Level 1 Min/Max Statistical Data

[Grinkles]

Late last year, I became interested in how race choice and starting point distribution affect a level 1 character. For example, did you know that a Warrior can begin with as little as 10 ATK or as high as 76 ATK? Or that a fresh-out-of-the-oven Wizard can have anywhere from 19 to 30 Mana?

There are four easily quantifiable stats that are established the moment a character is created, and these are what I set out to document:

1. HP
2. AC
3. ATK
4. Mana

So, I began rolling, deleting, and rerolling level 1 characters without any skillups and without any equipment in order to get some hard numbers. I then plugged these numbers into a handy spreadsheet for easy comparison. Only tanks (PAL/SHD/WAR) and casters (which I lumped together) made it in before I lost interest, but I thought some of you might enjoy taking a look at these partial results anyway.

Here are the tables:

There may have been some imperfections in my method along the way, but the margin of error is probably negligible given that we're dealing with level 1 figures. Unfortunately, there's no way to ever be 100% sure that client-side readings are accurate. Still, the data should provide a fairly accurate guide for min/max stats. It's astonishing how huge a gap there can be within a single class!

(By the way, if the images are too small to make out, remember you can click on them to see them in full resolution.)

 

[fuwok]

I bet 76 atk vs 10 atk is a big difference on early mobs. I'd parse it but who can bother leveling up their weapon skills

 

[Daffie]

What the wiki really needs is suggested starting points for all race/class combos.
If I could do it again, I wouldn't put int on my wizard, wis on my shaman, and stam on my paladin....

 

[Kedrin]

I put all my points into STR on my Ranger and I still don't regret it. STR is very hard to come by at the current top end of the game.

Needs of stats shift as the game progresses. I'm sure if T9 gear was the best in game I would have wished I put all my Rangers points into INT.

At the end of the day the handful of stats really don't matter. Hopefully they add more cool gear to the game and fill out that T13 that has been stagnant for so long.

 

[Daffie]

I put all my points into STR on my Ranger and I still don't regret it. STR is very hard to come by at the current top end of the game.

Needs of stats shift as the game progresses. I'm sure if T9 gear was the best in game I would have wished I put all my Rangers points into INT.

At the end of the day the handful of stats really don't matter. Hopefully they add more cool gear to the game and fill out that T13 that has been stagnant for so long.

Wiki top 5 shaman has only 1 with over cap int. Same thing with wizards and wis (not that this is really a big deal...) Just saying

 

[Grinkles]

What the wiki really needs is suggested starting points for all race/class combos.
If I could do it again, I wouldn't put int on my wizard, wis on my shaman, and stam on my paladin....

Good point. My aim with this data was simply to show the lows and highs that are possible strictly at level 1. Min/max stat distribution is an entirely different matter if you're rolling a character with T10+ in mind. I myself put 25 points into CHA and 5 into INT all those years ago, and I've regretted it for a long time now. I wish I'd spent them in STA or at least one of the other melee stats!

A long time ago, I imagined a progressive questline wherein each rank you complete would allow you to permanently shift, say, 5 base stat points to another stat of your choosing up to 3 ranks. This could partially alleviate the "buyer's remorse" that players sometimes feel when they reach the high end only to realize, with the wisdom they gained along the way, that they were so wasteful with their starting points. Something like this is probably not even possible though due to how awful and clunky the EQ client has always been. Even if it were doable, it would probably be a nightmare from a developer's point of view -- all for a few measly number swaps for fussy 65+ers!

 

[cornelweezy]

Grinkles where do you get all this free time?

 

[Daffie]

Grinkles where do you get all this free time?

When you are a RL gnome, you shake your can and money falls into it. This allows for all sorts of free time.

 

[donfolstar3]

I always enjoy your experiments Grinkles.