Lockpicking Guide
By Kodie

Introduction
Greeting fellow lockpickers, or those wishing to become lockpickers. I am Kodie Langson, rogue, currently of the 10th year. This guide is specifically for those who are new to the field, and is by no means the complete and final authority of lockpicking. Instead, I hope to accomplish the following: explain why rogue is considered the lockpicking profession, explain when it is safe to begin lockpicking (and why it is safe then and not before), help you build your character to be a lockpicker, and to share with you a few tricks of the trade.

First, I would like to talk about professions. Although it is possible to train to be a lock picker regardless of actual profession, there is a distinct advantages being a rogue. After all, rogue is the only profession that is allowed to train 3 times each year in all 3 skills necessary to become good pickers: disarming traps, picking locks, and perception (this is called "triple training" or "triple trained" and will be refereed to as such from here on out). If you choose a profession other than rogue, but still desire to lock pick, that is fine, it will just take you a bit longer to do so safely.

Before going further, it is important to explain when it is safe to become a lockpicker. At the age of 5, if a rogue has triple trained, then they will have 82 training points in each skill, the most important picking skill being perception. Perception is what allows pickers to actually SEE a trap (if you cannot see a trap, then you cannot disarm it), and with a 82 points in that skill, a picker can see a trap of -90, though they will be unable to disarm it. This means that a triple trained, level 5 rogue can pick what is called "easy" boxes, usually hobs and below.

However, other professions cannot triple train in the ALL three skills. So, for those of other professions to pick safely, they, like rogues, must wait until they have at least 82 training points in disarming, lock picking, and perception before they should begin to pick. Picking before you are trained enough to do so, or picking over your abilities, for rogue and non-rogue alike, is dangerous to everyone. Doing either could set off a trap (killing you and wounding others) or break your expensive lockpick. Either way, it gives you a bad reputation, and the professional pickers in the tower have little tolerance for such careless, preventable mistakes.

Another important topic is building a character who can successfully lockpick. Specifically, the numbers you choose to assign to stats in the character generator. There are 5 stats that are important to lockpicking. I will list them by rank of importance (my opinion): Wisdom, Constitution, Intelligence, Logic, and Discipline. Wisdom will not only enable you to see traps better, but it will also help you disarm and pop boxes better. Constitution is your ability to take damage. Since traps on boxes are common, being healthy is almost a must. Intelligence is how long it takes to actually absorb the exp of the mind and convert it to points, ultimately, this is how fast you gain levels. Logic is how fast your mind numbs, the longer it takes, the longer it will be until you need to rest. (Since you get exp for lockpicking, it is a good idea to have high intelligence and logic numbers, otherwise you may have to rest after a few boxes.) Finally, Discipline, this is what helps you focus on the box at hand (I have no proof, but I believe that a relatively high discipline number is what allows you to disarm and pop boxes on the first or second try.)

As promised, I will give you tricks of the trade:
1) The first thing you need as a lock picker is a useful lockpick. The ones you find on critters are not all that useful. Go to the locksmilth, order from the special tooling section. You want a precision lockpick, and you want a mein. It will take anywhere from 8 to 12 hours to make, and cost you 2,000. -- It actually isn't a bad idea to plan to get the lockpick before you are able to pick, if you wish to start picking as soon as it is safe for you to do so. -- You will also need another lockpick, and a professional one is fine for its purpose (to be explained in a moment).

Okay, I can hear it now, why mein? Why not iron or ora, or something less expensive? The best lockpick available is aluminum. It costs about 27,000 and you have to have backroom access to purchase one. You will not get backroom access until the locksmith knows you really well. So, mein is second best, get it.

Some will argue that I am skipping mithril lockpicks, also found in the backroom. My experience with miths is that they break too easily. So, in my opinion, mein is second best.

With that said, I should explain my use of 'best.' The better the tool you use to pick a lock, the more difficult lock you will be able to successful pop. For instance, say you have a lock that is a -80. With a good lockpick, you may not be able to pop it. With a mein lockpick, you may get it on the third or fourth try. With an alum lockpick, you may get it on the first try. Tools make that much of a difference.

