Ezri said:
We've been trying in HQ to make the skill more needed...
I really do not understand how you can make the skill needed. Ever since we changed the shatter rules Legerdemain is all but useless. Anything that needs to be picked can just be shattered, or at the very least destroyed if the lock is built into something door sized.
The old "shatter cascade" rule was very complicated and counter intuitive. I understand why we changed the rule, and I agree with it... but that rule, aside from traps, was the only thing that made Legerdemain "required". It used to be that if you shattered the lock you shattered the box, and if you shattered the box you shattered everything inside of it. Now I can just shatter the lock and move on. ... and it is only a third level spell, meaning that is is all but ubiquitous.
Back in the way way back time Disarm Trap and Pick locks were two different skills that could be bought independently. Again we attempted to simplify the game by combining them and increasing the build cost. Now we just shaft rouges with a skill that is only worth half the build that they paid for it.
So unless you have a Dragon Mage who is fond of Rendering locks and giving them away I am not sure that there is a viable way to make lock picking a fun part of the game. (and you better believe that if I run across a rendered lock I am going to take it as treasure)
So what was once supposed to be a game challenge which was the Rogue's forte is now a challenge which just about everyone on the mod team is better at than the Rogue.
So these days if I run into a IG lock I will patiently allow the Rogue to have their fun... but if it takes to long and getting the lock open becomes an emergency I will simply step in and open the lock in 2 seconds ... with my Fighter.
Don't get me wrong... I applaud the effort to to make the skill more needed. I just do not see how it happens without traps.
-Devon