Mechanics

Mechanics is a skill in and. It is used to pick locks, disarm or place traps, and in ' determines at which distance traps and hidden objects may be detected (this is replaced with Perception in ').

Effects and usage
Mechanics allow a character to:
 * Disarm traps - To disarm a trap, the character's Mechanics score must be greater than or equal to the trap's difficulty level. If the trap's difficulty is higher than the character's Mechanics level, the attempt fails (but does not trigger the trap - for containers, the game will ask if you want to trigger it). Disarming self-placed traps always succeeds.
 * In, the trap difficulty is determined by the trap's level (as per the table below). Trap difficulty (as shown in the chat log) is not to be confused with trap level, which is hidden from the player.


 * Place and set traps - A character can set traps at any skill level (even zero). When setting traps, each point in Mechanics raises the trap's accuracy by 3.
 * Pick locks - A lock's difficulty level determines the number of lockpicks required to open it:
 * If the difficulty is lower than Mechanics, no lockpicks are needed.
 * If the difficulty is equal to Mechanics, one lockpick will be needed.
 * If the difficulty is one level higher than Mechanics, 3 lockpicks are required.
 * If the difficulty is two or more levels higher than Mechanics, the lock cannot be picked.
 * Detect traps and hidden objects - (In only) The Mechanics skill is used to detect hidden objects such as traps, stashes, switches or items. When detected, a message will be shown in the combat log and the object will be highlighted in purple.
 * The difference between an object's difficulty level and the character's Mechanics score determines how difficult it is to detect, i.e. how close the character must be to detect it. Note that detection difficulty increases with game difficulty.
 * The detection range is calculated using . If the range is <= 0, or if the object is not within line of sight, the object cannot be detected.
 * In other words, the character's Mechanics skill must be greater than or equal to the difficulty level of the object in order to be detected.
 * If a character is not in Scouting Mode, they receive a -4 penalty to their Mechanics rating for detection checks. Therefore the character's Mechanics skill must be at least 4 more than the difficulty of the object in order to be detected outside of scouting mode.
 * In, hidden object detection is instead determined using the Perception attribute.

Successfully picking a lock or disarming a trap gives the party 5x the lock/trap's difficulty in experience.

Initial bonuses
The following bonuses are applied as a result of a character's class and background.

In 

In 

Buffs in
In addition to a character's base Mechanics, there are various ways to gain further bonuses. Some of these buffs are permanent or can be activated for as long as desired, while others must be enabled and then expire after their duration runs out. Some can only applied to the character themselves, while others apply to allies. Some buffs stack, others are mutually exclusive.

A character's Mechanics score for a certain attack can benefit from the given number of bonuses from each of the following tables at the same time.

Passive abilities/talents
Unlimited – Permanently active once learned

Equipment
One only – While equipped

Rites
One only – Duration: see table

Resting
One only – Duration: see table

Boons
One only – For the protagonist only – Duration: see table

Passive effects
unlimited – obtained during gameplay

Equipment
unlimited – bonus while equipped

Consumable items
unlimited – for the user for a duration (sometimes only in combat)

Quest dialogs
In quest related dialogs the player's Mechanics score may give options that are related to opening certain locks.

Scripted interactions
In scripted interactions the Mechanics score is checked for actions that are related to opening certain locks. Some situations allow to choose which party member will perform the action, sometimes a certain member or the player will be checked.