So, despite the silly title I am looking for some genuine help with general Rogue gameplay and how to make it "go."

 

The biggest question I have is about Backstab and the usefulness of it. From what I've seen if you engage a fight with your main party, even from Scouting, your Rogue will destealth as well, even if she is broken off from the rest of the group. Of course you don't want to open with your Rogue because then she will just eat every engagement  and pop like a balloon, and it's not like you have infinite Shadowing casts. Is Backstab just something you can only use out of Shadowing because of how Scouting/Stealth works or am I doing something wrong?

 

Second, does Sneak Attack make DW/fast weapons usable? I know that DW is fine enough, but that fast weapons tend to suffer because they simply can't overcome DRs because of their low damage. Does Sneak Attack help overcome that, or should Rogues stick to Sabres or Swords for the higher base damage?

There are a few other threads knocking around.  I posted in one of them.  Check my post history if you can't find the thread.

Use Stilettos if playing a dual-wielding melee rogue, they ignore a part of DR and are piercing dmg type.

I do think a Carnage barbarian is better for a melee-dps though, since the rogue can trigger sneak attack and apply debuffs with ranged weapons quite well. 

My main pc is a rogue. So far she has the highest kill count and highest damage done during combat in the party. (I have no real idea why.. All I can figure is she gets the last strike on all the guys my tanks are whittling down.)  I played her as an archer with a war bow at first and took the marksman ability at some point. ..  but once I got shadowing beyond I started doing some serious sneak attack damage with stilettos. I still feel more comfortable with her as an archer but it's fun to switch weapons and run into battle every now and then.

 

'shadowing beyond is really a great ability.. although I chose it initially thinking that it would help me thieve goods from occupied areas. Unfortunately it turned out to be one of those silly "only in combat" abilities.