stats

[jjh76]

Starting a new character as a pure dd pugilist, which stats should I concentrate on most?

[Akuun]

As a close range DD I would say Vit Str dex in that order.
You'll want enough Dex and accuracy that you hit consistently.
Around 2k HP (without party buffs) so you can take a few hits.
The rest should go into strength for damage.

[Autodidactic]

Pug can do some really good damage DD, just put a lot in str, order of stats I would say would be str-dex-vit. At R 50 just having 40 in vit you still have almost 1500 HP, more then enough if you are not tanking for most things.

[Akuun]

Pug can do some really good damage DD, just put a lot in str, order of stats I would say would be str-dex-vit. At R 50 just having 40 in vit you still have almost 1500 HP, more then enough if you are not tanking for most things.

I'm going to disagree here. Right now I'm spec'd for archer, 174 base str, 100 base dex, the rest is in vit, and at 67 vit, with only 1700+ hp, you are extremely squishy.
Basically if you only had 1500 HP either mages would have to focus on you instead of the tank, or you'll be dying a lot.
Maybe after they fix gear and stats so that we acually get some decent damage reduction, less than 2k hp for close range will be ok. If you're fine with not fighting nms, or running dungeons, then 1500, wouldn't likely be a problem.

Back to the OP
If you'll be leveling mostly solo, you'll want the extra HP for when second wind is on cool down, or a second mob aggros.
If you'll be doing mostly party play, then lower hp is fine until you begin doing dungeons and world NMs.

[Meleena]

I will agree with Akuun.
You are going to need 2000HP at least, no matter what.
Ogre will 1hit you easily with 1500HP if something goes wrong.

[jjh76]

Ok for vit an str, but what about dex? How much is enough to hit reliably? And mind, at higher ranks are there any skills that I'll need the extra sp for?

[Meleena]

My Dex is at 112 at 50 and I am fine right now.
Equipment and passive skills allow me to get more.