Main attribute/skill with just 18 points?

[Revan]

I was just wondering. Every character build I see shows people work their way up to 20 points in their classes main skill or attribute. Personally I don't intend to play on tactitian so I don't really care about min/maxing.

Therefor I wondered if it would be viable for a character to have "only" 18 points in like wisdom or charisma, instead of 20. Do these 2 points more or less make a huge difference?

Background is that I'd like to make a tempest cleric that can occasionally at least hit someone if the need arises. And I don't want to dump charisma/dex completely. So my idea was to get wisdom to 18 and to put some more points in str and con. I know you can get a potion that gives you +2str, I plan on getting that one.

If I understand correctly 18 points in wisdom should equal a 5% reduced hit chance with spells, is that correct? Or does it mean that I have a 0% hit chance on anything with more than 18 points in a spells saving throw attribute?

If it's just 5-10% less likely to hit certain things I wouldn't mind. As I said, I don't intend to min-max. I just want to have some fun. I'm not sure if I understand how the numbers work in this game correct though.. which makes planing a fun tempest cleric build a bit complicated for me :-/

[Kug3lf4ng]

its +1 per 2 points isnt it ?

[Metadigital]

In general it's about a 5% reduction in hit chance and 1 less damage on some spells.

[Calv]

It literally just adds 1 to the related dice rolls. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

[Seraphiel Darkstar]

why not? may even leave it at 10, you are simply gonna have it worse when it comes to rolls. which is not necessarily bad, failure can often be hilarious.

[robert.steven.marshall]

You'll start out with max 17 anyway and that is more than manageable. I wouldn't sweat it. The option to go to 20 isn't there early on so you can always see how things go and respec or whatever in the camp in the first act or anytime after.

[Glyph]

Getting your main stat to 20 goes a long way to better rolls. No reason not to reach it.

[Moffin Bovin]

nope. it has to be 20. its too complex to explain. just trust me.

[Snaef]

Failing to land save or suck spells, not so hilarious...

[zero]

5% less chance to hit, generally, as well as 1 less damage on hits if your using melee basic attacks, it adds up over time.

i would say: there isn't really a good reason NOT to stat cap your primary stat, its 2 asi's or an asi+feat

[Aria Athena]

Depending on how you play your character, you may not even have a primary stat. My swords bard ends with 18 DEX and 18 CHA. I gave up one ASI for multiclass and then I decided to take a feat instead. I am not going to miss either of the 20s.

[x_equals_speed]

You'll be fine. The game is simply not that hard, it sounds like you're not planning on playing on the hardest setting so you'll get away with it.

Don't get me wrong, it's a poor decision that'll make your character weaker than it could be, but at the end of the day that won't make the game impossible to play.

I would suggest some alternatives though:

There is a weapon available in the first act that sets your strength to 18 (whatever it was before) and gloves in the third act that sets it to 23. You could just not put many points into strength and use those.

Alternatively you could try the feat that gives you a cantrip from another class to pick up sheleigh from druid. That's a cantrip that's a bonus action to cast, lasts for the whole fight and lets you use wisdom instead of strength for attack and damage rolls as long as your weapon is a club or a staff.

You can be someone capable of swinging a weapon without necessarily lowering your main stat to do it.

[Shells]

Whether one should aim for 20 (or more) depends a bit on which stat (and the character's role) we are talking about. For a cleric going with WIS 18 seems okay(ish) with WIS influencing spell DC, WIS save and corresponding skills. For a DEX build on the other hand I would definately go for 20+; damage and AC come on top. The feats are only super strong for fighter types (GWM, Sharpshooter, e.g.), in most other cases ASIs seem quite tasty to me.

[Tenor Sounds]

Honestly, don't worry about it if you're not min-maxing. As long as your main stat is at least 16 you'll be alright.

Heck, most of my stats were odd numbers at level 1 which might send some people into conniptions, and I'm still having a grand time on balanced mode.

[Crom]

Originally posted by Revan:

Therefor I wondered if it would be viable for a character to have "only" 18 points in like wisdom or charisma, instead of 20. Do these 2 points more or less make a huge difference?

It doesnt matter. Just play the way you like.

My warrior has 8 Str, 8 Dex, 8 Con,

and im having blast through the game.

[Metrod125]

For full-casters that aren't going hybrid, maxing out the spell casting stat might be ok, but I wouldn't put all your eggs in that basket.
Most of my own team on balance had only 18 in their primary state and that was it, mostly due to the fact you get only 3 "feat" options for the entire game, and the items you get/find matter slightly more than that.