This little text is intended as a pointer on how to spend those early
level-up points to best effect and most immediate gain. It is intended
for the *newcomer* to Diablo, and many experienced players may have an
entirely different method...

How to distribute level up points is a science in itself, and there
are at least two philosophies about it. One, that mostly the
experienced players tend to use, is to be as economical as possible
about it and get a character to maxed stats as early as possible. I do
NOT recommend this approach to people new to this game, as that will
mean making a lot of compromises and sacrifing A LOT of immediate gain
for a long-term goal. As I play a lot of variant characters (check out
http: //www.win.net/homefield/diablo for all the possibilities), and
LOVE to raise new chars anyway, I tend to use the other approach: I
try to get the maximum possible IMMEDIATE benefit from every level-up
point I spend. I highly recommend this approach to every newcomer ;)

And, most important: I'm not going to give EXACT instructions on how
to spend your points. No "4:1 between DEX and VIT for level 1-6, then
3:1:1 for 7 levels, the 1:1:3 then..." as, IMHO, there are too many
random elements in Diablo to make this a working approach. There's
always a call for some common sense to be made ;) Many things do
depend HEAVILY on the items you find, the enemies you face, and the
books and shrines you find early up. And, on a side note, I think it's
more important to know what you're doing and WHY, than following
pre-cast rules ;) (Note, also, that most requirements for items
increase in increments of 5 - thus it has no use to raise by 2 or
3...unless it's a magic requirement of 17, for instance ;)

So, first things first. One has to realize just WHAT the stats really
do...


STRENGTH...
  ...in Diablo is only good for two things: dealing damage and using
  heavy armor and weapons. Unlike in certain other RPG systems, you
  gain NO to-hit chance from it ;)

  The equations for dealing damage are:
    Warrior: DAM=(STR*LVL)/100 - as you see, at low levels STR is
      USELESS for that ;)
    Rogue: DAM=((STR+DEX)*LVL)/200 - even more useless for a rogue AND
      can be substituted with DEX
    Sorcerer: DAM= (STR*LVL)/100 - I THINK... to be honest: I haven't
      looked at my sorcerers' melee damage in AGES. Max STR of 45
      won't give much of a damage boost... ever. ;)

  The requirements for weapon and armor can be seen in the info screen
  or looked up in Jarulf's guide. (URL below)


DEXTERITY...
  ...is good for three things: to-hit, AC, and blocking chance if
  you're using a shield (and damage for rogues)

  To-hit: 1% per 2 DEX
  AC: 1 point of AC per 5 DEX
  Blocking: roughly 1% per DEX point (depends on level difference to
    attacker as well)


MAGIC...
  ...gives the ability to HIT with spell attacks, MANA (1 per MAG
  point for warriors and rogues, 2 for sorcerers) and the ability to
  read more books and raise your spell levels. Remember: magic attacks
  are by far the most powerful ones in Diablo.


VITALITY...
  ... gives hitpoints. Nothing more nothing less.


And, an important thing to keep in mind: Once level 26 (in multi) or in
hell (dungeon levels 13+, single player) you can BUY STR, DEX and MAG
in form of elixiers. But not VIT.


Now: how to distribute the points for each of the classes for maximum
IMMEDIATE profit:


Warrior:
  Golden rule for young warriors: when in doubt raise DEX! To-hit
  chance is THE most important stat for a warrior (no matter what your
  damage is, it's exactly zero if you miss...), BLOCKING with a shield
  can actually be a substitute for armor and, early on, 1 AC from a
  level up is nothing to be looked down on. STR should ONLY be raised
  in order to wear better armor (IF you find some) or use a bigger
  weapon. You will do well for quite some time with a STR of 30, later
  40. Full plate and the like won't appear until quite far into the
  game. So, I generally put just enough points into STR to use the
  best available items, and start pumping points into it AFTER DEX is
  maxed (which usually happens before lvl 15 anyways =). MAG for a
  young warrior means basically four spells: healing (17 MAG
  required), holy bolt (20, for Black Deaths ;) town portal (20) and
  firewall (27). If you have the requirements to read those books from
  items - fine. If not, it pays to invest in MAG a bit - but no more.
  VIT gives something a young warrior already has in abundance:
  hitpoints. I personally hate to be hit. Thus, I strongly prefer
  avoiding hits to being able to take one or two more. I don't put
  level ups into VIT until lvl 26, when all other stats can be raised
  by Elixiers. Up to then I can live (and live well IMHO) on the hp
  gained from items and level ups. Also, +hitpoint items seem to be
  the most abundant ones at low levels (at least they have been for me
  the last 2 years ;)