Now I should explain why I suggest you get a pro lockpick, at least when you first start out picking. In general, the easy boxes are possessed by the lowest level critters, and as the critters get progressively harder, so do their boxes. -- My suggestion to get a pro pick, at least to use when you first start, is an effort to save you some money. If you have disarmed a box, and if there are no traps, then you should try to pick the box with your pro first. If it breaks, 600 is easier to loose than 2K. If you do not break it, and if you get a read (a number that shows difficulty of a lock), then you may wish to try again with your mein.

2) When a box is given to you to pick, ALWAYS start by disarming it. To disarm a box, type: Disarm (type of box). (It could be a coffer, chest, trunk, strongbox, etc.) For example: disarm chest.

3) Like combat, lockpicking has round times. When you type: disarm chest, you will get a rt. If your rt is 20 seconds, with no trap detected, then the "no trap" message you get MAY be a false message. You may see no traps, but there may be a trap there. If you get a 20 sec rt, ALWAYS disarm the box again. Always. Not doing so could mean that when you try to pick the lock, you could set off a trap. 19 second rts are not really good either, disarming the box again is a good idea. When you get a rt of 18 seconds or less, with no trap detected, then it is safe to assume that there is no trap on the box and you can go ahead and pick it safely.

When your perception is at 82, you can see up to -90 traps, but the trap itself is over your ability to disarm it. If you get a box with a -90 trap, give the box back to the person it came from and let a more experienced picker take it.

Until you are in your 100s in perception, it is wise to double and triple check all boxes that you did not get rts of 17 secs or less. It is really just a safety factor to make sure that you are really seeing the box and any traps it may have.

4) If you disarm a box, and it has a trap on it, continue using the disarming command until the trap is disabled. When you first see the trap, it will tell you how difficult the trap is and what kind of trap it is. The difficulty of the trap could be anywhere from -10 (very easy) to -90 (moderately difficult). There are traps above -90, the highest I have yet seen was -150 (traps of such high difficulty are usually found on critters level 18 and over, and when you first start out, you will not be picking anywhere near that high). I am sure there are traps over that, but when you first begin, -90 is the highest you will be able to see.

There are also different kind of traps, each doing its own type of damage (to you or to you and others) if set off. Some common types of traps are: vial and hammer, spring / bloody jaws, poisoned needle, rod traps, magical / chemical, glyphs, and others. When you first start to pick it is a good idea to pay attention to the type of traps and their difficulties. Any trap that is -40 + , or is a type of trap you have not seen before, then I strongly suggest you go upstairs (if in the tower) so that you will not accidentally hurt someone else. After you have done this a few times, you will see which traps you can disarm without any problems, as well as which you are not yet ready to tackle.

5) If you have successfully disarmed a box, or if you have double / triple checked a box and gotten your rt below 18 sec, then you are ready to attempt to pick it.
To attempt to pick a lock, type: pick (type of box) with lockpick. For example: pick chest with lockpick. Like traps, locks are ranked. The easiest I have seen is -5, the hardest I have heard of was -500. At 10, triple trained every year, I am able to get -340 using an alum lockpick and a roll of 80 or over. (To give you some idea of where that is in the range, I am able to pick boxes from level 16 critters). An important point to note here, is that in actuality, I can pick even higher; after all, there are numbers above 80. In truth, I can pick boxes from level 18 critters (like frost giants). However, I do not advertise that fact. The reason is simple, attempting to pick at my max level is unrealistic, I cannot roll over an 80 every time, and with some boxes, a low roll will break my pick. So, I save myself a great deal of money (on picks) by picking at a realistic level, rather than at my max.

As you may have guessed, with each attempt at picking you will get a die roll and an rt (which will not exceed 20 seconds). Unlike fighting, you do not ever see the actual equations, only the actual number rolled. Any roll over 100 is an automatic open.

As with disarming, if you do not pop the box on the first try, continue typing the lockpicking command. The higher your skill level, the better tool you use, the higher discipline number you have, the faster you will disarm a lock and pop a box. All play a significant part in lockpicking.

