Lockpicking TipsFollow

ONLY THF MAIN CAN PICK A LOCK~!

THF's Please NOTE: To help prevent other thieves from getting a bad name as well as yourself, please do not pick a chest/coffer during an experience party or any other party where the party relies on you. There is a chance that you may get weakened or a mimic and this would not be good for the party's downtime.

I decided to get a Lockpicking Tips thread going. I personally have not had a lot of experience as to date, but felt this would be a good place to have a collection of our knowledge on lockpicking.

LOCKPICKING TIPS:

* Get a map of the treasure chest/coffers locations before you go:

--=> Treasure Maps <=--
--=> Castle Oztroja Walkthrough <=--
--=> Treasures and They're Location <=-- (Top Menu) Tips -=> (Left Menu) Chest & Coffer Key

* Get some keys or thieves tools. Here is a breakdown of them from other posts I've read:

(note: all prices fluctuate and may not be accurate)

Thief's Tools: cheapest, rumored to be actually most effective key once your into your higher levels 60+, rumored to use your dex in the success rate. ~6-10K per stack

Living Key: Second best, cost about 50% more than Thieve's tools. Rumored to have a higher chance of getting a Mimic.
~10-15k per stack.

Skeleton Key: Best choice. cost is about 30-35K per stack on Seraph in Jeuno. It has been confirmed that you can get a Mimic with the Skeleton Key. It has been confirmed that you can get weakness while using the Skeleton Key as well.

* Chest respawn times are random from 15 minutes to 45 minutes.

* Once you've tried to open a chest, if it fails it will use up your key. If you were lucky enough not to get a Mimic or cursed/weaken then... It has been confirmed that you can still succesfully pick a lock after you have failed. Not sure how many keys I would burn before I decided to quit trying.

Here is a story relating to this problem: LVL 43thf/nin goes in to Castle Oztroja to pick Astral Ring coffers. Thf finds coffer, thf picks coffer and it fails. Thf trys again and again.. Thf uses all 12 Skeleton Keys, and it fails everytime. Thf uses Living Key, first time a Living Key is used it turns into a Mimic, uses Death Trap Stun and I'm stunned.. missed the Perfect Dodge part of my panic macro, but the Instant warp part takes.. interupted.... 240 dmg hits 3 times and I'm dead....

It has been said that the reason I failed 13 times is because level 43 is not high enough to pick a lock in Castle Oztroja. Wish I had this information before I wasted 35k...

To avoid this problem please consult my Minimum Successful Level Reported below.

* If your using invis to stay undected then here is a really big tip!!! As soon as it says the invisible is wearing off then just start casting invis again. It will remove and put the new invis on for you. And this is the really helpful part! If the enemies ONLY aggro on sight you can cast invis while invised right in front of them and they won't aggro!!!

If your using sneak or silent oil you will have to cancel out the sneak first.. do this buy using the change focus... + on the numeric keypad. hit it twice and then use your menu movement to cursor to the sneak icon. then hit the confirm button to cancel it.

* A trapped chest will give you a curse that is like weaken. Except that it can last up to an hour~! So. either sit it out, warp then die, or just die.

* There seems to be a correlation between the level of the mobs in the area, your level, and the chance of success on picking the chest. This means that if the mobs in the area are significantly higher level then you, then your chances of successfully picking the lock may be ZERO.

* Chests/Coffers may respawn immediately after a mimic is summoned.

* Coffers appear to be harder than Chests when they are in the same area. Level/attribute difference is unknown. But it could easily mean that you will lose more keys trying to open a coffer.

* YOU CANNOT OPEN CHEST/COFFERS WHILE INVISIBLE OR WEAKENED.

* You can open a chest while sneak is on, however it will disappear after you have attempted to open the chest regardless of success or failure.

* You can open a chest while being aggroed.

* You can open a chest while Perfect Dodge is active.

* Have a panic macro, you must have your 2 hour available and an Instant Warp scroll which you can use your Conquest Points to buy at the person who gives you signet in the cities. It's under Common Items.

/ja "Perfect Dodge" <me>
/wait 1
/item "Instant Warp" <me>

* Have a separate macro for Perfect Dodge and Instant Warp as well. As if you get stunned through the Perfect Dodge part of the macro your .... in trouble. So if you get a Mimic better to use the separate macros rather than the Panic one listed above.

