I was wondering, why would you go melee rogue?

 

As far as I know, all the skills (except maybe 1 (riposte?) or 2) are not limited to one or the other. Being in melee range seems to be more dangerous in general, and the rogue should be able to dish out same damage when ranged fine?

 

 

well not familiar with the rogue abilities yet, but am thinking for role-playing purposes, Rogues as deadly assassins equipped with daggers

As you stated; there are some rogue skills that use melee, and melee attacks are better for dps.

Other than RP reasons It seems to me that there is a risk/reward involved in playing a melee rouge. From what I have played in the BETA, the dual wield deal more DPS than than ranged. but makes you more vulnerable.

well not familiar with the rogue abilities yet, but am thinking for role-playing purposes, Rogues as deadly assassins equipped with daggers

 

I'd say Assassin is more of a specialization of a Rogue character. Rogue is a general term and there can be many different types, archetypes and specializations of Rogues that prefer different weapons and approaches in combat.

 

I can imagine rogues using small melee weapons which can be short-swords, daggers, curved swords, axes, fist weapons, etc.

 

Then comes in dueling and fencing training - rogue can be combat specialist and use any type of straight sword skillfully, maybe even add other items to the mix (cloth to hide small weapons in off-hand for example).

 

Furthermore - rogues can be agile tricksters with aptitude for deception and dirty play. Add range weapons (thrown daggers, bows, small cross-bows, etc) to the mix when things don't work in melee.

 

There are also different types of large weapons that can suit Rogues arsenal, just from top of my head - Any curved two-hander (Katana, Uchigatana, etc.), Spears, Dao, etc.

 

My personal weapon preferences are hand-axes for direct combat and short-swords for stealthy gameplay and if campaign is more combat oriented and more direct approach is necessary I lean towards fencing with rapiers and daggers.