I'm sure this has been asked over a thousand times, but what are min requirements to carving a professional or master iron lockpick?

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>'Heal me you infidel!
You exclaim, "Heal me you infidel!"
>
Healer Adept Onsuwayo says, "I'll be with you in just a moment!"

This is the list I have saved, not sure where I got it from though, and my thief can't even make professionals so I apparently haven't verified the info:

Type	Agility	Mech	Lockpicking
Professional	30	100	130
Master	37	140	180
Grandmaster	55	250	440

Thrall of Dergati,
Heroiklim Zortal

Cast of iron, dull grey and pitted, this altar is cold and lifeless. A thin coating of rust covers its surface. The words "Even Death We Master" are scrawled across the altar, defacing even destruction.

>>I started getting masters almost 100% of the time, with khri, at around 220 locks and over 200 mech. (40 agil)

Depends on the keyblank. I carved about 200 lockpicks the other day, 10 iron, the rest copper. All 10 iron were pro's, the copper about 150 were masters, 20-25 were pros, 10 were superiors, and the rest were high quality. My khri dropped and wasn't payin attention to the script. My fault there. But with copper, I'm gettin masters left and right.

~Dalkin~


If its got two legs and you hear a thud...don't panic...I just killed another one.


>>>>Agonar, apparently taking an uncharacteristic trip to the north, strolls by, winks at Marlena, giggles oddly to himself, and continues his journey onward.

>>was talkin about irons

ahh...alright, my mistake. Irons, I can't wait to start carving masters with them things.

~Dalkin~


If its got two legs and you hear a thud...don't panic...I just killed another one.


>>>>Agonar, apparently taking an uncharacteristic trip to the north, strolls by, winks at Marlena, giggles oddly to himself, and continues his journey onward.

ivory, soapstone, copper, bronze, iron, siver-hued, platnium-hued....i know i'm missing a few in there, someone fill in the blanks

-Teh Scout Schadowynd, Brigand of Ratha

Has anyone tested the diamondique keyblanks that were recently made available to a few?


-V.R.

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>give salesgirl 15 lirums
The salesgirl gives you a funny look. "This lirum is worth more than 15 lirums!"

that info comes from DRsecrets. and like most other stuff on the site, take it with a grain of salt. results will vary.

lockpicking 359
mech lore 264
agility 46


carving grandmasters on occasion


and, i've only carved grandmasters in iron and some of the other 'fest-thiefshop' special materials - i.e. steel something-or-other. i don't know if its even possible to carve grandmasters in some of the 'easier' materials - i.e. ivory, bronze, copper.


schvartz

"Word on the street is, ya been lookin' out for the best interests of the Guild."

When should a thief start doing their own carving? How do the lower level keyblanks carved compare to say store bought? Should I take the time to carve my own copper keyblanks and use those or just stick to store bought for now? I'm personally still sitting at roughly 65 lockpick and disarm, then 110 mech, and only 15 agiligty...still low circle. I know as of right now I can't carve troll poop, but curious when you elders would suggest us youngins start carving.

You're probably (if I remember right) about 20 ranks off of being able to make some decent quality picks from low quality materials. Pisser of carving yourself is that until you get decent with iron blanks, the blanks run incredibly expensive. (~10X the price for ivory)... The cost effectiveness of it basically makes carving your own rather worthless.

Many will steal the blanks instead, but in that case, you're really not gonna steal enough to make it worthwhile either.

That said...Some of us just find carving fun, and like being able to say "I pick with my own creation"... It's also a rather decent way of locking mech, though, shortly after locking you, the timer'll kick in making you unable to learn from carving fgor quite some time. Either way, if you think it'd wind up fun, have at it.

Your mech is actually rather decent, which should nuke the trouble most people have, which is picks snapping, or being bent so much through carving, that even if you get a master's, you stand to get one er two boxes done before it snaps. That your picks should alst longer will make it a bit more cost effective, but really, until you can do irons, you're still better off just buying stouts, or finding someone willing to toss some decent irons your way.

Other benefit to using regular picks is that ya ain't gotta make the trip to Shard. Blanks are heavy as hell (10 stone apiece) compared to the one stone a lockpick weighs, so carrying them around while waiting to carve them can be a pain as well.

If you do decide to carve your own, just make sure you do it in town, uninjured, khri'd up, and without head or hand armour on. There are no messages accompanying lockpick carving, such as there are with stealing (ie. your armour hinders your attempt).

Good luck.

Steal slims, ordinaries and stouts, carve after you break 100 in locks, and, you'll still mostly do it for giggles. No point in carving what you can steal. Just occasionally grab a keyblank, and when you start carving better than you can steal, start thinking about carving.

<<I know it's possible, albiet incredibly hard to do, as a non thief, but has anyone ever heard of a non-thief making a masters, or even a proffesional? Someone ask in TF? Curious, because it could shatter the 4 gold masters economy.>>

non-thieves can not carve lockpicks at the moment nor have they been able to for the past several years. There was a time it was opened to everyone, but it was changed back due to complaints from the thief guild.

The mech lore split will once again open it up to everyone, but the lockpicking rewrite will change a lot about who can use what lockpicks and what ones are needed and how one uses them.


Yamcer

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"You know, while I understand the importance of seeing the (personal) validity in other's arguments, it's impossible for me to believe fully that others are correct. If their argument was correct, I'd change mine." - My GF

hell.. I have an arse-load of master lockpicks on my galleon just waiting to be sold... not to mention a bunch of 100 count origami envelopes....


Sothios Mori'Taren
Riverhaven Locksmith Union Representative

>>Besides, where would you get keyblanks?

You don't have to be a Thief to get keyblanks a few places.
*******
Doctor: Are you Alliance?
Early: Am I lion? Huh. I don't think of myself as a lion. But you might as well have a mighty roar!

Does the time of day determine ease of carving lockpicks? I had been carving master's irons and noticed as day turned to night I rarely made professional irons.

Also, a quick observation, no solid proof: Is it me or does carving outside Shard's bank boost one's ability in carving. I observed a fair decrease in the number of master's irons I carved when I didn't carve outside the bank.

My thinking is that at night it's darker. On one hand I would think your decreased vision at night would lower your ability to carve, but then again on the other hand, using khri (with sight) I should think would counter that. :/ That's if day and night would mean anything to carving lockpicks.

I had been "at the top" of my game in bonus fairly recently, but unsure where I am now so who knows, maybe that did play a role in it all.