Baldur's Gate 3 is a long overdue return to the Baldur's Gate series, following the adventures of the escapees from an Illithid Ship as they struggle to survive and find a way to remove the Illithid Tadpoles from their heads.
Baldur's Gate 3's gameplay is heavily inspired by the D&D 5e tabletop ruleset and shares many elements with it. One aspect of the game that differs from the tabletop game is its level cap. The level cap is noticeably lower than in D&D 5e, as this guide will explain.
Early Access
In the game's early access release, players can achieve a maximum level of 5, which is just enough for most of the spellcaster classes to gain access to third-level spells. It is also the level at which Fighters, Rangers, Paladins, and Barbarians gain Extra Attack. This level cap allows players to gain access to some of their subclass features and start to experiment with feats and ability score improvements. Since Early Access only contains the first act of the game, the level cap is set accordingly.
Full Release
According to Larian Studios, the full release of the game will have a level cap of 12, increased from the planned level cap of 10 that was mentioned in earlier stages of development.
All information below this point is based on information from the D&D 5e Tabletop System
Based on information from D&D 5e tabletop, this means that players will have access to spells up to spell level 6 along with three feats or ability score improvements. Fighters will have access to one additional feat or ability score improvement, which is obtained at level 6. This, of course, assumes that no changes to the spell level and feat availability have been made when compared to the tabletop version.
With 12 levels to work with, players will need to carefully consider any multiclass they attempt since there's less room for error. This also means that players will not have any access to spells of spell level 7 or higher and that players hoping to have access to level 6 spells won't be able to put more than 1 level into a class other than their main spellcasting class. Since Warlocks function somewhat differently when compared to other spellcasting classes, it is worth noting that they will gain access to a single Level 6 "Mystic Arcanum" at Level 11.
Baldur's Gate 3 launches on August 3rd, 2023, for PC and Mac; it launches on September 6th, 2023, for PS5.