Character Level Progression Table[]
| Character level |
Non-ECL XP |
ECL +1 XP |
ECL +2 XP |
ECL +3 XP |
Class skill max ranks |
Cross-class skill max ranks |
Feats | Ability increases |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 1st | |
| 2 | 1,000 | 3,000 | 6,000 | 10,000 | 5 | 2 | ||
| 3 | 3,000 | 6,000 | 10,000 | 15,000 | 6 | 3 | 2nd | |
| 4 | 6,000 | 10,000 | 15,000 | 21,000 | 7 | 3 | 1st | |
| 5 | 10,000 | 15,000 | 21,000 | 28,000 | 8 | 4 | ||
| 6 | 15,000 | 21,000 | 28,000 | 36,000 | 9 | 4 | 3rd | |
| 7 | 21,000 | 28,000 | 36,000 | 45,000 | 10 | 5 | ||
| 8 | 28,000 | 36,000 | 45,000 | 55,000 | 11 | 5 | 2nd | |
| 9 | 36,000 | 45,000 | 55,000 | 66,000 | 12 | 6 | 4th | |
| 10 | 45,000 | 55,000 | 66,000 | 78,000 | 13 | 6 | ||
| 11 | 55,000 | 66,000 | 78,000 | 91,000 | 14 | 7 | ||
| 12 | 66,000 | 78,000 | 91,000 | 105,000 | 15 | 7 | 5th | 3rd |
| 13 | 78,000 | 91,000 | 105,000 | 120,000 | 16 | 8 | ||
| 14 | 91,000 | 105,000 | 120,000 | 136,000 | 17 | 8 | ||
| 15 | 105,000 | 120,000 | 136,000 | 153,000 | 18 | 9 | 6th | |
| 16 | 120,000 | 136,000 | 153,000 | 171,000 | 19 | 9 | 4th | |
| 17 | 136,000 | 153,000 | 171,000 | 190,000 | 20 | 10 | ||
| 18 | 153,000 | 171,000 | 190,000 | 210,000 | 21 | 10 | 7th | |
| 19 | 171,000 | 190,000 | 210,000 | 231,000 | 22 | 11 | ||
| 20 | 190,000 | 210,000 | 231,000 | 253,000* | 23 | 11 | 5th |
For example, consider a Human Cleric, an Aasimar Paladin, a Drow Wizard, and a Deep gnome Rogue. When the Human Cleric reaches 5th level, the Aasimar Paladin will be 4th level, the Drow Wizard will be 3rd level, and the Deep gnome Rogue will just be obtaining level 2, each with exactly 10,000 experience points.
* This is the maximum possible experience points that a character may have in NWN2 without the Mask of the Betrayer expansion. Even non-ECL (effective character level) characters may obtain this amount of experience points. However, the level cap of 20 still remains in place.
Computation for the Table :
- Class Skill Max Ranks CAP = CharacterLevel + 3.
- Cross-Class Skill Max Ranks CAP = ([CharacterLevel / 2] Rounded up) + 1
- Feat gain for levels 1-20 = (CharacterLevel / 3) + 1
- Feat gain for levels 20-30 = ((CharacterLevel - 20) / 2) Rounded Up
- Ability point gain = CharacterLevel / 4
- Required Experience = CharacterLevel * (CharacterLevel – 1) * 500
- Each level requires an added CharacterLevel * 1000
Epic Character Level Progression Table[]
| Character level |
Non-ECL XP |
ECL +1 XP |
ECL +2 XP |
ECL +3 XP |
Class skill max ranks |
Cross-class skill max ranks |
Feats | Ability increases |
| 21 | 210,000 | 231,000 | 253,000 | 276,000 | 24 | 12 | 8th | |
| 22 | 231,000 | 253,000 | 276,000 | 300,000 | 25 | 12 | ||
| 23 | 253,000 | 276,000 | 300,000 | 325,000 | 26 | 13 | 9th | |
| 24 | 276,000 | 300,000 | 325,000 | 351,000 | 27 | 13 | 6th | |
| 25 | 300,000 | 325,000 | 351,000 | 378,000 | 28 | 14 | 10th | |
| 26 | 325,000 | 351,000 | 378,000 | 406,000 | 29 | 14 | ||
| 27 | 351,000 | 378,000 | 406,000 | 435,000 | 30 | 15 | 11th | |
| 28 | 378,000 | 406,000 | 435,000 | 465,000 | 31 | 15 | 7th | |
| 29 | 406,000 | 435,000 | 465,000 | 496,000 | 32 | 16 | 12th | |
| 30 | 435,000 | 465,000 | 496,000 | 528,000** | 33 | 16 |
** This is the maximum possible experience points that a character may have in NWN2 with the Mask of the Betrayer expansion installed. Even non-ECL characters may obtain this amount of experience points. However, the level cap of 30 still remains in place.
