Nathaniel's ring and other chests that won't open

sentinel69 · Post by **sentinel69** » Sat Apr 16, 2005 7:56 am

I'm on a second run through the Ice Temple and have found that the chest in the treasure room that is supposed to contain the Ring of the Ram for Nathaniel WILL NOT OPEN no matter what I do. It says that it is LOCKED and when I try to pick it, I get a message that says something like "the mechanism that operates this does not have a conventional lock and may be warded against simple spells." I don't remember this being the case the first time through, and I restored an old save and worked my way in again and the chest opens fine. [edited]

Also, on another game I have found a couple chests on later levels that will not open no matter what I do. I just get a "lockpick failed" or "you have failed to force open the chest" message. I figured that I must have made a bad roll or whatever, but I can restore to earlier saves and try again and it NEVER, EVER will open. I've found 3-4 of these now.

If someone could shed some light on either of these things, I would be grateful because it is annoying beyond measure.

Thanks!

--The Sentinel

dj_venom · Post by **dj_venom** » Sat Apr 16, 2005 5:39 pm

For the first part, whenever that message pops up it means that you need a key to open the chest. This key might be held by someone important... (I won't give away the spoiler)

For the second part, try putting up you open lock skill. In the game you can find some really difficult chests that have problems opening unless you have a good score, also try finding some things that boost your skill.

Good luck key finding and lock picking.

sentinel69 · Post by **sentinel69** » Sat Apr 16, 2005 5:47 pm

OK, I'll go back and look for a key I missed. It must have popped up early because when I went back to an earlier game to check it, I barreled straight into the temple and down to Oria right away and the chest opened fine. So it's either before the temple or very early in it.

Regarding the second part, can you come back and pick a chest later that you have already failed or is it a one-time roll and when you fail then you're screwed?

Thanks, this has been driving me nuts.

[QUOTE=dj_venom]For the first part, whenever that message pops up it means that you need a key to open the chest. This key might be held by someone important... (I won't give away the spoiler)

For the second part, try putting up you open lock skill. In the game you can find some really difficult chests that have problems opening unless you have a good score, also try finding some things that boost your skill.

Good luck key finding and lock picking.[/QUOTE]

shift244 · Post by **shift244** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 6:17 pm

[QUOTE=sentinel69]Regarding the second part, can you come back and pick a chest later that you have already failed or is it a one-time roll and when you fail then you're screwed?[/QUOTE]You can try to pick a lock as many times as you wish. Each try makes one roll, so its not a try-once-and-that's-it-thing.

You can try about 20 times, then decide that you need more skill (or Dex) to pick the lock, since by then you should have rolled high enough at least once... this is to check the cases where you just made the needed check on a 18-20 roll.

Also, you can always use the less subtle method of forcing a lock by attacking the container with any character, if you should fail to pick the lock.

dj_venom · Post by **dj_venom** » Mon Apr 18, 2005 1:46 am

[QUOTE=shift244]Also, you can always use the less subtle method of forcing a lock by attacking the container with any character, if you should fail to pick the lock.
[/QUOTE]
If you want to force the lock, use your strongest character, as it helps greatly with your rolls.I am not sure whether potions will help, though I think strength potions should open the lock.

Also, take note, you CANNOT force locks that require a key. Even though for some reason the message pops up, as far as I know, you cannot force a key lock. As for finding the key, I am not sure where it is, sorry

.

shift244 · Post by **shift244** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 8:54 am

Not sure about STR and forcing locks, tho I'm not surprised if it does make a diff. Matter is, that my (physically) "puny" wizard managed to force a lock (with a dagger +4 in hand, if it matters)

sentinel69 · Post by **sentinel69** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 11:41 pm

Thanks

Thanks, guys (RE: picking locks on chests). I was wondering if it was a one chance and you're out deal because I have these chests that I've tried to pick and force like 100 times with no luck. Buffed my DEX as high as I could with potions/spells, etc. and just futile flailing at the locks. Was starting to wonder if failing the first roll left you S.O.L.

--The Sentinel