Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General Worried about level cap/ character progression

Okay, so I feel like there might be a big issue with the announced level cap of 10.

Currently, I feel I've done pretty much nothing majorly plot relevant (beware of spoilers):
- Explored some of the starter area (crash site, "tutorial ruin")
- Went to the Tiefling camp, resolved the Arabella quest, spoke to Nettie
- Went to the Blighted Village where I avoided most encounters and only killed some of the gobbos there
- Cleared out the Whispering Depths + found the Cellar
- Went to the Githyanki patrol and fought them
- Went to the Goblin Camp, killed priestess Gut and a few stragglers that I could get away with without raising alarm
- Went into the ruins below the Goblin camp and explored a bit

I just hit level 5! Still level 4 obviously since that's the EA cap but I feel like there's a major balance issue with XP/levelling if what feels to me like I'm still doing the prologue has me halfway to max level. As an aside, there's very little sense of actual progression to those 4 levels, I feel like all of my party (Warlock Me, Zae'rel, Shadowheart and Astarion) have been doing the exact same tricks more or less for the entire game so far and if I'm already halfway to max level, I don't see that changing all that much.

I don't know what Larian has planned obviously, maybe there'll be DLC, but looking through my Player's Handbook I can't help but notice that basically all the classes have a pretty defining, high-power feature they attain at level 14 or 15. Unless the game is intended to end more or less immediately after the map with the Grove and the Goblin camp, maybe it would be worth considering a level cap of 15 instead of 10, so there will be a bit more room for actual mechanical progression and feeling like your character is actually developing statwise?

I definitely hope for an expansion pack which will take us all the way to 20 with epic boons

Did you not read their FAQs? the EA level cap right now is 4, they are obviously going to have a higher cap. I don't think they said what it will be.

Also keep in mind the system. This is NOT Divinity. This is not a sequel, prequel, or anything related to Divinity. This is DnD. Most DnD campaigns end around level 10. The level cap for DnD is 20 in 5e RAW. Very, very few campaigns end at 20.

You aren't playing a JRPG where you can fly through levels on a whim. Each level in DnD marks a milestone for your character. Each level is meaningful, and brings a new power spike with new abilities. That is DnD.

Yeah okay sure, that would be nice too but my concern is that either
1) We'll be close to maximum level after what is basically the intro,
2) what I think is the intro is basically half the game and I'm apparently getting close to midgame already even though I feel like the plot is still at "find solution for tadpole" stage,
or
3) the XP progression will have to be slowed down massively to make sure levels 1-10 span most of the game's story arch.


I'm not sure you read my post. I know the EA level cap is 4, I said as much. I'm looking for official confirmation that the level cap is 10, could've sworn I'd seen it but so far it looks like it's just people talking so maybe I misunderstood.


I don't know why you're referring to Divinity, I'm not. As for D&D campaigns, they end at the level they end at. Maybe you're referring to official campaign books or somesuch? We mostly play our own stuff in my RP groups. As for RAW, yes I know the level cap is 20, I have my Players Handbook right here
I'm not sure how that relates to my concern that xp/level/character progress has issues that needs to be adressed?


Oh gee I'm not playing a JRPG?? I'm so glad you're here to tell me that, otherwise I wouldn't have known
As for the levels being meaningful, like I wrote I feel like my party has been doing more or less the exact same things for 4 levels now, so I don't really feel that the game manages to catch that feeling currently. I agree that in P&P D&D that is true, but this is a different medium and as such, might need a different approach.

5e D&D classes have major class features (post archetype selection which varies from level 1 to 3) at level 6-7 and 10 in the level range Larian wants to implement. Saying that once you pick an archetype, that's pretty much your class from now on, you just get more of what you already have.

Also, the XP table isn't flat, level 1 to 3 are pretty fast, then it start to slow down and I don't think the plan is to reach the level cap at the last battle of the game.

Originally the level cap was supposed to be 10, but they have since increased it. We don’t know what the new cap is.

This alleviates my concern to some degree. Do you have a source for it?

It's indeed not set at a definitive cap at 10 anymore. However, what the max level cap is, is up in the air and unannounced at this time ✌

Yeah sure, I just threw out a number that I figured might be realistic, in case Larian couldn't come up with one on their own

I can already tell you one thing.
The highest possible Level we might reach, is determined by the Wizard class.
Nothing else.

In later stages of the game Wizards become so utterly powerful in terms of finding ways to manipulate reality, you cant programm it anymore.

I mean at Level 15, with an 8th Level Spell you can create a New World on a whim. Jes its going to be empty but this is just to show you, why you cant programm for him.
You cant expect them hotfixing content in everytime somebody new creates another type of Demi plan, or casts wish.

You need to stay with the realms of possibility. I guess that is going to be Level 12.
At Level 13 your Wizard could Planeshift all of you back to avernus, and thats probably nothing that will be intended.

yeah they commented, not announced, that level cap is most likely not going to stay 10.

thruth be told, lvl increase takes progressively longer. Base 5e is designed around tiers and the first if the fastest (1-4), so is normal for a videogame to rush the first levels. I dont expect to finish an uncapped full bg3 higher than tier 3 (11-16)

OR they could just modify those spells? I mean it is possible to implement slight homebrew changes to spells like that. So I disagree here. 5e RAW is level 20, level 20 needs to be the ultimate level cap--if not the first adventure, then the ones they add later.

It was said in this interview somewhere, though it’s well over an hour and I don’t know where in the interview Swen was asked about it:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=S5__muccL1c&t=350s