Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Help Tips & Tricks How to best use Auntie Ethel's +1 Ability Score hair

At Lvl5, my Pally's base Ability Scores (AS) are:
STR 18
DEX 12
CON 14
INT 8
WIS 8
CHA 16

Finally got Auntie Ethel to talk at low health during her fight, and got her hair with +1 STR. So I'm thinking of respec to take advantage of this STR +1
STR 19 (wear Ethel's hair like a wig to make it 20) XD
DEX 10
CON 14
INT 8
WIS 8
CHA 16

Is this the right way to use the +1 thou? AFAIK, we can use AS improvement FEAT to max any single AS to 20... but does that include the +1 we get some other means like Auntie Ethel's hair in this case? Because if it does include, then I probably should wait till I can get to STR 20 with FEAT (e.g. when I get to lvl 8), and then spend the hair to make it STR 21. Otherwise, it seems like a waste?

Keep in mind that you can chug infinite potion of hill giant strength (and better). Technically speaking, ANY investment into strength is a waste and to be avoided from the minmaxers meta standpoint. UNLESS you can beat the scores of these potions.

Theres also a permanent +2 str potion in act 2, a shame it doesn't let you select which attribute you would like.

Thank you guys so much for the great advice! Aww, wish I asked this question earlier, guess I kinda wasted that +1 then... it's all good, I'll know what to pick in future playthrus... which will be a few at least, haha.
BTW, so for my Pally, it would be better if I picked +1 CHA then? And similar to my original question, if I did get +1 CHA, should I respec to the following instead?
Does the +1 count towards the max 20 stat score?

STR 18
DEX 10
CON 14
INT 8
WIS 8
CHA 17 (wear Ethel's hair like a wig to make it 18) XD

Please keep in mind that the Meta Technically Correct Build is not always the most fun nor immersive. Strength just *can* be boosted by items a lot. Potions, too. I don't know if it counts towards the maximum (nor Volo's eye). I find it hard to roleplay characters that are not sceptical of anything that comes from a hag. The eye and hair might be a free charisma ASI, or not. Probably quickest to ask a new question on the forums