Tips for a restart for a newbie?
I recently started BG3 as my first party and turn-based CRPG. With no knowledge or understanding of CRPGS, builds, or DnD, I chose to play as Gale and kind of disastrously crashed my way through the first four levels while still having a blast. I killed Scratch, I killed the Owlbear Cub, I killed the Hag, and on and on. I started to get my act together around Level 5, and then things got really fun.
I played very exhaustively and had about 90 hours in by the time I was at Shar's Gauntlet in Act 2. That's when things started to run out. It all started to feel a bit chore-like and samey, even though individual moments were spectacular. I had been playing with Lae'zel, Shadowheart, and Astarion in my party from the start and never used Karlach or Wyll. As I started to understand the systems and rules, my connection to playing as Gale got less and less. I never did any respecs using Withers. I played mostly blind. I started to get a sense of the kind of character I actually could get "into character" playing. Ultimately, I lost enough interest that I needed a break and even deleted the game file.
I understand from reading online that I'm not unique and that my experience is very common in sprawling CRPGS. For you veterans, what are some tips you would give me to help keep the game fun and fresh over many hours when I do a second replay with creating my own character? For context, I typically play only one game at a time.