Don't see how you guys find this minigame easy

When i have really low Lockpicking my thing just breaks in a split second

5th time i ragequit that [censored]. I never put perks in it though, only my thief and i was happy..

Console:
Carefully flick the thumbstick to feel where the sweetspot is
PC same thing (with whatever you are using as controler).
The trick is not to push hard.. Look for the signs on the lock, there are several scratches etc.. (since the screen is always the same) you can use as reference.

It's really too easy. Plus, Bethesda/Obsidian have been using the exact same mini-game for 3 titles now. Time to move on.

But at least the Fallouts were better about it. You needed a certain skill level before you could attempt to unlock the harder locks, and many of these contained superior, hand-placed items, or at least belonged to a better loot list. In Skyrim, no such thing, the only better loot list is in these massive chests, who are usually unlocked, simply guarded by a mini-boss. I once or twice encountered a locked big chest, but each time a bloke nearby had the key, so it was kinda moot. Then again, with Skyrim's get-better-as-you-do-it model, restricting new characters to Novice-Apprentice chests would just have made things frustrating. And, not a single one of my characters does not have a high Lockpick skill, no matter their occupation, that alone means something is wrong with the setup IMO.

I agree, it does seem pretty easy. I preferred Morrowind's way of doing it where my character's skill rating was the key (ha ha) not my own actual skill.

The skill is also mostly worthless because it's ubiquitous. It's almost impossible to create a character that doesn't need this skill. Because of this, everyone has to use it. That makes it redundant, pointless.

Jack Thompson was disbarred, so we don't have to worry about that.

Obsidian made a Fallout spin off using the same engine as Fallout 3. It was meant to be basically the same as far as mechanics go, so why would they reinvent the system? And it was only one game that Obsidian did, so don't pair them with Bethesda.


Personally the Oblivion system was more annoying. I always spammed the auto attempt just to get out of there faster. The fallout 3/Skyrim method is better, but not perfect.

I think they should have had different levels of locks and different types of lock picks. So starting out you only find tier 1 picks, so if you found like a tier 3 lock, you were SOL.

IIRC, didn't Morrowind do this?

Actually no character *has* to use lockpicking. At least, I don't remember running into a locked door or chest that I had to pick open. Some Thieves Guild or Dark Brotherhood quests may be that way, but that should be expected.

The main issue is that it's too easy to get through locks, and it's annoying to leave chests and rooms alone because of a lock you could get through in seconds regardless of your skill level. I should have a reason to want to leave the lock alone based on my skill level.

Not really. I could be wrong, but IIRC, lower-leveled picks had a harder time at picking locks, but you could still pick any lock with any pick as long as your skill was high enough. Additionally, you *could* pick any lock with any pick at any level, it just took a hell of a lot of perseverance if you were low level. I remember reading about a trick that said you could grab a lot of low-level picks (any level would work, but these are the cheapest), and just sit there trying to unlock a master lock. Even if it says you're not good enough, just keep at it and eventually you'll "wear down" the lock and it will open up.

Lol. If you're decent at the minigame, you'll never need to buy picks. I've NEVER paid for a pick and I've yet to run out on multiple playthroughs. The perks are trash. You can't tell me I'm that much better at the minigame. I know I'm not.

Its been a while but i do remember there being different "levels" of lockpicks. And something like that would do wonders for the current system IMO. I dont like leaving it all to the dice rolls like in Morrowind, but i do think the system could use different quality of picks. Perhaps durability of pick based of the material, and something like Ebony picks would be the most durable. (I don't think daedric would work since there is the skeleton key which is a daedric artifact.)

And perhaps the system could use several different locking methods for a single chest, like a trap which you can disable, the chest lock itself, and a magical lock which you can dispel.

Just all off the top of my head and IMO.

I disagree - I like the lock picking. I just wish there was more variety and make the really hard locks require SKILL to open them. I generally only use a max of about 4 -6 picks on the hardest locks - and in general only 1 or 2 per lock.

Its super easy, but I don't really care.

The Lockpicking Perk Tree is largely useless. And by largely I mean completely.

Some people are better at Oblivion's system. I find Oblivion's system to be frustrating because I don't have the reflexes to ping those fast tumblers very well. But I find Skyrim's system easy because I have a really light touch and can quickly feel if the pick is in the wrong position, so I can get several attempts out of a pick on anything but a master lock. Even on master locks I can usually get two attempts out of a single pick. Combine that with a methodical approach to the guessing about where to start the pick and Skyrim's lockpicking game is easy for me. But I still cannot pick a lock in Oblivion worth a darn.

This^ would have solved the problem. Combine that with loot amounts being consistent with lock difficulty and it's worth it. But as it stands now there's no need for the tree to exist.

As a player of an experienced thief, I have to counter this - as a thief, lock picks are even easier to get, and when it comes to people's homes, it's easier just to nab the key off of them. Even thieves find lockpicking useless - just merge it with Pickpocket and call it "security". That at least makes sense... you then open up a new tree for, say, tumbling, an often requested feature. Or, rather, call it athletics. It'd have things like dodge rolls, feats to lower the stamina drain when sprinting, increase movement speed, etc.

