Experience

Experience (commonly abbreviated exp. or xp) is a unit of measurement used to quantify the player characters' progression through the game. Characters start at 0 experience and can gain up to 100,000 experience, which is the experience required to reach level 12. Experience is rewarded for defeating creatures, discovering locations, completing quests and succeeding background goals. When the characters receive enough experience, they level up, improving their statistics and allowing the player to further specialize their characters.

Characters experience

The experience bar inside the Inventory window

The bar once the character is ready to level up

All characters start at 0 experience and gain levels when they receive enough experience. After gaining 100,000 experience, they reach level 12 and no further experience is gained.

The experience cumulated at each level and the experience required to reach the next level is described in the following table:

Character Level	Cumulative exp.	Exp. for next level
1	0	300
2	300	600
3	900	1,800
4	2,700	3,800
5	6,500	6,500
6	13,000	8,000
7	21,000	9,000
8	30,000	12,000
9	42,000	14,000
10	56,000	20,000
11	76,000	24,000
12	100,000	N/A

When gaining experience, it is usually earned by all the companions who have joined the player, whether they are in the active party or at the campsite. The only exception is when a character is succeeding a background goal, in which case only that character earns the experience.

If the player's main character has more experience than one or more party members, the player can remove them from the party and add them back, their experience will now be equal to the main character.

Sources of experience

The game will briefly show the amount of experience gained over the heads of the party members. It will also show if the characters are ready to level up

The amount of experience gained can be consulted in the Combat Log window

There are 4 sources of experience in the game:

• defeating creatures
• discovering locations
• completing quests steps
• succeeding background goals (which also grants inspirations)

In many occurrences during the game, the player has the possibility to side with a creature for the purpose of succeeding a quest, then kill them afterwards. In doing so they effectively gain the experience from succeeding the quest and the experience from defeating the creature. For example, the player can side with Nere for the purpose of succeeding  Free True Soul Nere, then kill him and his minions afterwards to obtain the maximum of experience as possible (in addition of obtaining both the quest rewards and his items).

Discovering locations is the only source of experience that scales with the main character level. As a result, the amount of experience granted for visiting an area will be different from one player to another, depending of when each player visits the area for the first time.

The experience rewards are never visible in the user interface in advance. After achieving a task that rewards experience, the game will briefly show the amount of experience earned by the characters above their heads, and will also add it to the Combat Log.

Defeating creatures

The amount of experience rewarded for defeating a creature is determined by:

1. the largest number between the creature level and the area level where the creature is defeated
2. the reward category assigned to the creature

There are 7 reward categories, which are are not visible anywhere in the user interface. From less to most rewarding:

• Zero (
  UUID

  40806669-8c6b-4068-8bc4-07e4981bb020
  )
• Civilian (
  UUID

  c83d6caa-c5c3-4356-b55c-8d634535976c
  )
• Pack (
  UUID

  c1d87aaa-7548-44da-b9dd-d17b027a3885
  )
• Combatant (
  UUID

  810b5510-6748-4c8e-bef0-d990880ed1dd
  )
• Elite (
  UUID

  4ee02692-eb98-43a6-803f-2da645364568
  )
• Miniboss (
  UUID

  206b753f-bc3b-46af-98b9-0c711d98c678
  )
• Boss (
  UUID

  484393d9-eb7b-4b3b-b69b-5fdbfa940403
  )

All the creatures start with the base reward category "Combatant". Every creature can then be overridden to another category, either downgraded to "Pack", "Civilian" or "Zero", or upgraded to "Elite", "Miniboss" or "Boss". For example, the level 1 Imp creature in the Nautiloid has no specific reward category, and the type to which it belongs (Fiends) neither, so its reward category stays "Combatant". By contrast, most Humanoid commoners are downgraded to "Civilian", children are downgraded to "Zero", and important enemies are upgraded to "Miniboss" and "Boss".

