Is it okay to not have a rogue in my party in Dragon Age 2?

Solution 1:

Don't underestimate the lockpick ability: there are a ton of chests that require lockpicking skill.

If you're familiar with Dragon Age: Origins, you probably remember that the rogue was by far the most powerful class to the point of excessiveness: a single, high-level rogue could outmatch 3 warriors or mages. Of course, a melee rogue companion (like Zevran) was next to useless because you couldn't position him for backstabbing unless you were directly controlling him.

Dragon Age II smoothed the curves, as it were, when it comes to rogues. They're not clearly overpowered, but they still have a lot of bang for very little buck. And it's easier to outsource melee roguing to Isabela since backstabbing in DA2 is auto-positioned.

So you can forgo the use of Isabela (the only melee rogue you can get), Varric, and Sebastian (the two archers you get), but you're probably making the game a little harder for yourself.

Balance aside, Dragon Age II made great strides in trying to encourage use of all your companions:

• All characters, whether they're in your party or not, gain the same amount of experience
• Every companion has a specific armor set and can't use anything else, making it unnecessary to maintain several sets of armor
• Every character has side quests, dialogue, and flavor associated with them
• There are several quests along the way that require the use of specific characters
• It's pretty easy to find a place where you can swap out party members

So feel free to mix it up every now and then.