Newbie. I need help building the main character...please!

[Sir Munchkin]

Hello to everyone in this community.

I have played all the old baldurs gate/icewind dale/neverwinter games, so i decided to grab this game because i heard it's a good game for those who likes that kind of games...but before starting playing the game i have readed through some strategy guides and builds and this game seems like it has very different mechanics compared to D&D games/rpg in general...so to be honest im a bit lost in all that much info because for the character builds seems you need to know the game concepts beforehand to understand them... so please if someone could guide me through some basic choices to create my main character i would be really grateful.

I was thinking on creating a Human Paladin (shieldbearer) cause I always play characters like this as my first/main character. I want to excel in diplomacy and get the most out of the conversations, and let my hirelings carry with the other aspects of the game (i don't mind if my MC is not good at fighting, i just want to provide them support). I don't know how this game is really focused if it favors more combat or if conversations are important too but anyway. btw i'm planning on playing on normal difficult being my first time...

i thought about this distribution:

MGT 8
CON 8
DEX 8
PER 18
INT 16
RES 20
My initial skill is lay on hands, Aedyr and Cleric background.
Does this seems playable? would i be punished by th lower stats? i readed somewhere that the normal difficult is very permissive on what you build but i want to learn to progressively augment the difficult cause i don't like it being too easy.

I would like to max INT as well for interactions but i don't know how impactful would be if i lower the other stats more. If someone experienced in these kind of characters can help me it would be much appreciated. 

[Boeroer]

Hi,

normal difficulty lets you get away with all sorts of characters, so no worries. The official companions are build in a way that a normal diff. playthrough is possible with not much trouble even if your main character was a complete disaster.

Attribute point distribution is not as crucial as in many other RPGs. It can make a difference of course, but a few points here and there won't have an effect on the validity of your character. 

Other than that you can totally be a diplomatic Paladin focusing on roleplaying and dialogue and story -  but still play a good supporting role during fights.

There's one tip for a supporting Paladin that I found to be super helpful in fights: it's the combination of a marking weapon (you should automatically get one when you pick the faction that I think you will pick naturally as a Paladin) with the Paladin ability "Coordinated Attacks". Both do the same: they give the nearest ally who also attacks the same enemy as you +10 accuracy (big bonus). Since they stack it's in fact +20 accuracy (huge bonus). This alone can make the Paladin very helpful in fights "passively" without him even doing much damage by himself - and it doesn't cost much in terms of money or ability points.

 I made a little character build for such a diplomatic Shieldbearer paladin who is pretty useful in fights, too. It might be a bit too detailed and riddled with special terminology - but maybe it will give you ideas: