Act 3 of Baldur’s Gate 3 has some of the best moments in the game, providing a culmination of everything that’s transpired along your journey. Hundreds of hours of gameplay resolve in Act 3 as you fight long-time foes, complete character-specific quests, and conclude the main story in spectacular fashion. However, throughout this process, your progression can quickly stagnate due to the game’s imposed restrictions at the end of your adventure.
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Those who’ve gone through Act 3 multiple times will tell you how hard some of its encounters can be, with enemies that are far beyond anything your party has faced before. This is especially true on Tactician or Honor Mode, where the biggest challenges here create dozens of boss-level combat situations that can leave you wanting to long rest often. Unfortunately, doing everything possible in Act 3 isn’t as rewarding as you might think, as your party can only get stronger up until a point.
Baldur’s Gate 3’s Level 12 Cap Restricts Players In Act 3 When They Need Features The Most
Most parties and companion characters in Baldur’s Gate 3 can reach the game’s level cap in Act 3, with the wealth of XP in the game’s final section allowing this milestone to be reached quickly. Level 12 is as far as characters can reach, with any other XP gained simply not contributing to any further progression as your adventure continues. Unlike its Dungeons and Dragons inspirations, characters can’t reach the fabled Level 20 maximum that transcends them to near godhood in the TTRPG’s 5th Edition.
Level 12 as a finishing point does give players access to an Ability Score Improvement or Feat to refine their character one last time, but there are pros and cons to this ending point. If your party is doing everything possible in Act 3, you can easily feel like this final character change isn’t impactful unless you are using a multiclass build that concludes in a different spot.
It makes sense why BG3 wouldn’t allow for Level 20 characters, as that tier of D&D play is nearly impossible to balance within the game’s scope. That being said, Level 12 often feels like the brakes are being pressed too early, restricting characters from gaining class and subclasses features that would be extremely helpful in Act 3’s most daunting moments.
Some Boss Encounters & Other Events Challenge Party Members Beyond What They Can Handle
Act 3 is home to arguably the hardest quests in the game, with bosses that often have far more challenge than a group of Level 12 characters could handle. While there are limitless exploits and ways to simplify battles in Baldur’s Gate 3 with enough preparation, Act 3 has far too many tough situations to handle unless your party synergy is perfect. Some great examples of this include the fight against the devil Raphael in the Nine Hells, the dragon Ansur below Baldur’s Gate, or even a final confrontation with Auntie Ethel the hag in her lair.
Each of these encounters feels designed for Level 12 characters at least, with Ansur in particular feeling like a challenge meant for much stronger individuals. Some Act 3 battles are even harder under unique circumstances, such as confronting the worshipers of Shar in the House of Grief. If you have Shadowheart in your party, the fight becomes far more complicated, adding new rules that make it difficult to be entirely successful.
Adding A Few More Levels To Character Progression May Have Allowed More Freedom In Act 3’s Design
Increasing the level cap to Level 14 or 15 feels more appropriate to balance out characters against some of Act 3’s greatest threats, even if it is speculative. This would give some character builds their final subclass feature, allowing them to use strong abilities to support their party in new ways they previously couldn’t do. While this would not be universal, Baldur’s Gate 3 may have benefited at least from a level cap that offered slightly higher HP values and proficiency numbers to help players out.
Some mods already push the level cap of the game higher, making them incredibly popular with fans looking to give their character more skills, spells, and other features. Having access to higher level characters may have allowed Larian Studios to develop even more interesting challenges in Act 3, although many of the existing ones would be more than enough to match the increase. Characters with more creative freedom in their builds would have more interesting solutions to Act 3’s bigger encounters, making progress feel more earned if parties engage with more content.
Level 12 is pretty much the “safe” option to not let balance get too out of hand, but the possibilities a higher cap could have brought will have to remain as a fun “what if?” for most players. Those who want to experience Baldur’s Gate 3‘s Act 3 with greater resources should try higher level cap mods, which hopefully won’t be needed for Larian’s Divinity in the future.
What do you think the level cap should be in Baldur’s Gate 3 by the time you reach Act 3? Leave a comment below or join the conversation in the ComicBook Forum!
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