The following levels can be
approached in several ways. My personal favourite is pickpocketing.
All humanoid mobs, with the
exception of the more 'bestial' worgen, yetis and the like, can be pickpocketed for
cash and other items.
Amongst those other items are vendor
trash, occasional potions and (you saw this coming too) junkboxes. If you're pickpocketing mobs of roughly equivalent
level to yourself, these boxes will likely be in the difficulty
range for you to pick and improve your lockpicking skill.
Here's
a quick run down of various junkboxes, for the curious or those
who just let their lockpicking slide and need to grind it back
up:
Battered Junkboxes - lvl 20-30 mobs - Skill 50 to 125
Worn Junkboxes - lvl 30-40 mobs - Skill 75 to 150
Sturdy Junkboxes - lvl 40-50 mobs - Skill 175 to 250
Heavy Junkboxes - lvl 50-60 mobs - Skill 250 to 300
N.B. All skill levels, here and later in this guide, are
predicated on the assumption that different boxes change
difficulty level at 25 points per level, and as such are
approximations. As far as I've been able to test this the theory
seems born out. Corrections welcome.
Although the drop rate may not seem amazing, over the course of
a day's grind you should pick up sufficient boxes to stay on top
of your skill. If this fails...
***
Lockboxes
...talk to your class trainer. In
that first dialogue window, you'll see the option 'Where can I
go to improve my lockpicking?'. I'm in two minds about this. On
the one hand, I can see how it's useful; on the other, I
recently had the trainer try to send me to Searing Gorge to
lockpick boxes in the Slag Pit (I was around level 43 at the
time). My feeling is that you can use this advice as a helpful
guide, but it's not always practical, and is more often than not
a little irritating unless you have access to water-breathing
potions, as a number of the boxes are underwater, usually with a
few aggressive mobs nearby that have to be vanquished before you
can pick them. Personally, I found that a little
irritating.
Anyway, on to the numbers:
Hillsbrad Foothills - Skill 95 to 160- Durnholde Keep
Redridge Mountains - Skill 90 to 165 - Lake Everstill
Ashenvale Forest - Skill 75 to 150 - Zoram Strand
Stonetalon Mountains - Skill 115 to 190 - Windershear Crag
Wetlands - Skill 90 to 165 - Murloc Camps, Inland
Wetlands - Skill 110 to 185 - Murloc Camps, Coastal
Desolace - Skill 150 to 225 - Sar'Theris Strand (off
northwestern coast)
Badlands - Skill 175 to 250 - Angor Fortress
Badlands - Skill 200 to 275 - Angor Fortress
Swamp of Sorrows - Skill 175 to 250 - Pool of Tears
Searing Gorge - Skill 200 to 275 - Slag Pit
Searing Gorge - Skill 225 to 300 - Slag Pit
Tanaris - Skill 225 to 300 - Lost Rigger Cove
Azshara - Skill 235 to 300 - Bay of Storms
Eastern Plaguelands - Skill 250 to 305 - Tyr's Hand
Zangarmarsh - Skill 305 to 350 - Feralfen Village
(Note: These will become yellow at 310,
so I suggest skilling up to 325 and then go to Nagrand)
Nagrand - 325 to 350 - Kil'sorrow Fortress
N.B. Once again, numbers predicated upon 25 skill points per
level; use as a guide only.
***
Doors
You'll also encounter doors on your travels.
These can be used
to increase lockpicking skill, but be aware that they all have
cooldown timers on them, (i.e. you will only be able to gain a
skill point from them one time every twenty-plus minutes). Skill required:
Gnomeregan - Skill Req 150 - Workshop Door
Scarlet Monastery - Skill Req 175 - Armoury and Cathedral
Scholomance - Skill Req 285
Stratholme Gates - Skill Req 300
Blackrock Depths - Skill Req 250 - Doors and Shadowforge
Searing Gorge - Skill Req 225 - Gate
Dire Maul Doors - Skill Req 300
Of course, it's worth noting that instances are general full of
humanoid mobs, so one routine would be to pick the door on any
of the above, then stealth around pickpocketing everything in
sight (with judicious use of distract), lockpick everything
you've found outside the instance, reset it, repeat as
necessary.
(NOTE: You can only open doors to instances
5 times
per hour – when in solo.)
***
Advertising
Once you reach skill level 200 or so, another tactic becomes
viable: advertising.
Across the course of their travels, your
fellow adventures may happen across lockboxes which they,
lacking your particular skills, will find themselves unable to
open (excluding blacksmiths, who can make skeleton keys; it's
worth noting those are an expendable reagent though, so they
might require your assistance anyway).
Travel to any capital
city (usually Ironforge or Stormwind or Orgrimmar, where the
greatest number of players tend to congregate) and advertise
your lockpicking expertise via the trade channel, accessible by
typing /2 (default setting) in your chat dialog, followed by
your message.
I say this becomes viable at 200 because by then
you can open a majority of the commonest boxes, as follows:
Heavy Bronze Lockbox - Skill 25 to 100
Ornate Bronze Lockbox - Skill 50 to 125
Iron Lockbox - Skill 70 to 145
Strong Iron Lockbox - Skill 125 to 200
Steel Lockbox - Skill 175 to 250
Reinforced Steel Lockbox - Skill 225 to 300
Mithril Lockbox - Skill 225 to 300
Thorium Lockbox - Skill 225 to 300
Eternium Lockbox - Skill 225 to 300
Reinforced Locked Chest - Skill 250 to 300
FOR
LEVEL 301- 450