Some questions from a new player

1. do not use pregen.  Roll your own, take some time, you can get some good rolls easy.  

2. Im not an expert, but a Paladin is almost the #1 choice.   2nd, a cleric, most would say a Life or Battle (I like Life).   3.  Wizard, a good idea is to get Sellsword background to get medium armor.   

3.  You should absolutely NOT attack in melee with a rogue.  The main advantage of a rogue is the ability to use a bonus action to hide after attacking.   Use a bow, shoot, hide, and bonus action hide.  Repeat.  This allows you to deal extra damage with advantage attack every time.   I would position the rogue away from the main party so he never gets seen.  

So I can't use dual daggers as a Rogue to stabby mcstab? :(

i should say i only played cataclysm, I want a challenge.   In this case, many battles are teeth-grinding, near death experiences.   If you play a lower level of challenge, then maybe you can stabby mcstab all u like.  

Cataclysm is more of a slog due to inflated HP pools than a bonafide challenge, IMO. Turn on “deadlier AI” and “merciless AI” will Make a better fight. And resisting the urge to initiate combat from stealth and thus not getting a surprise round in will make for a harder fight as well. But you can totally do stabby-mcstab if you like, and win. Though a Ranger with Lowlife background will generally outperform the Rogue in combat (especially in archery, but a little bit in melee) and brings a lot more utility to the table. If you grab the Unfinished Business mod which gives you multiclassing, there are several combinations of Ranger/Rogue multiclass that will outperform either base class (I‘m enjoying a ranger 5/rogue x archer/scout build at the moment).

I have no idea why you couldn't use a rogue for dual weapon stabbing. You only get one sneak attack per turn, but since rogue is not a martial class and does not get additional main attacks, using dual weapons gives you two chances of scoring a hit and thus getting a sneak attack in.

I understand that the recommendation of always hiding before attacking gives you an advantage on your bow attack, which means two rolls and so two chances of scoring a hit. But that's the same two chances that you'll get with dual wielding melee weapons. If you like the idea of a melee rogue, just play that. It'll be fine.

None of the rogue subclasses is especially good in melee combat, but none of them is bad either. Darkweaver gets proficiency in poisoner's kit if you don't have that already. It also helps with ranged attacks from high ground, and while that's not what you didn't want to focus on, it can still help in certain situations. Thief subclass gives you more flexibility by using items with your bonus action, so you can drink potions or poison weapons and then use your main action for attacking.

The rest of your party can be pretty varied, but usually it's a good idea to include one healer (cleric or druid) and one arcane caster (wizard or sorcerer). If you really don't like casters, you can use paladin instead of a cleric so you have more melee power and still some healing potential. Wizard is your best access to 'identify' spell, but you can always carry unidentified items back to town and pay merchants to identify them or pick Insight domain for your cleric (they get identify as a domain spell). If you do not want use an arcane caster, just choose another class that deals high damage, such as ranger or barbarian.

In any case, one or two other characters in your party should be able to stand in melee. That's because your melee rogue can get sneak attacks on enemies that are adjacent to one of your other characters (think of it as flanking or distracting the enemy). You can also get a sneak attack if you have advantage on your rogue's attack roll, but as you can't really hide in melee range, that requires more set up. (This is the reason some people suggest using ranged rogue who constantly hides before attacking, that gives them advantage and thus sneak attack. It's very easy to get melee sneak attacks, though, when you have 2-3 melee characters in your party.)

So to sum up, a possible party could be: 

- Rogue

- Cleric OR  Paladin (Insight domain for cleric if you don't use a wizard)

- Barbarian OR Fighter

- Wizard OR Ranger

Ive played the Manacalon ruins final battle in cataclysm with deadlier/merciless AI and not taken 1 single point of damage.  It was with 3 rogues and a mountaineer.   The hiding, ranged rogues were at the opposite of the dodging fighter and it was so easy it bordered on boring.   I'd challenge anyone here to play at those settings with any party comp they want and beat it with no damage taken.  Try it.   

Theres no question that ranged rogues deliver more damage consistently and take less damage then melee rogues.  Debate is a non-starter.  Now if you play on easy mode, sure do whatever.  But if play on the hardest settings, prepare to heal your rogues.. a lot.   Also note that at range you can target anyone in the fov.  The melee rogue must find an ally with a bordering enemy to get Sneak damage.  

I should mention that this tactic doesn't always work.  For example random encounters which start in an open field.  But then, you can always switch to stabby mcstabby. ;)

Thank you very much for all the replies, that's a great help!  Can't wait to get started now.

Cataclysm is more of a slog due to inflated HP pools than a bonafide challenge, IMO. Turn on “deadlier AI” and “merciless AI” will Make a better fight. And resisting the urge to initiate combat from stealth and thus not getting a surprise round in will make for a harder fight as well. But you can totally do stabby-mcstab if you like, and win. Though a Ranger with Lowlife background will generally outperform the Rogue in combat (especially in archery, but a little bit in melee) and brings a lot more utility to the table. If you grab the Unfinished Business mod which gives you multiclassing, there are several combinations of Ranger/Rogue multiclass that will outperform either base class (I‘m enjoying a ranger 5/rogue x archer/scout build at the indigocard moment).

Thanks for give me clear information about it.

If anyone want to be Dashing McScoundrel, the Fancy Duelist, I highly recommend starting with 16 Constitution (and 16+ Dexterity, like all Rogues should have) and picking up the Sellsword background for Medium Armor Proficiency. This will make it easier to stay in melee in the early game, with higher HP and better AC.

Furthermore, I recommend picking the Shadowcaster archetype, giving you access to a number of useful defensive spells. Protection from Evil and Good, Shield and Blur are your best friends.

The cantrip True Strike is also very good in Solasta, despite being bad in tabletop. It gives Advantage on the next attack anyone makes against the target and you can still attack with your off-hand, letting you set up your own Sneak Attacks every turn even if you are fighting 1v1. If you have a caster companion, giving them True Strike as party support can also be a decent option, since there isn't that much competition for cantrips in Solasta (unlike tabletop). Keep in mind that Protection from Evil and Good and Blur can't be used at the same time as True Strike because of Concentration.

It is also a good idea to keep a (magical) bow for ranged combat, since it isn't always ideal to run into melee right away.

Melee Rogues are fun, but sadly we don't have an alternative to Swashbuckler in Solasta, so we're mostly stuck using Shadowcaster.