>Let me know if you see any obvious holes/inaccuracies and don't want to update it yourself.

Comments, I'd rather leave you to change your guide as you see fit than edit it.

You should mention lore in the key skills. The level range you quote for 2x/3x picking is with lore. 3x gets you the ability to pick the great majority of your boxes without lore, but not to pick well above your level without it.

I wouldn't recommend 1x training for rogues in a basic guide, the situations where it pays are relatively high level and it takes a much longer time to get to a level where you can start working with locks. Bards in particular can manage with less training than rogues because they get the magic for free as part of their normal training and can sing lock sizes.

If you are only training 1x disarm, you can't slack off on perception. That bit of my advice assumes training at least 2x disarm.

Cut the advice on using DISARM multiple times. Always use DETECT if you are intending to make multiple detects (always use detect anyway, but the situations you are most likely to mess up from using DISARM instead are multiple detects).

Experience loss from using 403/404 is severe, at least 50%, and at high training can reach 95% with 404. If you want experience you need to avoid using them as much as possible, which is a big reason for training 3x for your own boxes.

Room conditions have a big effect on detecting/disarming, particularly if you are minimally trained, but don't affect picking.

The stucco well is the traditional spot in Icemule. It may be necessary to tout in TC when the population is low, but picking should be done at the well. The same goes for the Landing, it may be necessary to tout in TSC but picking should be done in the tower. South of Kai's statue used to be the spot in TV, and everywhere else I think its the normal gathering spot(s).

Open rolls and fumbles are 1% chances (i.e. rolls of 100 and 1). Detect can be fumbled too although its extremely hard to tell if you missed a detect by a fumble unless you are specifically researching for it on a box where you know the trap already. Fumbles on picking always have a chance to damage the pick, but they don't always break it, particularly if you would have easily opened the box if you didn't fumble. Fumbles on disarm don't always set off the trap, and you can disarm on a fumble if you would have disarmed easily unless you fumbled.

If a scar is having an effect its likely to outright block you rather than apply a penalty, and the penalties from wounds that don't outright block you are also fairly minor.

The scripts will give information on fresh picks. I doubt they'll perform well with damaged/repaired ones.

Glaes is a good pick for a beginner, plus using whatever you pick up in treasure drops till they break.
Invar once you have the ranks for it.
Vaalin once you are feeling rich.

The higher level you get and the more experience you want from lockpicking, the more picks you'll need, but copper/steel/silver, plus glaes, plus invar is a decent selection for the early levels.

The wiki (and likely the Lich scripts, the pre-lich scripts did) contain some disinformation on lockpicks. There aren't any large errors I am aware of. Beginners are unlikely to be affected, and experts can work it out for themselves. Those that originally compiled the information kept a small edge for themselves.

This seems like a great intro to locksmithing guide! Well done!

My additional input:

Disarm - very minor (but new person centric) point. Locksmith tool kits need to be worn and open in order for DISARM to utilize them.

Breakage / Repair - maybe a mention that lockpicks degrade each time they are repaired so after awhile it will be better to replace vs. repair (I generally end up doing this after 3-4 repairs). Also, since your old lockpicks can't be sold might be worth mentioning that they can be used for DEEDS in some towns.

Understanding Traps - it might be worth bulleting each trap type with a short explanation of how to disarm it following.

-- Robert

You gesture at a colossal glaes-covered meteor.
The scream of tortured metal echoes around you as the lightning bolt strikes a colossal glaes-covered meteor.

>Disarm - very minor (but new person centric) point. Locksmith tool kits need to be worn and open in order for DISARM to utilize them.

Open yes, but I don't think they need to be worn. I'm pretty sure mine is in another container.

<My additional input:

<Disarm - very minor (but new person centric) point. Locksmith tool kits need to be worn and open in order for DISARM to utilize them.

<Breakage / Repair - maybe a mention that lockpicks degrade each time they are repaired so after awhile it will be better to replace vs. repair (I generally end up doing this after 3-4 repairs). Also, since your old lockpicks can't be sold might be worth mentioning that they can be used for DEEDS in some towns.


Very good to know! Thank you, Robert.

~ Aerhinn

>(the exp penalty for 404 isn't always 96%, but it does get that high for boxes at the extreme end of the unlored range of a capped smith)

I think I have this wrong, its 96% if you could only just pick with a vaalin, cast 403 and pick with a vaalin, but the right analogy for trap experience is picking with a copper, and I think that tops out at about 88%.