6) When you first begin picking, it is a good idea, on your first try, to use a lesser pick (like the pro I suggested you get), after you have disarmed it. Doing so will give you some very useful information. If you do not open it right off, you will have one of the following things happen: a. You will break your pick. b. You will roll a number and get the message that you did not unlock it, but it is within you abilities. c. You will roll a number and get the exact read (difficulty number) of a lock on a box (for example: a relatively easy box, -30 in thief-lingo). d. You will roll a 75 or higher and get no message and no read. Okay, let's look at each of these things, one at a time.

a. You break your pick. If this happens then it was one of two things. Either you had a really low roll, or the box was way above your abilities. Give the box back and count yourself lucky that is was not your best pick.

b. You roll a number (it can be any number), but the box does not click ... instead you get the message that the box is within your abilities. You may wish to try the box again, this time with your mein, but do so with caution. This message means that the lock is at the very top of your abilities and you will need a high roll (usually 85 or better) to pop it.

c. You get "a read" (the exact number of lock difficulty). This is good. It tells you exactly how hard the lock is, and after you pop a few boxes, then a read will tell you how many times it will take you to open a box. For instance, anything below a -250, I can get on the first try. But if I get a -320 box, I know it will take me 3 to 5 tries to get it unlocked.

d. You roll a high number, but get no message, no read. What this really means is that the gods smiled on you and spared your lockpick, but if you try it again, you will break your pick. (That was just a figure of speech, but if you do not believe me, by all means, try it for yourself and see). Such a box is *probably* over your abilities. Therefore, since the box will eat your pick, it is best to give it back to the owner, say you could not unlock it, and ask for the next in line.

7) Here is some other hints, tips, and suggestions that fall under no specific category:

If you get a bad roll, and bad is a relative term, you could break your lockpick. This does not happen with every bad roll, but it does happen. It is a good idea to have spare picks with you.

If you try to pick over way over your ability, you will break your lockpick. Once, when I was 9, I tried to pick a steel golem box (a level 20 critter), I snapped my alum pick. It was a 27K mistake that I will never make again. However, I warn you that some players will not tell you exactly where the box came from. At times, lines in the tower are long, and they do not wish to wait in line again, so they will give their box to any picker to unlock, even knowing it is over what the picker says they can do. Most responsible players will not do this, they want what is in their box, and do not wish to loose any part of what they worked so hard to get. But there are some.... :: Kodie shakes his head ::

As you get older, you will want to pick harder and harder boxes. This is as it should be, and by all means I encourage you to do so, providing you continue to train in all 3 picking skills. (Please realize that a rogue will be able to pick higher boxes faster than other professions since they can triple train.)

It is a good idea to try boxes from critters that you have not picked before with a lesser pick. I use an alum as my main pick, but if I get a box from a critter just a bit tougher than my usual critters, I try it with my mein first. I can afford to replace a 2K pick a lot faster than a 27K pick.

Tips. As a young rogue, do not expect too much, after all, the boxes you are unlocking will not have much in them. Some people are generous enough to give you half of the box, some may give gems, or some have a set amount they pay per box (say, 50 silvers per box). Most are generous to give at least 100 per box. As you get older, your tips will increase substantially. It is not unusual for me to leave the tower these days with 3K - 5K in my pocket. I keep tabs on my money with the "info" command and never have more than that on me. If I am getting close, I make a trip to the bank. The tower is a good place for a thief to make a great deal of money, but perception is high there, and they could be killed outright if caught. The only person ever to not be reprimanded was a 90 year old legend who cleaned out everyone for a lark.

If you choose to pick outside the gates, do so in stance defense and standing up. Be sure whoever is around knows you are picking and cannot defend yourself. Most adventurers are very willing to watch your back since you have their treasure in your hands.

There are certain *safe* areas outside the gates. I strongly suggest going to these areas if you are picking your own boxes outside the gate.

