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?
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.
