Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Jurph" data-source="post: 4873540" data-attributes="member: 84577">The &quot;all-even&quot; arrays are much better as a whole than the general population!&nbsp; There are three &quot;champions&quot; (8 bonus points), and two examples each of 6's and 7's.&nbsp; There are no 4's or 5's here, so an all-even array is likely to be a good one.&nbsp; I'm not sure that taking a 7 from the all-even pile is better than taking an 8 that happens to contain an odd number, but it's still interesting to see what a small subset of optimal arrays there are.&nbsp; The even champions are:16&nbsp; &nbsp; 14&nbsp; &nbsp; 12&nbsp; &nbsp; 12&nbsp; &nbsp; 12&nbsp; &nbsp; 1014&nbsp; &nbsp; 14&nbsp; &nbsp; 14&nbsp; &nbsp; 14&nbsp; &nbsp; 12&nbsp; &nbsp; 814&nbsp; &nbsp; 14&nbsp; &nbsp; 14&nbsp; &nbsp; 14&nbsp; &nbsp; 10&nbsp; &nbsp; 10These waste no array purchasing power on odd numbers and give eight bonus points spread around nicely.&nbsp; A few points in favor of odd numbers:1) An odd-numbered stat in one of your primary stats would its bonus cross a break-point at 4th level (assuming you put one of your 4th-level points there), but you'd have to wait until 8th level to see the same effect with an all-even array.&nbsp; However, you can turn that argument on its head and say that you're using clever stat buys to take your bonuses at 0th, 8th, 16th instead of 4th, 12th, and 20th, and I think we all know that an extra point at lvl1 makes a lot of marginal difference.3) Odd numbers are the threshold for making attribute-based feats possible.&nbsp; If you only need a stat at 13 to get the feat you want, and you don't use that attribute for anything else, then the points spent from 13 to 14 are wasted.&nbsp; Flipping through the PHB, 13 and 15 are the two thresholds.&nbsp; Of course you could take 12 or 14 out of the gate, and bump that attribute at the same time you take your 4th-level feat.5) Odd numbers can be the sweet spot for things like healing surges and number of hit points.&nbsp; Once you have 28 hit points, your surge is 7hp and doesn't go up to 8hp until you hit 32 hp total... so a CON score that takes you from 28 hp to 29 hp isn't worth much, but taking you from 27 to 28 hp is a big deal.&nbsp; For a fighter or paladin (hp = 15 + CON) that means taking a CON score of 13 and spending the residual points elsewhere.&nbsp; There are only two &quot;champion&quot; arrays with 13s, though, so you might just suck it up and bump to 14, and be content with getting only an extra hit point and an extra healing surge per day.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Jurph, post: 4873540, member: 84577"] The "all-even" arrays are much better as a whole than the general population! There are three "champions" (8 bonus points), and two examples each of 6's and 7's. There are no 4's or 5's here, so an all-even array is likely to be a good one. I'm not sure that taking a 7 from the all-even pile is better than taking an 8 that happens to contain an odd number, but it's still interesting to see what a small subset of optimal arrays there are. The even champions are: 16 14 12 12 12 10 14 14 14 14 12 8 14 14 14 14 10 10 These waste no array purchasing power on odd numbers and give eight bonus points spread around nicely. A few points in favor of odd numbers: 1) An odd-numbered stat in one of your primary stats would its bonus cross a break-point at 4th level (assuming you put one of your 4th-level points there), but you'd have to wait until 8th level to see the same effect with an all-even array. However, you can turn that argument on its head and say that you're using clever stat buys to take your bonuses at 0th, 8th, 16th instead of 4th, 12th, and 20th, and I think we all know that an extra point at lvl1 makes a lot of marginal difference. 3) Odd numbers are the threshold for making attribute-based feats possible. If you only need a stat at 13 to get the feat you want, and you don't use that attribute for anything else, then the points spent from 13 to 14 are wasted. Flipping through the PHB, 13 and 15 are the two thresholds. Of course you could take 12 or 14 out of the gate, and bump that attribute at the same time you take your 4th-level feat. 5) Odd numbers can be the sweet spot for things like healing surges and number of hit points. Once you have 28 hit points, your surge is 7hp and doesn't go up to 8hp until you hit 32 hp total... so a CON score that takes you from 28 hp to 29 hp isn't worth much, but taking you from 27 to 28 hp is a big deal. For a fighter or paladin (hp = 15 + CON) that means taking a CON score of 13 and spending the residual points elsewhere. There are only two "champion" arrays with 13s, though, so you might just suck it up and bump to 14, and be content with getting [i]only[/i] an extra hit point and an extra healing surge per day. [/QUOTE]

Verification