Quick Guide to Basic Attributes and Feats
By Kastorex.
First, attributes do nothing for you at odd levels, rounding down – you want to avoid odd ability scores.
Second, ask yourself a few questions about single-use stat upgrades that are available throughout the game:
- Who’s taking (Act 1) Hag Hair – In my opinion, Hag Hair should go to Dex > Int (if you have an Int user) > Str (if you want a “natural” 24) > Wis (frees neck slot) > Cha (speeds up the breakpoint you’d normally only have access to in a3) > Con (xd).
- Do you want “natural” (non-elixir) 24 strength – if yes, does your build get enough feats to not need (Act 1) Hag Hair for it – (Acts 2/3) Astarion potion + Mirror of Loss takes you to 24 from 20.
- Do you want to aim for (Act 3) Patriar’s Memory from the Mirror of Loss for the +1 CHA.
Then for the attributes:
- STR is only really important if you want to open up Bloodlust Elixir instead of Hill/Cloud Giant Strength on a martial, and comes at the opportunity cost of not being able to afford a caster stat for Diadem of Arcane Synergy. There is seldom a reason to level STR, one such case being Tavern Brawler throwers.
- DEX is the most or second most important stat for basically every build. You rarely, if ever, want less than 14. If your character is wearing heavy armour and isn’t going to be casting CC spells, it’s okay to dump, but the question becomes “why” – the points have to go somewhere. If you plan on wearing medium armour, stopping at 14 is a safe bet. Otherwise, get 16, or higher if using it as your main attribute.
- CON is basically always the 3rd most important attribute, with a score of 14 being the default. If you plan on using Tavern Brawler and STR elixirs, make it a 15.
- Caster Stats are the ones to max out on if your character is using them – either for spells or item scaling (Arcane Synergy being the main mechanic), or to spend the last 2 points bringing an attribute to 10 because your other stats are accounted for. For the latter, order of priority is WIS > INT > CHA.
Class archetypes:
- Martials – Barbarian, Swords Bard, Fighter, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Blade Warlock.
- Casters – Lore Bard, Cleric, Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard.
- Special Case – Moon Druid, which wants to take a martial feat for the shapeshifts.
Finally, the feat guide:
- Martial characters want a power feat – this refers to Great Weapon Master, Sharpshooter and Tavern Brawler.
- Melee martials that use weapons can (and imo should) take Savage Attacker as their second feat – this provides more damage than ASI in basically every scenario.
- Casters may want to consider Dual Wielder from level 8 onwards IF they don’t get Shield Proficiency, or for dual wielding (Act 3) Markoheshkir + Rhapsody. If you’re not wielding those exact 2 weapons, (Acts 2/3) Rhapsody/Markoheshkir + Ketheric’s Shield is very similar and may save you a feat.
- Alert should only be a consideration on casters that bring heavy AoE CC spells, if they have a spare feat. It doesn’t matter if your other party members aren’t at the very top of initiative order if the enemies can’t act.
- Resilient:CON and/or War Caster shouldn’t be taken unless your build can’t access Sorcerer/Fighter 1 as a substitute for the former, or a piece of equipment that provides con save advantage to fulfill the role of the latter.
- The other feats are bait in 999/1000 cases, just take Ability Improvement for your main stat or dexterity if the former is capped.
I appreciate your time and hope this little tutorial was helpful.
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