Your lockpicks can be improved to work faster and better. Around Arda you will find people who can help you improve your lockpicks, these are the ones I've found so far. In most cases you can ask about lockpicks, and the mobile will begin talking. Once a set of lockpicks has been improved, a new line will be added to their description. To view this description - examine lockpicks.

Your lockpicks are nothing more but your 'pick' skill boost. Plain (non- upgraded) set adds 25% to pick skill, each upgrade (they all same) adds 3% more.

Price: 15 gold.

Description: Two of the lockpicks have shallow notches on them.

Find the assassin guildmaster (a wary man) in the Tharbad sewers. Give him 15 gold, and he will say that he will improve your lockpicks. Give your lockpicks to him, and he will upgrade them.

The Master Assassin will give a reward to the person who brings him the silver key Malardil keeps in his pouch. Approach the doorwardens north of Master Assassin's room with the key in your inventory, wait for the invitation and then go inside and give the key to Master Assassin and wait.

His reward is one of the two: 3 golds and small pouch or 3 golds and pick upgrade. (In case he wants to give the pouch but doesn't have it anymore, because he used it while being attacked earlier, you will receive only the 3 golds.) If his reward is pick upgrade, he will ask for your picks.

It's around 30-40% chance to get powder and 60-70% to get pick upgrade.

If MA is aggressive then you can either: wait for reboot, ask someone else to deliver him the key or kill all his gang: i.e. him, scarred man, doorwardens, strong bodyguards and experienced assassins. No need to do regular assassins and brown-skinned men. That zone won't repop while players are in. There is chance he gets aggressive if you enter on him uninvited.

You can use Malardil key 2x if u loot it and use again after killing MA and MA pops again. Of course you need to kill all his guards to do that.

Description: A couple lockpicks have a small bump near the tip.

Price: an evil artifact weapon (huge black mace; great black scimitar; Morgul blade; huge, flaming sword; black many-tailed whip; dark curved sword) or black sheath.

Description: The edges of most picks have been carefully sharpened.

Pre: Access to inner halls of BM (dwarves have it by default)

Price: pure Truesilver:

• a piece of silvery metal
• key from the pouch in corpse behind hidden 'stone' at the cavebear south of Isengard
• mithril key (Muranog's cabinet) [decays]
• a fine silvery bracelet
• a shining piece of armour (chain or otherwise)
• mithril circlet

Description: The lockpicks are extremely well tempered.

Pre: Tarkhnarb orc

Price: a highly precious jewel (diamond, emerald, adamant, red ruby or corberyl). Blue crystal didnt work. Give gem first, then picks.

Description: There is a strange lockpick, with a sharp protrusion on one side.

Pre: Bn

Price: oak staff focus

Description: The lockpicks feel oddly light in your hand.

To get upgrade, give lockpicks to him. Wait for message: A half-elven cut-throat tinkers with something in his hands. Kill him (or steal) to get picks back.

It's better to give him tons of picks at one time - just to save yourself from excess trips to his hideout. Wait for him to tinker with each of the picks you've given him.

Price: Free.

Description: Several of the picks have long, smooth grooves along their length.

A painful upgrade making it impossible to get 8 upgrades on a set from scratch. Attained by giving Saruman items (see list in Rohan section), Yerik will give you 'a strange set of lock picks' with Saruman upgrade + 1 random upgrade (+2 picks).

Description: A finely shaped lockpick has been engraved with a white hand.