Epic Levels[]
Characters in Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer can reach a maximum character level of 30. Levels 21 through 30 are considered epic levels and unlock access to more powerful feats and other benefits. While prestige class maximum levels are the same as in NWN2 (3, 5 or 10, depending upon the class), characters can advance up to level 30 in any base class. If a character has multiple classes, it is their total level that determines whether they are an epic character. See the individual base class description pages for a description of the specific benefits for reaching levels 21 through 30 in each of the base classes.
The following benefits apply to all epic level characters, regardless of class level:
- New feats are gained every other level instead of every third level (levels 21, 23, 25, 27, 29). These feats are in addition to the bonus feats mentioned in the base class descriptions for specific classes.
- Ability score improvements continue every 4 levels (levels 24, 28).
- Base Attack Bonus and Base Saves continue as normal.
- Epic level characters continue to gain additional attacks per round with every 5 BAB, unlike in D&D where the base number of attacks is capped at 4.
- Any spellcaster gains +1 DC to all of their spells every third epic level (23, 26, 29).
Notes on Experience Point Gain[]
- While Obsidian has stated that NPCs, summons, familiars, and animal companions do not affect earned Experience Points, this is not entirely true. Summons, familiars, and animal companions are not counted in the calculation for earned Experience. However, the party's average character level (not ECL) is used to determine earned Experience for an encounter. This has a profound impact on high ECL races as they will cause the party to earn accelerated experience points during play because they bring the party average level down.
- Example 1: A Human Wizard of 7th level is adventuring with Khelgar Ironfist (only) and encounters a Bladeling. The Bladeling has a Challenge Rating (CR) of 1. The party's average level is 7. This happens because NPCs have the same XPs as the PC, thus making Khelghar (a Dwarf Fighter) also level 7. The earned experience for this encounter is 17 points for every character in the party regardless of their condition upon earning the points (i.e., dead or alive).
- Example 2: If the same Wizard above had Neeshka instead of Khelgar Ironfist, she'd be a level 6 Rogue (because she's a Tiefling and thus has an ECL of +1). The average party level is thus 6.5 which is rounded down to 6. This results in 19 points of experience for every character in the party for the encounter.
- Temporary NPCs such as the 2nd level Fighter in the Neverwinter crypts during the Temple of Tyr quest highly impact the party's average level. Thus, it's advantageous to have such party members in the group to obtain more experience points during combat.
See also[]
- Ability
- Base Attack Bonus
- Class progression
- Class skill
- Cross-class skill
- ECL
- Experience point (XP)
- Feat
- Level adjustment
- Skill rank
- Multiclass penalty
- Multiclass penalty and ECL comparison
NWN1 Differences[]
- NWN did not implement PnP's half ranks for cross-class skills. NWN2 continues this trend and thus they are omitted from the table above. They would normally occur at every even level (2, 4, 6, 8, ... 20).
- NWN permitted the player to "carry over" all unused skill points from one level up to the next. Thus, it was possible to hoard skill points from the beginning of the game until you obtained a single rank of Rogue at level 20 and then be able to dump all of those skill points into Tumble in one fell swoop.
- NWN2 permits you to "carry over" a maximum of 5 skill points at level up. If you do not spend points to lower the remaining skill points to 5 or less, the "next" button does not activate to permit you to finish leveling up.
- NWN2 properly permits full-access to any skill once it's been obtained by any of the character's classes. While cross-class skill points must still be paid for non-class skills during level-up, the character may consider the skill a class skill for the purpose of determining the maximum number of skill points permitted to be purchased in the skill. The Able learner feat reduces the skill point cost to 1 making it a very valuable feat.