Defeating "Zero" and "Civilian" creatures grants respectively 0 and 1 experience at any level. "Pack" creatures are the next weakest category and will provide much less experience than "Boss" creatures. For example, Nere is a level 5 "Elite" creature, so defeating him rewards 90 experience. His minions are level 5 "Combatant" creatures, so defeating them rewards 75 experience each. Creatures of level 13 and above will provide as much experience as a level 12 creature.

If the creature level is lower than the area level, then the game uses the area level instead of the creature level to choose the reward. For example, when defeating a level 1 "Combatant" Goblin creature in the level 3 Blighted Village area, the game will use the area level and consider the creature to be a level 3 "Combatant". So it will grant 20 experience. When defeating a level 1 "Pack" Shadow-Cursed Raven creature in the level 5 Ruined Battlefield, the game will consider the creature to be a level 5 "Pack". So it will grant 40 experience.

Killing a creature will reward no experience if the player already resolved the encounter without fighting. For instance, if the player peacefully talks their way out of an encounter, they will gain the same experience as if they had killed the creatures. Killing them afterwards will not earn the player any more experience. This is to prevent the player to double up on experience. When resolving the encounter peacefully, the player gets the experience for the creature they interacted with, as well as the experience for all the nearby creatures who would normally join the fight if the player decided to attack. For example, when entering the Crèche Y'llek and attacking Far'aag, the 3 other NPCs in the room join the fight. Killing them grants 75 each, since they are level 5 "Combatant" creatures, for a total of 300 experience. Instead of attacking, the player can persuade Far'aag to let them pass, which also rewards the party with 300 experience. Killing the 4 NPCs afterwards grants 0 experience.

Examining a creature doesn't provide its reward category, preventing the player to determine the precise amount of experience it will reward. However, the player can approximate it using the creature level, visible in the Examine window or while hovering the creature. The area level is not provided in the user interface either.

The experience granted by each level and each reward category is described in the following table:

Experience versus level for each reward category

	Reward categories
Creature level or area level	Zero	Civilian	Pack	Combatant	Elite	Miniboss	Boss
1	0	1	3	10	15	20	30
2	0	1	5	15	25	40	75
3	0	1	10	20	40	50	100
4	0	1	20	40	75	100	150
5	0	1	40	75	90	150	250
6	0	1	50	90	150	230	320
7	0	1	60	110	180	280	400
8	0	1	75	140	220	350	500
9	0	1	110	200	315	500	700
10	0	1	135	250	400	640	875
11	0	1	170	320	510	800	1,120
12+	0	1	210	400	640	1,000	1,400

The category "Zero" is actually the most used category in the game, it is assigned to 82 creatures.

The following table shows how many times each reward category is used in the game:

	Zero	Civilian	Pack	Combatant	Elite	Miniboss	Boss
Creatures	82	21	36	47	26	15	12

Discovering locations

When entering some locations for the first time, the party will be rewarded with experience. There are 65 such locations in the game.

The amount of experience rewarded for discovering locations (internally referenced as "Exploration Reward") is determined by:

1. the main character level
2. the reward category assigned to the area

There are 4 reward categories, which are not visible anywhere in the user interface. From less to most rewarding:

• Small (
  UUID

  4c4c1c60-3362-4e84-84ad-ae1a140b17ee
  )
• Medium (
  UUID

  be4218ef-3a29-4fbf-911a-255ee71d2b35
  )
• Big (
  UUID

  1e2436a8-309e-4c8f-b77a-a6b1e4889fd9
  )
• LevelBoost (
  UUID

  85d04f48-87c7-45e0-83c5-fdd5b11465df
  )

Since the amount of experience granted for visiting an area is based on the main character level, the reward will be different from one player to another, depending of when each player visits the area for the first time. So for example, when discovering Crèche Y'llek, which is a "Big" area, it will grant 120 experience if the main character is level 4, 240 experience if they are level 5, 280 experience if they are level 6 and 300 experience if they are level 7.

