Dialogue is an important part of PS:T. On the other hand, combat is practically optional. There are only four creatures that you have no choice but to fight. But if you enjoy combat, the game gives you the option to kill as many monsters as you like. The beauty of PS:T is that you can play it a lot of different ways. Even if you have high Wisdom and get to choose from a lot of different dialogue options, you can still resort to violence if you prefer.
I don't think you'll miss much of the plot if you play a Fighter instead of a Mage; you will see less dialogue and be forced into more fights because you can't talk your way out of them. But even if you play a very wise, intelligent character and are able to read all of the dialogue that the game has to offer, there will still be a lot of unsolved mysteries, and you'll just have to get used to that.
Compared to a game like Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn, the combat scenarios in PS:T aren't very complex. There aren't many enemy spellcasters, and it isn't difficult to coordinate your own attacks if you have a party of six. Essentially, you just need to keep your weaker party members back and let your strongest fighters gang up on the monsters (you will rarely ever encounter more than three at a time, with the primary exception of Under Sigil and a few special encounters).
When you switch classes, you still retain all of the fighting abilities you acquired as a Fighter; the main difference is the weapon restrictions. For example, if you become a Mage, you will be just as deadly with a dagger (which a Mage can wield) as you would be if you were still a Fighter.
The main difference between Thieves and Fighters (besides thieving skills) is backstabbing. Other than that, the only other difference is weapon restrictions--for example, a Thief cannot use axes or hammers. But Thieves and Fighters can both use knives and punch-daggers, so there is also a lot of overlap when it comes to weapons. If you put a lot of proficiency points into a weapon as a Fighter, you'll enjoy the benefits as a Thief as long as you choose weapons that are usable by a Thief.
No matter what class I play, my favorite weapons are knives and punch-daggers (proficiency: Fist, I think). They're great for backstabbing, and you can find some pretty nice weapons fairly early in the game.
Starting stats are not very critical, in my opinion. Any class benefits from high Wisdom, not only because of the dialogue options, but also because higher Wisdom lets you gain experience faster. As you level up, you automatically gain stat points. You can also gain stat points just by talking to people. The max for each stat is 25, and I'd say that 19 is optimal for each one. By that, I mean that more is always better, but 19 is the point at which you're really starting to shine.
I can understand the desire to create the most kick-ass character possible, and if that's your goal, I say go for it.
But I hope you believe me when I tell you that you don't have to sweat over the details. Your character will be very powerful no matter what course you take. And furthermore, your character has a special gift that completely changes the nature of combat: if he gets killed, he gets right back up. Actually, he doesn't get right back up where he was killed--he wakes up in a safe place. Think about that for a moment. Can you think of a way to capitalize upon that fact and turn it into a strategy? I figured out all sorts of ways to exploit such things, and the game actually let me get away with it.
To get the best options when you first start the game, I recommend the following stats:
STR 10 (you can eventually raise it to 25 if you like--see below)
DEX 13 (raise to 18 ASAP if you want to play a Thief)
CON 10 (I never bother to raise it, since the Nameless One doesn't need more hit points and he regenerates)
INT 12 (it never needs to be higher than 19)
WIS 18 (add one more point at level-up and then try to raise it to 24 through dialogue options)
CHA 13 (add one more point and wear a +2 tattoo to raise it to 16 when you visit the Dead Nations)
There isn't really a level limit. There are a couple of places where monsters respawn endlessly (I think of them as training grounds), so you can become 65th Level if you like and max out all of your stats. If your Constitution is 24, you will have so many hit points and regenerate so fast, you probably won't find any monster that can kill you. Therefore you can kill the monsters casually, and that's when you can be creative and turn it into an art.
When you leave the Mortuary, you should keep Morte in your party. He's a great melee fighter because he has such high resistance to damage. If you head for the Alley of Dangerous Angles, you can let the two rival gangs kill each other (just lure one group into the other gang's territory) and pick up thousands of gold pieces' worth of treasure if you do it over and over. (When you leave the area and come back, they will respawn unless their leader is killed.) There aren't many weapons to buy until you get farther into the game, so head to the tattoo parlor and buy some tattoos. Armor? What's armor?
Go find Dak'kon and keep him in your party at least until you meet Annah--that will give you enough time to decide whether you like him. If you like Annah (and I don't see why you wouldn't), be sure to ask her if she can show you some of her tricks; she can help you become a better Thief (and you can do the same for her).
I don't like Ignus or Vhailor, but you can let them join your party long enough to talk to them for some interesting benefits. Fall-From-Grace is a great character, and she's nice to have around, especially if you play a "contemplative" character as opposed to a ruffian. If you need a healer, she's your only choice. If you don't need her healing, she can cast some mean lightning bolts at high levels. If you're planning to get into a lot of combat, I suggest that you recruit Nordom, who is the only character in the game who can use ranged weapons. If you upgrade his stats (with dialogue and items) and equip him with the Lens of Seeing Double, he'll shoot down most of your enemies before they even reach you.
I think you ought to play the game and see how things work. Come back and tell us what you think about it. I'm sure you'll have some more questions for us, and we'd be glad to help.
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