Dexterity measures hand-eye coordination, agility, reflexes, and balance. This ability is the most important one for rogues and shadowdancers, but it’s also high on the list for characters who typically wear light or medium armor (arcane archers, arcane trickters, assassins, barbarians, duelists, rangers, and soulknives) or no armor at all (experts, monks, sorcerers, and wizards), and for anyone who wants to be a skilled archer.
You apply your character’s Dexterity modifier to:
Ranged attack rolls, including those for attacks made with bows, crossbows, throwing axes, and other ranged weapons.
Armor Class (AC), provided that the character can react to the attack.
Reflex saving throws, for avoiding fireballs and other attacks that you can escape by moving quickly.
Balance, Driving Military Vehicles, Driving Motorvehicles, Driving Vehicles on Rails, Driving Warships, Escape Artist, Flying Airplanes, Flying Merchant Ships, Hide, Maneuver Boats/Sailing Ships, Maneuver Naval Motors, Move Silently, Open Lock, Operating Motor Boats, Operating Motor Vessels, Operating Submarines/Submersibles, Piloting Aircrafts, Piloting Baloons, Piloting Cruising Spaceships, Piloting Helicopters, Ride, Riding Motorcycles, Shuttle Piloting, Ski, Skydiving, Sleight of Hand, Track Driving, Tumbling, and Use Rope checks. These are the skills that have Dexterity as their key ability.
