# Forum > Gaming > Roleplaying Games > D&D 5e/Next >  Expert Sidekick: Saving Throw Choice

## 5eNeedsDarksun

So we've got this bear, Bjorn, who's been with our party of 3 for quite a while.  He's recently been Awakened, so we're converting him to an Expert Sidekick.  The natural choice for saving throw would, of course, be Dex.  However, between Bjorn's bucket of hp and Evasion, Dex saves don't seem as critical as they might be.  The other options are Int and Cha.  A little research tells me the more common of those is Cha, but Bjorn's Cha is 7, so I'm thinking he's probably going to fail those regardless of proficiency.  Awakened provides an Int of 10, so proficiency gives him a fighting chance, but Int saves are the rarest of the lot.

Maybe I'm overthinking this.  Is there any good reason not to just take Dex?

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## RogueJK

Seems like the choice is between frequency and severity.

DEX saves are common, but rarely do more than cause HP damage.

INT/CHA are less common, but the effects typically shut you down completely (stunning/possessing/etc.)

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## 5eNeedsDarksun

> Seems like the choice is between frequency and severity.
> 
> DEX saves are common, but rarely do more than cause HP damage.
> 
> INT/CHA are less common, but the effects typically shut you down completely (stunning/possessing/etc.)


Yeah, and regardless of how bad his Cha saves are, +4 (soon to be +5) still helps the same as on a good stat.  Maybe I should just do that one.  On the other hand we don't have a bunch of healing, so even if getting breath weaponed doesn't kill him outright, between that and a crappy AC, there's a whole lot of hp that are going to be an issue fairly often.

Edit: Hmm, just checked into the Cha saves; a chunk of them are Banishment/ Teleportation based, which don't all work in the campaign we're playing in anyway.  I think I'll just stick with Dex.

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