Coelocanth: *(I open my inventory, then drag the lock picks over the 'use icon, which turns green, then click on the chest to use them. I assume that's the correct way to do it?)

SheBear: Some chests and doors are just more difficult to open. Though two points in the skill for Shrouded Hills should be sufficient for most things. You can also keep trying until it opens (it isn't a one time shot thing, it is chance). Though sometimes if you keep doing it it will break the lockpicks (in my experience this takes a long time though).

Also, are you a magic using character? Lockpicking is a tech activity and so magic aptitude will disrupt the ability to use the skill well.

malthaussen: In my experience of Arcanum (and I've played it since it came out), lockpicking is one of the most annoying skills. Just when you think you should have enough points in the skill to open that lock that's stopping you, you discover it still isn't enough. Unfortunately, the mage spell doesn't work much better, and the noise made by failure can alert guards.

In Shrouded Hills, the barrel next to the bridge has always been virtually unpickable for me (I think I might have gotten it open once), and the bridge gates themselves cannot be picked at all. You must get the key to open them, or talk your way past the bandits there.

This is one game where it's a good idea to use your fists and bash open chests and other things. (As a matter of fact, this is one game in which your fists are actually your best weapon, but that's another story)

-- Mal

malthaussen: Ah, but you're really confirming my point, SheBear. Most characters won't have 4 points in lockpick when they get to Shrouded Hills, and IIRC, expert training for lockpick is not available before you reach Tarant. By the time your char is actually good enough to do the Master quest -- well, you don't need to pick locks anymore.:)

-- Mal