What basement? And do you mean the key you got from Galen Boyle? Is the basement where you enter the ST's building, or what?

By basement I mean the secret level you can only get in with a key as that's where you find the ring of lockpicking. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Hmmmm... at the moment I cannot recall whether the key is meant for the second secret door or the first. I do still feel that the Ring of Lockpicks is attainable without the need to side with Aran Linvail.

SixOfSpades might be able to answer this question.

Edwin: Renal Bloodscalp's quest is completely separate from Aran Linvail's. It is 100% possible to run Renal's quest to completion, including recruiting Edwin into your party and collecting the reward from Renal, and then going & siding with Bodhi. Depending on the precise order of your actions at this point, however, this may or may not prevent you from getting an extra pair of very nice Boots.

Thief Stronghold: Siding with Bodhi will automatically strip you of the Thief Stronghold, if you've already obtained it, but that still doesn't mean you can't get the Strronghold, run through the few quests associated with it, and then pay Bodhi....you'll just have to be very, very careful with your bank account. Obviously, this paragraph only applies to PCs who are only part Thief, or who have All-Strongholds installed.

Ring of Djinni Summoning: Only appears (in Aran Linvail's room) if the PC is working for Bodhi.

Ring of Lock Picks: I'm 100% sure it's obtainable after siding with Aran Linvail, 98% sure it's in the exact same place (non-MODded game) after siding with Bodhi, and 78% sure (since I don't recall being without it) when siding with Bodhi with aVENGER's "Shadow Thief Improvements" MOD installed. I'm not going to verify that last one, though, as I don't hate myself enough to play through STI again.

Other Items: Dundee, you mentioned three additional items that can be obtained when working for Bodhi.....but apart from the aforementioned RoDS, I can only think of the RA+3. What'd I miss?

Correct me if I am wrong, but Aran Linvail is wearing Elven Chainmail right?

I don't think the ring of lockpicks is there when you side with Bodhi. Remember you
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obtain the ring when you talk to a shadow thief who talks to you about his plans to kill Aran Linvail. This is overheard by another Shadow Thief who kills the traitor. The ring of lock picks is on the traitors body. Now if you sided with Bodhi all Shadow Thieves are hostile so this situation can never happen the only thieves in the back rooms where you met the traitor are hostile. So I don't think you can get the ring... And remember before you side with Bodhi the door is locked so you can't get in that area to get the ring...

EDIT:Oh yeah Aran Linvail does wear Elven Chainmail +1 IIRC.

[ 01-04-2004, 08:37 AM: Message edited by: Zarr ]

i am pretty sure that if you go thru the other door, not thru the renal's headquarters, i do think that's open...i recall distinctly that i went thru the other door at least once, can't recall if i had paid off baylen gayle...

elven chainmail can be easily gotten early in the game, before elven city, by giving the mantle of waukeen to one of the feuding familys...the guy, not the woman...

Whoop dee doo, Elven Chainmail. Jan doesn't need it, Nalia doesn't want it, Valygar can't use it, and Imoen can't even get to it--plus there's the fact that you can always side with Aran, then kill him in Chapter 6, thus getting all the Thieves' goodies anyway. I'd feel differently if the Elven Chain was a unique item--or even one worth getting. The Ring and the Axe are, so far, the only items only obtainable through working for Bodhi.

About the Ring of Lock Picks: There is NO way to enter that level without first either paying, or killing, Gaelan Bayle, so obtaining the Ring in Chapter 2 is impossible. But I'm pretty sure you can still get it even when working for Bodhi: The Thief who carries it is still in the exact same spot, and all you have to do is kill him yourself, instead of watching somebody else do it. (With Shadow Thief Improvements installed, that room is the site of one of the 5 major battles on that level, and I doubt that the Thief is there--but I seem to recall that the Ring is given to one of the other enemies there, so you're not forced to go without.)

[ 01-05-2004, 11:47 PM: Message edited by: SixOfSpades ]

Yeah, I agree with "Whoop dee doo, Elven Chainmail" but the prize goes to "Whoop dee doo, Ring of Lock Picks!" True, for every lock you pick you get experience, but you can force a difficult lock, cast Knock, or get a potion... I'm sorry, I just don't know what the ado is. If you're wondering which side to pick based on ITEMS, then by all means go with Bhodi, even if it meant you couldn't ever ever get that ring.

Though to be fair, I did equip it... for a day. Though I admit it's a useful thing to carry in someone's gem bag, just in case. That's what I also did with the Mercykiller Ring.

Edit- And the Ring of the Ram. Good to have in an emergency, though impractical to take up a ring slot when it doesn't bestow any kind of stat or bonus.

[ 01-06-2004, 12:02 AM: Message edited by: Illumina Drathiran'ar ]

Actually, the Ring of Lock Picks can come in quite handy--Jan's Locks score is already quite high, but Nalia could certainly use it, and it also allows Yoshimo to allocate his precious low-level points elsewhere.

As for Ring of the Ram--an attack that punches through Improved Invisibility, any type of spell or combat protections, disrupts the victim's spellcasting, and knocks them away from you? Count me IN!!! :D