The tower that I have spoken so much about is right beside the north gate. It is north of the furrier, and it is called the east tower. There is also a west tower. At any given time of day, you may find lockpickers in both, or neither. However, the professional pickers use the e tower, not the west. (As you get older, there are other places to pick, but going there when you first start out is useless. Even if you manage to get to these places alive, you will not be able to pick the boxes the players there will have because the boxes will be way above your abilities).

The east tower has an upstairs that is used for a few different things. Most of all, it is used as a place away from the rest of the players, where a picker can try disarming a box that may be over their abilities without harming anyone else. When I gain a level, I will use the upstairs to "try out" my new abilities on boxes that were previously over my ability. The upstairs is also used for players with multiple boxes. You may have someone request a private session with you to pick 4+ boxes. Actually, if someone has that many boxes, it is easier and faster to pick upstairs since it gets busy and confusing downstairs when a great deal of people are around.

As bad as it may sound, there is generally no order in the tower. No one stands there to direct others, although a few will try. As a picker, you have a few responsibilities: 1) always pick safely (double / triple disarming, and staying within your abilities), wounding or killing others will give you a bad reputation, and could cause you future problems with fellow pickers; 2) Return boxes to their rightful owner (some new pickers have tried to steal boxes in various ways, but then, their career as a picker didn't last long). I keep a sheet of paper by my computer and write down whose box I have. You might try to find your own way of keeping things in order. 3) If a person has more than one box to pick, it is your responsibility to pick them all, once you have accepted that first box. Most players will only have 1 or 2 boxes, but it is a chore when someone has 6 or 7. Still, you must stick with it till the very end. (Some players will have different pickers working on their boxes; I, personally, get offended by this. If I see it happening, I finish the box I have, return it, and refuse any others.) 4) Advertise what you can realistically pick. Saying that you can pick greater orcs, when really you can only get Cave Gnolls and Hobs puts everyone in danger. If it is found that you are saying you can pick what you cannot, the pro pickers will be merciless, myself included. Picking over your abilities is dangerous, for everyone, and it is each picker's responsibility to make the tower safe (if the tower is not safe, then players will find other places to have their boxes popped). 5) Order in the tower is the responsibility of each picker. You may choose to be first come, first serve, or you may ask for a line. Whatever you do, you are responsible for keeping it orderly. Sometimes, I am asking for first come first serve, and I have someone give me a box. Then someone whispers if I can get them next, I nod. Then someone I know comes in and asks me to pop their box. So before I know it, I have a line, and it is my responsibility to keep it a line. Even if I have to refuse 18 other boxes to do so.

I said early on that alum lockpicks are sold in the back room of the locksmith and that the locksmith had to know you really well before he allowed you to see backroom merchandise. I would like to say now that I have seen some level 5 -7 rogues with alum lockpicks. I would also like to say that they are the most likely to break alum lockpicks. Getting the best pick you can will increase the range of what you can pick; however, at the same time, even if you can pick most boxes from a critter, say, greater orcs, that does not mean you can pick every greater orc box. Yet if you are 5 - 7 rogue, with an alum pick, saying you can get gorcs, you will eventually get a gorc box out of your abilities and break your pick.

It is my own, professional opinion, that you should wait until you are 8 to get an alum pick. I am not suggesting this to keep you from picking at your peak level, on the contrary, I am suggesting you wait until 8 because at that level (and after), as long as you continue to train, you will be less and less likely to break your alum pick. In fact, after 8, only 2 things will break an alum pick: a bad roll, or picking over your abilities. It seems in your best financial interest to wait.

As a note for other professions, I would suggest you wait even longer than 8. At 8, a triple trained rogue has 111 training points in the 3 picking skills. Other professions should wait until their training points in picking skills match that before getting an alum pick, otherwise they, too, will break many expensive picks.

Well, there you have it. I have not tried to tell you everything, but instead arm you with what is important. If you would like to give me feedback on what I have said, I would like to hear it. I can be e-mailed at: KC027@aol.com. Thank you very much for your patience, and I hope this has been helpful. See you in the tower!
-Kodie-

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