12 point bolt heads are meant to be torqued to much higher torque values. Much more common in industrial application than in consumer automotive application.
Think about how a socket transfers torque to a nut/bolt. The more area you have engaged between the driver and the head, the better. Same reason for a torx head cap screw that uses a torx wrench vs a socket head cap screw that uses an allen wrench. More engagement for more torque.
The nice side effect of a 12 point socket is that you can turn 12-sided, 6-sided, and 4-sided bolt heads so long as you're careful about it
