just wondering. do i need to root my phone to use launcher apps to change how my home screen looks like?

im sick of the battery drain on ics stock rom malaysia. planning to change to RRv2

my current
baseband : N7000DXLP5
kernel : 3.0.15-N7000DXLP9-CL551076
build number : IML74K.DXLP9

my phone is not rooted. what are the steps i need to do to change to RRv2. Thank you to anyone who can help.

just a question, im currently using ics stock malaysia rom. can i straight use pc odin to flash to germany stock rom?

i want to root and use RRv2. or i can use taiwan stock also? still new to rooting

okay..i have read through everything. just want to confirm the method that i will be taking to run my phone on RRv2.

I am currently running on ICS malaysia stock rom and unrooted since i bought the phone.

my steps:
1. use pc odin to flash germany stock rom
2. flash CWM using dr. ketan method to get rooted
3. flash abyss kernel 4.2
4. full wipe
5. flash RRv2

if all method done correctly i should be on RRv2 rom. Is full wipe necessary? hope sifu inside here can correct my methods.

hi can anyone help me with something. when i go to settings > battery i can see which how far off my battery is discharging and percentage of apps that are using my battery. apparently my screen is running at 70% compared to other things like android system, android os, voice calls, cell standby all running at below 10%. is this normal? bcuz i frequently check and usually screen is running at 40-50%. still consider high when i see other people post screenshot and screen running at below 20%. what is the problem that im facing here actually?

it is set to manually at low and auto afterwards since the beginning of its life. ahaha. still the same thing. what is your screen percentage showing bro antu?