Hehe okay i am horrible at skyrims lockpicking but i am amazing at oblivions lockpicking. and you dont need good reflexes,

Skyrim's is better than Oblivion's imo. But skyrim's would be better if it had that autoattempt button too.(That's all I ever used in Obliv)

Easy, perhaps, but also incredibly lazy. The problem with gating is that it only really works if you know the approximate point at which a given lock will be reached, and in an open-world game that's impossible to determine.

Far better would be to remove the mini-game entirely, and have the character's skill and/or perks determine the chance of cracking it. This would allow any lock to be attempted at any time, but if you don't have high skill and multiple perks, that Master lock just isn't going to open any time soon. In concert with this, heavily reduce the number of available picks, so that breaking a whole bunch on one lock actually has a cost. Also: change the Skeleton Key to provide a modifier to the chance of success, rather than guaranteeing it.

I agree with removing the mini-game entirely, but they also need to give us options as mages and warriors. They need to add the option to bash open the lock and to use magic spells. As a mage or warrior I'm not using lock picks and I shouldn't be forced to by the game.

Oh, absolutely. I understand why they removed the Open spell, but I vehemently disagree with the decision itself as the whole point of having it in the first place is so that a mage doesn't have to invest in Lockpicking.

Bashing would probably have to come with a variable chance to break some or all of the contents in the process, since you are smashing the side or top of the container in. They could borrow a page from old-school RPGs, and have the items 'roll' against a 'chance to break' table, with modifiers for item quality, magical properties, and what you're hitting the chest with. There could also be modifiers to the chance to trash the lock, rather than open it, based on the item being used.

High-end 2H weapons, for example, would have the highest chance to break the lock but also the highest chance to trash the contents in the process, since there's a literal ton of force behind each swing, while prying with a low-end sword or dagger won't break the contents but might trash the lock by snapping the pin(s).

I have to admit that most of the time on the master/expert locks I have gotten at least one or two good items. But I have also had a master lock on a door and a chest inside with an expert lock and be a few gold and some low level wepon.

Lazy gamers... For shame.

But there in lies the problem - with the perks system, the Lockpicking skills becomes useless with the ability to just use a spell or bash the lock, because those abilities circumvent perk investment in Lockpicking. Why would someone invest perks into Lockpicking when they can just pick up a skill or bash a lock?

Why exactly can't a mage pick up a lockpick? This is Elder Scrolls where characters aren't limited to arbitrary D&D style class systems. A mage can pick a lock just as much as a thief can wield a 2 handed battle axe, or a warrior can cast Calm spells.

I'm not against the inclusion of Open Lock spells, or lock bashing, but I am against the reasoning why of "a mage wouldn't..." - in Elder Scrolls, it's time to think beyond the traditional views of what classes are. Those views are outdated and aren't what Elder Scrolls is built on.

And I am against Open Lock spells or bash lock abilities when they completely bypass any kind of investment on the part of the character in a certain skill, with an "easy out" option. Ultimately, that's what Open Lock spells or lock bashing is... in the traditional class archetype view, mages and warriors get an easy insta-ability to get into chests and locked doors, while thieves have to actually invest into a skill through perks and practice.

I also don't want to get rid of the mini-game, because the last thing I want is for this series to go back to the world of dice rolls. However, the mini-game does unfortunately make the skill itself rather useless.

I think one problem with the current mini game is that it's kind of backwards. You actually gain experience for a failed attempt. It seems very off to me that you can gain experience for failing, and if you really wanted to, exploit the system by purposefully failing to get your Lockpick experience up.

I think a couple changes need to happen:

1.) Lockpicks themselves need to be rarer. They are way too common, so it's way too easy to just go through them like nothing and carelessly break picks to get into that master lock.

2.) The skill needs to play a bigger part in determining the "sweet" spot. I don't agree with making locks impossible to even attempt at low levels (part of the appeal of Elder Scrolls is the ability to try anything, even if you wouldn't be good at it - i.e. attempting to pick a lock above your level, use a 2 handed warhammer when your skill is in daggers, or cast that master level Illusion spell when you've never touched an Illusion spell in your life), but at low levels, the "sweet spot" should be nearly impossible to determine, but become easier as you gain higher skill.

3.) Instead of gaining experience if you break a pick, you should lose experience. Thusly, attempting to pick a master lock at a low level will not go without consequence, and will not be an easy feat to accomplish.

Because they are a mage of a warrior, not a rogue.
This is a roleplaying game.
Therefore, the removal of the open lock spell was an awful idea.

Bingo! If a simple spell or a large axe does the same job as hard earned skillups + lots of perks invested, I know what I am going to chose. Some older CRPGs handled this issue by letting spells and large axes be very loud, causing locals to become enemies and attack you - similar to what one would expect if one took an axe to the neighbours front door.

An alternative could be to let all the lockpicking perks add 10 septims to each locked chest, but then we need to consider balance with the Speech perk tree ...


From a realism standpoint, being able to apply force to open a lock makes sense. Be that through axes or destruction magic. I see no reason why a dedicated Open Locks spell is needed. There is a locked container that may contain loot. Use whatever means at your disposal to get it.