Lockpicking 1–300 in WoW Forever: Rogue Guide
How to level Lockpicking from 1 to 300 as a Rogue: how skill-ups work, where to learn it, which boxes you can open at which skill and the fastest way to level it. The container list comes from the game data, the tips from WoW Classic experience.
- Highest skill: 300
- Cap: 5 × character level
- Learnable: level 16+
- Locked containers: 22
In short
- Only Rogues have Lockpicking. It lets you open lockboxes, junkboxes, locked chests and doors.
- In WoW Classic you learn Pick Lock at level 16 from the Rogue trainer, along with a first Rogue quest involving a lock.
- The skill only goes up when you open something, most reliably on locks just below your current skill.
- Your best practice source while leveling is the junkboxes from Pick Pocket.
How Lockpicking works
- Select Pick Lock in your spellbook and click the locked item in your bags or a chest in the world. Opening takes a few seconds.
- Every lock requires a minimum skill. If your skill is below that, you can't open it.
- The closer your skill is to that value, the more likely you are to get a skill-up. If you're far above it, skill-ups come less often and eventually stop.
- Your skill can be at most five times your character level: 80 at level 16, 150 at level 30, 300 at level 60. So keep it topped up as you level.
- You open other players' boxes through the trade window: they put the box in the bottom slot (it won't be traded), you pick it there, and they get it back opened.
Learning Lockpicking
Starting at level 16, Rogue trainers send you on a quest where you have to pick a lock:
| Quest | Faction | Zone | The basics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Redridge Rendezvous | Alliance | Redridge Mountains | Renzik in Stormwind City sends you to Lucius in Lakeshire. |
| Alther's Mill | Alliance | Redridge Mountains | You open Lucius's Lockbox and bring him the token inside. You'll need some practice for that. |
| Wrenix of Ratchet | Horde | The Barrens | Zando'zan in Orgrimmar sends you to Wrenix in Ratchet. |
| Plundering the Plunderers | Horde | The Barrens | Using the thieves' tools from Wrenix's contraption, you go after the Southsea Treasure. |
Lucius's Lockbox already requires skill 70. Level your skill on easier locks first, for example lockboxes and junkboxes from the table below.
The prequests start with the Rogue trainers in the capital cities. You'll find all Rogue quests in the Quest database.
All locked containers by skill
| Containers | Skill | Item level | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 | Enemy loot | |
| 1 | 20 | – | |
| 1 | 20 | Engineering | |
| 1 | 20 | Pick Pocket | |
| Dark Iron Lockbox | 1 | 20 | – |
| 25 | 25 | Enemy loot | |
| 70 | 16 | Quest | |
| 70 | 30 | Enemy loot | |
| 70 | 30 | – | |
| 70 | 30 | – | |
| 70 | 30 | Pick Pocket | |
| 125 | 35 | Enemy loot | |
| 175 | 40 | Enemy loot | |
| 175 | 40 | Pick Pocket | |
| 175 | 45 | – | |
| 225 | 45 | Enemy loot | |
| 225 | 50 | Enemy loot | |
| 225 | 55 | Enemy loot | |
| 225 | 60 | Enemy loot | |
| 250 | 50 | Pick Pocket | |
| 250 | 55 | – | |
| 300 | 60 | – |
Which lock each container uses comes from the beta data (client version 1.60.1). The required skill per lock matches WoW Classic; whether Forever keeps it unchanged hasn't been confirmed yet. unconfirmed
Leveling Lockpicking from 1 to 300
Each row starts at the skill at which you can open the listed containers. Stick with them until skill-ups slow down, then move on to the next tier.
| Skill | Character level | What you open |
|---|---|---|
| 1–25 | level 16+ | Ornate Bronze Lockbox, Small Locked Chest, Practice Lock, Battered Junkbox, Dark Iron Lockbox |
| 25–70 | level 16+ | Heavy Bronze Lockbox |
| 70–125 | level 16+ | Lucius's Lockbox, Iron Lockbox, Locked Gift, Sturdy Locked Chest, Worn Junkbox |
| 125–175 | level 25+ | Strong Iron Lockbox |
| 175–225 | level 35+ | Steel Lockbox, Sturdy Junkbox, Ironbound Locked Chest |
| 225–250 | level 45+ | Reinforced Steel Lockbox, Mithril Lockbox, Thorium Lockbox, Eternium Lockbox |
| 250–300 | level 50+ | Heavy Junkbox, Reinforced Locked Chest |
The character level is derived from the cap: your skill can be at most five times your level. You can open the containers in the next row as soon as your skill reaches their value.
Where to practice
- Pick Pocket: humanoid mobs carry junkboxes that match their level: Battered Junkbox, Worn Junkbox, Sturdy Junkbox, Heavy Junkbox. If you pick pockets while leveling, you'll always have matching locks on hand.
- In WoW Classic, lockboxes drop from mobs. Ask in trade chat or your guild: lots of players will hand you their lockboxes to open, which gets you skill-ups and them the contents.
- Engineers craft Practice Lock (recipe at skill 110). It's a practice lock for your first skill points.
- Out in the world there are locked chests and footlockers, often in bandit and pirate camps. We'll add their exact locations in Forever from our addon data.
- In WoW Classic, some dungeons have locked doors and chests that only a Rogue can open. With high skill you're a welcome addition there.
More Rogue quests with locks
| Quest | Faction | Zone | The basics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Klaven's Tower | Alliance | Westfall | With the Defias Tower Key you break into Klaven's Tower and open a chest. |
| Mission: Possible But Not Probable | Horde | The Barrens | Among other things, you pick the lock on Gallywix's Lockbox. |
| Junkboxes Needed | Both factions | Alterac Mountains | Fahrad in Ravenholdt takes Heavy Junkboxes and rewards you with throwing knives. |
Fahrad's quest also mentions practice locks for beginners. Ravenholdt is the Rogues' hideout in the Alterac Mountains.
Without a Rogue: skeleton keys and explosive charges
- Blacksmiths craft skeleton keys that let other classes open locks too: Silver Skeleton Key, Truesilver Skeleton Key, Arcanite Skeleton Key.
- Engineers blast locks open with explosive charges.
- Both consume materials, which makes a high-skill Rogue the cheapest option for the group.
FAQ
At what level can I learn Lockpicking?
In WoW Classic, Rogues learn Pick Lock at level 16 from their class trainer. That's also when you get the Rogue quests where you pick your first lock.
How high can Lockpicking go?
Up to 300. The cap is five times your character level, so 300 at level 60.
What's the fastest way to level Lockpicking?
Always open locks whose required skill is just below yours. Junkboxes from Pick Pocket scale with you as you level, and other players are happy to hand you their lockboxes to open.
Can other classes open locked chests?
Yes, but only with tools: Blacksmiths craft skeleton keys, Engineers make explosive charges. Only Rogues have the Lockpicking skill.
Do I still need Lockpicking at level 60?
Yes. At 300 you open the best junkboxes from Pick Pocket and can open chests for other players. In WoW Classic you also needed it for some locked doors and chests in dungeons.
As of Oct 14, 2026. Mechanics and locations are based on WoW Classic, which WoW Forever is built on. We'll add anything that's different in Forever as soon as it's confirmed or shows up in our addon data.
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