Once a character has accumulated enough experience, they can level up and acquire new abilities.
There are multiple ways to acquire experience, the main ones are through battles, quests, and exploration.
You do not get more experience with a smaller party, experience is not split among members like it was in older Baldur's Gate games.
Gaining Inspiration also provide a small amount of experience to the character, this is the only source of experience not shared among the party members.
Companions waiting at the camp do not gain experience, instead their experience is set equal to the main character when they join the active party.
The maximum level at the release of the game is 12, even if an amount of experience to level up is set in the game data.
Experience from battle is obtained for each enemy defeated. Resurrected enemies don't provide additional experience. The amount of experience from combat is determined by the enemy level and its category. "Pack" enemies are the weakest category and will provide much less experience than "Elite" enemies.
| Level | Exp. for next Level | Cumulative Exp. | Pack | Combatant | Elite | Miniboss | Boss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 300 | 300 | 3 | 10 | 15 | 20 | 30 |
| 2 | 600 | 900 | 5 | 15 | 25 | 40 | 75 |
| 3 | 1,800 | 2,700 | 10 | 20 | 40 | 50 | 100 |
| 4 | 3,800 | 6,500 | 20 | 40 | 75 | 100 | 150 |
| 5 | 6,500 | 13,000 | 40 | 75 | 90 | 150 | 250 |
| 6 | 8,000 | 21,000 | 50 | 90 | 150 | 230 | 320 |
| 7 | 9,000 | 30,000 | 60 | 110 | 180 | 280 | 400 |
| 8 | 12,000 | 42,000 | 75 | 140 | 220 | 350 | 500 |
| 9 | 14,000 | 56,000 | 110 | 200 | 315 | 500 | 700 |
| 10 | 20,000 | 76,000 | 135 | 250 | 400 | 640 | 875 |
| 11 | 24,000 | 100,000 | 170 | 320 | 510 | 800 | 1120 |
| 12 | 30,000 | 130,000 | 210 | 400 | 640 | 1000 | 1400 |
Trivia
If your main character has more experience than one or more party members (thanks to an Inspiration), you can remove them from your party and add them back, their experience will now be equal to your main character.