The problem is that Larian already hinted twice that they want to make a nonlinear experience and they are currently trying with levelscaling which they do not like (They had some "cool ideas" about that).
D:OS 1 was designed in a way that fights at every stage of the game were challenging.
And D:OS 2 will lose lots of it's gameplay if you usually are to strong for the encounters.
The discussion should not revolve how bad level scaling is but what the alternatives are.
Autoattack so you can finally progress isn't.
You know how that particular problem is solved and has been solved since the dawn of RPGs? By not making passive level gains trump everything else in terms of power. In Baldur's Gate your character was still awful at high levels if you had a stupid build. In D:OS not so much. Passive level gains should offer small increment in power/survivability, not be the end-all be-all of character progression. A difference of 2-3 levels shouldn't be so noticeable as to make the fights trivial even with a good build.
On top of that they could also easily control XP gain, so to not make the characters massively overpowered compared to the mobs. Non-linear game doesn't mean level-up-a-palooza.
