Lockpicking is a staple of deep, open world RPGs like The Elder Scrolls 4 Oblivion Remastered, and once the mechanics of this minigame are mastered, can lead to valuable rewards. While lockpicks are plentiful in supply, it can be quite annoying and time-consuming when a succession of them break with no success.
This guide is everything you need to know about picking locks in The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion Remastered.
Lockpick Minigame Screen
In order to even begin lockpicking, you will need to have Lockpicks in your inventory. You will come across plenty of these as loot during your adventures in Cydrodiil. And because they can and do break, you are going to need a sizable stash of them on your person, although save-scumming before beginning a lockpicking session is always an option in a pinch.
When you choose to lockpick a door or a chest, you will be presented with a cross-sectional representation of the lock itself, as well as the lockpick on the left. Moving the lockpick horizontally will allow you to tackle each of the tumbler pins, starting from left to right. The goal is to manipulate each pin with the lockpick to force it to stick in the top end of the tumbler. At each attempt, any given pin will go up and fall back down at varying rates of speed, but there is a random sequence to those speeds, such as slow-fast-slow-repeat. The goal is to ‘Set Tumbler’ when the pin is at the apex or highest point of travel, and ideally make that attempt when it is travelling at its slowest speed, in order to give you the longest window of opportunity to react.
Simply tapping or even spamming the tumbler pin has no effect on the lockpick, so feel free to do that reflexively. Fumbling the timing of the ‘Set Tumbler’ action is what actually causes the lockpick to break.
Lockpicking difficulty is determined by how many tumblers you have to contend with–a full 5 at its hardest, all the way down to just 1 at the easiest. Also affected are how often the fast and slow tumbler pin speeds occur for any given lock, but that is also linked to your Security skill.
Easy Lockpicking Every Time Tip
It is possible to ‘lock-in’ the travel speed of the pin. If you notice that the pin is traveling slowly, simply tap it again to retain that particular rate of travel until you are ready to actually use ‘Set Tumbler’. As long as the pin does not reset completely by falling back all the way down, it will maintain that rate of speed.
Auto Attempt
Once you have exhausted the novelty of manual lockpicking, consider using Auto Attempt. Most easy locks will open without a hassle. Higher ranked locks may end up breaking many lockpicks, but may also successfully unlock the target lock, since it is entirely a matter of chance. A high Luck attribute and Security skill is ideally suited for this method. A significant cache of lockpicks will also be necessary to have on hand, though possession of the Skeleton Key can resolve that issue as well.
Security Skill
The consequences of breaking a lockpick are determined by your rank in the Security skill. The in-game description of the effect of each rank is incorrect, and this is what each ranking actually accomplishes:
Novice
All previously picked tumblers will fall when you fail and break a lockpick.Apprentice 25
All but one previously picked tumbler will fall when you fail and break a lockpick.
Journeyman 50
All but two previously picked tumblers will fall when you fail and break a lockpick.
Expert 75
All but three previously picked tumblers will fall when you fail and break a lockpick.
Master 100
None of the previously picked tumblers will fall when you fail and break a lockpick.
That is everything there is to know about lockpicking in The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion Remastered.
