Glossary Entry: Experience Points

Called exp or XP for short, experience points are usually earned by completing quests or defeating enemies. Once players have acquired enough experience points, their character's level or rank increases by one step, making them more powerful or granting new abilities.

In many games, this is vital to progressing through the game's story, as lower-level adventurers won't be strong enough to deal with the challenges found further into a game. This can result in a lot of grinding if the game isn't well balanced.