I've started a few games with the Paladin and I found myself dying too frequently over and over again on the easy difficulty setting. So I watched that YouTube Let's Play posted earlier in this thread and learned one vital piece of information: A perfectly balanced character is a dead character. You simply cannot balance your stats, you must focus on the strengths of your chosen class. For instance, I started with a Paladin and evenly distributed my stat points and got destroyed. So on my third attempt, I only put stat points in Strength and Constitution, and now I find myself able to handle the earlier quests without wasting all of my gold on healing potions. So as a Thief, for instance, you might want to dump most of your stat points in Strength if you're looking to use swords over bows. If not, dump them in Dexterity. Also, I find it useful to have a high Constitution for a health boost. This is all, of course, my own opinion and I don't claim this as the right way to do things. Happy gaming guys and gals!