* have a Lock Picking macro:

/item "Skeleton Key" <t>

Other Threads and Links:
Castle Oztroja Coffer (Need Help)
tools lvl
Coffer Hunting at 41
Coffers and mimic's
When to Coffer Hunt in Oztroja ??
Thf tools and RSE
Beginning Coffer Hunting
Coffer Hunting
Coffer hunting, 20THF / 10NIN
Treasure Chests
To Key or not to Key
Lock picks
Coffer hunting ...

Minimum Successful Level Reported
Note: I will update this list with post people make, when I get a chance :) H = Hume, G = Galka, T = Taru, M = Mithra

Location, Level, Skeleton Key
Beadeaux, ?, ?
Castle Oztroja, 49, ?
Castle Zvahl, 52, H
Crawlers' Nest, 40, M
Dangruf Wadi, ?, ?
Davoi, 52, ?
Delkfutt's Tower, 33, ?
Den of Rancor, ?, ?
Fei'Yin, 49, H
Fort Ghelsba, ?, ?
Garlaige Citadel, ?, ?
Giddeus, ?, ?
Gusgen Mines, ?, ?
Horutoto Ruins, ?, ?
Ifrit's Cauldron, ?, ?
King Ranperre's Tomb, ?, ?
Kuftal Tunnel, ?, ?
Labyrinth of Onzozo, ?, ?
Maze of Shakhrami, ?, ?
Monastic Cavern, 50, ?
Ordelle's Caves, ?, ?
Palborough Mines, ?, ?
Quicksand Caves, ?, ?
Ru'Aun Gardens, ?, ?
Sea Serpent Grotto, ?, ?
Temple of Uggalepih, ?, ?
The Boyahda Tree, 65, M
The Eldieme Necropolis, ?, ?
Toraimarai Canal, ?, ?
Ve'Lugannon Palace, ?, ?

Location, Level, Living Key
Beadeaux, 53, ?
Castle Oztroja, 52, ?
Castle Zvahl, ?, ?
Crawlers' Nest, 48, E
Dangruf Wadi, ?, ?
Davoi, 53, ?
Delkfutt's Tower, ?, ?
Den of Rancor, ?, ?
Fei'Yin, 49, H
Fort Ghelsba, ?, ?
Garlaige Citadel, ?, ?
Giddeus, ?, ?
Gusgen Mines, ?, ?
Horutoto Ruins, ?, ?
Ifrit's Cauldron, ?, ?
King Ranperre's Tomb, ?, ?
Kuftal Tunnel, 52, ?
Labyrinth of Onzozo, ?, ?
Maze of Shakhrami, ?, ?
Monastic Cavern, 50, ?
Ordelle's Caves, ?, ?
Palborough Mines, ?, ?
Quicksand Caves, 54, H
Ru'Aun Gardens, ?, ?
Sea Serpent Grotto, 53, ?
Temple of Uggalepih, ?, ?
The Boyahda Tree, 55, ?
The Eldieme Necropolis, ?, ?
Toraimarai Canal, 53, ?
Ve'Lugannon Palace, ?, ?

Location, Level, Thief's Tools
Beadeaux, ?, ?
Castle Oztroja, 40, H
Castle Zvahl, 46, E
Crawlers' Nest, 51, ?
Dangruf Wadi, ?, ?
Davoi, 37, ?
Delkfutt's Tower, 37, M
Den of Rancor, ?, ?
Fei'Yin, 45, E
Fort Ghelsba, ?, ?
Garlaige Citadel, ?, ?
Giddeus, 20, ?
Gusgen Mines, 24, E
Horutoto Ruins, ?, ?
Ifrit's Cauldron, ?, ?
King Ranperre's Tomb, ?, ?
Kuftal Tunnel, ?, ?
Labyrinth of Onzozo, ?, ?
Maze of Shakhrami, 37, M
Monastic Cavern, 40, ?
Ordelle's Caves, 31, E
Palborough Mines, 23, G
Quicksand Caves, 46, E
Ru'Aun Gardens, ?, ?
Sea Serpent Grotto, ?, ?
Temple of Uggalepih, ?, ?
The Boyahda Tree, ?, ?
The Eldieme Necropolis, 51, E
Toraimarai Canal, ?, ?
Ve'Lugannon Palace, ?, ?

So far we seem to agree that these things effect your chances of picking a lock:

1. Difference between your level and the level of the mobs in the area/zone.
2. The type of key/tool that you use.

These things are rumored to effect your chances:

1. DEX
2. INT
3. Moon Phase
4. orientation relative to the coffer/chest (are you in front of the chest?)

These things DO NOT effect your chances:

1. ?

