Lady Stephanie's locked chest - Thick as Thieves quest bugged or just bad design

[Woodcutter]

In one of the latter stages of the Thick as Thieves questline, you are asked to steal some jewelry from Lady Stephanie's chambers. Every quest up until this point had been almost too easy, I figured that was because I was on my grind, getting my thieving skills up sooner than the game expected, that is until I got hit with this quest. It's worth mentioning that when I got that quest, my lockpicking was level 4-5 thereabouts, I honestly can't remember because I got this quest days ago in real time. I currently have a lockpicking skill of 12, I can pick almost every lock in the game at level 12. I even have a perk that makes unlocking easier locks automatic. I cannot, however, unlock the chest in Lady Stephanie's chambers to get the jewelry. After getting that quest and encountering that lock, I spent what felt like forever grinding up my lockpicking skill to 12, and it's still not enough.

Considering I finished every prior quest in a little under five minutes, I really didn't expect that I'd have to grind up to the MAX lockpicking level just for this one lock. That's bad design. You can't just throw a sheer cliff face of a difficulty curve into a questline. You either balance the other quests so that there's a more natural skill level progression, maybe make some of the previous quests harder, or you just keep it on easy street, you can't have both. Maybe you realised half-way through writing that questline that players would finish it in one sitting, so you threw this in there. And that's just me assuming this isn't some bug. Although if it is a bug, what was your QA team doing when they were testing this questline. This is an important questline after all.

[Skaldy]

15 skill lvl is the safest bet to do very hard chests

[Woodcutter]

Originally posted by Skaldy:

15 skill lvl is the safest bet to do very hard chests

Sure, maxing it would solve the problem. My main complaint is that it completely breaks the flow of the questline. Having to stop halfway through a quest to go and grind lockpicking, that's not great flow. Especially when you have to grind to the MAX level, just to finish a relatively simple, relatively early on quest.

[Skaldy]

Originally posted by Woodcutter:

Originally posted by Skaldy:

15 skill lvl is the safest bet to do very hard chests

Sure, maxing it would solve the problem. My main complaint is that it completely breaks the flow of the questline. Having to stop halfway through a quest to go and grind lockpicking, that's not great flow. Especially when you have to grind to the MAX level, just to finish a relatively simple, relatively early on quest.

sure mate but for example pesheks last request is just too easy for that money. Just saying.

[Woodcutter]

Originally posted by Skaldy:

Originally posted by Woodcutter:

Sure, maxing it would solve the problem. My main complaint is that it completely breaks the flow of the questline. Having to stop halfway through a quest to go and grind lockpicking, that's not great flow. Especially when you have to grind to the MAX level, just to finish a relatively simple, relatively early on quest.

sure mate but for example pesheks last request is just too easy for that money. Just saying.

I'm not saying they need to make the lock easier, although that is an option, another option would be to balance the rest of the questline to provide just as much of a challenge so that you don't feel like you're running face first into a brick wall when you get this quest.

[Skaldy]

Originally posted by Woodcutter:

Originally posted by Skaldy:

sure mate but for example pesheks last request is just too easy for that money. Just saying.

I'm not saying they need to make the lock easier, although that is an option, another option would be to balance the rest of the questline to provide just as much of a challenge so that you don't feel like you're running face first into a brick wall when you get this quest.

i agree. Another fix can be pickpocketing chest key from the Lady but you cant do that to essential npcs and nobles for some reason

[Angry Nord-Grunge Syndicate]

It sure was a lot of work to get my hands on Lady Stephanie's chest.

[c313]

As a main thief in this game, I can say for certain you can not get the chest unless you're skill ranked is 15 or more.

I spent many a night plundering villages and houses in Rattay and head to Stephanies chest each skill up. I always got a popup saying something along the lines of "This lock is too dificult" lock pick would break the instant I press D in range. I noticed there were chests in almost every Village / Castle / Town that had at least 1 (Multiple in most) Locked Chest that acted like this.

Either way, once I hit +15 the "Lock is too dificult" message wen't away and I have yet to find any chest that brings up that message.

I wouldn't say it is bugged, but does seem kinda harsh being a +15 minimum chest considering how early you can get that side quest, but I suppose its a side quest for a reason.

[Woodcutter]

Originally posted by Angry Nord-Grunge Syndicate:

It sure was a lot of work to get my hands on Lady Stephanie's chest.

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[Desmond]

Originally posted by Angry Nord-Grunge Syndicate:

It sure was a lot of work to get my hands on Lady Stephanie's chest.

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[Hieronymous Alloy]

drink a Padfoot potion, it'll give +5 lockpicking.\\

Most merchant "shop stockpile" chests require 15 lockpicking, that is, 10 with a potion.

[Desmond]

Originally posted by Hieronymous Alloy:

drink a Padfoot potion, it'll give +5 lockpicking.\\

Most merchant "shop stockpile" chests require 15 lockpicking, that is, 10 with a potion.

There I was, just about to give up in this 2nd playthough, and you sir gave the real answer. God Bless you.

[Hieronymous Alloy]

Originally posted by Kingsmen Goodj:

Originally posted by Hieronymous Alloy:

drink a Padfoot potion, it'll give +5 lockpicking.\\

Most merchant "shop stockpile" chests require 15 lockpicking, that is, 10 with a potion.

There I was, just about to give up in this 2nd playthough, and you sir gave the real answer. God Bless you.

I've written a general guide/ hint book with a lot more tips like that, it's over in the Guides section:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1305878776