How important to you is maxing your primary stat?

[Horwath]

Feats are fun, feats are what make your character different from another.

But, bumping primary stat mechanicaly is always better than feats.


Those should have been different resource pools.

 

[TwoSix]

16 is my minimum for starting with a primary stat. I will try to bump it up ASAP. 18 is ideal. I'm fine with letting it sit at 18 for a long time though, since once you get to 20 you're done.
In the context of Fighters and Monks (two of my favorite classes) the flat damage gained from a high score at low levels will almost completely overshadow the rolled damage, and provide a leg up for the many rolls you'll have to make since you only do one thing.

Pretty much how I do it, 18 is good enough, especially if there are important feats. I'm not going to delay vital feats for a concept just to get to an 18 or 20, though. Feats like Sharpshooter or Great Weapon Master are too important to delay.

 

[5ekyu]

Feats are fun, feats are what make your character different from another.

But, bumping primary stat mechanicaly is always better than feats.


Those should have been different resource pools.

"Mechanically Is always better" has to have some context to be meanongful.

"In whote room damage calculations..." you may be right, but in many other contexts, no so much.

Even in the contaxt of combat, Mobile for instance, gives you things ability score bonuses cannot grant that apoly in either all or many cases - 10' more movement, dash thtu difficult and the auto-disengage on targets you attack - which can be far more combat onfluencing and controlling than +1 mod would.

In many ways, i see the choices between feats vs ASI in much the same vein as control or illusion spells vs straight up damage spells. Hold Person, Illusory Image, Darkness, Fear wont score vs fireball or lightning bolt in a white room damage counter, but in practice in less than simple situations they can be more impactful.

 

[JonnyP71]

Hmm, I gave this whole subject only passing thought when developing my longest played 5E PC.

He was a Wizard, so yes I started him with a decent Int. And we played with Feats, but I chose those feats not primarily for the mechanical benefits, but to fit him in a roleplay sense. He was a bookish nerd, who was pedantic and examined things to the nth degree, hence 1st Keen Mind, and then Observant fitted him thematically. The fact that both grant a +1 to Int was a nice little bonus, but was not the deciding factor.

But whether he got "+loads" with his spells, not really a worry. "+something" is all I cared about to ensure he was useful. But usefulness lagged way behind the personality and interaction at the table in terms of importance.

So it's a begrudging option #3 for me, as I did put the 3rd ASI/feat choice into +2 Int which took it to 20. But not for mechanical ooomph, just because he spent ages in libraries building his knowledge and it fitted his character.

 

[Bitbrain]

I always max my primary stat first.
Always.

 

[Keith Lamond]

It depends on the character. For my Rogue / Hexblade, the Warcaster feat opens up the possibility for him to use Booming Blade as a reaction attack, gives him advantage on con saves to keep Hex up, and makes it easier for him to get a spell of if necessary while in combat. This versatility trumps getting my main stat to 20.

On my Sorcerer, getting my Charisma to 20 was my main focus, then feats.

 

[oreofox]

I have no problem having my primary stat at 16 or 18. I feel no pressure to get it to 20 ASAP. I also don't pick my race based on if it gives me a + to my primary stat. I go in with a concept, pick the race that best fits that concept (though I usually have the idea that I want to play a gnome fighter or half-orc warlock, or sometimes a tiefling sorcerer), and go from there. If that means my primary is 16, 17, or 18, then so be it. I go by what seems fun. And during combat, I don't really find it fun obliterating everything in 1 hit (as player or DM). At that point, combat is just pointless and could be better concluded by the DM saying "You enter a room and the creatures in it explode from your presence", as then combat just interrupts the flow when the outcome is already known.

 

[Dausuul]

Can't answer, because the answer is "it depends on the character."

Casters, I usually head straight to 20. Martials, I'm apt to put a couple of key feats ahead of maxing out. My hexblade (technically a caster, but functionally a martial) has Cha 16 to make room for Polearm Mastery/Sentinel.

I always want to get to 20 eventually, but "eventually" could take a while.

 

[Vymair]

Almost always to 18 first, then a key feat at 8th level, then casters get 20 at 12th level. I suspect the stat bump to 20 is the "optimal" play, but I like feats and my feat at 8th level is usually a defining one on how I intend to play the character.

 

[Arilyn]

I don't like the fact that 18-20 is so common, especially when I keep hearing that it's not so important in 5e! Honestly, bounded accuracy has caused players to reach for those maxed stats more often, because proficiency bonuses come up too rarely. Be better if feats and stats were separate tracks, and have stat bumps be uncommon.

For me it depends on the character, but rarely do I feel it's urgent to get my prime stat to 20. Sometimes, my prime won't even be the highest. I find in 5e, that a good way to make a fighter/wizard is to make a wizard with a high Dex, good Con, moderate Int, and focus on spells that do not require saving throws. Throw in an armour proficiency feat, and you don't need to make an eldritch knight or multi-class.