Thanks to creative saving I didn't, my current save is right at the beginning of NG+, ready to continue when the DLCs start arising

I think I ended the story mode with a 100ish level character, but once I started playing Chalices I easy levelled up up to 150, you get echoes in the hardest dungeons like crazy even without using specific runes. I'm still missing some chalices (that I have to find and beat) and lots of runes that can only be acquired in the hardest dungeons.