max str, max dex, 16 con, max cha (its a shopping thing) and then average wis/int.
I'm very melee oriented though =/ Maxing Int or Wisdom if you want to dual mage or cleric respectively also works (provided you're human).
No point in max Charisma since you get the Ring of Human Influence almost instantaneously.
Ring slots are incredibly precious in BGII. I really tire of this argument being dismissively used again and again in favor of making Charsima a dump stat.
I'm pratical here. How much time do you spent shopping, and how much time do you spent fighting/exploring?
My calculation would be for example:
timeShopping=10 min a day timeExploring= 100 min a day
totaltime=tt =tS+TE = 110 min so that means: (tS/tt)*100% = 9%
conclusion: Unless you spent much more time shopping then you do exploring, you waste your resources. In the example you would waste around 90% if you choose CHA over the item that grants you CHA. But that is just me. And yes, since you are a thief it's actually the only reason to keep her at all, until you can get a replacement.
I'll throw in a wrinkle here. There are two rings of Wizardry in BG2, the removal of which, even for 10 a day, causes the player to have to reselect the spells and the character to rest and rememorize them.
Plus, there are encounters and reactions which are driven a Charisma driven reaction roll. Sure, you can meta-game in anticipation of these events, but it is generally better all around to not have to switch in and out on your rings even for 'Occasional' benefit. Plus it can sometimes be a PITA to have to remember to switch something like that in and out every time.
And I am a big opponent of dump stats regardless of the potential benefit in other areas. To me, a character is more than +4 to hit due to High Strength.
Well, since you are a 92 thief who wants to dual later into a mage, would you let int be under 15 so you can have a nice discussion in the Tavern? Or WIS<CHA if you choose the devine path?
As I mentioned before, you can have it either way, but especially if you are going to dual later, would you really butcher your chance to dual if you have the option to use a spell or an item to increase CHA to a decent level? I think not.
If you are a pure thief, and don't mind if you are one hitted by a mind flayer, go ahead and don't follow my advice to keep a decent level in INT and turn INT (or WIS) into the dump stat to have a perfect CHA 18. Sacrifices must be made, but to use a dump stat to avoid a dump stat? hm, that will not work unless he got all 108 points.
max str, max dex, 16 con, max cha (its a shopping thing) and then average wis/int.
I'm very melee oriented though =/ Maxing Int or Wisdom if you want to dual mage or cleric respectively also works (provided you're human).
No point in max Charisma since you get the Ring of Human Influence almost instantaneously.
Ring slots are incredibly precious in BGII. I really tire of this argument being dismissively used again and again in favor of making Charsima a dump stat.
I'm pratical here. How much time do you spent shopping, and how much time do you spent fighting/exploring?
My calculation would be for example:
timeShopping=10 min a day timeExploring= 100 min a day
totaltime=tt =tS+TE = 110 min so that means: (tS/tt)*100% = 9%
conclusion: Unless you spent much more time shopping then you do exploring, you waste your resources. In the example you would waste around 90% if you choose CHA over the item that grants you CHA. But that is just me. And yes, since you are a thief it's actually the only reason to keep her at all, until you can get a replacement.
I'll throw in a wrinkle here. There are two rings of Wizardry in BG2, the removal of which, even for 10 a day, causes the player to have to reselect the spells and the character to rest and rememorize them.
Plus, there are encounters and reactions which are driven a Charisma driven reaction roll. Sure, you can meta-game in anticipation of these events, but it is generally better all around to not have to switch in and out on your rings even for 'Occasional' benefit. Plus it can sometimes be a PITA to have to remember to switch something like that in and out every time.
And I am a big opponent of dump stats regardless of the potential benefit in other areas. To me, a character is more than +4 to hit due to High Strength.
Well, since you are a 92 thief who wants to dual later into a mage, would you let int be under 15 so you can have a nice discussion in the Tavern? Or WIS
No one is saying to dump int on a mage. I don't know why you keep bringing it up. You need 17 int to dual into a mage, anyways. The question's only relevant when you don't need any of the mental stats.
92 thief = 18/18/16/11/11/18. There, no dump stats.
You are not going to get one shot by a mind flayer. 11 int = 3 hits from an illithid. 16 int = 4 hits. The extra hit doesn't matter much for a thief because you shouldn't be getting hit in the first place, but if you make a mistake you can still take 2 hits for free. If you want to powergame then okay, dump wis but honestly... 11 int is plenty.
Why would a thief be worried about a mind flayer anyways? Yes mr mind flayer...please cast that holding spell on me. Yes, come over to attack me up close. I certainly don't have 5-7 of anything all set up and ready to kill you. Nope, not me.
Without the implementation of save bonuses or penalties Wisdom is the true dump stat as it serves absolutely no purpose if you have no divine aspirations.
Intelligence only serves as a buffer against flayer attacks (which can easily be circumvented by potions), outside of that it is again useless unless you have arcane aspirations.
Charisma will get you bigger discounts at stores so serves some purpose, although money becomes moot fairly quickly so only has a limited value.
Comments
As I mentioned before, you can have it either way, but especially if you are going to dual later, would you really butcher your chance to dual if you have the option to use a spell or an item to increase CHA to a decent level? I think not.
If you are a pure thief, and don't mind if you are one hitted by a mind flayer, go ahead and don't follow my advice to keep a decent level in INT and turn INT (or WIS) into the dump stat to have a perfect CHA 18. Sacrifices must be made, but to use a dump stat to avoid a dump stat? hm, that will not work unless he got all 108 points.
92 thief = 18/18/16/11/11/18. There, no dump stats.
You are not going to get one shot by a mind flayer. 11 int = 3 hits from an illithid. 16 int = 4 hits. The extra hit doesn't matter much for a thief because you shouldn't be getting hit in the first place, but if you make a mistake you can still take 2 hits for free. If you want to powergame then okay, dump wis but honestly... 11 int is plenty.
Hehe.
Without the implementation of save bonuses or penalties Wisdom is the true dump stat as it serves absolutely no purpose if you have no divine aspirations.
Intelligence only serves as a buffer against flayer attacks (which can easily be circumvented by potions), outside of that it is again useless unless you have arcane aspirations.
Charisma will get you bigger discounts at stores so serves some purpose, although money becomes moot fairly quickly so only has a limited value.