Int would be the other strong contender. Unless you're playing a wizzy, you're most likely just going from a +1 to a -1 stat bonus at most. And it is quite likely, that at some point in chapter 1, suddenly, somehow, one character
instead.
Well, if you have the equipment slot for it, anyway.
I went for it on my Bard for obvious reasons (since he's supposed to be a master at all speech checks), but otherwise I only use it temporarily.
And even on my Bard I lose this slot for other interesting equipment, including
items specifically for bard.