Note: Please feel free to run a test and see if any of the rumored things do indeed effect your chances.


Edited, Tue Sep 21 11:36:11 2004 by Rayel

Great Post!! ^^
but uhm..im gonan have to disagree wit you about the "once failed dont try again", i've failed the first time and popped it the second time, and i've only spawned a mimic once in my whole Treasure Coffer career, and it wasnt on the times that i've failed and tried again ^^

Nice post.



I can dispel this rumor. I got a Mimic on my first Skeleton Key in Monastic Cavern.

I edited my post some:

Skeleton Key: Best choice. cost is about 30-35K per stack on Seraph in Jeuno. Rumored to only fail without Mimic or curse/weaken. **EDIT** [It has been confirmed that you can get a Mimic with the Skeleton Key, still not confirmed if you have a less chance of getting a Mimic with this key.]

So does Skeleton Key have a lower chance of getting a Mimic? how come I failed 12 times in a row with a skeleton key and didn't get a Mimic. the first time I used a Living Key I got a Mimic?? btw, I used the Living key on the same chest that I failed all the skeleton keys on.

heh just a lil sumthin sumthin about Coffers ^^

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-6/737701/TreasureCoffer1.jpg

its a... its a...

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-6/737701/TreasureCoffer2.jpg

NICE PICS BooChoong!!

Good observation redvenomweb, I edited my post to make a separate PD and warp macro as well. I actually have all 3 myself. I should not have hit the Panic one though with the Mimic... didn't know about the stun :(

Aye, I stand corrected. However, certain mobs do pursue by sceant. But that's neither here nor there, so blah.

Thanks for pointing out my error.


-JP

I think the reason why you had so much trouble opening the coffers is your level. Thieves get better opening coffers/chests by the level. Also, from what I've learned, you'll have a higher chance of failure in areas that are way above your lvl (as far as exp). Opening coffer in Monastatic cavern at 40, I failed on about 12 keys before using a thief tool and getting it. Opening the same coffer at 51, it opened first time. Granted this is by no means scientific, but I'm sure you'll find similar results. At 43 you couldn't possibly lvl, probably not even w/ an alliance, where the coffers spawn in castle oztroja. So if your'e losing a ton of keys, its probably more because your lvl is too low than a possible mimic behind it.

Monastic Cavern: First key, lvl 50, Living key
Castle Oztroja: First key, lvl 52, Living key
Kuftal Tunnel: First key, lvl 52, Living key
Boyahda Tree: First key, lvl 55, Living key


So far those are the only coffers I picked and out of 3 stacks of living keys I only had 6 failures, 4 no penalty, one mimic and one curse.

since im a regular at castle oztroja now, ill add something.
i opened about 30++ coffers there already btw and i only use skeleton keys

here are my stats:

4 mimics
6 rings
2 jewels
all the rest are gil ranging from 7200-13800 for me

Nice FAQ Rayel, you should post it on gamefaqs. It's an informative collection of info, too nice to just end up buried here. One suggestion - just delete the incorrect info instead of editing below it.

One highly important detail is missing - what is the spawn time for chests after they're opened? Do they move if nobody picks them? Rumor says 15-45 minutes on respawn. Also, I failed 3 times picking a chest, ran out of keys. Was waiting for someone to bring me keys, a 71 THF attempted to open the chest. First try, Mimic spawned and killed the THF...after a minute or two of glaring angrily at it from a distance, Mimic vanished. The chest respawned in less than 15 minutes. Does Mimic always drop key? Would love to kill one, but without 37 NIN subbed, don't think it's likely (solo).

Thinking of a good place to estimate respawn times. Monastic Cavern is rarely camped, but high level mobs = Mimic problems, and I don't have many Conquest Points left. Maybe Wadi would be a cheap way of doing it, but there's a chance someone low level might have a key.

I've picked about 20 chests total, mostly between lv 55-59. Castle O is fun to camp...when you're the only one camping.

I used Thief Tools on chests in Crawlers Nest around level 40, got weakness twice...Tools only worked for me in Wadi at the lower levels. Oooh, 600 gil!

Only used Skeleton since then. Never got weakness using a Skeleton key - can anyone say they have? I've had 4 mimics spawn. 4th try, 4th try, 1st try, 4th try. One thing to note - after you Instant Warp, make sure you take care of your Mimic poison (10 hp loss / 2 sec), I almost died from it, had to flee to moghouse.

Most skeleton keys I ever burned on one chest was 5 in Boyhada. On average, I usually open the chest (Boyhada, Castle O) on 2nd try.

