The route I've found for best solo-ability on a lowbie twink rogue thus far works like this...
Pre-dual wield: Gloomwater Harpoon in main hand for opening backstabs, and swapped in for extra hits, Polished Granite Tomahawk the rest of the fight. That rune proc makes you superman until level 17ish, and still works limitedly after that (it's broken, it heals you....)
Early dual wield: Same tactic, Burning Rapier in off-hand for the +Dex
Starting at level 18: Stiletto of the Bloodclaw in main hand, Burning Rapier in offhand (I stopped bothering with larger offload backstab, because the Stiletto procs like crazy with just 130 dex)
Level 23: Procs in the offhand seem to be getting more effective at this duel wield skill, so I've switched the Burning Rapier to my main hand for more actual melee hits landing, with Bloodclaw to off hand. I'm considering going back to the other way though, since offhand procing still seems less frequent.
Future plans based on what I've witnessed 22-24 -- Level 28: Two Serrated Bone Dirks, and a lot of Intimidation spam. Intimidation goes off like crazy at 115+ skill on blues. At 30, when the Burning Rapier proc kicks in, I think that'll be switched to my main hand with a Serrated Bone Dirk in my offhand.
There are too many misses in melee on EQEMU to use a slow main hand weapon with something facing you, mitigation is all screwed up and you're dealing with more luck than steady damage. Later (40+) you'll want to take azeth's advice on the main hand weapon being the highest damage, due to mobs Riposting their ass off for no reason other than the ripose formula is wrong. But a faster main hand, and your highest damage weapon in offhand is going to parse higher on any current EQEMU server and in some cases on live from this era (depends on the mob AC and level difference)
For grouping until your 30s? Burning Rapier in your main hand, Gloomwater Harpoon in your offhand will be bread and butter. After the rapier starts proccing, and your Hide skill is high enough for Evade to not consistently fail, you'll want to swap things around and go Polished Steel Dirk + Burning Rapier until you get your hands on an Eyerezzia or Crystalline Spear to pair with said Burning Rapier. Keep that Polished Granite Tomahawk around for grouping -- runes REALLY add hate on EQEMU (almost as much as stuns) and you just might save a cleric from death by utilizing that proc and Intimidation hate.
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