Progression stuck at level 4

[siskavard]

Story is pointing me to go to the Underdark, but when I go there I get a warning that I'm a weak little baby & should reconsider. Ok, so I go back to my starting area and kill lots of stuff to level up. I clear out the entire goblin camp, kill every monster basically on the main starting area map & my characters are still level 4. There's literally nothing left to kill.
Just curious what I'm doing wrong. Any advice is appreciated!

[Boss]

Did you go north or south? of the Blighted Village or into the caves below it?

But even if you did (tho pretty sure you should have hit Level 5 if you killed everything and completed the quest with plenty of XP to spare), you can still manage at Level 4 in the underdark

[Tax evasion]

Just so we're clear :
The underdark is the place you're going down to (either through the Goblin Camp, the Zhentarim Outpost, or the Spider Cave). I don't remember there being a warning.
You do get a warning though if you go through the mountain pass (if you're too low level). This is just a suggestion though. You're free to go back and forth if you are having trouble.

There is no advice : you can though squeeze lvl 5 out of the main area, but otherwise : just explore. "♥♥♥♥ around and find out", but more positively. The Underdark is definitely for your level, but the mountain pass might be a bit short (the enemies there are just hot garbage).

[siskavard]

Ah sorry I got mixed up there - yes I got the warning for the mountain pass, not the Underdark entrances.
I attempted going through the Underdark anyway and got my face ripped off by a purple Beholder. It wasn't even funny, he just blasted all 4 of my party members faces off in a few turns.
So I just feel stuck - whereas when I first got the game, it consumed me, it's all I wanted to play because it's AMAZING! But now, I'm just stuck and don't know where to go, so I'm just not really playing it anymore.

[Viper]

I went there at 4 and was fine.

[Mojo]

Level 5 is doable in the starting area. You have overlooked some areas for sure.

[Boss]

The beholder is a bit of a boss, and that's a dead end as far as the exploration is concerned. It serves for a quest hint and some important loot, but you don't need to fight it to progress further through the area

[Kamuizin]

Funny, i explored every corner of underdark before going Act 2 and didn’t find the beholder

[pirate135246]

go the other direction from the beholder

[EricHVela]

Originally posted by Kamuizin:

Funny, i explored every corner of underdark before going Act 2 and didn’t find the beholder

I know. It's a large Spectator. (4 eyestalks versus the 10 and also a summoned aberration.)

Spectators are normally Medium, meaning person sized. The ones encountered in BG3 are definitely Large.

Also, Intellect Devourers are almost Small in BG3 when they're supposed to be Tiny (like the size of an average humanoid brain with short animal legs).

People will just keep calling it a Beholder, though. It's officially "a lesser type of beholder". (Basic Rules p.153) So, they're not really wrong... just not completely accurate.

[Lani]

Did you explore Waukeen's Rest?
Went underground in the destroyed village and find the tomb?
Cleared out the swamp, had a nice tea?
Deal with the Zhentarim at the Gnoll ambush and their hideout
Find the Harper grave and played with the spiders?
Did some non-kill quests for the refugees?

It's pretty difficult not to be level 5 by the time you go either mountain pass or Underdark if you're playing halfway completionist and I'm honestly skeptical of you having done everything as even playing ACT 1 as a pacifist should get you to Level 5. 6 after you've done Underdark or Creche (I prefer Underdark, then take a sidetrip to Creche during Act 2 )

[Aeriar]

You definitely missed some parts of the first area. You should easily get level 5 from there. Make sure to uncover the whole map.

[Lani]

Originally posted by EricHVela:

Originally posted by Kamuizin:

Funny, i explored every corner of underdark before going Act 2 and didn’t find the beholder

I know. It's a large Spectator. (4 eyestalks versus the 10 and also a summoned aberration.)

Spectators are normally Medium, meaning person sized. The ones encountered in BG3 are definitely Large.

Also, Intellect Devourers are almost Small in BG3 when they're supposed to be Tiny (like the size of an average humanoid brain with short animal legs).

People will just keep calling it a Beholder, though. It's officially "a lesser type of beholder". (Basic Rules p.153) So, they're not really wrong... just not completely accurate.

I consider that a 'Black Panther' vs 'Genus Panthera'. BP's don't exist as such but everyone knows them and any members of the Genus Panthera with a skin (fur?) affliction turning them nearly black is by default a black panther regardless.

Blame Bioware and Neverwinter Nights for the devourers, Larian modelled theirs after those.
But the models in NWN were so low quality I honestly didn't realize they were brains with limbs at the time. TTRPG version are more reminiscent of facehuggers.

[Ironwu]

Originally posted by siskavard:

Story is pointing me to go to the Underdark, but when I go there I get a warning that I'm a weak little baby & should reconsider. Ok, so I go back to my starting area and kill lots of stuff to level up. I clear out the entire goblin camp, kill every monster basically on the main starting area map & my characters are still level 4. There's literally nothing left to kill.
Just curious what I'm doing wrong. Any advice is appreciated!

This game cannot be played like other games. It is a combination of quests and other things, like slaying monsters or talking your way out of a fight. Exploring. Reading Books. Lots of stuff.

Good Luck

[Airkixer]

I'm almost finished in the underdark and haven't hit 5 yet. It's not an issue.

[siskavard]

Originally posted by pirate135246:

go the other direction from the beholder

I don't know how to get through the gate that blasts the minotaur's face off