Stats

Character Creation General Information - Before creating a character, look at the information on race, class and statistics, read the linked guides and check out the fighting strategies of the various classes to decide what you think you will enjoy playing the most. Match your character to your personality, (or vice versa). Keep in mind that all characters play much the same for the first few levels. Though I haven't gotten that high, there are those who say that you can't get a true feel for a class before level 15 or 20. I would say it is at least level 7 to 10 before you start to understand the strengths and weaknesses of your class. Since it can take 60 or 70 hours to just get a character to level 8, I would suggest you start out with something you really feel will be fun to play. I hope this guide can help you save some of your precious playing time by steering you to the character which suits you best.

Race & Class

Check the race and class descriptions on this site to help decide which combination you prefer.

Stats You chose your character's stats when you create it, and have to live with the decision thereafter. There is no one perfect way to set up an individual character class. Much of it depends on your playing style, your preferences and the decision you make as to how you want your character to make his or her way through the world. Below are the basic descriptions of how the stats affect the characters.

Strength This is probably the most important skill for tanks. Strength affects your maximum damage cap, the average damage you do, how much stuff you can carry and how quickly you learn many offensive skills. If you plan on wearing heavy armor and carrying around a lot of extra equipment, you will need decent strength. With a high strength you can carry more loot and armor and go longer before having to run back to town to sell. If you plan on soloing, you may want to put extra points into strength, even if you are a magic user. It is definitely important for a fighter type to have good strength, but you should also consider some of the other attributes.

Stamina

One of the most important stats for all classes. The higher your stamina, the more hit points you get for each level. Over time, this can really pay off. It also affects how well you can breathe underwater. This is more important for the tank classes than magic users.

Dexterity

This determines how hard you hit with your bows, how quickly you learn weapon and rogue skills, and how often a magic weapon will process it's skill. This is a good skill to have for fighters, especially rangers and rogues, and of only limited use for magic users.

Agility

This determines how often you get hit or missed by an attack and how much damage you take when you get hit. It also affects how quickly you learn defensive skills. Since you will take less damage and have a better chance of not having your spells disrupted if you have a higher amount of agility, this is useful for both fighters and magic users. However, for magic users, its usefulness diminishes as you go up in levels and spend less time in actual melee. I wouldn't bother with this stat too much for a magic user who plans on grouping most of the time, but a solo magic user should probably have a high agility.

Intelligence

The most important stat for the basic caster classes. For Wizards, Magicians, Necromancers and Shadow Knights, the higher your intelligence, the more mana you get for each level. This is obviously very important since without mana a magic user is basically worthless. The higher value of intelligence or wisdom is used to determine how quickly you will learn most of your skills, which makes having one or the other high useful for all classes. Many would suggest that a magic user put all of his points here. Certainly, if you plan on spending most of your time in a group, intelligence is the most important stat to boost.

Wisdom

The same effect as intelligence for the deity-based magic users: Cleric, Shaman Druid, Paladin and Ranger. The higher your wisdom, the more mana you get for each level. Very important for the deity-based magic users, but much less important for everyone else. The higher value of intelligence or wisdom is used to determine how quickly you will learn most of your skills, which makes having one or the other high useful for all classes.

Charisma

The biggest effect of charisma is in the amount you will get buying from and selling to NPC’s. If they like you, they give you a better deal, which is not to be ignored in the cash starved world of Norrath. Charisma also affects the saving throw for charm spells, which makes it very useful for bards and enchanters.