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After I free Barabus from the cell, and the guards in the remaining corridors are killed, one of them drops a access card to one of the computer rooms. The PC containing the data Barabus is after of course. There's another room that is locked and I never figured out how to legitimately get inside. The room which contains a skill manual and the computer with the Ming Xiao email. I finally used noclip after repeated attempts to figure it out.

I'm sure someone knows about this room, so can you tell me whether it's possible to get in there w/o noclip? I don't use Wesp's patches but the "504AT" one. I apologize if this has already been explained in other threads, so I'll try to browse them some more in the meantime.

Have you tried to pick the lock of the door? I can't remember the exact number of skill points needed, so if you have not invested skills in picking locks, artificially boosting your dexterity temporarily to 5 may not gain you enough to be successful, but I'm almost certain you can pick that lock. Unless your mod killed it.

Picking the lock is the only way into this room. It's not worth it, though - the requirement to get in is lockpicking 9 or 10 (can't remember which) and levelling that skill so high is simply a waste of XP, considering there's at max 2 or 3 doors in the entire game requiring that high a level; and iirc this is the only one that cannot be circumvented some other way.

I think it's worth it (depending on playstyle). As I believe you get the last book for the melee skill from there.

You only need three dots in security to achieve ten in lockpicking, which isn't that much experience.

(slight) Spoiler:

Spoiler

you can get the last point in melee by talking to Nines at a certain point fairly early in the game... before departing to either the Elizabeth Dane or Grout's Mansion - there should be a few guides floating around detailling it.

I believe he only gives you the extra point if your melee is between one and three and the one you need to get it at is two, as the last three are gained through books.

Dunno how it's set up in Wesp's unofficial patches (been a while) or the "True" patches (dislike them 'cause of the authors' approach to public relations, so never tried them), but using patch 1.2, he gives away the fifth skill point no problem. Nice chap, ain't he?

I think it's so in the original game. I think it's best to have him give you the second point, that way, you don't spend nearly as much experience. Only four to be exact.

As it goes this way:

Melee 1 - 4XP (or at character creation)
Melee 2 - Nines
Melee 3 - Kendo
Melee 4 - Kendo
Melee 5 - The aforementioned manual

Thanks everyone for your responses..

Being that I'm using the 'true' patch, it seems likely that access to the door probably isn't altered from the original+1.2 patch. I'm playing through in Chinatown to aforementioned quest, so I'll post back to better describe the issue. That may determine whether this has to do with the 'true' patch or just the original game itself.

Thanks again

Issue resolved

After replaying,I found the door has a LockPick req. of 10 as mentioned by Shizz. Pretty high, but not impossible at that stage of VTMB to open. The contents of the room were important enough for me to assume it would be easier to get in; so I thought it was a bug.

Seems like this was just me being confused by the original programming, so a bit of a false alarm, but appreciate your posts to clear it up.

Another thing you can get in that room...

focused_letharg wrote:After replaying,I found the door has a LockPick req. of 10 as mentioned by Shizz. Pretty high, but not impossible at that stage of VTMB to open. The contents of the room were important enough for me to assume it would be easier to get in; so I thought it was a bug.

Seems like this was just me being confused by the original programming, so a bit of a false alarm, but appreciate your posts to clear it up.

(Spoiler ahead)

Spoiler

...is access to a computer with info from Ming that they are planning to get rid of your buddy at the Red Dragon, Wong Ho. If you go back to Wong Ho afterwards and lay out the situation to him with emphasis on his staying away from Ming, you'll get a point of humanity, if you're interested.

focused_letharg wrote:Being that I'm using the 'true' patch, it seems likely that access to the door probably isn't altered from the original+1.2 patch.

Just for your information, that door hasn't been changed in the unofficial patch as far as I know.

Wesp5 wrote:Just for your information, that door hasn't been changed in the unofficial patch as far as I know.

Yes Wesp I wasn't implying you made any changes to the door. I only mentioned the other patch in case it had any relevance. I plan on using your latest patch for my next playthrough, and looking forward to it

Crenshinibon wrote:I think it's so in the original game. I think it's best to have him give you the second point, that way, you don't spend nearly as much experience. Only four to be exact.

As it goes this way:

Melee 1 - 4XP (or at character creation)
Melee 2 - Nines
Melee 3 - Kendo
Melee 4 - Kendo
Melee 5 - The aforementioned manual

See? It's all about cost-benefit ratios. If you spend the (relatively cheap) xp to get your melee to 2, then get the Kendo manual to get to 4, then Nines will give you five and you don't need the book. Then all of those xp you would have dumped into lockpicking to get it to 10 can be used for something else, plus you get melee 5 very early in the game for 6 xp. I find little point in getting lockpicking anywhere past 8, and I get as much of that in agility as I can. Couple that with the 2 points in security from the security manual, and getting lockpicking to 8 isn't expensive at all, if you're prepared to wait.

I sat down once and tallied the various point bonuses, how you get them, how much it costs to be able to get them, and so forth, and found some very surprising things. For example, marksmanship 10 is very handy for dealing with Bach (since he gets grenades of all things!), but it's almost worthless to actually up the feat to 10 directly if you have Auspex. It costs one more point to get Auspex to 4 to get the last 2 points of perception you need for the few times you need it (as opposed to spending those points on the last 2 ranks of perception), you get the bonus to wits and the ability to see where everybody is. All in all it's a far more lucrative upgrade. After all, you don't need to be a sharpshooter very often.

Since that little bit of research my whole approach to assigning xp changed rather drastically, I find I have quite a few more red dots now, and my Tremere is a much happier vampire

Well, yes, and if you have eight in lockpicking, you may as well have ten due to blood buff, which is inactive in a few areas.

The Auspex bit is common knowledge. I just finished playing a Toreador today and I have to say that the character is overpowered. All of the fights were incredibly easy and at end game, I still had some sixty unused experience points.

In fact, if you want to wait a while, you don't even need to get a point of Perception as there is an item that gives you a bonus dot.

The only difference I noticed, aside from damage, is that having a ranged skill of ten makes it *much* easier to snipe as the mark no longer moves.