diff --git a/changelog.txt b/changelog.txt
index 658f572d..ff79b95c 100644
--- a/changelog.txt
+++ b/changelog.txt
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ Unreleased
 * light: removed the "-nominlimit" option (now the default behaviour)
 * light: remove support for negative color components (never worked properly)
 * light: implemented the "-soft" command line option
+* vis: changed the default testlevel to 4
 
 2013-03-07 TyrUtils v0.6
 
diff --git a/vis.txt b/vis.txt
index 2a627f2c..6c24a218 100644
--- a/vis.txt
+++ b/vis.txt
@@ -26,9 +26,11 @@ OPTIONS
 	-fast          Skip detailed calculations and calculate a very loose
 	               set of PVS data. Useful for testing.
 
-	-level n       Select a test level from 1 to 4. Increasing test levels
-	               require more calculations, but compute a tighter PVS.
-	               Finished maps should be compiled with -level 4.
+	-level n       Select a test level from 0 to 4 for detailed visibility
+	               calculations.  Lower levels are not necessarily faster in
+	               in all cases.  It is not recommended that you change
+	               the default level unless you are experiencing problems.
+	               Default 4.
 
 	-v             Verbose output
 
diff --git a/vis/vis.c b/vis/vis.c
index 67009a09..caccaa5e 100644
--- a/vis/vis.c
+++ b/vis/vis.c
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ int leafbytes_real;		// (portalleafs_real+63)>>3
 
 qboolean fastvis;
 static int verbose = 0;
-int testlevel = 2;
+int testlevel = 4;
 
 #if 0
 void
@@ -1171,7 +1171,6 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 	    fastvis = true;
 	} else if (!strcmp(argv[i], "-level")) {
 	    testlevel = atoi(argv[i + 1]);
-	    logprint("testlevel = %i\n", testlevel);
 	    i++;
 	} else if (!strcmp(argv[i], "-v")) {
 	    logprint("verbose = true\n");
@@ -1192,6 +1191,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
     }
 
     logprint("running with %d threads\n", numthreads);
+    logprint("testlevel = %i\n", testlevel);
 
     stateinterval = 300; /* 5 minutes */
     starttime = statetime = I_FloatTime();