being the one who put the info into the form seen on the char guide on sandy's site... i might as well put in my two cents... or maybe a bit more.
sandy asked me to write up the char guide for his site, because he knew that i like figuring out "optimal" char builds, and that i had run a test among speed, persistence, and strength fighters. that being said, i didn't create most of the info on that guide, i simply took most of it from a guide we used to use on the forum (by a former player called dominoes) and made it easier to read.
anyway, down to answering the question... but even before i do that... i'll say that for me, the most important thing for most of my char's is to level quickly. some people prefer to have the best pvp char at their level (and against many levels above). others prefer to make the most money. some like to get the most kills/click on TA. and others have their own goals. yes, for me, i don't simply build all mine as strength fighters (what my testing has shown to level the fastest), because i like a bit of variety. and i have a digger, as boring as it is, to help bring in more money.
but regardless of what you hope to do with a char, i will say that the best option for you is to go with unbalanced stats, with a pure robber being the only exception. even if you want a char to be able to rob a little, steal a little, fight other players, and carry a lot of money so you can build good traps in your house... you are better off (in my opinion) building a strength or persistance fighter (maybe a bit higher than "suggested minimum" speed if you'd like). anyone can rob. anyone can steal. your success rate is a bit better if you build your char's specifically for one of those purposes, but it's not a big deal if you're only stealing/robbing from time to time. and yes, even IQ has a small effect for fighters (scatter is reduced by 0.4*IQ), but i've found that it's not worth taking points out of strength (for example) to add a bit of IQ. the payoff isn't worth it.
let's put it this way... when i started playing larki, i didn't know about any char guide. and my original char's look very similar to most people who didn't look at a char guide when they started. the stats are/were somewhat equal. i figured "jakc of all trades", but it's really true, that i was a "master of none". i would loose most of my pvp's. by level 20, i could hardly touch most of the new monsters i saw each level. i had so few hp's, well-built diggers of my level had about the same as me. basically, when i found the char guide, and started my "well-built" fighters, they caught up to my original char's in no time. and the well-built guys had almost twice the hp's as the originals.
so what do i suggest? basically, what i suggest in the char guide on larkiguide. if you're making a fighter, you don't need any luck, and you really don't need IQ. (ok, so i mention that it can be useful to have about 6 IQ so that by lvl 30 or 40, you can upgrade your own weapons instead of buying them for rediculous prices on the market or worse, not even finding any on the market to buy). if you're making a mage, you don't need strength, dex, or luck. and if you're making a digger, you only need luck. yes, each of these char's can still steal and rob (my digger, currently with 135 luck, 39 IQ, 30 pers, 1 in the rest... has level 150 robbing and 167 stealing) from time to time. it will slow them down a little, but if their main "profession" is something else, design their build for that. even stats will always slow you down. and what's the point in playing the game if you don't want to level? be a master of one trade with each char, and do small things on the side with them when you're bored... just for enough time to get reinterested, and then go back to what they're good at.
--jason
