Confusion over Attributes

[Valdain the King]

Im playing the game as a shaman this time and am a little confused. While the shadowwalker pumps dex and endurance, and the BM pumps strength and endurance-What does the shaman pump. I was thinking of using javelins (so dex) mixed with magic. Should i pump dexterity and intelligence or dex and endurance? I am confused as every magic skill uses a different attribute for damage. I dont want to switch between dex and intelligence but i would prefer to stick with 2 attributes. Would 4 dex, 1 endurance be good every 5 levels. So 4 dex until level 5, then 1 endurance. Im not really sure what to do. Maybe i should stick with 4 dex, 1 intelligence. Could someone give me a good idea.

[Alorael at Large]

There's not a very high cost of being wrong since you can retrain at will. Try a build, and if you don't like it try a different one. I went with almost entirely intelligence with a bit of endurance, but I think the agreed optimal build is much closer to 4:1 or 5:1 dexterity to endurance with no investment in intelligence at all.

 

In particular, it depends on what your shaman does. If you're relying heavily on summons, you don't need intelligence. If you're using spells that use intelligence, it's nice to have, but the spells are actually still effective without intelligence, and dexterity will give you defenses. Intelligence will make scarabs better, though, so if you find your shaman relying on scarab spells for damage, intelligence may be worthwhile.

 

—Alorael, who will also go ahead and point out that the optimal blademaster build is probably also dexterity and endurance. Melee isn't bad, but dexterity is optimal.

[Lilith]

A main-character shaman is probably best served focusing on Dexterity, because a lot of things are immune to magical damage and you'll want a way to actually hit them. Healing and summoning aren't affected by your stats at all. The only important thing you miss out on by neglecting Intelligence is Spirit Charge, which is awesome but not essential to the class.

[ex post slarto]

Also the scarabs, which are often better offensive magic than even the sorceress has if you pump int, and recharge very quickly. But yeah, dexterity is probably better.