I'm just curious how long it took some rogues to master this skill. My progress has been slow for awhile - every time I get a picking contest I seem to stall.

Maynist

I've been working on it for at least a few years and am somewhere in my high 30s now.

-- Robert

Pretty slow to start with, about 1 rank per level, until about rank 15 at level 30, where I ground to a halt due to not finding enough difficult locks and didn't even complete a single task while gaining a level. Once I sorted out where I could find the locks (Icemule's undead), I moved along at a steady rate of 3-5 ranks per level, mastering around level 45. If I did it again, I would expect to master somewhere between level 35 and 40, maybe as low as level 30 for a 24/7 Shattered character rather than one which doesn't spend much more than XXX time in game.

Picking contests are mostly about speed so macro everything and use the vaalin pick. I had a line of macros set up, so a picking contest was F1 for disarm first box, F2 for disarm second box, F6 for pick first box and so on. You can gain a bit by starting out with a different pick, (F11 for drop pick grab vaalin) and then switching for those boxes you failed the first attempt. Macro so you don't lose time by typing. Vaalin for everything is a pretty robust strategy.

If I could I would still do an occasional picking contest. They are fun, although the sheer number of reps gets tiresome as you get close to mastery.

>>>I'm just curious how long it took some rogues to master this skill. My progress has been slow for awhile - every time I get a picking contest I seem to stall. ~Maynist

I wonder why you're stalling so much with the picking contest. Though tedious, I managed to zip through them, rarely loosing to the masters.

Having a good guage of the lock sizes really helped make the game work in my favor. A document/web page like Tsorans that lists the thief lingo with the actual size of the lock and knowing your best pick for each lock size made the effort well, effortless.

I would disarm/detect all the boxes first. Get rid of the traps, caliper measure them in a row and then refer to the list for the best pick to use for each lock size. I would grab the pick that would work on the most boxes first, so as not to loose time changing the lockpicks around, then I would move to the next pick for the next size lock until they were all opened. You loose points if you miss picking the lock, so don't be afraid to use a better pick that will assure the box will open for you.

You get a nice heafty bonus if you open everything before they do. So again best to use a pick you know will get that lock.

The above tactics really worked for me. Again, I rarely lost a game to the masters.

I hope your luck fares better for you if you decide to utilize my methods.

Now slap hands ... that task was a real PITA.

~Lori aka Horsefreak (One of the Many)

>If I could I would still do an occasional picking contest.

Ohhhh, so very strongly seconded. It was the one foolproof way of getting a perfect read on your exact locklore bonus with only a couple attempts.

If I remember correctly (and it's entirely possible I don't at this point), I disarmed everything prior to picking, then used any traps found to gauge the right pick mod (since traps size is related to lock size, and it's all one trap type so you eliminate that variable). For untrapped boxes I think I used veniom for everything. You would then of course find a box every now and then that would require a more powerful pick, and you could then reassess based on the first effort's result (one could always just go straight vaalin on first OR second try if you're not interested in perfectionism).

After I settled on this method at around rank 30 or so I don't think I lost another contest, unless I was just tinkering with locklore formula stuff. This method had me outpacing the master 80-90% of the time, and for those times he beat me in speed, I would always more than make up for it by the extra points I'd get with good pick choice.

So granted, even with 100% success, it still takes a while to get through several contests, but as has been pointed out, at least it's not slaphands.

-Anorian

>Just a note about this, this was put in place in order to reduce wasted time when the master had (literally) no chance of beating your score based on the time bonus you rack up while he struggles with bad rolls. Didn't take long for players to get real vocal about the time that was being wasted watching the master try to chew his way through a box lid - only to lose anyway.

I always hoped that I would get a contest where the master gave up before opening any boxes, but never quite managed it.

<<I always hoped that I would get a contest where the master gave up before opening any boxes, but never quite managed it.>>

I've come close, but yeah, not quite. I've had a couple of 5-0, 4000+ and he's at -200 games, but they've always squeaked by just enough to open that first one...

-Keleborrn.

I absolutely love picking contests, because I don't have to go smash zombies for hours and hours to find a single trap only to fail to extract....

Or find an audience, which can be tricky with the times I tend to play the most...

-Keleborrn.