Almost any party will be god-like by the end of the game. I'd finish with your current party, and then try again with a magic-heavy one. And remember... the first time through is always the hardest.
That being said...
1. You don't need a rogue at the start. Convert a warrior to barbarian, and she can gain the traps and locks skill. That's all you need.
2. Did you check out bsftcs' maps in the sticky thread at the top of the forum? He identified the places where there are secret rooms in the game.
3. Personally, I don't see where either INT or DEX have an impact. Your traps and locks skill... *THAT* has an impact. Lightfingers, my peasant rogue, has no INT and little (less than 6) dex. Yet most of the chests in Shurugeon Castle and the Stout Mines were easy or in rare cases, moderate.
INT is used for determining mana points at level up and for determining skill points. You get one skill point for every four points of INT.
And 4: I understand, and I've done it before, and it's really pointless. I think Radek determined once that if your attribute points total 85 or above, you got a good roll. Since you get points at level up, then you'll soon be at that higher skill that you want. If I were going to spend an hour rolling up each character, I'd use the roster editor, give myself what I consider a good starting score, and go from there.
I do have the peasants that I can email you, but they're the opposite of "best scores"
Keep us posted either way [img]smile.gif[/img]