I think it generally shakes out OK on the DEX/Con front vs. other classes.
Among the standard character classes the characters who use Strength as their primary attack stat have good Heavy Armor and shield options to help their AC. They can dump Dex and push Con and Wis along with another mental stat and support 18-20 AC without tanking their Physical or Mental Defenses and still have +3 to hit.
The Ranger can take 16 Dexterity and 16 Constitution, but he's only hitting 18 out of the gate and he's not blowing out anybody else's PD or MD stats by much.
When you try to multi-class, though, things get UGLY with key stats since you are forced to take a 16 in 2 stats just to get your +3 to hit. All the Physical / Physical combinations (except Fighter / Barbarian) are Strength + Dexterity, leading you dumping Constitution or Mental Defense. The classes without Dexterity or Wisdom in their primary abilities find balancing offense and defense extra challenging. Nobody but the Fighter / Barbarian can really take a 16 Constitution and most attempts to dual-class warriors with less-elite combat classes force you to give up Heavy Armor and eat 1d6/1d8 weapon damage instead of 1d8/1d10. Primary casters have to deal with their spell progression lagging so their spell damage-per-level lags too.
So ideally for HP and Defenses you want Dex + Mental Stat as your key. That way you can take Con and an off-mental stat, pushing HP, AC, MD, and PD. The only characters that actually pull that off without sacrificing weapon or spell damage are Rogue / Commanders, Rogue / Bards, and Bard / Rangers. Two Rogue + X builds have their powers work so badly together it's more than made up for (no combining Rogue powers or Sneak Attack with Flexible Attacks or the Command-point generating attacks, you also wind up with worse AC that either class on their own).
The Ranger / Bard is actually pretty effective as long as you aren't in it for the Ranger's dual-attack options. You don't lose damage or HP. You give up the 16 DEX / 16 CON builds of either class, but you get solid 17 AC and good PD / MD from a S10/C14/D16/C14 + 14 INT or WIS.
You get diversity at a cost: some combination of damage dice, defense stats, and hit points (or attack bonus, but it's highly unlikely anyone skips paying the To-Hit-Tax of multi-classing.)
- Marty Lund
Among the standard character classes the characters who use Strength as their primary attack stat have good Heavy Armor and shield options to help their AC. They can dump Dex and push Con and Wis along with another mental stat and support 18-20 AC without tanking their Physical or Mental Defenses and still have +3 to hit.
The Ranger can take 16 Dexterity and 16 Constitution, but he's only hitting 18 out of the gate and he's not blowing out anybody else's PD or MD stats by much.
When you try to multi-class, though, things get UGLY with key stats since you are forced to take a 16 in 2 stats just to get your +3 to hit. All the Physical / Physical combinations (except Fighter / Barbarian) are Strength + Dexterity, leading you dumping Constitution or Mental Defense. The classes without Dexterity or Wisdom in their primary abilities find balancing offense and defense extra challenging. Nobody but the Fighter / Barbarian can really take a 16 Constitution and most attempts to dual-class warriors with less-elite combat classes force you to give up Heavy Armor and eat 1d6/1d8 weapon damage instead of 1d8/1d10. Primary casters have to deal with their spell progression lagging so their spell damage-per-level lags too.
So ideally for HP and Defenses you want Dex + Mental Stat as your key. That way you can take Con and an off-mental stat, pushing HP, AC, MD, and PD. The only characters that actually pull that off without sacrificing weapon or spell damage are Rogue / Commanders, Rogue / Bards, and Bard / Rangers. Two Rogue + X builds have their powers work so badly together it's more than made up for (no combining Rogue powers or Sneak Attack with Flexible Attacks or the Command-point generating attacks, you also wind up with worse AC that either class on their own).
The Ranger / Bard is actually pretty effective as long as you aren't in it for the Ranger's dual-attack options. You don't lose damage or HP. You give up the 16 DEX / 16 CON builds of either class, but you get solid 17 AC and good PD / MD from a S10/C14/D16/C14 + 14 INT or WIS.
You get diversity at a cost: some combination of damage dice, defense stats, and hit points (or attack bonus, but it's highly unlikely anyone skips paying the To-Hit-Tax of multi-classing.)
- Marty Lund
