D&D 5E (2014) Is Point Buy Balanced?

[FrogReaver]

It's more balanced than rolling attributes, less than using Standard Array.

In the end, it comes down to personal preference and the kind of game you want. I've seen one game where the PCs started with all 18's, and one 19. That was some time back in 3E, BTW.

Lack of OP reading is strong with you.

 

[ECMO3]

I once was told characters need at least a 14 in constitution alone to be effective.

IMO Constitution is the most overrated ability but players tend to want it over others in general and the talking heads online with the optimizer builds always stress it. On most players I've seen other than me it is typically the 2nd highest or 3rd highest stat.

For me on point buy it is usually a 10, sometimes a 12. It is a 14 if I am playing a subclass or species that uses it.'

To answer your specific question though - no the combinations available with point buy are not all equivalent.

 

[Horwath]

Rolling stats is on average 31,3 pts.
point buy is 27pts
standard array is 27pts.
so yes, pointbuy is underpowered.

in general, I prefer increased point buy with not ASIs from race, background or feats.
or standard array that is increased, depending on power level you want to have in game.

IE:
20,20,16,14,12,12
20,18,16,14,12,10
18,16,14,12,12,10
16,14,12,12,10,8
14,14,14,12,12,12,
14,14,12,10,10,8

 

[Charlaquin]

I think others have pretty thoroughly covered that this is a really weird metric for balance, so rather than harping on that point further, I’m going to focus on the other question in the OP:

Food for thought: What high score is considered the minimum for an effective build? 16? 15? 13? I once was told characters need at least a 14 in constitution alone to be effective.

The system math is largely built around the assumption that PCs will start with a +3 (so 16 or 17) in their class’s primary ability score, and a +2 (so 14 or 15) in their class’s secondary ability score. That doesn’t mean these scores are required for an effective build, but it does mean that a character will be below the baseline expectation without them, so they may seem to under-perform slightly. It’s not a huge deal, you absolutely can play a character with a +2 in their primary or +1 in their secondary just fine. But, if possible, I think it’s ideal to try to get a +3 in your primary, +2 in your secondary, and whatever your next best score is (likely another +2 if you’re using point buy) in constitution.

I have played around with the idea of a build that goes for more evenly-distributed ability scores and takes as many features as possible that grant advantage or re-rolls. I think it would at least be fun if not necessarily the most effective. But, that’s the thing, you don’t need to be the most effective. 5e (both versions) is pretty forgiving of unoptimized characters.