Honestly, the powerful character starting at level 1 never really bothers me - it's just a convention of the genre. Take POE2 for instance - you finish POE1 as like a 15th level badass or whatever, only to wake up on a ship back at level 1. It's just how it works. For me, arguing that for reasons, the character shouldn't start the game at level 1 is like complaining the character doesn't have to stop to take a leak behind a tree every few hours.
A colossal green statue squashed your main hero to death along with Caed Nua. Goddess Woedica returns hero’s soul from the wheel, literally resurrecting the dead protagonist, if he agrees to pursue the green statue. Sooo it is “some” explanation as to why the hero loses all XP in the sequel
