Why were Kami and King Piccolo so weak compared to most Namekians?

[zarmack]

Apparently, the average Namekian warrior has power level of around 1000 (same as most low-class Saiyans) with the strongest of the bunch being almost Nappa level and Nail (the strongest Namekian alive before Piccolo gets wished back) having a power level of 42,000.

So why were Kami (PL 280) and King Piccolo (PL 260) so weak, and how strong was the Nameless Namekian?

[theherodjl]

Well, Kami was old, neither of them trained, and they're split beings. That's a nice recipe for lower battle power.

[PFM18]

In the case of Kami, he was an old hag from the Dragon Clan and not a warrior clan. he made Dragon Balls so that almost automatically makes him weaker because that makes him part of the Dragon Clan.

As for Piccolo Daimao, pure, unadulterated plot convenience.

Apparently, the average Namekian warrior has power level of around 1000 (same as most low-class Saiyans) with the strongest of the bunch being almost Nappa level and Nail (the strongest Namekian alive before Piccolo gets wished back) having a power level of 42,000.

So why were Kami (PL 280) and King Piccolo (PL 260) so weak, and how strong was the Nameless Namekian?

We didn't see any of the none Warrior-type Namekians fight. The ones like Dende who learn to make Dragon Balls and what not never fought.

[PerhapsTheOtherOne]

The original Nameless Namekian was said to have power that rivalled a Super Saiyan, but when he split, this separation of his good and evil halves seems to have weakened the two new Namekians greatly.

[Lionel]

They spent most of their lives growing up on a relative backwater planet where the average power level was in the single digits and the strongest amongst them could only boast maybe 200 at the maximum (assuming Mutaito was able enough to defeat spawns of Daimou that were on par with Drum). Most of the climatic conditions that they worked in were probably mild.

I'm thinking the Dragon Clan members possess an average power level of 1000 -- the same as the suppressed Warrior Clan fighters. We see one Dragon Clan member attempt to blast Zarbon. The underling avoids the projectile but it does connect with an Appule lookalike, causing their body to contort and cry out in pain as his scouter falls off.

[Darkprince410]

The original Nameless Namekian was said to have power that rivalled a Super Saiyan, but when he split, this separation of his good and evil halves seems to have weakened the two new Namekians greatly.

Not quite. It wasn't that it was suggested that the child of Kataz had power that rivaled that of a Super Saiyan, just that the Grand Elder thought it surprising that a Saiyan could have beaten him, and wondered if it could have been a Super Saiyan that did it. Therefore, it's not that the child of Kataz was rivaling a Super Saiyan in strength, just that he would have been more powerful than an average Saiyan. The child could have been around Nail's strength and fulfilled everything that the Grand Elder spoke of as far as the child's strength.

[MasenkoHA]

Where did Piccolo Daimou’s power level come from? Of course its reasonable to assume it was lower than Piccolo’s Pl at the start of Z (322) but PL’s weren’t a thing in Dragon Ball OG

[Apslup]

I think that splitting yourself is some sort of Taboo act for Namekians (much like how Namekian Fusion was soon as Taboo) since it could lead to a decrease in power which is what happened with Kami and Piccolo Daimao. This is backed up by the fact that Piccolo Daimao was sealed away for hundreds of years and that Kami probably never trained since he was from the Dragon Clan.