Yes, play as a mage, ramp up wisdom and intelligence, otherwise you play the game as an idiot. Therefore you don't get any of the insightful dialog.

It's either wisdom or intelligence. Charisma helps too when buying/selling and in some encounters.
Play as a mage? Why not a priest or fighter with high intellect? I agree putting up those stats though, but playing as a mage isn't always the way to go to get all the dialog.

Some dialogue/interaction options are available based on high Str or Dex, but generally, if you want as much talking as possible, then Cha, Wis, Int should be preferred.

Can you max out all stats?

pfffffffft. That's just picky, my point was clear. Besides, there isn't a very effective priest class in PS:T, you're basically given the three basics of warrior, rogue, or mage as the choice. Playing as a fighter with focus on intellect is just handicapping yourself. It's the logical choice. Also, playing as a fighter is really boring, as you just click attack, and that's about it.

Had the same exact reaction from my fist contact with PS:T. The attention to detail in the writing is extraordinary and overwhelming. And needs to be studied, copied and put into every possible game from now on, kthxbye.

Nope. Two or three of them, if I remember.

you can't max out any stat, they can keep going up. The problem is you don't know what the threshold is for getting a conversation option, so you just keep going.

How is it handicapping yourself or boring? Because mages can shoot pew pew spells all around and fighters can't? Fighters are just as good as characters to play as imo, and you have to click to use spells btw with mages not just clicking to attack as with fighters.

Thanks for all the replies! I'll start from scratch and just enjoy things as they come.

You can't play as a priest (or any kind of divine caster). TNO can only class as a fighter, a mage, or a rogue (and Grace is the only recruitable character that can cast divine spells). As for playing as a mage, all characters should be pumping up their Wisdom (for both the experience bonus and extra dialogue), and if a character is going to pump up their Intellect as well (as aside from Wisdom a high Intellect opens up the most dialogue choices) then they might as well go with a class where increased Intellect actually helps out. Additionally, for the first part of the game you won't have access to any pure mage NPCs, while you'll have access to two good front-line fighters from very early on, so classing as a mage can make for a more balanced party as well. Also, while Strength and Dexterity do open up a few dialogue choices it's nowhere near as much as the choices opened up by Wisdom, Intelligence, and Charisma (in that order).

I'm sure I went higher than that. Perhaps just with the aid of tatoos etc.

You can't fully max them out, but if you go with a high Wisdom from the start (for the experience bonus and extra dialogue choices- which often give you experience) then you can end up boosting most stats pretty high. When I played through I think I ended up with 2 or 3 stats maxed at 25, with the rest at or above 20.

Umm, yeah, it does.