Like its predecessor, Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire features a level scaling option, however this time around you are given more control over what that actually means. Level scaling is a divisive mechanic among fans (I personally dislike it) so giving the option to enable it or not is the best path to take.
The practicality of level scaling depends on what difficulty setting you’re playing on. If you feel like you become either much too overpowered early on, or struggle in the late game more than you should, it’s a good way to make the game more challenging or manageable. However, the issues with level scaling is that when tough encounters are made easier, they lose some of their punch or impact, while keeping otherwise weak and low-level encounters consistent in difficulty negates a sense of progress and pads the game.
Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire offers multiple level scaling options. Players can choose where there is no scaling at all, scaling on all encounters in the game, or if only the main quest-chain scales to the player’s level. This latter option is best suited to those who tend to become overpowered early on, as it will allow low-level side-quests to be completed with greater ease and in less time, but ensures that the main quests stay challenging.
Additionally, there exists the option to restrict level scaling, if it is enabled, to only scale upward. This means that weaker enemies will scale up to your level as you progress, but harder encounters won’t scale down, thus negating one of the two main issues with level scaling. If you don’t want the game to make encounters easier for you, but still want every encounter to remain challenging, this is a perfect option for you.
To find out more about Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire, check out our review.
