For the first several levels, I added all my warrior's stat points into strength until it was 25 so he could equip a particular shield. Even though the stats screen said his strength was 25, the shield would not equip. When I checked back later, the strength stat had fallen back down to 17. I added 5 more points at the next level up for a total of 22, but the stat fell back down again. Does this game have stat system that I'm not yet aware of? I'm wondering if it may be some sort of glitch.

Weapons, armor and jewelry also add to your stats. Your total strength will be the sum of points you have added plus any points your equipment adds thru magic etc. If you have a pair of boots that add several points to strength . . . and swap them out for a pair that has more armor protection . . . your strength will drop and your defense will rise and any equipment you are wearing that depended on a certain strength stat level will no longer be usable.

If you equip, or in some cases, have a cursed item in your possession, your stats will drop. One cursed axe in particular will drain your stamina continuously just having it in your inventory.

I have found certain items that enhanced my stats greatly and wore them for many levels even though I had found a "better" item, removing the item caused my stats to plummet. Look closely at the items you have unequipped or equipped as they affect other stats. Unlike other RPG's , DD will give you some excellent items that can / will be better than anything you find for many levels.

I use one sword for almost the entire last half of the game because I have found no better weapon. I like this because it allows me to focus on the story rather than constantly looking for better equipment. I do look at everything I find but it must be an overall benefit rather than an immediate benefit to one stat while lowering other stats. Of course, if the item increases a stat or protection but lowers no other stats . . use it. The Dragon armor breast plate is another example of a item that adds lots of points but offers little damage protection compared to other breast plates you are finding. It's another dimension of the game . . . =)

Edit: open your stat window when equipping items and click on the new. This will equip the item and change the stats. Clicking on the unequipped item will re-equip it and allow you to see the stats for the old item. Clicking back and forth on the old and new items will allow you to easily see the benefits of the new item compared to the old item. Most of the time this is not necessary since you will be able to determine if the item is a benefit or not just by looking at the item description.

Thanks for the reply, but it doesn't seem to be a matter of equipment. I was wearing the same gear during the entire first dungeon, in which I noticed the stats dropping. At level 7, I unequipped all the stat-boosting items and the str stat fell back down to 15 as if I never added any points at all. With all the points added, it should have been 40-ish,

Hummnn, most unusual. Make sure your game shortcut Compatibility tab has "Run this program as an administrator" check marked. It sounds like your stat updates are not being saved by the game. I would also open a help ticket with GOG support.

I assume you are running Vista or Win 7 and that you installed the game with UAC off and by right clicking the setup.exe and clicking "Run as an administrator". On Win 7 is also a good idea to install in a directory outside of Program Files. . . sorry I haven't helped . . . =(

Well, I finally figured out the problem and feel like a big dope. The bottom of the stat tray was hidden behind the main interface at the bottom of the screen, so I did not see the check mark to finalize the stats. The reason I could not equip the shield before is that the menu merely showed that I had 25 points invested into strength, but not finalized. Evidently, the extra stat points eventually disappear if not finalized. I did find that running the game in Windows 98 mode on my system gets rid of the game crashes, though. :)

Glad you found the fix, you definitely need to push the check-mark after assigning points . . =)

It sounded like it wasn't saving your stats update.

Enjoy . . . =)