Is a Dex of 10 too low?

[Winston Colt]

I was planning on playing a melee caster, possibly a Magus, and was wondering if Dex 10 would lower my AC too much at lower levels?

I know there are better builds for a Magus and Im not trying to optimise him 100%. I like the idea of playing a character thats a little clumsy but the rules hurt AC too much to drop Dex below 10.

SO, is wearing light armour with no Dex boost going to be disastrous?

stats Im looking at are
Str 15+2 Dex 10 Con 14 Int 16 Wis 7 Cha 10

[williamoak]

Oh, do not lower your wisdom so. For dex, wis & con, I have yet to put lower than 12 (dem saves) on a character. You can survive with less int.

Ac wont be the problem, reflex saves will be. And unfortunately, a cloak of resistance cant make up for that.

[Reynard_the_fox]

I do 12 for characters in heavy armor and try to get at least 14 for everyone else. With only light armor, you probably want 14. Also, if I were you, I would set both Wis and Cha to 8 or switch them to Wis 10/Cha 7 - Will saves and Perception are really, really important.

[Captain Zoom]

Winston Colt wrote:

Str 15+2 Dex 10 Con 14 Int 16 Wis 7 Cha 10

If you are doing stat buy, are you sure you spent your point correctly:

15= 7
10= 0
14= 5
16= 10
7= -4
10= 0

Which comes to 18 points, which seems odd. Most people do 15, 20 or 25 point buys. Maybe you have two more points to spend? Those two points would get you a 12 DEX!

I don't like buying stats down, but if I was going to do a 7, I agree with the previous that you're better off with 7 CHA and 10 WIS.

[RainyDayNinja]

If this is an 18 point buy, I'd follow Reynard's advice about Wis and Cha, but I also recommend taking Str down to 14+2, and putting those two points in Dex. Even that is painfully low for someone who will be in light armor for the first several levels.

[Avatar-1]

I generally never value wis or dex much unless the class requires it. I used to always hold dex high, until I realised at later levels, AC doesn't matter as much as miss chance or DR or some sort of life link/healing.

Str and Cha are the same way, but more noticable, cha is only for social skills and bards/sorcerers/etc; str is only for martials. Neither affect saves.

Even if you ignore any of the above, the important thing to take away is that generally speaking, it's better to prioritise your con over your dex. Those extra HP will mean more at all levels than your dex, and it trumps all the bonuses dex would normally provide (be it initiative, reflex, AC, skills).

[rorek55]

I always value dex>wis it just gives so much more UNLESS you are a class that uses wis (cleric/druid/monk)

dex- imitative, reflex, AC, stealth, acrobatics, sleight of hand, ect.
Wis- perception, will, sense motive

[LazarX]

Avatar-1 wrote:

I generally never value wis or dex much unless the class requires it. I used to always hold dex high, until I realised at later levels, AC doesn't matter as much as miss chance or DR or some sort of life link/healing.

You gotta survive the early levels to get to the late ones.

[Sir Thugsalot]

Three characters can get away with no dexterity: paladins, dwarf fighters, and barbarians with their highest stat in CON.

A magus should not dump dexterity, as he'll need it for ranged attacks.