I gave in and bought this game a few days ago. I just started it tonight and rather than following a set skill build, I just threw a couple of points into str, wp, and charisma. I want my character to be melee focused so is there any major stats I need to focus on?

Also, I found it a bit confusing that the stat points can also be allocated to skills, so is it a bad idea to allocate points to skills rather than one of the 8 basic stats?

Thanks!

Those points are just points, not stat points or skill points, that's part of the charm and the reason Arcanum can have so many vastly different but viable build. :) Where you put them is entirely up to you. Still, for a melee character Dexterity is mother of everything. Strength isn't that important, really -don't ignore it completely of course, but dexterity must be your first priority. For a melee character putting points into, well, melee and dodge makes sense as well, if only to stop cutting your own head off on critical failures.

Well, you need stats in order to build skills, basically. For magic, higher level spells require a higher Willpower stat, so if you want some powerful spells you'll be spending points on Willpower and on the spells themselves. For tech characters, higher level tech constructions require higher Intelligence.

I don't remember if combat skills require boosts to Dexterity or not, but as krakadyla said, you'll want a high Dexterity stat anyway in order to get more attacks per turn (or faster attacks if playing in real-time) and better accuracy. Strength is mainly useful for carrying weight but it does help with damage if you're using melee weapons.

If you're making a melee character, I strongly recommend picking either magic or tech and getting some of those skills too. A pure melee fighter gets kind of boring. You'll be fairly overpowered by the middle of the game and the second half won't be too interesting. There's more than enough character points to also invest in some magic or tech. A tech character could try Smithing in order to build better weapons and armor, or Mechanical to build traps and robot allies. But keep in mind that magical weapons and armor will not work as well for such a character. A magical fighter could focus on buff spells, healing, and probably a whole slew of other good spells (I have not really tried a magic-oriented character myself yet).

Strict melee focus may be rewarded by a strength of 20 or better. The difference between 19 and 20 is considerable, since at 20 the game actually doubles the damage you deal in melee. If you choose a combination of character traits which places your maximum strength below 20, perhaps by choosing to play a halfling or somesuch, you should not bother raising your strength as high as it could possibly go. There'd be little value in it. If you design the character in such a way, emphasize Dexterity instead.
Conversely, choosing a background and race (and gender?) which bring your strength closer to 20 at the game's start will make your character more able to meet and exceed that threshold, and would make an emphasis on strength more useful.
I guess what I'm getting at is that you should endeavour to bring one or another combat stat to 20 because, as the manual says, there's a significant difference between 19 and 20 on any stat. This is very pronounced in combat.