Lockpickers Rejoice!
After 20+ hours of Lumberjacking, I thought I'd take a break (who wouldn't?) and use this opportunity to test out a new Lockpicking tool
@Luthius introduced a couple of patches ago; "
the locksmith training box."
I plan on getting pretty basic in this one, as some folks checking in might not be that familiar with how things might work here, starting with...
Character Creation
I started out with 50 Lockpicking, 49 Tinkering, and 1 Mace Fighting. "Remove Traps" is not an option when creating your character, so to balance this, you receive two Remove Trap tools. Lockpicking got me two SETS of lockpicks (100 picks per set), and Macing earned me two pickaxes. As I created my character, my thought process was that I would be able to farm the materials I needed for the training box (wood and iron), and with my tinkering skill, make the box myself (**
NOTE, you can also purchase the box for 75 gold from NPC Tinkers, Thiefs, and Provisioners). Oh my God, I'm monologueing... let's go.
Straight away, I found
Carlos the Thief (under the Inn) and
Ancelin the Healer (near the New Player Dungeon) so I could train 50 points each into Remove Trap and Healing (when you're new, something is usually trying to chew on you while you pick dungeon chests.) Training up was simply a matter of selecting the skill I wished training on, then dropping my new-player ticket on them (worth 1000 training credits (100 skill points)).
My skills after training up:
There are many (countless?) ways of generating a lockpicker, this is just the route I took. The minimum Tinkering skill required to make the training box is 50, which leaves me one point shy. Good thing is that each skill point only costs 10 gold to train, which should be easy enough to get.
After fighting off some mongbats, my first chest looks like this: (Note, I believe ALL chests in the New-Player Dungeon are this level, which means you won't gain any skill if you are 50 or above in Lockpicking and Remove Trap. But we know this, we are just after what's inside, for good reason as you will soon see!
The idea with Outlands Lockpicking is that you should Remove the Trap before you attempt to Pick the Lock, because Luthius has hidden some very nasty (and sometimes humorous) traps for you. As long as you have the tools on you, all you have to do is click the jewel. If you have "special" tools (made from special materials), you need to select them in the scrolling menus on the left). Picking through these chests is a pretty simple matter if you are level 50, so onward!
And... HERE is why you rolled a lockpicker. Chest is open, as is one of the mongbats I killed. The two chests in the first room of this dungeon have the same amount of gold as 26 mongbats! Plus, we found trap wire, which can be used with our Tinkering skill to make box and floor traps.
As you can see, I'm taking damage while I'm opening this chest.
Fighting doesn't interrupt your lockpicking, AND if you have the skill, you can hide (and remain hidden) while you pick the lock.
Bonus!
On that note, let me point out a little something many might not know: your Bandage Timer! The higher your Dexterity, the more quickly you can apply a bandage. Here you see I have 12 seconds remaining before I can apply another bandage. If I try to apply another bandage before then, it will stop the current bandage attempt and reset the timer (hate it when that happens...).
With a pocket full of gold (which only took a couple of minutes), I ran directly to the Tinker to get my final training point. For now, the Tinker is located in the same building as the Tailor, Gem Dealer, and Provisioner, by the Mine entrance. Rumor has it he will be moving soon, but not far.
So, now that we're Skill 50, let's take a look at our prize! Holy $h*t, is that a 0.2 chance of success? Yep, as is often the case with minimal skill, the starting success is this low. What that means to us right now... well... since I would be failing a lot, and since I don't have money to train up a Miner (for the ingots) and a Lumberjack (for the wood), I recommend (for time's sake), you roll up a character with 50 in each of those disciplines and give your Lockpicker the resources they need. Sure, you can solo train up until you have the resources, but... ya. Go for it!
I opted for the latter, and at 50 Skill in Mining and Lumberjack, gave the resources needed to my guy. Final tally before I was able to craft the box was 270 boards and 135 ingots. (ouch). But now I have the box, and it works! Double-clicking on the box opens the Remove Trap/Pick Lock dialogue. After picking the dungeon chests, I have 196 of each tool left.
After using up all 196 of each tool, I gained 0.1 in each skill... While that may seem low, at least I'm able to train this in a safe place rather than in a dark, damp dungeon with slimy PKs lurking around every corner... *
shudders.
So, in the interest of SCIENCE, I pulled 1k more lockpicks from the shelf in town, set a macro, and recorded the results. After close to an hour (probably a little more), and 1000 lockpicks later (10 sets of lockpicks), I had gained an additional FULL POINT. One very important thing to note about the Training Box. Yes, you can set off the trap, but NO, it does not hurt you. So go for it!
Parting thoughts:
Skill gain will seem relatively slow, and lockpicks/trap tools are NOT cheap or easy to make... however... this tool is a Godsend (at least from where I'm standing.) It allows one the ability to train a very difficult skill, in the safety of your home or in town, while you are off adventuring on another account (if you're into that). Not long ago, the only way to gain was by visiting very dangerous places we lockpickers are ill-equipped to adventure in, so thank you for this wonderful gift! Now get out there and loot stuff!
