Let's briefly describe each of the different types of characters, and how to make them the most powerful in each case. There are several different types of characters, so you should decide how you want to play the game before you decide the type of character you want to create. In the broadest sense, you can do four main things: fight well, fight ok and cast some spells, fight ok and act sneaky, or fight poorly and cast powerful spells. These four things broadly categorize the main character classes of Fighter, Cleric, Thief, and Magic User, respectively. However, this is only the tip of the iceberg. Listed below are what these broad classes do best, and how to make each class as powerful as possible.

Fighter

Strengths: Fighters can fight extremely well and are capable of inflicting vast amounts of physical damage. They can use all armors and weapons.

How to maximize the character's potential:

• Decide early on if you want to make the Fighter use melee or range weapons. If you spend all your proficiencies as you increase levels on one weapon, you can achieve High Mastery for a +3/+4 bonus plus additional attacks each combat round.

Stats:

• Roll a character with an 18 Strength. When any of the fighter classes has an 18 for Strength, that aspect is increased by an "exceptional strength" modifier which varies from 01 to 00 (essentially 100). As this number increases, the to-hit and damage modifiers increase dramatically.
• Roll a character with Dexterity and Constitutions of 16 or higher. You can sacrifice Wisdom and Intelligence scores for this. Your fighter doesn't need to be smart; he needs to be a killing machine. These DEX and CON bonuses suit the Fighter better.
• The Charisma score is variable. With higher Charisma, you sometimes get different results from quests, but it's not necessary to max out your Fighter.

An ideal Fighter should have the following stats or higher (x denotes the stat is essentially irrelevant):

STR	18 (>76)
CON	18
DEX	18
INT	x
WIS	x
CHA	x
God-like:
STR	18 (>91)
CON	18 (19 if you're a dwarf)
DEX	18
INT	x
WIS	x
CHA	18

Ranger

The key strengths of the Ranger over the Fighter are Stealth and the ability to Charm Animals.
The weakness is that you can't obtain more than two points of proficiency for any weapon type.

Paladin

The key strengths of the Paladin over the Fighter are the abilities to Lay Hands (heal) and Detect Evil.
The weakness is that you can't obtain more than two points of proficiency for any weapon type.

Cleric

Strengths: Clerics fight quite well and have a vast array of spells that are primarily defensive in nature.

Clerics can use all armors, but are limited to blunt, spiked, and missile weapons.

How to maximize the character's potential:

There are several different roles a Cleric can play. The offensive Cleric stays at the front line battling monsters hand-to-hand with your Fighters, while the defensive Cleric is likely third or fourth in your party order and fights primarily with a missile weapon (sling). Both types have quick access to healing spells in the middle of battle.

• The Cleric's primary Ability Score is Wisdom. You need to roll a character with at least 16 Wisdom, which grants you bonus spells at low level. A Cleric with 16 WIS will have four first and three second level spells when the character reaches third level. Compare this to a Cleric with a lower Wisdom (e.g. 12), who would only have two first and one second level spell with the same amount of experience.
• If you want your Clerics to fight, then you will want to give them high Strength. Aside from increasing the amount of damage and your to-hit abilities, it will make the character strong enough to wear heavy plate mail and wield some of the heavier weapons like hammers.
• You should try to make the cleric with 16 Constitution. The 16 CON provides a +2 hit point bonus each time the player goes up a level. There is no need to spend ability points beyond this; however, unlike the fighter, the Cleric gets no additional hit point bonuses for higher CON scores.
• Whether it's an offensive or a defensive Cleric, high Dexterity is a must. The offensive Cleric will reap the benefits of a lower Armor Class, whereas the defensive Cleric will get the Missile Attack adjustment.
• When memorizing spells, the player should choose based on the type of party. If most of the characters use missile weapons, a spell like Entangle may be extremely helpful. If you are fighting opponents who also have missile weapons, however, Command or Hold Person will be more appropriate. Always keep at least a few Cure Light Wounds and Slow Poison spells handy as well.

An ideal cleric should have the following stats or higher (x denotes the stat is essentially irrelevant):

Offensive:
STR	17
CON	16
DEX	18
INT	x
WIS	16
CHA	x
Defensive:
STR	18
CON	16
DEX	17
INT	x
WIS	16
CHA	x
God-like:
STR	18
CON	16
DEX	18
INT	x
WIS	18
CHA	16

Druid

Thief

Strengths: The Thief has abilities that no other class has. The Thief has medium fighting ability, but is limited both in weapon and armor selection.

