You primary stat should never be lower than 18

[Cadfan]

It depends what you're building. In general, buying a 16 then adding a +2 racial bonus isn't prohibitively expensive, and still allows you to do a lot with your remaining points. So if you can, you might as well.

But there are some race/class combinations that work well but haven't got +2 racial bonuses to the attack stats. Like dwarf or elf fighters. Or if you're doing a "two attack stat" character, you might go with a 16 or 17 in both attack stats (half elf star pact warlock, 17 in con and cha, for example).

So, it depends? An 18 primary attack stat is nice in comparison to a 16, but its not vital to your character's survival and excellence, and if you have a good reason not to go for the 18, your character will still be competent.

 

[Plane Sailing]

1) an 18 in your primary stat is costly

2) Most (if not all) classes have secondary and tertiary stats which are important to them, and give benefits for being better than average - in flexibility of power choice if nothing else.

3) there will be very desirable feats which depend upon other stats than your primary stats (not just multiclass feats, but spell focus, or various added-damage feats for example).

So PCs that don't go all-out to maximise their primary stat will have a wider choice of powers available to them, and a wider range of feats which are likely to increase their capabilities in a number of ways.

Cheers

 

[Gort]

As far as fighters go, both dwarves and eladrin can't hit 18 strength using the standard array, but both do more damage than other fighters out of the gate due to their racial weapon training feats.

 

[Nifft]

Or dwarf fighters. I retract "never", but it still makes sense to get an 18 in your primary if you possibly can--and if you can't, for racial reasons, you do really need 16/16 primary/secondary.

Dwarf Fighters can be "sticky" with a decent Wisdom, thanks to their Marking (even on a miss) + Wis bonus to AoOs. Dwarf Fighters also get one extra attack per encounter, thanks to their racial ability to use Second Wind as a Minor action. That is equivalent to their +1 expected miss each encounter (for not having a +4 Strength bonus).

However, like Elf Wizards, they're a specific exception rather than a general good idea.

Yes, you really need an 18 in your primary attack stat, unless you are a specific exception.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Bialaska]

It seems like it's about the same as 3E. A fighter without a Str 18 in 4E is.. Well.. A fighter without a Str 18 in 3E. I've found 16 without racial modifiers works just as well in both games, and allows for better numbers in other stats, and in 4E some other powers are better because you didn't sink all your points in a single score.

Except that it's much harder to boost your to hit in 4e.

 

[Mengu]

I suspect 16/14/14/13/10/8 will be the most popular 22 point buy. In most cases, this gives you at least a 16, probably an 18 in your primary stat, and qualifies you for a sufficient number of feats. If you look at the cliche's like Halfling Rogue and Elf Ranger, these races are built to have their top two stats at 18 and 16.

For certain Defender builds, depending on race, I can see not getting an 18, since as mentioned, Constitution can be pretty important. A Dwarf with 16's in Str and Con would be a prime example.

I think it is assumed, when building a character, you will try to get an 18 when you can.

Getting a 20 on the other hand is very costly, and knocks you off a lot of paths you can take with a character. I would go so far as to call it a sub-optimal choice for most (if not all) classes. This is not to say you can't play a dragonborn fighter with 20 strength, he could still be rockin' fun.

 

[Cadfan]

Except that it's much harder to boost your to hit in 4e.

Doesn't actually matter.

 

[Dragonbait]

Except that it's much harder to boost your to hit in 4e.

But ability scores raise quickly. +1 to two stats every 4 levels? Add half your level to hit? +1 to all stats at level 11 and 21? +2 or +3 if you are proficient with a weapon? +# enchanted weapons still add to hit? Is it really that much harder to boost your to hit? I'm not a mathematician or someone with enough Aspergers syndrome to figure out a slew of tables and averages but it SEEMS to me that it is not the case.

 

[Nifft]

But ability scores raise quickly. +1 to two stats every 4 levels? Add half your level to hit? +1 to all stats at level 11 and 21? +2 or +3 if you are proficient with a weapon? +# enchanted weapons still add to hit? Is it really that much harder to boost your to hit? I'm not a mathematician or someone with enough Aspergers syndrome to figure out a slew of tables and averages but it SEEMS to me that it is not the case.

Except you will always be behind the curve, because everyone else -- even the guys who started right, with an 18 in their primary attack stat -- will be doing the same exact thing.

You'll always be inferior to them, with no way to ever catch up.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Nifft]

I suspect 16/14/14/13/10/8 will be the most popular 22 point buy.

That's one, the other is 16/16/13/11/10/8.

Both assume you have a racial +2 in your attack stat, or some other way to compensate.

Cheers, -- N