locking now sucks.

[dragonalumni]

Kenshi used to be really comfy, the most recent updates have lost a lot of that feeling. What do I mean?

Before you could basically fuck off and do whatever you wanted and eventually you would end at the end.

Now, even if you grind and and grind you are being railroaded into a certain path. I've did a new start with
version 99 to see how it felt. I'm extremly annoyed that with a 20 skill (max skill from training afaik atleast
without post-lab tech) in lockpicking I'm not able to pick the locks for labs and armories.

Now I'm forced to go around and do what, search for suitable chests that will notch my skill? Now I have to
have a thief, now I need to steal from cities?

So much for choose your own path, now I'm stuck behind a grind wall. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. (Just like the devs
did to bases in general, good luck with that path starting out..)

May I frankly suggest that narrowing the scope of available solutions to playing (and progressing in) the game doesn't make it better.

[Q T Arbuthnot]

... and then you find a nice lock at 6% chance of success and you crack it second go. AArgh!

[Hatsune_Neko]

being able to do what ever you want doesnt include getting all the loot. just like you cant start the game and go to the dust king and beat him down for his bounty
you gotta take the time and train to become good enough to take him down.
same thing goes for lock picking. you gotta train to become better to have access to the harder locks.

[dragonalumni]

Currently you need ancient texts in order to build level 3 chests, but you can't make level 3 chests (max skill 20) until you can pick the lock.
That's the definition of a catch 22.

Kenshi didn't need more grind to make it fun. Only people who have already played 500 hours in Kenshi (and are of a certain mind) would say heh, let's make another grind track because the game is too easy, let's make getting anything hard.

It's just my 2 cents, other more important people will likely disagree.

[lucidmadness]

There are mods to remove that, or you can make one yourself super easy. I made a game pretty recently (about a month before new area) and didn't have much of a hard time. Just be glad we don't have to research ancient vault opening before we have access to them!

[philthymcnasty]

Currently you need ancient texts in order to build level 3 chests, but you can't make level 3 chests (max skill 20) until you can pick the lock.
That's the definition of a catch 22.

Kenshi didn't need more grind to make it fun. Only people who have already played 500 hours in Kenshi (and are of a certain mind) would say heh, let's make another grind track because the game is too easy, let's make getting anything hard.

It's just my 2 cents, other more important people will likely disagree.

There are work arounds, you can break down library doors to get ancient books, and the worlds end sells ancient texts and i have seen them in shark in vanilla.

I do agree with the lock picking needing A LOT of work. I have almost 2 thousand hours in the game and i find it annoying that the only way to open locks is to pick them, despite there being tons of tools lying around all over the place. I can use tools to break shackles, but not locks? that is DUMB, ubisoft and EA levels of DUMB. I always thought that was a stupid mechanic in video games. I hate dragon age because it has chests in the middle of nowhere, and i have to pick the lock? I have a mace, the mace is hard, the mace can break open the chest. DESIGN FAIL. you can break open chests in d and d, you should be able to break open chests in pc games too.

An improvement would be tools making a lot of noise, so you can't use them in towns for stealing but in the wilds they would attract attention. So if i used tools or bashed open a door to an armory, ALL the security spiders should be waiting on the other end to mess me up when i come inside, then after they beat me up, they should fix the door. If i am cutting open locks on an ancient chest in an ancient work shop, the beak things and the spiders should investigate that noise. Sure, i can still open the chests, but there are now risks involved that make lock picking still a sought after endeavor.

[dragonalumni]

After playing a bit more, I have seen a change and that is I have noticed is that I was able to find an AI core, ancient book and engineering plan outside out the hardest (post 20 skill) locks, they have also moved some weapons outside of the hard locks, so, it's not as bad as first glance. I still think it's a bad change, I don't like it, spending an hour to get to a site, another thirty minutes separating the spiders and healing up just to get to a safe that I can't touch, feelz bad man. I also returned to an armory thinking I might have a chance to pick a lock that I could not before and it "open and empty" when I returned, it certainly was not my first time there.

edit:
The worst part of this in my opinion is the 20 to 30 skill gap. The absolute best way this could be solved in my opinion (as a base builder) is that tech for chest 3 be moved down to research bench 3 and require no ancient tech itself to research and build. It is not simple matter getting to research 3 now days with the new raid code, this would enable people to leave bases at about 30 skill and open a vast majority of the locks out there.

[bargian]

The worst thing i noticed now is that in the new part of map with some of the suppy deposits with like 80 lvls locks when you open it you find just iron plate inside... thats kinda sux. As for me - i never had problems with training lockpicking.

As for locked chests i wish there would be some way to put info on map/somewhere linked to place where i left closed chests co i can come back later and get my iron plate.

[Alexfighter]

I for one think that needing training to open the highest level of locks does make sense. Before it was like "If I try enough times - maybe is 1000 times - I will crack it open". No for some of them is "I have no idea of how this lock works", until you level up and learn things. About the placing of the loot and those things, it's a different story.

[bk3000]

Build a lockpicking training box (or whatever it was). That doesn't require you to go anywhere. Even without that, what you're talking about certainly doesn't equate to railroading the game. Far from it.

[PerfectDeath]

Yeah, this isn't railroading. Lock difficulty varies, having 20 lockpicking will get you through some chests, so you'll have to revisit after cracking a few more locks. You can also play with doors and store locks without looting the items for the exp.

The way i see it, lock pick training boxes are more of an insurance against capture and slavery since 20 lockpick is enough for the cage and shackles. Hitting a bottle neck in grabbing tech creates more value for those items when before it was very easy to just rush grid and other easy tech spots.

[dragonalumni]

I still think the training chests for level 30 should be knocked to regular books that you can buy. As is now, You are going to need someone with above 30 skill to get those ancient books, and you are not going to use them for chests for a long while until you get some of your more important tech out of the way (imho, like weapon smithing and armor). So by the time you get that training chest for level 30, your going to have a guy that already has a 50 skill from out in the wilds. It will never be a priority and or useful to get that 30 training chest unless the research requirements are lowered.

[Okamisennin]

being able to do what ever you want doesnt include getting all the loot. just like you cant start the game and go to the dust king and beat him down for his bounty
you gotta take the time and train to become good enough to take him down.
same thing goes for lock picking. you gotta train to become better to have access to the harder locks.

......you just need $4k

Spoiler*
pay for body guards