How to maximize the characters potential:

For simplicity, let's say there are two types of Thieves: the Combat Thief and the Standard Thief. The Combat Thief will hone the skill of stealth overall, using backstab as often as possible in combats. The Standard Thief will raise all thieving abilities similarly.

Stats:

• The Thief's primary stat is Dexterity. An 18 DEX is tops with a human character, so you may want to consider creating an Elf or a Halfling character, both of which can have a 19 DEX.
• Each of the different races receive different racial bonuses to his/her thieving abilities. Halflings receive the largest bonuses, but can only have 17 STR. Elves racial bonuses are less than the Halflings, but they can only have 17 CON. A 17 CON makes little difference to a thief, who only needs 16 CON for the max +2 HP/level bonus. For a Combat Thief, choose an Elf; for a Standard Thief, choose a Halfling.
• After race and dexterity, try to achieve 16 CON for the max +2 HP/level bonus.
• Go for high STR. If you are making a Combat Thief and plan to do a lot of backstabbing, get this stat as high as 17 to achieve bonuses for both to-hit and damage.
• When assigning points to Thieving Abilities, remember what each is for. If you don't plan to pick-pocket, don't place points in this category. If you are making a Standard Thief, spend your points evenly between the skills. If you are making a Combat Thief, spend more of your points on Stealth.

An ideal Thief should have the following stats or higher (x denotes the stat is essentially irrelevant):

Standard:
STR	15
CON	16
DEX	19
INT	x
WIS	x
CHA	x
Combat:
STR	17
CON	16
DEX	18
INT	x
WIS	x
CHA	x
God-like (Elf, the Halfling can only have a 17 STR):
STR	18
CON	16
DEX	19
INT	x
WIS	x
CHA	18

Bard

The Bard is a sub-class of Thief, but is essentially a different character. The Bard needs many minimum Ability Scores, so rolling one with good scores can be very difficult. At second level, the Bard will start to get Mage spells, so don't underestimate his need for INT. A low INT score will hinder his ability to copy spells to his spellbook.

Mage

Mage, Generalist

Strengths: The Mage has very powerful offensive spells. However, the Mage is very weak in physical combat and must be surrounded with stronger fighters to survive. The Mage can't wear armor and is limited to simple weapons.

How to maximize the character's potential:

• The Mage has the lowest number of hit points and can't wear armor. Therefore, the character needs to have high DEX to lower its Armor Class, and a high CON to increase hit points. In addition, the Mage requires high INT to learn and cast Mage spells.

Stats:

• The Mage's prime requisite is intelligence. Intelligence directly affects the chance that a character can copy spells from scrolls into their spell book. You should try for 16 or higher INT.
• With no armor, the low-level Mage is very vulnerable. Therefore, the Mage should have at least 16 DEX, if not higher.
• With only a d4 for hit points, the mage has the lowest hit point totals of any class. A 16 CON for the +2 HP/level bonus is a must.
• Elves and Halflings can both have 19 DEX, but this score still incurs only a -4 to Armor Class. It's the same situation with 18 DEX, so the Elf and Halfling are not as suited to being a Mage as a Gnome, who receives a bonus to INT. However, the Gnome can only be an illusionist (see Specialist below), and is therefore excluded from being a generic Mage. Simply put, there is no ideal race for a Mage, unless you specialize and create a Gnome Illusionist.
• When selecting spells, note that while you are selecting two spells, they don't always need to be the two spells that the Mage has memorized. Selecting Identify will save the party money and time during the game. Also, you can use an offensive spell like Magic Missile, Charm, or Sleep.

An ideal mage should have the following stats or higher (x denotes the stat is essentially irrelevant):

Standard:
STR	13
CON	16
DEX	18
INT	16
WIS	x
CHA	x
God-like:
STR	16
CON	16
DEX	18
INT	18
WIS	x
CHA	16

Specialist

The Specialist Mage concentrates on one school of magic. This emphasis enables the Mage to memorize one extra spell per Spell Level. This extra spell is well worth excluding one school as long as you understand which school you are excluding. For example, if you want to cast the most powerful damage-dealing spells (Fireball and Lightning Bolt), don't create an Enchanter, whose opposite school is Invocation. If you create a Gnome Illusionist, understand that you can't learn any Necromantic spells such as Ghoul Touch, Chill Touch, Animate Dead, among others.