Is an 18/19/20 an absolute must?

[Lord Byron]

A 14 is only a -2 to hit and damage of an 18 after all.

However, remember losing that -2 to hit is per attack. Take that times how many attacks you make per monster, times how many monsters per encounter, times how many encounters per session, times how many sessions in your campaigaign, and, well, you may be stuck with that penalty for quite a long time. Even small penalties like that can matter a great deal in the long term. Actually, a -2 is probably going to be noticable in the short term too, if you pay enough attention.

I always aim for an 18 in my prime attack stat after racial modifiers, with at least a 16 in a secondary stat.

 

[Mengu]

If you're playing an Avenger (who can reroll) or an Assassin (who deals damage on a miss), you afford a lower prime stat. Other than that, if you intend on hitting anything you need at least a 17 on your prime stat (after racial adjustments).

My personal favorite is to aim for a starting total of 19, so the modifier can go up at 4th level. An even score means the modifier won't go up until 8th level.

Not sure I agree with the odd primary stat. You get that heroic level bump at level 4 (or 5 for those who build it in as a house rule) with expertise. Don't really need to even up the primary stat at 4. If anything I can see a secondary stat at an odd number, so it feels more like something is improving every 4 levels. Depends on where you want to spend the points and what you can afford really.

 

[CapnZapp]

The ones saying it's ok are lying.

If you don't hit, the game ain't fun. As simple as that.

You can get by with a 16 in your primary stat, but only if you choose a race who bumps this to an 18.

 

[sfedi]

The difference between 16 and 18 is not that great.
And when having a 20, you are making a huge sacrifice on your secondary and terciary stats.

The balance to this low or high primary stats is:
- Having frequent attacks to NADs
- Have the Skills be useful and necessary

This brings back the importance of other stats and makes having a high primary stat a real trade off and thus, a balanced choice.

 

[Jhaelen]

The ones saying it's ok are lying.

The ones saying the ones saying it's ok are lying are lying

If you don't hit, the game ain't fun. As simple as that.

That however, has a kernel of truth to it. However:
If you're always hitting, anyway, either because you put every available resource into boosting your attack bonus or because your DM often uses foes that are easy to hit, you might get away with a lower primary stat.

You can get by with a 16 in your primary stat, but only if you choose a race who bumps this to an 18.

In other words:
Unless you really know what you are doing (s.a.) you should make sure that your primary stat is 18 after applying racial modifiers - which is basically exactly the advice given in the PHB.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

18 after racial seems to be the best in many cases. At least you can´t do wrong. With a 20 in main stat you can do wrong, especially if secondary boosts the same defense.
And 16 in a main stat can be abit low. But as a weapon user you are still ok.

 

[Mistwell]

Can a charecter be ok enough with 16 as highest starting stat?

(My guess is: no).

Yes. My dwarven fighter went with 16 str, 16 con, and 16 wis to start. He's kickin butt and takin names! In fact, I would say that is almost the "standard" array for the prototypical dwarven fighter. Heavy shield, craghammer, and plate armor. Highly sticky, hard to move, and hits hard.

 

[Mistwell]

The ones saying it's ok are lying.

If you don't hit, the game ain't fun. As simple as that.

You can get by with a 16 in your primary stat, but only if you choose a race who bumps this to an 18.

I disagree. You're fretting over a 5% difference. That isn't that big a deal, particularly if you can make your other stats work better for you. If a 16 rather than an 18 means you get flanking 75% of the time instead of 25% of the time for example, would you still claim it's a must?

 

[Dan'L]

The ones saying it's ok are lying.

I'll have you know, I'm sitting down while I type this. I won't stand for your insinuations.

I had great fun playing a sword-and-board Elf Fighter which I started with 16 Str/Dex/Wis. With a +3 proficiency weapon, I still had a +7 to hit AC at level 1, so no trouble hitting. It kept all my NADs up so I did a better job defending. Since I had a decent dex, I could grab the longbow and be somewhat useful at range. Also, I had the best initiative of any in the party, because nobody else had anything to speak of in Dex.

So, to answer the titular question: no, it's not an absolute must. You just have to weigh the benefits of what you get against that little bit less to-hit/damage. Some times it will be worth it, you just have to decide that for yourself int the context of your particular character in your particular gaming group with your particular play style.

Some other things to keep in mind, beyond the hit/damage, is what else you lose out on like skills, HP, and initiative. If your primary is Str, you're arguably giving up the least ancilliary benefits compared with any other stat.

-Dan'L

 

[Nifft]

Having an 18 (post-racial) in your primary attack stat isn't a necessity, but it should be your default assumption. If you can justify higher or lower (16 or 20), then you should feel good about taking something other than an 18.

Dwarf Fighter is a great example where a 16 (post-racial) Str works fine. Why does it work fine? Three synergistic reasons:

• +2 Wisdom: this means your Opportunity Attacks work just as well as the guy with the 18 Strength.
• Second Wind as a Minor action (and +2 Con): you effectively gain one extra Standard action per combat, so missing once per combat isn't that terrible for you, paired with...
• Reliable daily powers: this is the 2nd thing which makes missing non-terrible for you.

Reasons for starting with a 20 should include looking over your class's Feat list and figuring out how many of those you can do without -- putting an 18 (pre-racial) in one stat will usually disqualify you from a large number of potentially nice feats.

- - -

Basically, view the 18 (post-racial) as a good guideline. If you don't want to think too hard about optimization, just make sure you have an 18 in your primary attack stat, and you will be mostly fine. If you do want to optimize your dude, the 18 is merely the place you start working: see if you can do better than that default by taking a 16 or a 20.

Cheers, -- N