what to expect from a high dex?

[Darconeious]

i have 22 dex i added some cat grace pot for a
+4 enhancement = 26 dex (almost never do)
with str at 22 and rams might+2= 24 str (almost always)
wearing + 2 studed leather acid touch
i noticed really no differance in agility. it was not any quicker to hit or reflexes more keen
is this it ? does dex get or change game play that much? i mean its 26 dex! what should i expect?
i do more damage as my str increases
im kinda at a cross road here i have AP to spend on dex II but is it really worth it as i said the cats grace was no noticable change
str yes chg - - dex not really
can someone fill in some blanks here?
thanks for any input

[Sylvurdragon]

Your Dex score doesn't govern your run/walk speed nor does it govern the rate in which you attack. A higher Dex score gives you a higher AC (dependent upon what armor you are wearing - check your Dex bonus to AC number on the armor you have on)

Dex also governs certain skills such as move silently, hide, disable, tumble, pick locks, among a few others.

Having a high dex score is great depending on your class. Warriors can benefit from a higher dex if they plan on dual wielding, however if they plan on sword and boarding it or going two handed fighting, the Dex requirement is very minimal.

[MithrilSoul]

Well your DEX bonus is used for basically 3 things:

1. It increases your "to hit" on ranged attacks.
2. It increases your reflex saves.
3. It increases your AC, only up to the max allowed by the armor you are wearing.

And for those rangers who melee with light weapons or rapiers AND have chosen the weapon finesse feat, then it also increases your "to hit" with your melee attacks.

At 22 DEX that is a DEX bonus of +6. In terms of an AC contribution, that is as good as you are going to be able to do while wearing any kind of light armor at all (at least that I'm aware of, I can't remember seeing any armors in the game that allow a DEX bonus of greater than +6). So increasing your DEX beyond 22 is not going to help your AC unless you go over to robes, and by going over to robes you lose whatever "base" AC your light armor would normally be giving you (which in the case of a +4 or +5 mithral chain shirt or mithral breastplate, can be quite significant--and far more important to your AC than another +1 or +2 from extra DEX).

So basically it comes down to either helping your reflex saves and bow to hit, versus adding a little to your damage. If you find you are hitting things well enough, then proabably adding to STR is your best bet at this point.

[wamjratl1]

i have 22 dex i added some cat grace pot for a
+4 enhancement = 26 dex (almost never do)
with str at 22 and rams might+2= 24 str (almost always)
wearing + 2 studed leather acid touch
i noticed really no differance in agility. it was not any quicker to hit or reflexes more keen
is this it ? does dex get or change game play that much? i mean its 26 dex! what should i expect?
i do more damage as my str increases
im kinda at a cross road here i have AP to spend on dex II but is it really worth it as i said the cats grace was no noticable change
str yes chg - - dex not really
can someone fill in some blanks here?
thanks for any input

Dex doesn't make you move faster or attack faster. It will add to your Dex bonus to AC (up to your max Dex bonus determine by your armor).

It will also raise your reflex save, which is a dice roll to determine if certain attacks or traps hit you (there's no visual dodging involved here).

It will slao increase certain skilss: hide, move silently, open lock, tumble. It DOES NOT increase your disable device skill (to correct the above poster); Intelligence is the correct skill to increase your disable skill, if you are a rogue.

If you take the finnesse feat, Dex will also be used to determine your to-hit with finnessable weapons, instead of strength.

[Darconeious]

okay i think i was using the cats grace in the wrong place i was hand to hand with mobs during the 6 min time and i thought it would help in that as for the AC does it make your score actually go upour does is just allow you to wear armor within its dex bonus
example-
if you wear a + 4 light armor with a -1 penalty and you use + 4 cat grace to increase dex would that be enough to momentarally get you out of the penalty to wear the armor

and a ? about that penalty
at - 1 if i took the enhancement that aborbs the -1 penalty will that make you proficient to wear without takeing the penalty?just was wandering cause i took the 2 enhancements that make it happen not sure what they are i half to go home and look but im pretty sure the 2 go together but when i put on the-1 penalty armor it still shows as a penalty maybe i did it wrong maybe it does not work at all

[Drakos]

okay i think i was using the cats grace in the wrong place i was hand to hand with mobs during the 6 min time and i thought it would help in that as for the AC does it make your score actually go upour does is just allow you to wear armor within its dex bonus
example-
if you wear a + 4 light armor with a -1 penalty and you use + 4 cat grace to increase dex would that be enough to momentarally get you out of the penalty to wear the armor

and a ? about that penalty
at - 1 if i took the enhancement that aborbs the -1 penalty will that make you proficient to wear without takeing the penalty?just was wandering cause i took the 2 enhancements that make it happen not sure what they are i half to go home and look but im pretty sure the 2 go together but when i put on the-1 penalty armor it still shows as a penalty maybe i did it wrong maybe it does not work at all

No it doesn't work that way. All armor has a characteristic called "Max Dex Bonus" this is the maximum dexterity bonus you can apply to your AC. So if you have a Dexterity of say 24 that is a Dex bonus of +7. If your armor has a Max Dex of 4 then only 4 of the 7 apply to your AC because the armor is restrictive and prevents the other 3 from applying.

It doesn't reduce your Armor Check Penalty at all.

[Grecan]

And yes, there are armors with more than +6 max dex bonus

A darkweave leather armor has +7 max dex bonus

A padded armor has +8 max dex bonus

[vVAnjilaVv]

A good reflex saves and a decent AC up to a certain point. That being said I sorely regret not having put more STR into my ranger in place of some of the DEX.

U wanna balance it out some because rangers get Bow STR for free, and even if ur a finesser u want at least 13 STR for Power Attack most likely, 14 is better as u will most certainly come across a +2 str at some point, or u could start with 12 and if u have a +1 tome already...theya re easy to get, still 12 base STR is rather low for a melee toon, even if ur a finesser.

I would say the only class that can really get away with low STR is a rogue as thier sneak attack damage compensates for it.......and even that can limit them for solo play and fortified foes.

EDIT....sorry OP...seems u are already a STR ranger...so then you would want to get ur DEX as high as possible without really sacrficing the primary goal of your build. Yes, every +1 to your reflex save is going to make that much of a difference if u plan on going to end game.