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Lockpicking is a very useful skill, which only rogues can (and should) train. It does not count towards the two main professions that any character can learn and there is absolutely no reason not to train it. Lockpicking a good way of acquiring extra loot from locked chests, but also helps you get in some places - if you for some reason did not acquire the key. In this guide we will look at how you can train your lockpicking from 0 to 350, as well as some other important aspects of the Lockpicking Skill. If you have any questions and/or comments, please do not hesitate to leave a comment!

Training the Lockpicking Skill from 0 to 80

In order to train Lockpicking, you first have to acquire the skill and some lockpicking tools. Most Alliance Rogues’ best chance to get their skill will be at level 16-20 (after getting the Pick Lock skill) in a place called Alther’s Mill in the Redridge Mountains region where there is a quest to lockpick a series of chests to find a quest item. These chests respawn quickly and may be practiced upon from 1-100 skill (though this is capped at 80 if the rogue goes there while still level 16). Horde Rogues can gain early levels from an equivalent quest on the pirate ship off the Merchant Coast, south of Ratchet.

If for any reason you can no longer use this method, get some Practice Lock’s from an engineer to increase your lockpicking up to skill level 80.

Training the Lockpicking Skill from 80 - 170

For this stage you can use a trick which is not widely known yet. While doing the Poison Quest, there is a chest you have to lockpick in order to obtain a quest item. In reality this chest respawns within 5 seconds and you can gain all the way to 170 lockpicking skill from it.

Horde:
While doing this quest in the NW barrens in the Venture Co. area, there is a chest at the top of a tower. Simply lockpick and open this chest until it goes grey, which is around 170 skill.

Alliance:
While in the tower at Westfall keep opening the chest at the top until it greys out at about 170 lockpicking skill.

For people who come back to this later to catch up, you can still cure the debuff you receive by going back to the NPC which originally gave you the cure. If you are doing this at the right time, simply complete the quest chain and you will be cured. (It’s a nasty 7-day debuff which prevents you from stealthing and lowers your Agility by 15.)

Training the Lockpicking Skill from 170 to 250

The door into the instances can be lockpicked once every 10 minutes for a gain (per door). Pick these locks, then run into the Cathedral. Sneak all the way through and pick the lock on the cathedral door, run out and reset the instance. You might not be high enough level for this yet, you can alternatively go into the first instance (Graveyard) and pickpocket all mobs. You can pretty much go through all various levels of mobs making sure you obtain the right boxes from pickpocketing to skill up your lockpicking. Don’t forget to keep picking the doors every 10 minutes!
You can only reset an instance 5 times an hour, so this isn’t going to be extremely quick unfortunately. (I know you were a bit spoiled from the previous steps!)

Training the Lockpicking Skill from 250 - 350

When you pickpocket mobs, you often acquire locked boxes. During your time in SM, you will acquire some boxes you can’t open yet. Save these for instant gains once you hit 250. You should be able to get close to 280 from the boxes you can acquire in SM.

All humanoid mobs, with the exception of the more ‘bestial’ worgen, yetis and the like, can be pickpocketed for cash and other items. Amongst those other items are vendor trash, occasional potions and locked boxes. If you’re pickpocketing mobs of roughly equivalent level to yourself, these boxes will likely be in the difficulty range for you to pick and improve your lockpicking skill. Here’s a quick run down of various junkboxes, for the curious or those who just let their lockpicking slide and need to grind it back up:

• Battered Junkboxes - lvl 20-30 mobs - Skill 50 to 125
• Worn Junkboxes - lvl 30-40 mobs - Skill 75 to 150
• Sturdy Junkboxes - lvl 40-50 mobs - Skill 175 to 250
• Heavy Junkboxes - lvl 50-60 mobs - Skill 250 to 300

In addition to this, your rogue class trainer can indicate where to go to skill up Lockpicking. Below is a comprehensive list. It might be quicker to ensure you are a few levels higher then requires, to decrease stealth detection from mobs and allow you to skill up more at the same time.

• Hillsbrad Foothills - Skill 95 to 160- Durnholde Keep
• Redridge Mountains - Skill 90 to 165 - Lake Everstill
• Ashenvale Forest - Skill 75 to 150 - Zoram Strand
• Stonetalon Mountains - Skill 115 to 190 - Windershear Crag
• Wetlands - Skill 90 to 165 - Murloc Camps, Inland
• Wetlands - Skill 110 to 185 - Murloc Camps, Coastal
• Desolace - Skill 150 to 225 - Sar’Theris Strand (off northwestern coast)
• Badlands - Skill 175 to 250 - Angor Fortress
• Badlands - Skill 200 to 275 - Angor Fortress
• Swamp of Sorrows - Skill 175 to 250 - Pool of Tears
• Searing Gorge - Skill 200 to 275 - Slag Pit
• Searing Gorge - Skill 225 to 300 - Slag Pit
• Tanaris - Skill 225 to 300 - Lost Rigger Cove
• Azshara - Skill 235 to 300 - Bay of Storms
• Eastern Plaguelands - Skill 250 to 305 - Tyr’s Hand
• Zangarmarsh - Skill 305 to 350 - Feralfen Village (Note: These will become yellow at 310, so I suggest skilling up to 325 and then go to Nagrand)
• Nagrand - 325 to 350 - Kil’sorrow Fortress

Like mentioned before, you can also skill up from locked doors, but be aware that they all have cooldown timers on them. My approach is to simply lockpick the door if and when I run into it, for good measure.

• Gnomeregan - Skill Req 150 - Workshop Door
• Scarlet Monastery - Skill Req 175 - Armoury and Cathedral
• Scholomance - Skill Req 285
• Stratholme Gates - Skill Req 300
• Blackrock Depths - Skill Req 250 - Doors and Shadowforge
• Searing Gorge - Skill Req 225 - Gate
• Dire Maul Doors - Skill Req 300

Once you reach skill level 200 or so, another tactic becomes viable; advertising. Across the course of their travels, your fellow adventures may happen across lockboxes which they, lacking your particular skills, will find themselves unable to open (excluding blacksmiths, who can make skeleton keys; it’s worth noting those are an expendable reagent though, so they might require your assistance anyway). Travel to any capital city (usually Ironforge or Orgrimmar, where the greatest number of players tend to congregate) and advertise your lockpicking expertise via the trade channel, accessible by typing /2 (default setting) in your chat dialog, followed by your message. I say this becomes viable at 200 because by then you can open a majority of the most common boxes, as follows:

• Heavy Bronze Lockbox - Skill 25 to 100
• Ornate Bronze Lockbox - Skill 50 to 125
• Iron Lockbox - Skill 70 to 145
• Strong Iron Lockbox - Skill 125 to 200
• Steel Lockbox - Skill 175 to 250
• Reinforced Steel Lockbox - Skill 225 to 300
• Mithril Lockbox - Skill 225 to 300
• Thorium Lockbox - Skill 225 to 300
• Eternium Lockbox - Skill 225 to 300
• Reinforced Locked Chest - Skill 250 to 300

Using all methods above, you should be able to increase your lockpicking skill to 350. It’s a skill which requires some effort, which is exactly why a lot of rogues don’t bother at all. My advice would be to stick with it, being able to open doors, open chests and what more is a valuable skill which you will enjoy later on!

Credits:
Special thanks to Highlander on EU-Terenas for some of the lists & figures.