Help with point buy

[Bow2Gaijin]

So I'm doing my first ever point buy game, and not sure how well I have allocated my points. The DM has given us 30 points to use, and these rules:

9=1pts 14=6pts
10=2pts 15=8pts
11=3pts 16=10pts
12=4pts 17=13pts
13=5pts 18=16pts

We start off with 8 in every stat, and are level 4, so we get 1 stat point for that. I have used my points like this:

STR: 13
DEX: 16
CON: 12
INT: 10
WIS: 13
CHA: 12

I'm running a ranger and I used my point from level 4 to put my dex from 15 to 16. Is there a more efficient way I can use the points given, I'm used to being really lucky with rolling and have an 18 or two in my stats heh. Thanks for any help you can give!

[triforcel]

Not sure what you want your Charisma for, but if you knock it down to 10 you can bump your Strength and Wisdom up to 14 each.

[Toliudar]

It's going to depend on what you want your ranger to do. Canny hunter? A little more Int & Wis. Two weapon fighting fiend? Dex, Strength and Con to help keep you alive when in melee. Archery focus? Either high Dex, or high Wisdom with the Zen Archery feat (complete Warrior). At least a degree of specialization will make your ranger a more effective contributor to the group.

[Tequila Sunrise]

Don't bother with odd stats. You have that 4th level point to boost Dex up to an even number, but otherwise don't even look at the odd values when you use point buy.

[tyckspoon]

For a typical combative arrangement, I would drop Wis to 12, Cha to 10, and raise Str and Con to 14. Could be better- it'll still be kind of squishy in melee- but reasonably good at either archery or close combat. Neglects the smart survivor of the wilds aspect of the class, tho.

[iceman]

You should also double check your math. By my count you have only used 28points instead of 30.

[Person_Man]

What books are available? I know that sounds like an odd question, but the certain feats require certain attribute levels. In particular, Sword of the Arcane Order from Champions of Valor allows Rangers to memorize Wizard spells, making a pure-ish Ranger very playable, because it gives them access to some amazing buff spells without compromising BAB or any other class feature. But it requires 12-14 Int so that you can cast the spells. And anything that requires Combat Expertise requires Int 13.

Also:

Dump Cha.

Put more into Con. I find that hit points are the most important stat in the game.

Wis only needs to be 12 until you hit 11th level. Then you need 13 so that you can cast 3rd level Ranger spells. But that's easily accomplished via items.

I would suggest Str 14, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 8.

[daggaz]

you are of course doing the right thing by using that 4th lvl boost to bump your highest stat to the next even number. makes it worth more point buy points, which saves you them for the other stats.

[TK-Squared]

Don't dump Charisma. It's so god damn cliché.

[Craig1f]

Don't dump Charisma. It's so god damn cliché.

Screw Charisma. Don't dump INT. Do you want a dumb character?

[AstralFire]

Screw Charisma. Don't dump INT. Do you want a dumb character?

RP-Wise, I'll take High Int or Wis with good Cha over High Int and Wis with poor Cha most of the time.