I've been busy constructing a Half-Orc Fighter that I had originally planned to give (point buy) a base DEX of 8. Then, when I asked people on Reddit about the character some of them commented that I might want to up my DEX to at least 10 (by dropping WIS from 12 to 10 as well). My Fighter is an axe-and-shield melee fighter, how important is DEX? I understand that DEX will help me avoid magical attacks, but what else is there? Is 8 DEX fine for my purposes, in your opinion? Or should it be even higher than 10, even if all my ranged combat comes in the form of chucking (using STR) javelins?
If you plan to wear heavy armor and use strength to overcome your problems, then the difference between 8 dex and 10 dex is fairly negligible.
Yes, it's a penalty of 1 on DEX saves against spells or traps, but making saving throws against spells isn't your main defense against spellcasters as a heavy-armoured fighter, you rely on your superior hit points and other members of your party dealing with enemy spellcasters. With traps, again, you just need to play appropriately and don't be the guy at the front when exploring a potentially trapped area.
I suggest that the Wisdom stat is likely more important for you (assuming wearing heavy armor). If you fail a DEX save against something, you're usually taking more damage. If you fail a WIS save against something, your situation is usually a lot worse - paralyzed/charmed etc.
There are other fighters who use DEX as their primary stat and wear medium or even light armor.
Thank you so much! You got the correct impression that I'm looking at a heavily armored fighter and I wasn't aiming for a Finesse weapon. I think everything you said makes sense and it seems that consensus is with you so I'm just going to leave my DEX low and see how it plays out. Bragg's got a lot of bravado anyway so it makes sense for him to play like a "Dodge? Why? I can take it." character. I'll look at a dextrous Fighter some other day :).
You can also be a medium armored fighter with dex 14 that is capable of switching to a bow if necessary. So there is no right or wrong here. That said, 8 is also totally fine. I second that wissom is more important than dexterity as a defensive stat.
I've been busy constructing a Half-Orc Fighter that I had originally planned to give (point buy) a base DEX of 8. Then, when I asked people on Reddit about the character some of them commented that I might want to up my DEX to at least 10 (by dropping WIS from 12 to 10 as well). My Fighter is an axe-and-shield melee fighter, how important is DEX? I understand that DEX will help me avoid magical attacks, but what else is there? Is 8 DEX fine for my purposes, in your opinion? Or should it be even higher than 10, even if all my ranged combat comes in the form of chucking (using STR) javelins?
With great power comes great opportunity.
It MASSIVELY depends on the style of fighter.
If you plan to wear heavy armor and use strength to overcome your problems, then the difference between 8 dex and 10 dex is fairly negligible.
Yes, it's a penalty of 1 on DEX saves against spells or traps, but making saving throws against spells isn't your main defense against spellcasters as a heavy-armoured fighter, you rely on your superior hit points and other members of your party dealing with enemy spellcasters. With traps, again, you just need to play appropriately and don't be the guy at the front when exploring a potentially trapped area.
I suggest that the Wisdom stat is likely more important for you (assuming wearing heavy armor). If you fail a DEX save against something, you're usually taking more damage. If you fail a WIS save against something, your situation is usually a lot worse - paralyzed/charmed etc.
There are other fighters who use DEX as their primary stat and wear medium or even light armor.
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Thank you so much! You got the correct impression that I'm looking at a heavily armored fighter and I wasn't aiming for a Finesse weapon. I think everything you said makes sense and it seems that consensus is with you so I'm just going to leave my DEX low and see how it plays out. Bragg's got a lot of bravado anyway so it makes sense for him to play like a "Dodge? Why? I can take it." character. I'll look at a dextrous Fighter some other day :).
With great power comes great opportunity.
Heavy Armor Mastery also ties into this. You can reduce the damage per hit. Soaking damage like that is kind of a thing.
You can also be a medium armored fighter with dex 14 that is capable of switching to a bow if necessary. So there is no right or wrong here. That said, 8 is also totally fine. I second that wissom is more important than dexterity as a defensive stat.
Very possible for a future build! I think I'm sticking to javelins for now!
With great power comes great opportunity.