To maximize the experience reward, the player should level up before discovering a location. For example, in the case of Crèche Y'llek, the difference between going there at level 4 and going there at level 5 is 120 experience. So if the characters are close to reach level 5, the player might consider turning back and looking for other sources of experience, then come back to discover the Crèche once they are level 5. On the other hand, the difference between going there at level 6 and going there at level 7 is only 20 experience, so the player might consider the effort not worth it.

Experience versus level for each reward category

The experience granted by each level and each reward category is described in the following table:

	Reward categories
Main character level	Small	Medium	Big	LevelBoost
1	5	10	15	100
2	10	20	30	200
3	30	60	90	300
4	40	75	120	500
5	80	150	240	1,000
6	95	180	280	1,100
7	115	210	300	1,200
8	150	275	370	1,500
9	210	400	530	2,000
10	260	500	660	2,400
11	330	630	850	3,400
12	420	780	1,000	5,000

The category "LevelBoost" is actually never used in the game, and the category "Small" is the most used one, it is assigned to 39 areas.

The following table shows how many times each reward category is used in the game:

	Small	Medium	Big	LevelBoost
Areas	39	15	11	0

Completing quests steps

The quests on themselves don't grant experience on completion, but their steps do. All the quests are divided into objectives, which themselves are divided into steps (internally referenced as "QuestStep"). Each step has its own experience reward. The steps are shown in the user interface, inside the Quest Journal. By clicking on a quest on the left side, all the completed steps for this quest are listed on the right side. The amount of experience obtained for a step is not visible in the Journal. While a step might not be required to complete a quest, it can still grant some experience, usually a small amount.

The quest Find the Blood of Lathander and 3 of its completed steps, in the Quest Journal window

Experience versus level for each reward category

There are 794 quest steps that reward experience.

The amount of experience rewarded for completing a step is determined by:

1. the level of the area that triggers the completion
2. the reward category assigned to the step

There are 11 reward categories, which are not visible anywhere in the user interface. From less to most rewarding:

• CombatCloseBooster (
  UUID

  d28b13b0-e0c0-4b5c-b166-ff17e50322cf
  )
• CombatCloseMajor (
  UUID

  fae81b0d-9561-41c4-b71a-883272cfd3da
  )
• ProgressBooster (
  UUID

  bbac01c1-eddd-416a-837b-317944d09413
  )
• ProgressMajor (
  UUID

  85e62526-1d6d-4efb-8897-c602e530e7bf
  )
• CloseBoosterEasy (
  UUID

  ce7f8aea-6f9a-49b8-a3dd-7fb12d2eb745
  )
• CombatCloseMain (
  UUID

  7aa9ef5d-b431-4a94-85d9-a68d915d3b64
  )
• CloseBoosterHard (
  UUID

  67439439-7cba-4077-81e8-3224086fc6f7
  )
• ProgressMain (
  UUID

  0ccb6004-47e8-4356-9299-2f69fdfcb13d
  )
• CloseMajor (
  UUID

  436a9e5d-2102-4048-964d-2055a295e73e
  )
• BypassedCombatMedium (
  UUID

  86b0c895-49cd-4152-9b1e-dc2acd224025
  )
• CloseMain (
  UUID

  572cc0bc-ecf3-4a85-84be-10bdd2d60f3b
  )

For example, in the quest  Find the Blood of Lathander occurring in Act One, one of the steps is "We learned that a powerful holy relic, the Blood of Lathander, could be somewhere nearby. We should keep an eye out for it as we explore the monastery.". Its reward category is "ProgressMajor" and its completion triggers inside the Rosymorn Monastery, which is a level 5 area. So completing this step grants 30 experience.

Some steps reward experience but don't appear in the Quest Journal. They are internally distinguishable for having an objective prefixed by HIDDEN_, a description equals to %%% EMPTY and their reward category is one of the "Booster" ones. For example, there is a hidden step in the Classroom of the Crèche Y'llek. If the party saves Varrl either by talking down the teacher or healing them after the non-leathal injury, they will complete the step and the Quest Journal won't mention it. Its reward category is "CloseBoosterEasy" and its completion triggers in a level 5 area, so completing this hidden step rewards 35 experience.