Coffer hunting is a lot of fun, but it's expensive using Skeleton keys, and potions/powders. Of course, a rare drop will more than make up for the expense - if you get it. Also, it will cost you a lot of Conquest Points / Experience Points - your choice. Thanks to Mimic, the THF killer.

Good work!

Btw...I opened a coffer in Crawler's nest and Monastic Cavern at first try with Living key.

Great thread...thanks for all the info guys...

Edited, Thu Jun 3 20:31:15 2004 by rexall

Hi there,
yup coffer hunting is fun and safely done at about lv 45.

Was in Monastic with my first coffer. After using 3 skeleton keys and failing, i decided to use a living key instead. I am lv 47.

Out comes and mimic and i activate my panic macro.

I suggest hitting about Lv 50 before doing this becos the keys and powders and stuff cost gil and failing for 5 times with skeleton keys costs you 15k, all for getting 7-13k gil?

Definitely rated up for this wonderful post. Keep up the good work !

I would also reccommend bringing along a stack of antidotes while coffer hunting or at the minimum have your HP near mog house. If you are unfortunate enough to experience the joy of mimic's you'll soon find your life bar dwindling even if you have a panic macro ready. I am unsure of the duration of the poison but I can say that it removes 10hp / round. As far as success rates are concerned I've personnally spawned 4 mimics (3 Oztroje, 1 Monastic), had 4 breaks, and 1 success (monastic cavern) at level 53. For now I've given up on picking coffer's and will find a party to obtain coffer keys for the rest of my AF. Although I will try again post 60 and record my results.

your success will depend on your level, can you level off the mobs in that area, your attributes ex: dex and int. It's not been proven that dex or int effect your chance of picking the lock. The type of key/tool used will also effect your chance of success.

If you can't level off the mobs in that area then you could possibly pick the chest or coffer as many times as you like and never get a success.

ok my stats of picking locks,

delfkutts tower: skeleton key: level 33
giddeus: thief tool: level 20

btw im now a thf44/nin20(i know i know, getting TH2 first)

Not sure if its true but someone told me that success with lock picking has to do with INT not dex, hence the int adds on the AF armor. Might be wrong tho.
Kitiva 43 thf 24 blm 24 mnk 18 nin 13 whm 13 war 10 bst

So far we seem to agree that these things effect your chances of picking a lock:

1. Difference between your level and the level of the mobs in the area/zone.
2. The type of key/tool that you use.

These things are rumored to effect your chances:

1. DEX
2. INT
3. Moon Phase
4. orientation relative to the coffer/chest (are you in front of the chest?)

Please feel free to run a test and see if any of the rumored things do indeed effect your chances.

Edited, Tue Jun 8 09:38:50 2004 by Rayel

While trying to pick the coffer in Davoi for my Rogue Gauntlets AF quest, I was trying to stand behind the coffer to avoid nearby aggro. I failed 5 times while standing there. No weakness, no mimic. Then I said screw it and walked around to the front of the coffer, where I'd likely get aggro, and successfully picked it on my first attempt.

I believe that your orientation relative to the coffer/chest has something to do with the success of the pick.

I added this up at the top of the thread on the Tips, I'm listing the things we have no proof of so that we can eventually either prove they are correct or rule them out.

Great post lenwegg! you listed the place, level, and key so I added it to my list above ^.^

Let us know if you suceed at castle O. I'm level 45 at the moment, so, if you get it at 47 then I'll try again. Otherwise, I'm going to wait until level 50 before I try castle O.

Only chests I've tried to pick were in Gusgen Mines and Ordelles (all for RSE). I only used Thieve's Tools, got each on the first try. For Ordelles, I was level 35, and for Gusgen, 38

I have a question. If you sub THF, is the level that affects your lock picking ability your main level or your sub level? I suspect it's the sub, but just thought I'd get an official answer.

More data for statistic purposes.
Went last night to Monastic Cavern to pick coffers for my AF gauntlets.
Found coffer, stood in front of it, used Thief's Tools, opened at the first try.
Looked around for another coffer, found it, stood in front of it, used Thief's Tools, opened at the first try, found a Fluorite.
For my stats and equip, please refer to my profile in the signature ^^

Ah, I just remembered another thing.
A friend of mine tried the very same thing the night before (lockpicking Monastic Cavern's coffers). He's a Hume THF51/NIN25, and had these results:
Skeleton key - failed
Skeleton key - failed
Thief's tolls - success