Without min-maxing, you'll have only two stats at the level of 17-18 (and that's what required to solve the really tough challenges). Min-maxing is especially important for the main character as the maxed out stats not only make him combat-viable, they also allow him to solve dialogue situations. Therefore, there are pretty much three default settings for the attribute – 3 aka min, 10 aka norm, 18 aka max. Which requires a lot of points so you'll have to minimize something too. When it comes to the attributes, Pillars of Eternity is a min-maxing game – to make a real difference, you really need to max the stats out. But, of course, stuff that works on PoTD will be appropriate on the lower difficulties.
This guide is adapted for the Path of the Damned difficulty as that's the only way I play it nowadays. If you prefer videos, I have a fresh playlist here: I'm investigating all of the classes gradually and so it's going to be updated along with my progress.
