Let's have a look at the five main attributes in Battlepaths. When your character levels up, you will want to make sure you make the right choice when selecting an attribute to increase.
Strength
Strength determines how much damage your character deals, as well as which items you are going to be able to use. Many of the powerful equipment you find will require high Strength. Also, Strength determines the level of the special "Power Strike" and "Warcry" when activated. Other than that, there's not much to say about Strength. It's pretty straight forward: having a high Strength will allow you to deal much damage.
Endurance
Endurance is all about Hitpoints. The higher your Endurance goes, the more Hitpoints you will gain on each level up. This specifically means that raising Endurance early on will give you more Hitpoints. The effect of "Regeneration" and "Health Boost" is affected by Endurance.
Dexterity
Dexterity determines your base Attack Rating and Armor Class. Also, there are powerful items that require high Dexterity although they are more uncommon than those requiring high Strength. This means that you can neglect Strength totally, if you want. Characters with high Dexterity will have a high chance to hit their foes while they are harder to hit themselves. Did you ever desperately try to hit one of these pesky snakes? Well, with high Dexterity they're just as easy to kill as some random Goblin. Dexterity will also improve the special "Eagle Eye", which increases your Attack Rating even further and adds a chance to do critical damage. Everybody wants high Dexterity!
Speed
This may be one of the most underrated attributes. In fact, it's just as powerful as any other attribute. You might actually find out that a high Speed balances out pretty much any other shortcoming. Speed directly influences your Movement Cost (MC). The higher your Speed, the lower your MC will get, which means that you'll get more turns. More turns mean more damage, more tactical options while fighting, giving you not only the opportunity to escape from certain death. The special "Haste", which's level depends on Speed, decreases your MC even further. A high Speed combined with "Haste" will make you so fast that your foes won't know what hit them. If this still isn't fast enough for you, you'll also get the chance to learn the special "Flash". Are you mad at those Rogues shooting you down from the distance while they're guarded by a group of Soldiers? Go flash 'em!
Willpower
What's all about those specials when they need like a millennium to recharge? Well, they do, if your character lacks a notable Special Regeneration Rate (SR). Willpower increases SR. If you want to use your specials often, raise Willpower. To use them more often, get equipment that increases SR. Going this way you'll end up using specials frequently. Even more, you'll be able to combine specials. What about "Haste" combined with "Power Strike"?!
Conclusion
Each of the five attributes in Battlepaths play an important role. Choose two or three of these attributes you'll want to focus on and stick to it. Many combinations will yield a powerful character that plays different from any other. You can also try to find a balanced distribution that works well.
