Not as good as if you min max everything of course, but adequate.
Hardly adequate. Even without any attempt to min/max in book 1 the stats you get are far lower than you'd get with the most bland play through of book 1.
Not to be argumentative, but have you actually played book two with the defaults from answering the questions? Dylan doesn't even have regen. I've played the different choices about your character's focus and his choice of gem stacks and all are pretty much crippled. If the player has no desire to adventure in elsewhere, they can get by, but otherwise, at least a cursory play through of book 1 has to be recommended. Plus book 2 doesn't make a whole lot of sense without playing through book 1.
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To be fair, I've shared some of my experiences with Droid, and he has expressed a willingness to adjust the stats and resources a player starts with from a cold opening of book 2. That said, it's a pretty harsh tradeoff to expect him to spend time adjusting the opening book 2 stats, rather than focusing on book 2's development.
It's really easy. Book1 is a GREAT game, immensely rewarding to play. We should be recommending that newcomers play it.