Some steps also override the level of the area that triggers the completion (internally referenced as "LevelOverride"). For example, in the last objective of the quest  Discover the Artefact's Secrets, there are three mutually exclusive steps. Two of them override the area level, which is 5, to 6. Their reward category is "CloseMajor" and the override changes the reward from 120 to 145 experience. There are 21 steps in total in the game that override their area level: 4 steps that override it to level 2 and 17 steps that override it to level 6.

There is actually a 12th reward category, "RecruitCompanion", which is rewarded for recruiting the following companions: Shadowheart, Astarion, Gale, Wyll and Karlach. Each recruitment rewards 30 xp. Recruiting Lae'zel and the non origin companions doesn't reward any experience.

There are also 2,728 quest steps without any reward category. They effectively grant 0 experience on completion.

The experience granted by each level and each reward category is described in the following table:

	Reward categories
Area level	Combat Close Booster	Combat Close Major	Progress Booster	Progress Major	Close Booster Easy	Combat Close Main	Close Booster Hard	Progress Main	Close Major	Bypassed Combat Medium	Close Main
1	5	5	5	5	5	15	5	5	20	30	50
2	5	10	10	10	10	30	15	10	30	50	50
3	5	10	15	15	15	30	35	30	45	70	75
4	5	10	20	20	25	30	50	60	60	100	100
5	10	20	30	30	35	60	80	120	120	200	200
6	10	25	35	35	40	70	95	145	145	240	240
7	10	30	45	45	50	80	115	175	175	290	290
8	10	35	55	55	65	110	145	225	225	360	360
9	10	40	65	65	90	160	200	320	320	525	525
10	10	45	75	75	110	200	250	400	400	400	650
11	10	50	85	85	140	250	320	500	500	500	840
12	10	60	95	95	175	300	400	640	640	640	1,000

The category "CombatCloseMain" is actually never used in the game, and the category "ProgressBooster" is the most used one, it is assigned to 240 quest steps.

The following table shows how many times each reward category is used in the game:

	Combat Close Booster	Combat Close Major	Progress Booster	Progress Major	Close Booster Easy	Combat Close Main	Close Booster Hard	Progress Main	Close Major	Bypassed Combat Medium	Close Main
Quest steps	2	4	240	121	114	0	63	51	167	9	23

Succeeding background goals

A window will notify the player when succeeding a background goal. Note that the reward is wrong in this case, the character actually gained 50 experience

The actual amount of experience gained can be consulted in the Combat Log window

Goals are succeeded by making choices which fit the party characters' backgrounds. There are 393 goals in the game, split between 12 backgrounds. Succeeding background goals also grant inspirations.

The amount of experience rewarded for succeeding a background goal is determined by:

1. the reward level assigned to the background goal

There is only 1 reward category, which is not visible anywhere in the user interface:

• BackgroundGoal (
  UUID

  90f636c0-2d85-46d8-9760-30b57c664f4b
  )

The level is related to the story progression, so goals that trigger later into the game usually have a higher level than goals that trigger at the beginning of the game. The level is not visible anywhere in the user interface For example, the goal "Honing the Darkness" for the background  Acolyte is a level 6 background goal, so it grants 60 experience.

The game will briefly open a window to notify the player when a character succeed a background goal. However, as of patch 6, the experience reward announced in the window is sometimes incorrect. The player can consult the Combat Log to see the actual experience reward.

At the difference of the other sources of experience, only the character who is succeeding the background goal earns the experience.

The experience granted by each level is described in the following table:

Experience versus level

Goal level	Reward
1	15
2	20
3	25
4	30
5	50
6	60
7	75
8	95
9	135
10	170
11	220
12	275

The level 1 is actually never used in the game, and the level 10 is the most used one, it is assigned to 92 background goals.

The following table shows how many times each level is used in the game:

	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4	Level 5	Level 6	Level 7	Level 8	Level 9	Level 10	Level 11	Level 12
Background goals	0	2	8	1	63	65	40	8	54	92	57	3