First level class choice based on native skills.

[Goregnash]

So I read the Skills page on the wiki but it didn't answer a specific question about skill point allocation.

My primary toon is always a Ranger Arti multiclass. If I want to focus skill points on disable and open locks which are not native to the Ranger class, am I better off to take my first level as artificer or wait to level 3 when I get my first intelligence bump?

Obviously Rangers get more skill points at level one, but if I take Artificer 1 at level 3, can I dump all the (4 x INT modifier) skill points into those two skills to bring them up to where they would have been if I had taken artificer as my first level class?

I've seen it done both ways, but which is the best to maximize those 2 specific skills?

[kuro_zero]

So I read the Skills page on the wiki but it didn't answer a specific question about skill point allocation.

My primary toon is always a Ranger Arti multiclass. If I want to focus skill points on disable and open locks which are not native to the Ranger class, am I better off to take my first level as artificer or wait to level 3 when I get my first intelligence bump?

Obviously Rangers get more skill points at level one, but if I take Artificer 1 at level 3, can I dump all the (4 x INT modifier) skill points into those two skills to bring them up to where they would have been if I had taken artificer as my first level class?

I've seen it done both ways, but which is the best to maximize those 2 specific skills?

As you can not cross-class DD and OL without either rogue or arti to unlock the skill, taking Artificer 1st level is best.

Artificers get 4 PLUS (+) INT modifer in skills per level, and all characters receive TIMES (x)4 that amount at first level only. If you waited until level 3 to take your artificer level, you would have been unable to put any ranks into DD or OL during the ranger levels and would thus be 7 ranks behind in each of those two skills. That's a big hole to climb out of when instead you could have maxed them at lvl1 arti and used the ranger's greater number of skill points to cross-class raise the ranks to keep them maxed.

This is a rare exception to the general rule of thumb of taking the class with the most skill points at first level because unlocking core class skills is more important.

[Goregnash]

Exactly what I thought. Thanks very much for the confirmation.