You won't really get Fireball for example until Chapter 2.
I know that cantrips are sorta meant to be weak, but it's one thing how it plays in PnP and another thing entirely how things play out in a video game where you fight hordes of enemies in a short period of time.
Actually, if you do all side quests, doesn't skip the random encounters, etc; you can reach lv 6 on the first chapter, an wizard can cast a fireball on lv 5 and playing solo with XP share disabled and being completitionist allow you to reach lv 10 on the first chapter. You can also cast fireball on the first chapter of NWN1, NWN2, BG2(start with tier 4 spells like stoneskin which are extremely more powerful on 2e). Hell, most games that i've played has you at lv 3 after the tutorial/prologue.
The idea of a campaign where you start by escaping an mindflayer spelljammer ship and can enter on the underdark at chapter 1 restricting you to lv 4 is so much BS... And I thinking that putting an balor to fight a lv 10 party on ToEE was BS enough.
As for cantrips, cantrips are weak on every game that i've played. Except 5e based games which tried to make cantrips more powerful. You have kineticist which has unlimited SLA "infusions" and martial classes to take hordes of weaklings.
