Northrend Rogue Lockpicking 350-400

Lockpicking is an essential skill for all Rogues in World of Warcraft, and they are the only class with that skill. The utility provided by Picking Locks includes opening Lockboxes for yourself and other players, opening locked chests that contain some kind of treasure or loot, and opening locked doors which keep players from otherwise being able to pass through them. There is no trainer for Lockpicking, as players gain skill by using the Pick Lock ability.

The Lockpicking skill works similar to other skills that players hold, like Defense or weapon skills, in the sense that with each level acquired, the maximum skill level attainable increases by 5. So, as players level through Northrend from level 70 to level 80, their Lockpicking abilities will increase from 350 to a maximum of 400. Players can level their Lockpicking by visiting locations in the open world where locked chests, junkboxes, footlockers, and trunks are located.

This guide will provide you with the information needed to level your Lockpicking skill up to the maximum possible level in Wrath of the Lich King Classic.

Tips

• Your Lockpicking skill is capped at 5 times your character’s level, just like your poisons, weapon and defense skills.
• Regularly use Pick Pocket to potentially loot lockboxes from different types from Humanoids. You can skill up from unlocking these!
• Use your Distract and Sap to make accessing lockboxes and using Pick Pocket more successful.
• Find yourself a pair of Dark Leather Gloves to increase your Lockpicking skill by 5. This will be helpful in moving on to a new leveling area sooner.

Glyphs for Lockpicking

With the addition of the Wrath of the Lich King expansion to Classic, players are able to use Major and Minor Glyphs crafted by the Inscription profession. There are two Minor Glyphs which are helpful to Rogues who are looking to make skilling up their Lockpicking easier.

Glyph of Pick Lock is a Minor Glyph which reduces the cast time of your Pick Lock ability by 100%. This takes 5 seconds away from each of your casts of the ability, saving you an incredible amount of time and making it easier for you to Pick Locks without engaging enemies.

Glyph of Pick Pocket is another Minor Glyph which increases the range of your Pick Pocket ability by 5 yards. This is nice as you can receive locked boxes which provide skill for opening by using your Pick Pocket skill on Humanoid mobs and many other types, including some Undead. Additionally, using Pick Pocket on mobs that are in the area you are training Lockpicking can also be decently profitable.

Lockpicking Skill 350-385

Kil’sorrow Fortress, Nagrand

The most efficient place to level up your lockpicking from 350-385 is going to be quite familiar, as you likely visited Kil’sorrow Fortress to previously level up from 325 to 350, or just doing quests in Nagrand.

In the far southeastern corner of Nagrand, you can find the Kil’sorrow Fortress – an area rife with Dented Footlockers, just waiting there for you to unlock. The footlockers are located around the buildings in the area, scattered around other supplies. Some may have Kil’sorrow Orcs nearby, but you can simply Sap them and get to Lockpicking.

To start opening these lockboxes you need a Lockpicking skill of 325, or 320 if you’re using Dark Leather Gloves, in order to start opening these boxes.

You can also utilize your Pick Pocket skill in this area to acquire Strong Junkbox from the Kil’sorrow Orcs in the area. These Junkboxes provide skill up to 385, so try to collect them while you are navigating the area or waiting on Dented Footlockers to respawn.

Pick Pocket in Northrend from 350-385

Understandably, you may not want to go back to Nagrand at level 77 to maximize your Lockpicking Skill before moving over to Icecrown for your final 15 skill points. Luckily, there are many mobs in Northrend who are holding Reinforced Junkbox on them which you can loot using Pick Pocket. Make sure you have a level 350 Lockpicking skill before moving into Northrend, or else you won’t be able to open any of the Reinforced Junkbox.

Consider making a macro that includes Pick Pocket before your preferred opening move from Stealth, like Garrote, Ambush, or Cheap Shot to take the extra mental effort out of using your roguish guile. This will help you to make some money while grinding as well! Here’s an example of a macro to use:

/cast [nostealth] Stealth
/stopcasting
/cast Pick Pocket
/stopcasting
/cast Ambush

Leveling Lockpicking while Questing

Using your Pick Pocket skill as a Rogue in Northrend will make increasing your Lockpicking skill even easier as you work through the new zones. Going to either the Borean Tundra or Howling Ford starting zones followed by Dragonblight, and Zul’Drak provides you with an abundance of Humanoids to Pick Pocket. These zones are also designed to help you reach up to level 77, at which point your maximum attainable skill level for Lockpicking will be 385 – just what we need to move over to Icecrown.

Borean Tundra

In the Borean Tundra, there are a slew of Humanoid mobs from which you can Pick Pocket some Reinforced Junkboxes while completing your quests. For example, the Loot Crazed Divers in Lake Kum’uya which are required for the Happy as a Clam quest will have an occasional Reinforced Junkbox in their pockets.

Further, while on the Reclaiming the Quarry quest, you can Pick Pocket the Beryl Treasure Hunter mobs to just north of Lake Kum’uya to obtain more Reinforced Junkboxes.

Continue using this strategy on Humanoid mobs in the Borean Tundra Zone and in The Nexus instance to grow your collection of Reinforced Junkboxes. Save opening any that you acquire until you get additional levels, so as not to waste the chance of gaining a skill point!

Howling Fjord

While questing in the Howling Fjord, you can Pick Pocket Humanoid mobs to obtain Reinforced Junkboxes one at a time. An example of these mobs are the Iron Rune Dwarves who are the objective of the Out of My Element? quest.

Continue using this strategy on Humanoid mobs in the Howling Fjord Zone and in the Utgarde Keep instance to grow your collection of Reinforced Junkboxes. Save opening any that you acquire until you get additional levels, so as not to waste the chance of gaining a skill point!

Dragonblight

Numerous creatures around Dragonblight may have a Reinforced Junkbox in their pockets, including some of the undead in the area and the new magnataur mobs. Some of these creatures are part of quests you will encounter, like Pest Control, so you can keep collecting Junkboxes as you level up.

Zul’Drak

Zul’Drak is infested with monsters which you can Pick Pocket to obtain Reinforced Junkboxes. Nearly all of the Trolls in the zone and many of the Undead creatures make good targets nab Junkboxes from. Be sure to Pick Pocket everything you can while questing, like the Carrion Eaters which are required for the Defend the Stand quest.

Use your Pick Pocket ability while in the Drak’tharon Keep and Gundrak instances, as the different types of Trolls in these zones will commonly be holding Reinforced Junkboxes as well!

Lockpicking Skill 385-400

Onslaught Harbor, Icecrown

Finding Scarlet Onslaught Trunks in Onslaught Harbor is the easiest way to skill up from 385 to 400. Since you must be level 80 to reach all the way to 400 skill points, you will be able to handle the mobs in this area much easier than at a lower level when they may see through your Stealth.

Froststeel Lockboxes 375-400

Another way to gain skill in Lockpicking is to open up the uncommon Froststeel Lockboxes which players of any class may acquire from their journeys through Northrend. These Lockboxes require a Lockpicking skill of 375 (370 with your Dark Leather Gloves), and non-Rogue players will be looking to have them opened for them.

You can either position yourself in a city and advertise your services for free or a small fee, or offer your party members to open their Froststeel Lockboxes when you group up with other players.