What's the best ability?

[Trandir]

There are 6 ability scores and all of them are important.

What is in your opinion the best one and why? This can be the best for either optimisation or RP.

I'd say wisdom. Good skills depend on it, it is one of the most important ST and allow to play a character with dump stat Int without acting like an idiot.

[CTurbo]

1. Con is the most universally needed ability. It's important to every single character.
2. Dex is probably the most widely used and probably most popular.
3. Wis is tied to the most used skill check and has many of the critical saving throws.
4. Cha has the social pillar of the game cornered, but is rarely important outside of that.
5. Str is very situational and probably 2nd most dumped ability.
6. Int is also very situational and IMO the most dumped stat in 5e.

[CheddarChampion]

Depends on the character.
Barbarians want strength, Rogues want dexterity, Wizards want intelligence, etc.

This seems arbitrary, but giving them scores based on a class wanting them - 1 point for SAD, 0.5 for MAD or your choice:
Str: 2 - Barb, Ftr, Pal
Dex: 2.5 - Ftr, Monk, Rogue, Rang
Con: 0 -
Int: 1 - Wiz
Wis: 3 - Cler, Dru, Monk, Rang
Cha: 3.5 - Bard, Pal, Sorc, Warl

So if you play each class once, Charisma is overall the best ability score to increase? But that is hardly advice to go by.

If you have an 18 and five 5's for stats, go with hill dwarf cleric (heavy armor) for optimal power IMO.

I don't understand why an answer here would be useful though. What's the best food?

[Millstone85]

Dex is the most polyvalent stat, contributing to defense, offense and utility.

The value of Int and Cha is very DM-dependent. Some consider the very idea of a social or knowledge check to be "roll-play".

[Platypusbill]

Let's first consider what ability scores actually improve.

1. Attack roll/damage roll bonus, save DC, class-specific features
2. Ability checks (skills, initiative and miscellaneous checks)
3. Saving throws
4. AC
5. Miscellaneous boosts

1: The most important by far and the reason why optimised builds tend to be min-maxed for whatever stats a class is built around. It's simply because those stats are used most frequently. E.g. a Bard with high CHA gets more value out of their spells and more uses of Bardic Insipration. A Fighter probably spends 90% of their actions in combat to attack, which is based on STR or DEX.

2 and 3: These are situational because they depend on what enemies or other challenges the DM throws at you.

4: AC is almost always used in combat (although saving throws are more important e.g. against Beholders), with higher priority for frontliners. AC is usually governed by DEX, or sometimes indirectly by STR (because it allows wearing heavy armour without slowing down).

5: Besides the above, I think the only boosts from ability scores are carrying capacity from STR (very situational) and HP from CON (much like AC, the usefulness is dependent on role).



Now, if we we ignore class bias and only look at the general usefulness of stats in a vacuum, the priority goes something like DEX > CON > WIS > CHA > INT > STR. The exact order is hard to judge, but I'd say the top three are clearly more useful than the bottom three.

DEX governs a couple of really useful ability checks (Stealth, Initiative) along with some more situational skills and miscellaneous checks, boosts AC for most classes/builds, and DEX saves are quite common. Pretty much every AoE blast other than cold, necrotic, or poison damage (which tend to be tied to CON) uses DEX saves, along with some single-target beam effects and stuff like mechanical traps.

CON is almost purely a defensive stat, but CON saves are fairly common and protect against some really nasty effects. Spellcasters are forced to make CON saves to maintain concentration regardless of what threats the DM throws at you, so for them it's guaranteed to see a lot of use. Hit points are of course always useful in combat.

WIS governs arguably the most useful skill in the game (Perception) along with Insight and some less useful ability checks. WIS is also one of the "big three" saves.

CHA is crucial for social skill checks, but this is of course dependent on the DM and the style of campaign. That's probably its most important use, as CHA saves are probably the rarest or second rarest along with INT, with less nasty effects.

INT can provide some very handy information through Arcana/Nature/History/Religion checks, but I feel this is fairly DM dependent and sometimes the info you get is mostly flavour. Investigation is a pretty good skill because it tends to be used for discovering traps. INT saves are very rare, but the effects of a failed save tend to be pretty horrid.

STR is in my opinion the least useful ability score in a vacuum. Athletics governs climbing and swimming, and miscellanous STR checks can be used for stuff like busting down doors, but you can often get around obstacles that require those checks by other means. Getting out of grapples can be done with Acrobatics too. STR saves are by far the most common among the "minor" ones, but the effects of failed saves are probably the least impactful- usually stuff like getting restrained, knocked prone, or forced movement. Getting restrained is not fun by any means, but it's a mild inconvenience compared to stunned or paralysed or mind-controlled. Really, the reason you invest in STR is to use heavy armour, STR-based weapons, and offensive grappling.

