Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General Will they keep the max level low to accommodate BG4?

Not necessarily. If Larian is using the correct XP Calculator based on 5e rules and the XP charts then you can expect a massive slowdown in level gain by level 5-6.

If you want to see for yourself take a look here:

a standard 5e XP calculator
https://kastark.co.uk/rpgs/encounter-calculator-5th/

and this is the XP required to advance chart for 5e D&D



The first three levels in 5e are designed to be SUPER easy to get to - essentially the game really BEGINS at level 3.

If that's the case then it's gonna be a big problem for gamers. No gamer, except for few super tabletop nerds, will sit through a CRPG for hours maybe days without leveling up aka having character progress.

I am going to say cause I just remembered. Larian has been pretty consistent in saying they had no plans for DLC or a sequel, rather they are not putting any planning or resources to those right now. Whenever asked the answer is focusing on BG3. Their main focus is BG3, and they are going to focus on the main game before anything else. So ultimately I don't think the possibility of a sequel or DLC is what would limit levels.


5e has many other ways of progressing, such as equipment. Getting unique magic items gives you progress, and ultimately you get through more encounters in a gaming session than a tabletop session so I reckon leveling will feel quicker as a video game. For example, one of my tabletop groups only just got to level 3 last week, while BG3 you can practically get to 3 before you even get half the companions.

And yet we are pitted against a Hag, two Minotaurs at once , a Spectator and debatably the hardest fight of early access - a Githyanki raiding party. Nudging anyone into the Underdark before level 5 should be a death sentence, let alone them surviving a surprise encounter with two massive minotaurs. And some of these fights are engagable even before you hit level 4... sure the enemies are capped at level 5 but its a stretch to call those low level encounters.

What nonsense. This is not World of Warcraft. Well and yes I played WOW over 3 years back in the day a long time ago. Quit when the silly theme Panda expansion was released. There is not constant level progression in WOW, but there is constant power progression since they constantly add more powerful equipment such as for example armor, weapons etc. I did not start WOW from the super early days but during my slow levelup Wrath of Lichking was released the most popular WOW expansion and I got to experience Wrath of Lichking when it raids was the most newest PvE raid content. Voluntary PvP battlegrounds was also nice. During that time at peak of Wrath of Lichking there was more then 12 million active WOW subscriptions that paid monthly fee that was the top of WOW glory days.

I already noticed in BG3 ALPHA Early Access that I hit level 4 way to fast for my taste.

Max level between 10-13 at full release is fine and I would be perfectly happy if they cut it to level 10 as was actually in the beginning said.

I wouldn't pay that much heed to corporate words if I were you. We have no plans for DLC or a sequel would mean we have no long term economic expectations from BG3. You buy BG ip, you shake hands with WoTC, you open multiple new studios around the world, you recruit many new employees and what? You are gonna leave all that with a single game, is that so? You can be %100 sure they plan the game for future updates such as DLCs (paid and/or unpaid) and possible sequels.
Otherwise, it wouldn't make sense to leave the progression at 11-13 ( a little above the halfway). They have money, recourse and tech to complete the game up until lvl20. Why on earth would they leave it at half? The only possible logical explanation is that they will complete the progression with DLCs.

It often amuses me how some people, mostly DnD nerds, confuse a multi-million dollar product with their tabletop sessions.

Your so called progression with a +2 weapon satisfies you in your tabletop game where you encounter just a handful of fights and you play the game for few levels and you do not pay 60 dollars for it. In a video game where you encounter dozens of enemies every 100 steps, that +2 weapon can not hide the boredom caused by monotony where you know if you had few more levels you'd get more extra attacks, new spells, more utility etc. aka more options.

Thank you for sharing your unrelated WoW story with us even tho it makes no sense in this thread's context.

Well back in the days when I played WOW it was slow levelup to reach max level. I do not want fast levelup or high levels in this game find high level roleplaying often boring.
In addition BG3 starts from level 1. BG1 started from level 1 and had max level 7. BG2 was high levels yes, but started from higher levels.

Max level BG3 for full release 10 would be perfect and they migth increase that very slightly to level 11-13 which I find ok.
It is you that are minority that want fast levelup and high levels for full release.

It is clear that you are confused. WoW progression is completely unrelated to games like BG. They are completely separate genres and universes.
BG1's max level cap was obviously the investment for the sequel given high and fast levels of BG2.

Larian knew they shouldn't set progression to max possible so that they keep their investment alive for future content. They also knew cap of lvl10 was inadequate for mainstream target players (who are not like you) and that's why they decided to increase the cap for few more levels which could be giant progression leap in DnD mechanics. For example, there is a huge difference between lvl10 fighter and lvl13 fighter, the difference no item or side progression can provide unlike games like WoW where end game side progression is everything.

You are wrong thinking a game company would make AAA games specifically for people like you. They wanna make their target as large as possible that's why they need to give the satisfaction of progression. 5+5+3 or 4+4+4 (+-1) would give enough satisfaction in a 3 acts game for majority players. Others like me who do not wanna wait for another couple years because a company wanna make more revenue will use mods.

You are wrong.

"You are wrong thinking a game company would make AAA games specifically for people like you. "
You should see in mirror and say that

We do not know what is max level. It good be example 4+4+4 =12.

Well and I did say also that 13 is ok.
Level 10-12 is better as max level .

"Others like me who do not wanna wait for another couple years because a company wanna make more revenue will use mods."
That is not my problem. Even if max level would be level 13 then there are people that want level 20.
Of course people can play mods and get to level 20. I dont hate the idea that people play mods. People play what mods they want.

I would never use any mods to get more XP or level. I did use an ADULT mod in Skyrim. I can not say what that Skyrim mod was, but you can guess.

I could also perhaps maybe use a none adult mod to get better graphics... like if there would be a mod to get better looking Elves for example that looks less human and more like Elves.