Rogue:
  Again, DEX is paramount, with a bit more care to be taken for magic
  as a rogue can use it to very good effect. As rogues even gain
  damage from DEX (in addition to the other benefits), STR gets even
  more useless. Raise it to use a better bow or to wear a good set of
  mail, should you find it, but don't waste a single extra point for
  it. MAG is much more useful. A rogue should always be able to read
  books of useful spells she comes upon, so make sure you meet the
  requirements for a book of Stone Curse (51), Fireball (48), CL (54)
  or Mana Shield (25) when you find them (and of course for the spells
  mentioned in the warrior section before ;). If you have the MAG from
  items, fine - otherwise, every point in magic pays. VIT, IMHO, is
  pointless for a young rogue. She can kill with her short bow from a
  safe distance from the very start, and can use Mana Shield once the
  going gets tough. Points spent for VIT before lvl 26 are wasted.

Sorcerer:
  To put it harshly: Every single point NOT put into magic in early
  levels is a waste. Only exception: if you gain MORE magic by some
  item if you raise STR in order to wear it. So, if, for example, you
  find a set of chain mail that raises MAG by 10, but requires 5 more
  STR to wear, by all means raise STR ;) Even if you plan to wear
  heavy armor later and be a Battle Mage - early on, EVERY sorcerer is
  an Arti Mage. The old myth that sorcerers are hard to get started
  comes from people raising STR, DEX and VIT and trying to actually
  BEAT monsters with sticks ;) A lvl 1 sorcerer comes fully equipped
  with the most devastating weapon that ANY of the chracters have
  until VERY much later - a lvl 2 firebolt spell. Add in a staff with
  40 (!!) free charges of charged bolt (can even be recharged by
  himself) he's ready to kill everything with ONE shot! And each level
  up gives 10 more mana from magic (up to 3 shots ;) in addition to
  the lvl up mana bonus. AND MAG increases damage of these spells. AND
  the to-hit chance. PLUS you can read every book you find (or buy
  from the witch). MUCH later, once you actually have a chance to find
  the items for it (which is basically in hell), you can start to
  consider going battle mage and raising STR (maxes quickly once you
  are 26 and buy elixiers), then DEX later. A sorcerer NEVER needs STR
  for damage or DEX for to-hit. Arty mages NEVER need STR or DEX at
  all. A battle mage needs to wear full plate, and can profit a little
  bit from blocking. Vitality is completely useless. At early levels 1
  hp per VIT won't help a bit, at later levels you'll be using Mana
  Shield. Raise VIT if all other stats are maxed... not a second
  sooner ;)

WEll, it's my utterly biased point of view, but it has worked fine for
several dozen characters so far ;)

And, a word about my bias against vitality: IMHO, the difficulty of the
game is NOT affected by how many hits you can survive on one life
ball. It's affected by how often you get hit, and how often you hit
back. A few hitpoints *might* prolong the dying process in a tight
spot for a second, or two at best. In a tight spot, it takes A LOT of
experience to use this little second to rescue yourself. It makes the
game MUCH easier if you avoid getting into a tight spot in the first
place. Hitting the enemies more often helps with that, blocking more
often helps, better AC helps. More hitpoints don't. They don't prevent
getting swarmed, or getting stunlocked. As soon as you learned the
absolute basics - that is, to advance carefully and when to drink a
pot - you'll notice the only thing hitpoints do is determine how long
you can stay down on one inventory (or belt) full of pots.


Have fun :-)

Armin