The problem with those stats is that they're pretty much profession exclusive. There are 3 basic archetypes: warrior with dexterity & strength, magician with the intelligence & wisdom, archer with dexterity and vitality. Of course, magician & warrior also need vitality, it's pretty much a universal stat, but it's just that they can't dedicate that much point to it whereas the archer can afford to be fat.
Another disappointing (frankly speaking - bullshitty) part about those stats is how miniscule their impact is. I mean, you folks have been complaining about stats in PoE not doing shit? Well, ladies and gentlemen, welcome the Balrum! 1 point of wisdom, for example, increases spell damage by 1 points and regenerates 4 points of mana every 5 turns. To put you in context, starting Fireball spell costs 90 mana and does 100-150 basic damage. Average combat (on hard) lasts 10-20 turns, that's against solo opponent. So, spending 4 (out of eight, starting stats are also capped at 4) starting points on Wisdom gives you 3,2% damage increase on your fireball and allows you to cast an extra fireball every 28 turns. Whoop-dee-fucking-doo.
Str & Dex are pretty much the same crap - enjoy stuff like 2% to hit and crit increase in total. The only noticeable one are the Intelligence (4 Int increase starting pool by 34% - wowzers) and Vitality (18% increase).
And I dunno, maybe the stats somehow scale over the course of the game, but initially they pretty much don't mean anything. And first rewards are totally blind to that. For example, first quest - either receive 10 gold or do the job for free, gaining a 5 minute buff giving +1 to two stats. Or waste a minute or two gathering resources & doing chores on cooking some elaborate food to receive, like, those very same +1% to one stat, +2% to another. Why the hell would I want to do that, really?
I dunno, I haven't experienced lots of the combat so maybe that is good. But the RPG/crafting part of the game is rather baffling.
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