What drives a poor reputation for the Rogue class?

[LudicSavant]

simply went with, "Soulknife get combat bonus so Soulknife better."

But at this point, we're just talking in circles. The posts exist for anyone to read them. They can draw their own conclusions.

They sure can! Here's my answer to you from page 15, that you previously claimed did not exist.

As can be quite plainly seen, these posts do not say "Soulknife get combat bonus so Soulknife better." They don't even mention combat bonuses!

Soulknives have features that offer some but not all of these things. In addition to features that do a whole lot else (which not only can give you an alternate solution to infiltration problems, but also takes more pressure off other party member resources so that your teammates have more room to help fill in some more of your gaps).

For example,

• They can significantly boost checks to create disguises and forgeries for their allies in addition to themselves, using the psi-die.
• They can significantly boost checks to know or discover information, using the psi-die. They can also use a telepathic link to someone who isn't present, who may know or be able to look up or divine information.
• They can use telepathy, which is helpful for passing yourself off as a number of exotic creatures (such as succubi). It is also extremely helpful for coordinating schemes with your team in general.

All of the above is just part of the level 3 feature.

But since you seem focused on language barriers in particular, Soulknives actually do get some tools for that (unlike Assassins). Sure, they don't learn extra languages, but they do gain a non-language-dependent telepathy. You can establish a telepathic link to a translator. So as long as I can get a volunteer who knows the local language, I'm out ahead.

You know how a lot of spy archetypes have someone on the outside feeding them intel? Soulknife gets an ability that lets you do that at level 3.