Back in 1999-2000 I spent a good deal of time reading the "Paladins of Norrath" boards and after much debate on the topic of strength there started to be some parsing done (some rudimentary tools back then I think) to provide empirical evidence. I wish those threads still existed but I can't find them anymore.
Several different individuals all performed tests with appropriate controls for variables and found that (at least for Paladins) strength had a minuscule effect on damage. It was so small as to become a trivial stat other than to have enough to lug around whatever weight you needed.
Similar parses showed AC to have a significant effect on damage taken. It was (at least back then on live) common knowledge among those who actually tested real data, that Str should never be taken before AC, HP, Stam, or even Agi for tanks.
Things could have changed post Kunark era, or changed here on P99 - but the folks who studied the data back then showed unequivocally that Str (especially for the paladin class) was basically meaningless because it didn't add statistically significant damage. Does anyone know of any empirical data (not anecdotal) to show this is different on P99?
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