I personally am not a huge fan of the "rogue" build, mostly because when I played one, I had issues finding a decent weapon for him and due to the sneak mechanics he is kinda useless without having 5 sneak. Apart from already being fairly useless he becomes more useless once you realize that chapter 1 is filled undead and they take less damage from piercing damage. After that chapter (around level 10) the rogue will start to shine. However since a pure rogue class lacks versatility it annoyed em greatly during the 1st chapter and he will remain a one trick pony during the whole game.
Nice treatment of the rogue class. I suppose rogues are more a role-play preference than anything else. My current play-through is with a single class rogue, single class one hand tank, and a pair of hirelings from the HoH (a witch and a ranger). I'm probably having the most fun with the rogue. She steals things like a champion and goes where she isn't supposed to go. She can't stand a locked door or chest, and wants to know what is in your pocket.
She has proven invaluable during the first act of the game in and around Cyseal and the various combat situations. None of the other party members can move around the battlefield with as much speed thanks to the tactical advancement (or is it retreat?) skill. That undead mage who thinks he is safe sitting in the back ranks? No problem. >POOF< I am behind him and I can blind him, charm him or stabbity-stab him with my dagger that has a nice chance to stun. Hop into sneak mode and wait for the next turn to go immobilize another enemy.
Where fire or other chaos has been called for, she is great at sneaking in among the enemy and dropping off an oil barrel or ooze barrel or three (Think set trap ability from Neverwinter Nights) for the ranger to make go BOOM.
Granted, you are correct that a large portion of the battle is sneak, sneak, back stab, sneak. However, utilized properly, she does as much damage and precision crowd control as the other party members. I very much enjoy the challenge of keeping such a squishy party member alive when she is so far removed from the support of the other party members.
Rogues are situational characters, but they shine at making the situations.
