I was on the brink of saying that ivanSilver is fine. Turns out I was looking for love in the wrong places. Oh, ivanBlack reminded me of how mistaken I was. Seriously, it's the stuff that flannel shirts and mullets are made of.
How come no-one (I mean, we've got SOME OZTRALIANS here) has made a cheesy 'Back in black' pun?
Agility does drop quickly, and the only sure way to preserve it is to be unburdened, preferably un-satiated simultaneously, most of the time. My best shot was to train naturally to about 26, ommel it to about 50, and have (over the course of many game days, enough to win, probably ;d) 40 in the end. But yeah, it's nothing compared to the flexible materials, of course.
Dexterity, on the other hand, drops slowly. After getting to about 47, char maybe lost/abused 3 or 4 points during the whole game, I am surprised to hear otherwise.
It may be like that because followers generally run here and there to kill monsters, so if it's the case, it's intentional.
The puppy initially has 18 perception and the slave has 15 perception, while a ressurected char retains the perception he had whilst You were playing him - which, unless he had some carrots or ommel tears, or trained, is no more than 11. The puppy and slave therefore see 2-4 squares further are usually are somehat faster than a ressurected player.
tl;dr it's all about perception and actually seeing You.
Don't worry RustKnight - when Your followers will have ESP, things will go a lot more smoother!
hope he drinks it. Or zap a wand of resurrection at him iirc.
Arms - IIRC, your old arm will have all the previously built up stats for it, a new one won't.
A new arm will have the same stats, as if it was an old arm reattached.
A weapon is automatically wielded with 2 hands if it's the only way for You to handle it (i.e. if You are to weak to wield it with one hand). I am not sure of any implications on dual weapons, so I won't contribute
There are no such "fixed limitations" like in Your last sentence. The AStr requirements are pretty much everything - if You have enough, You can wield a two-handed sword with one hand, if You have even more, You can wield a HALBERD with one hand. The requirements depend on the weapon/shield type and material.