Now that news about Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot DLC 2 has started filtering through V Jump scans and leaks, it is only a matter of time before the next boss battle episode finally releases. Fans have waited quite a long time for information about the upcoming battle, but even now there are still many unknowns. The scans all but confirm Golden Frieza for DBZ: Kakarot, but certain factors remain enigmatic to this day. One question that has been burning in the minds of players is whether or not there will be a level cap increase with this next DLC, as the answer to that has massive implications for the DLC itself.
For those that may not have known, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot‘s level cap is 250, but there was nothing in the base game that could remotely challenge a player that reached that level. Rather than increase the level cap with the first DLC, Bandai Namco opted to include Whis and Beerus as two enemies that could provide a challenge even at those high levels. Moving forward, though, it remains to be seen whether Golden Frieza will be on a similar power level as Beerus and Whis or if a new level cap will take things to the next level.
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While introducing new methods of leveling up, the Super Saiyan God form, and the incredibly tough Beerus boss battle all were great additions, fans couldn’t help but feel disappointed at how short the DLC was. Despite all of these additions, many fans completed everything there was to do in the DLC after just a few short hours of playing. Naturally, there is fear that DLC 2 will follow in its footsteps and, aside from some minor changes, it seems very likely that it will.
But when breaking down DLC 1 as a whole, a large majority of the time players spent with it was used grinding experience by training with Whis in order to reach max level. Some players had already reached Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot‘s max level beforehand by training with Bonyu, but those that didn’t got considerably more time out of the DLC. The biggest issue with not including a level cap is the effect it would have on the current DLC formula. If there’s nothing to grind towards, will the DLC literally just be fighting some of Frieza’s soldiers and then doing battle with Golden Frieza?
On the flipside, raising the level cap does introduce some problems of its own. Most notably is its effect on the Beerus boss fight. If players are able to level up beyond level 250 to level 300 or even level 350, the level 250 Beerus boss fight will be trivial. Given how many experience items it gives for completion, it is likely that fans would grind Beerus for experience instead of Whis. This is interesting since the previous DLC saw Whis replace Bonyu as DBZ: Kakarot‘s best grind, and would continue that cycle.
Canonically, though, Beerus is far more powerful than Goku or Vegeta. Even after defeating him, Beerus makes a snide remark about not using his full power and condescendingly informs the Saiyans that they have a long way to go. In order for this to be represented in game, Beerus would need a new fight set at the new level cap in order for him to maintain his place at the top of the totem pole of Universe 7. It simply wouldn’t make sense for Golden Frieza to be stronger than him, especially since it is clear that Golden Frieza still fears Beerus.
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Despite all of this, most fans would agree that a level cap increase would be for the best. Most of those negative drawbacks have easy solutions that wouldn’t take much effort on behalf of CyberConnect2, and having something new to strive for would give players a reason to return after beating Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot. Even so, this does beg the question of what the new level cap would be. At this point there is no prior history to use as a reference, so it’s honestly anyone’s guess, but there are certain options that seem more likely.
Unlike Borderlands 3‘s strange level cap increments, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot would likely increase the level cap by a fairly substantial amount. As previously mentioned, the two most likely options seem to be setting the new max level at either 300 or 350, representing a 50 or 100 level cap increase respectively. Given the scale of Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, 50 seems like it may even be too small, so 350 seems more likely. Finally, it is even possible that Bandai Namco could go even further, doubling the level cap and increasing it to an absurd 500. Again at this point there’s not much anyone can do but guess.
Through all of this, it is worth asking what a level cap increase would do for the game aside from giving players something to grind towards and artificially increasing the power of Beerus, Frieza, and free roam enemies. There’s already an issue with the lack of power scaling in the game which causes Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot‘s Time Machine to be absolutely pointless, and it seems that a level cap increase would only exacerbate that effect. But reaching new heights of power is what Dragon Ball Z is all about, so Bandai Namco will need to figure out a way to represent that in game.
The obvious affects are increased stats and power level. With an extra 100 or more levels players will be able to take Goku and Vegeta to insane heights. While this does sound fun, it doesn’t mean much if there isn’t something to test their mettle against. With any luck, Beerus will be powered up, the Golden Frieza battle will be challenging even at max level, and enemies outside of random encounters may finally get some semblance of power scaling to match the player’s level. Until then, though, fans will simply have to wait and see.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
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