The leveling mechanics work a bit differently from what you might remember - keep track of the major changes while planning your character. When setting up, picking those seven major skills still gives you that nice +20 boost and they'll progress faster than others, but here's the interesting part: every single skill you use contributes to leveling now, not just the major ones. Find a bed whenever you're ready to level up, that's your trigger point for progression.

For the actual level-up process you'll get exactly 12 virtue points to work with and here's how to handle them: watch your attribute spread since you can only boost three different ones per level, remember luck needs 4 points for each +1 increase, and you can't push any attribute past +5 per level. The system's designed to let you be more flexible with builds but timing is crucial - especially with luck improvements since they're pretty expensive. You might want to focus on your core attributes early on while the point costs are manageable. They definitely increased the level cap though nobody's quite sure exactly where it stops now, so just keep pushing those skills and see how far you can go

Pretty important to note that efficient leveling isn't really a thing anymore since all skills matter now, which honestly makes those starting choices feel less make-or-break than before. Just focus on what fits your playstyle and you'll progress naturally.