Dwarf Fighter/Cleric starting stats

Capashan

Hey all. Long time player of the BG games, re-bought them the other day through stream so I can start the obsession all over!

I have a couple of questions regarding starting stats for a dwarf cleric/fighter: 1. After maxing Str/Dex/Wis/Con, what is the suggested dump stat, INT or CHA? 2. What minimums do you guys recommend for INT and CHA? If it helps, I plan on playing all the way through the end of BG2.

As an aside, the highest roll I've managed so far with the fighter/cleric is a 91 which seems pretty solid for the build. I managed a 99 with my human paladin, which blew my mind (my wife was not as excited as I), albeit only 18/09 strength.

EDIT: Also regarding the strength stat, setting aside RP for the moment, do you think that the benefit of taking a roll with a 18/00 strength is worth it, even if you have lower a dump stat to 1? (cha)

Thanks!

Musigny

Capashan said:

EDIT: Also regarding the strength stat, setting aside RP for the moment, do you think that the benefit of taking a roll with a 18/00 strength is worth it, even if you have lower a dump stat to 1? (cha)

No because you are going to reach 19 by the end of BG1 and there are plenty of potions anyway.

Blackraven

CHA would be the dump stat, especially if you take an NPC along who can serve as the spokesperson of your party.
INT on the other hand does have its uses. Besides lore, 9 INT is the minimum score required to use wands and read scrolls. And 11 INT is often chosen to be able to take two Mind Flayer drains (Illithids have a devour brain ability that drains 5 INT per hit). 16 INT would of course be better even, as it will keep your character alive even after being hit a third time by a Mind Flayer's devour brain attack.

I don't like extremely low CHA, so for a Fighter/Cleric with a 91 roll I'd go with:
STR 18
DEX 17
CON 19
INT 11
WIS 18
CHA 8

However you could reduce your CHA to 2 or 3 and raise INT to 15 or 16 if you wanted to.

Edit: I wouldn't focus much on the exceptional STR score (18/xx). There are many ways to raise STR temprarily for a Fighter/Cleric (potions spells), and the game even offers a few options to raise STR permanently as you may remember.

Capashan

Thank you for the responses.

I ended up going with:
STR: 18/72
DEX: 17
CON: 19
INT: 16
WIS: 18
CHA: 6

for a total of 94. I was debating between having both INT and CHA be at 11 versus what they are at above, but ended going with this build.

Thank you again!

Musigny

CHA 3 grants you an unremovable and permanent aura of olfactory desperation.

Blackraven

Excellent roll and stat distribution. Have fun!
And CHA 6, well still a bit smelly, but no permanent olfactory desperation there.

Grum

That looks good. A pretty 'bastardly' dwarf right there. Bad smell, no manners...but not totally horrific. To put it in perspective, Korgan is Cha 7. So this dwarf is pretty much like him, only with a smell to boot. A certain tome can remove that. Luckily by the time BG2 comes around, he'll easily get Cha 18.

jackjack

Are you referring to the Ring of Human Influence Ring of Metahuman Odor Neutralization?

Capashan

Grum,

My dwarf is just "grossly" misunderstood! Chaotic good, just not very good with people.

Grum

jackjack said:

Are you referring to the Ring of Human Influence Ring of Metahuman Odor Neutralization?

It's a book hidden within a Xzart cave called "Soap! 100 ways that it changed my life."

It is invariably destroyed because the user keeps dropping it in the tub.

Grum

Grum said:

jackjack said:

Are you referring to the Ring of Human Influence Ring of Metahuman Odor Neutralization?

For the book:

It's a book hidden within a Xzart cave called "Soap! 100 ways that it changed my life."

It is invariably destroyed because the user keeps dropping it in the tub.

For the ring:

It makes everyone confuse you for Jan Jansen. Who is probably the most charming creature ever created by the gods.