As I understand Thieves Tools (and Masterworked tools), you can either gain a bonus to a disable check or you can automatically defeat any barrier. Not just a barrier you could have used disabled to defeat, but ANY.
Is this really the right understanding? I mean not only is it extremely counterintuitive and fluff-breaking that you can use a tool-kit to overcome stuff like an Ambush or a Goblin raid. But it also means it is THE item to have to overcome barriers. At least in our games it has meant that items like Mattock, Crowbar, all the items that boost Acrobatics aren't used. One player even banished the Chime of Unlocking because he would rather keep his masterworked tools.
Especially the Masterworkd tools are a problem as it can supposedly defeat ANY barrier with up to Difficulty 14. So far this has meant an auto-defeat for any barrier (we are in adventure 4).
When an item or feature becomes so good that everyone wants it, it's a balance problem (especially when 4 players want the MW tools and there are only 2 in the game). So I hope we have missed an update that errata the tools to only be able to defeat certain barriers. For instance only barriers with the Lock or Trap trait.
If there are no errata we have missed. What do you think the consequence would be of changing the tools to defeat only barriers with Lock or Trap?