Attributes in Diablo 3 consist of Strength, Dexterity, Vitality, Willpower. Each attribute affects multiple values in Diablo III; making points in each attribute valuable to all characters. See the respective character class page for Barbarian, Witch Doctor, Wizard and the Upcoming Classes for more specific details.
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No Customizable Attributes
The biggest change about attributes in Diablo III is that they are not player-customized. Unlike D1 and D2, attributes are automatically designated when a character levels up. As a result all level 50 (for instance) Wizards will have the same strength, dexterity, willpower, and vitality as each other. That said, no two characters will ever have identical stats or use their stats in the same way, since equipment and skill runes and other not-yet-revealed features will add bonuses and otherwise modify attributes and character play styles.
Though Blizzard has made several public statements defending this change, it remains one of the more controversial topics while the game is under discussion. See this article for more discussion of the issue, and long lists of the pros and cons of this change.
Strength
Strength governs how much damage you do and how high your armor rating is. Whether the effect of each point in Strength on the secondary attributes is the same for every character class is unclear as of yet.
1 point of Strength gives:
Dexterity
Dexterity governs your chance to critically strike a target, and so doing more damage. Dexterity influences your chance to dodge an attack and lowers the chance that your character will be interrupted by getting hit.
1 point of Dexterity gives:
- +x% Critical Strike Chance
- +x% Dodge Chance
- Higher Dexterity lowers chance you will be interrupted by getting hit.
Vitality
Vitality governs the amount of life your character has and how fast its mana regenerates.
1 point of Vitality gives:
- +x Life
- Mana Regeneration of +x per second
Willpower
Willpower governs the amount of spell damage bonus and extra health the consumption that a health globe will grant your character.
1 point of Willpower gives:
- +x% Spell Damage Bonus
- +x% Health Globe Bonus