Picking locks, again and again

[Lymond]

My party is in the graveyard (it's very early in the game), and Nalia is having terrible luck opening locked things. Typically, after she fails, I have all the other characters try to force the lock, which rarely works. In each case, I thought perhaps I hadn't completed a necessary step or lacked a specific item, although no message indicated it was magically locked or required a special key.

Last night, however, out of frustration at this continued inability to pick locks, I had Nalia try again right away and, to my surprise, it worked! I always assumed the game was set up so trying again right away wouldn't work. Is that right, or can you sit there trying and trying until it opens?

Lymond

[shamrock_uk]

Hmm..i'm not sure exactly, but I know that lock bashing is done on a percentage chance, so maybe lock picking is as well. Certainly try bashing more than once, i've had it work after two or three tries before. I seem to remember someone saying on here not to try more than 3 times though.

[Pirengle]

Lockpicking is based on the character's Pick Locks percentage and how difficult the container is to unlock. You can try repicking some locks, but for some things, you need a high Pick Lock score just to try it. And Nalia's scores just aren't that good, IMO.

You might want to keep a list of unpickable locks and areas where they are, then come back with a few Potions of Master Thievery or Perception and try again. (A 100-120% Pick Lock percentage will unlock just about everything in the game with a pickable lock.)

[Lord]

That's right, don't try more than 3 times. It's not likely to work. I personally keep potions of master thievery, potions of power, and potions of perception on me at all times.

[Neomi]

Unfortunately, Nalia's not much good for picking locks. In fact, I think there were even some locks in her own keep that she couldn't pick (Daddy must not have trusted her very much with the important things). If you rely on her for the rest of the game you'll be chugging an awful lot of potions and spending a lot of time frustrated. You'd be better off having her memorize "knock" a few times.

Try with a better thief, like Yoshimo or Jan, someone who can actually gain thief skills.

[ 02-18-2004, 12:59 PM: Message edited by: Neomi ]

[Lymond]

Thanks for the tips- I'll give it another go tonight.

This brings me to another thought, about NPCs. I first played IWD where you create and try to keep alive the same characters throughout the game. One thing I like about BG2 so far is how real it is in terms of meeting new people and seeing where things take you. However, I'm concerned about how certain NPCs affect the game as a whole. If I told Nalia to take off, or let her get killed, would I then not be able to help her family? Is that quest important in the larger scheme of things? How do I know when a NPC is critical to the larger plot of the game and am I supposed to know? Are there many paths to the same ultimate goals?

I don't want any spoilers, as I'm enjoying the uncertainty of the decisions you have to make, but I'd like to know if I need to worry about affecting an important plot point.

Lymond

[Xen]

Originally posted by Lymond: Thanks for the tips- I'll give it another go tonight. This brings me to another thought, about NPCs. I first played IWD where you create and try to keep alive the same characters throughout the game. One thing I like about BG2 so far is how real it is in terms of meeting new people and seeing where things take you. However, I'm concerned about how certain NPCs affect the game as a whole. If I told Nalia to take off, or let her get killed, would I then not be able to help her family? Is that quest important in the larger scheme of things? How do I know when a NPC is critical to the larger plot of the game and am I supposed to know? Are there many paths to the same ultimate goals? I don't want any spoilers, as I'm enjoying the uncertainty of the decisions you have to make, but I'd like to know if I need to worry about affecting an important plot point. Lymond

There are two quests for Nalia. FFFFFF">~snip~

ADD] Neither is vital to the main plot, but as is usually the case, will help you in ways such as XP and equipment.

[ 02-18-2004, 10:26 PM: Message edited by: Dundee Slaytern ]

[Feral]

Lymond - if an NPC/quest is truly critical to the main plot, the game won't let you do the "wrong" thing. Other than that, the game is quite open-ended (at least early on).

[Lord]

Xen, take out that last line in your last post! That's a major spoiler!

[krunchyfrogg]

FFFFFF">~snip~

If Nalia is your only thief, you're in trouble. IMHO, Imoen can get the job done, though.

OTOH, Yoshimo is a very good thief, as is Jan. I usually (NO SPOLIERS!) keep one of them in my party, and drop the said character when I get Imoen back.

[ 02-18-2004, 10:29 PM: Message edited by: Dundee Slaytern ]