Open the way to extra loot. Unlock new possibilities!

Lockpicking: It’s so easy a Nord can do it.

In chests, drawers, cabinets, behind doors, there are oodles of loot for you to find if you only had the key. But that’s no obstacle to an intrepid adventurer of Tamriel. With good eyes and a quick finger you can bypass these simple obstacles to greater wealth.

Here we have a humble and hapless chest left in a dark corner to rot.

=(

It’s ok, we can liberate the contents. As you can see, the chest is locked and is Simple difficulty.

Let’s take a crack at it.

As you can see, there are some factors to consider.

Foremost is time. You will have a limited time to pick the lock. If you run out of time, lockpicking will fail and you will be locked out of attempting again for a short time. This gives other players a chance to pick the lock. The higher difficulty the lock, the less time you have.

Secondly, you have a limited number of picks. Every time you take an action inside this minigame you risk breaking a pick, especially if you make many failed attempts to lock down a cylinder.

You can also try to force the lock. There’s a percentage chance it will work, but it probably won’t. Besides, it’s pretty easy to pick.

How to Pick:

Use your mouse to move your pick over one of the cylinders in the tumbler. Press and hold the left mouse button to press down on the cylinder. Just when it starts to wiggle, let go and it will lock in place. If you let go to soon or too late the cylinder will return to it’s resting position and you will risk breaking the pick.

This takes a little bit of experience to nail down, but once you have the hang of it you can lockpick even Master level locks before the time runs out.

Don’t forget that you have limited time for this activity. If you run out of time, you’ll have to start over. Some locks are more difficult to pick than others, so practice with easier ones. Practice makes perfect!

The more advanced the lock, the less time you have to pick it. Also, once you try to pick the lock and fail, you’re locked out for a few seconds (giving someone near you the chance to attempt the chest).