[MilkmanDanimal]

It's DEX, because it applies to so many possible things. AC, initiative, ranged attacks, several commonly-used skills, plus can be a primary stat for any of the martial classes. CON second again for being universally needed, then it depends. You can dump STR, WIS, INT, or CHA depending on class, but dumping CON is always a bad idea, and the only situation where DEX isn't a really need is a heavy armor-based character, and, even then, having it for initiative, skills, and ranged attacks would be useful.

[diplomancer]

Con or Dex. I think con is more important across the board ("if you've got your health, you've got everything"), but since dex has some classes that REALLY want it, it might edge out Con.

Then follows Cha or Wis. I think it is very dependent on whether the campaign focuses more on the social or the exploration pillar. Wis saves are definitely more important, though.

Finally, Str or Int. While it is true that Int affects way more skills, the fact that athletics is a very versatile skill, useful in many circumstances, combined with the fact that there are more classes that want str than that want int, makes str more useful. This is even more blatant if the DM allows everyone in the group to roll for the knowledge skills.

[MikeRoxTheBoat]

Con's a weird one. It's important not to dump it, but it also almost never gets maxed.

The best ability is literally "whatever is the primary ability for your class." Usually goes in order from Dex, Wis, Cha, Str, Int from there, unless you're wearing plate, then you swap Dex and Str a lot.

[Pex]

It depends on the class you are playing.

In the general case Dex is overrated and Str is underrated. Initiative is nice but you aren't the Suck for not going first in combat. Particular classes/archetypes really want to go first, and that's fine. Build for that. Being overrated doesn't mean I think it useless, but not everyone must go first and heavy armor works just as well for AC for those who can wear it. As for Str people under estimate the need to push, pull. and carry things, and it has nothing to do with Encumbrance.

In any case, I'm a firm believer in the Adventurer's Tax of you must have at least a 14 Constitution. Too often to count do I see PCs with less Constitution have problems. They drop fast costing party actions to do stuff and resources to heal. You need the hit points.

[col_impact]

Proficiency in Int becomes very important in tier 4. Without it you have a serious Achilles heel.

[Particle_Man]

The best can vary according to class but no one dumps con (exception Raistlin Majere in Dragonlance but that was 1st ed) so I say con is the best in general.

[paddyfool]

Depends on the character.
Barbarians want strength, Rogues want dexterity, Wizards want intelligence, etc.

This seems arbitrary, but giving them scores based on a class wanting them - 1 point for SAD, 0.5 for MAD or your choice:
Str: 2 - Barb, Ftr, Pal
Dex: 2.5 - Ftr, Monk, Rogue, Rang
Con: 0 -
Int: 1 - Wiz
Wis: 3 - Cler, Dru, Monk, Rang
Cha: 3.5 - Bard, Pal, Sorc, Warl

So if you play each class once, Charisma is overall the best ability score to increase? But that is hardly advice to go by.


This analysis should probably also have negative scores for the most dumpable stats for each class. Con would remain at 0 since it's never dumpable, but Str and Int might well go overall negative. Wis and Dex would probably still come highest, since they're basically never the most dumpable.

[ChildofLuthic]

I would probably say DEX, because a bunch of classes can/do use it as their main stat, and most casters use it for their AC, since it's rare for them to get heavy armor. It also gives you a bunch of skills. CON is also really good. I always try to give my characters at least a 14 in CON, if I can help it.

[stoutstien]

Easy, intelligences. It's everyone's favorite dump stat so you can say your the smartest member of the party constantly. That is worth a lot more than a few Hp.
In your spare time you tie knots for the rogue to try to undue. Tie them to the barbarian for extra fun.

[Foff]

Since the introduction of Hexblade and some races (soon to be official changeling, tiefling variants, bloody halfelf, triton etc...) going charisma is still a superpowerful option, you CAN make a SAD character revolving around maxed Charisma and have it be a total boss at pretty much two out of three main pillars of the game, social interaction and combat, without really having to sacrifice anything.
I'd still rate it as: 1)dex 2)cha 2)con 4)wis 5)int 6)str
Outside of barbarians any other martial is possibly better off fighting with dex as it is widely useful for all things involved in combat.

[FabulousFizban]

The best ability, is role-play

[Zerubbabel]

Dexterity ...
Mainly because it always impacts:
- Initiative
- Armor class
- Dexterity saves
no matter what class/build
Then further goes on to impact
- to hit
- damage
for anyone who picks up a rapier

It's just common, widespread, initiative is just so important (of compounding importance) as is Armor Class...

[Zerubbabel]

In terms of what got buffed in D&D 5e... from what I can tell:
- Dexterity
- Charisma
(honorable mention Wisdom)

And that's a great thing, making Charisma so much more integrated (Hexblade... damn) it means you'll usually have someone with far more options for storytelling... love this.

[Wizard_Lizard]

CHARISMA!
who needs to be strong when you can intimidate the enemy into fleeing!
who needs stealth when you can talk your way out of everything!
Who needs health when you can seduce your way out of combat!
being smart is cool and all, but just write everything down!
And Wisdom always ruins the fun!