Could someone jog my memory.

In Skull Castle there is a level 12 lock.

If I remember there is a key, however there are other ways to open the lock.

I currently have a level 26 Assassin with level 9 lock picking skills and am in Anephas shrine the only thing left in Skull Castle is that lock. Some advice on were the key is or how I should try opening it. At level 8 lock picking it was still above the difficulty level "Intrinsic" I believe.

Higher lock picking skill is required, and you can also use a lockpick with it (say, a level 5 lockpick). At your current level, that would give you a total of 13 in lockpick, which should be enough.

You can also try bashing it open, but picking is much easier.

The vine spell of disarm trap combined with a level 11 or 12 sorcery skill should also do the trick.
As you mentioned, there is always the Lich's key which you can get from Adrianna instead of the Vampire's ring. Since you can always go back to Skull Castle when having improved your lockpicking abilities chosing the key is a bad idea. Sometimes the key will not even work due to a bug in the game.

HOWEVER, if u had a warlock character invoke amulets of a certain kind and raising their strenght to maximum (about 24 i tink), u can actually bash that darn lock open, but a high chance of triggering the trap though...... [img]smile.gif[/img]

The Disarm Trap spell and the lock: I have opened the lock with Sorcery 10 without any problems. Perhaps, even lower Sorcery skill will suffice.