestant

Game shows are a recurring feature in Nintendo’s Paper Mario series.

If you’ve been paying attention to the gameplay and plot, you should be able to answer enough multiple choice questions to win a really nice power-up prize.

Otherwise … prepare to be thwomped.

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Pick flowers until godmode activates

World of Warcraft characters get experience by using their gathering professions. This means you can now gain levels simply by wandering around and picking pretty flowers.

In fact, a small handful of WoW pacifists have been able to grind their characters to max level without ever attacking or defeating a single enemy.

They’re the buffest florists ever.

(Image credit: Blizzard)

Equip an egg

If you’re looking to level quickly in a Final Fantasy game, you need to keep your eyes out for Experience Eggs (AKA Growth Eggs). They dramatically increase the amount of experience points characters get from beating enemies.

Thanks, Experience Bird, for leaving us this fine treasure.

(Image credit: Square)

Take a fishing vacation

Fishing minigames are an ultimate RPG cliche. You can catch fish in Breath of Fire, World of Warcraft, Animal Crossing, The Legend of Zelda, Dark Cloud, Fable, Harvest Moon, Final Fantasy XII, and Shovel Knight, just to name a small few.

Of course, things get real serious whenever you see a fishing hole sparkle. That’s video game code for “there’s serious treasure to be fished up here, you’d better come and get it.”

(Image credit: Tatsuya Yoshikawa for Capcom)

Embark on an archaeological dig

Creating powerful creatures and winning battles in the Fossil Fighter handheld series requires you to grab a shovel and channel your inner archaeologist.

What could possibly go wrong with collecting dinosaur DNA and using it to create vicious, fearsome battle beasts? Nothing, Jeff Goldblum — nothing.

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Embrace your inner Lisa Frank

To our knowledge, Paper Mario: Sticker Star is the first video game ever to offer a sticker-based battle system.

And unless Lisa Frank suddenly starts manufacturing video games, we’d wager that Paper Mario: Sticker Star will also be the last video game ever to offer a sticker-based battle system.

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Travel the world

Been to Fort Wayne, Indiana? That’s 50 experience points awarded. Visited Bradley International airport? That’s another 100 points right there and — whoa, congratulations — visiting the baggage carousel just bumped you up to level 33.

The current version of World of Warcraft awards modest amounts of experience for visiting locations you’ve never been before. It’s a nice little bonus for those of us who love the exploration aspect of MMORPGs.

(Image credit: Blizzard)

Sit down and play cards

Gwent, the card game in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, offers you the ability to gamble and win money, cards, and items. And if you’re completing one of the game’s Gwent quests, you’ll get experience points for your trouble too.

(Image credit: WB Games)

Put on your best sneakers … for sneaking

Being sneaky definitely has its benefits. In Skyrim, leveling your Sneak ability increases your sneak attack damage, eliminates the threat of pressure plates, and gives you the ability to do a silent forward roll.

In short: The sneakier you are, the more powerful you get.

(Image credit: Bethesda Game Studios)

Just show up on Sunday

Need to grind out a couple levels? Players of the free-to-play mobile game Final Fantasy Record Keeper can access dungeons that are overflowing with bonus experience — but only on Sundays.

(Image source: DeNA)