Question about stats

I have never played AD&D on paper so the stat thing is a little confusing. My bro-n-law told me when I first played BG1 that I should just keep what I rolled so I did and never gave it much thought. After reading some of posts here, I have decided differently. I started over, I decided to play a Cleric/Ranger, half-elf. These are her stats.
Strength-18/58
Dexterity-14
Constitution-18
Intelligence-13
Wisdom-17
Charisma-15
I got these after rolling a long time but I couldn't get anything better after rolling forever it seemed like. So are these good or should I have of kept trying for better? If anyone can help me understand the stat thing better, I would really appreciate it. Thanks everyone that helps.

Stats are nice, though I adjust stats, and I would take INT down to ten and Charisma down to 13 to add 4 to Dex(giving you 18 Dex) and add one more to Wisdon to give you 18 there.

[turbovee]

Make sure you read your handbook about attributes for specific character classes. Strength is great if your a character that uses a lot of weapons. Intelligence is the key for mages, Wisdom for clerics/druid classes, and Dexterity is a must for theives. Dexterity is great to have for any class. Charisma can always be sacrificed for any of the other attributes. Page 83 in your game manual should help with any questions you might have about what each attribute is used for in the game. Good luck with the game. Don't forget to use the search option on the board to look at previous questions about the game,however if you get stuck there are plenty of people including myself that are more than happy to help you along.

Yeah, try to get an 18/91+ or higher. This is done by rolling until you see your total scores adding up to above ninety or so, and then taking points out of any attribute to add to strength see if when you get to 18, the 18/xx becomes an 18/91 or higher. I keep rolling till I get 18/00's and 18's in dex and con. Do this about 30 times and you have a 1/3 chance of getting a 18/00. Doesn't take too long to do. Do this 50 times and you have a 50% shot.

Thanks both of you. I did read the manual. Some of the stuff I find confusing is like the Intelligence. If it measures a character's memory, reasoning, and learning ability, wouldn't it be important to everyone not just the mage? These kinds of things are what confuse me the most. I did read that Constitution is important to a ranger and Wisdom is important to a priest. So I made sure that those were high. Do the other ones affect my character? I hope that I do not sound like a complete idiot. I just don't know and would like to learn more so maybe I can play better knowing everything. I finally got to learn what 5d4 meant. I had no idea what it meant until I started coming here. It has taken me along time to post this question because I was afraid to sound like an idiot.

Thanks GW. I did roll for a long time but it seemed like I couldn't roll the strength very high. 18/58 is the highest that I could get. I probably rolled for half and hour and finally I just took what I have. Maybe I will try again.

[turbovee]

I totally understand, however, for someone who has never played any D&D games before you can ask all the questions you want. God I'm such a pig. I just stop typing to watch a show with girls jumping on trampolines. Anyway Intelligence deals with a characters ability to understand complex things such as spells and your ability to memorize multiple things, whoa that sounds like college! For mages this is critical. A fighter really doesn't need to think other than to go in a hack away with a sword or axe. Wisdom for clerics measures their devotion and study of their religion, thats why spells for clerics are automatically given because they receive divine knowledge from their respective gods. Dexterity is important for any class because it measueres your ability to manipulate things with your fingers or your ability to move quickly, thats why you get an AC bonus because you can dodge weapons or projectiles. For example, watch repair man might have an 18 dexterity or a brain surgeon. Micheal Jordon would definitely have an extremely high dexterity. Constitution is important in any class because it measures your bodily health,stamina and resistances. It can affect things like your ability to resist fatigue, poison and disease. Charisma is your ablilty to influence people, Paladins have a high charisma because they are considered leaders of the community.

Many Thanks Turbovee, that helped me to understand a little better. The confusion is starting to go away.