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Those wanting to become a master thief inThe Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remasteredare going to have to learn how to pick locks sooner or later. And for those who may be coming from Skyrim to Oblivion,this will certainly take some getting used to.
While Skyrim set a precedent for lockpicking in many games following its release in 2011, Oblivion took a more realistic approach, with you having to set a series of tumblers in place depending on the difficulty of the lock.
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Naturally, this is more difficult to explain and a bit of a pain in practice. That being said, this guide will help you with all your lockpicking needs and dispel any confusion that may arise from this peculiar pastime.
Where To Obtain Lockpicks
Before we even attempt to pry open some doors, foremost, you’ll need to get your light-fingered hands on somelockpicks.And if I were you, I’d stack up a bunch. They’re really easy to break when you’re getting started.
There are a few places you’re going to want to check:
How To Open A Lock
It’s not immediately obvious what you need to do when the lock interface shows up, but the essence of it is this:each pin needs to be pushed up and set when it reaches the top.
Depending on the level of the lock, it will have a different number of pins with an increased difficulty regarding the randomness of the tumblers.
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Each pin will have a different speedwhen you push it up and a different pattern of fast and slow. You are going to want to test this pattern a few times by pressing (up) or W to see when the pin goes up quickly and when it moves up slowly.
If you’ve seen the pin going slowly, quickly tap it back up before it reaches the starting point to retain its slow movement.
Once you’ve identified the pattern and know when a slow movement is coming,you can press the spacebar (or the respective controller button) to set the pinjust as it reaches the top of the gauge.
If you fail this and miss the timing setting the pin, not only will you break your lockpick, but the other tumblers are going to reset, and you’ll have to start from scratch.
It’s very easy to break your lockpicks,especially at the start when you have a low Security level. Naturally, the more you fiddle around with this mechanism, the more you’ll start noticing patterns and predicting the correct timings of the pins.
Other Methods Of Opening Locks
If you’re really struggling to get the hang of lockpicking and haven’t specialized in aclass that benefits Security, you may want to find other ways of getting your hands on locked-away goodies.
Luckily, Oblivion Remastered has you covered. Depending on your affinity withAlteration magic,you can get your hands on certain Open Lock spells to assist you. Naturally, there are 5 spells according to each type of lock.
Try checking in at any of the Mages’ Guilds or the Arcane University and buying them from a Magic Merchant.
Auto Attempt
Another method you may use when a lock just doesn’t want to comply is the auto-attempt feature. By following the button prompt, you will have a chance to automatically open the lock without even touching any of the pins.
Of course, this scales on the level of the Security skill, so if you’re at a pretty low level trying to open a very hard lock,it’s going to take you a lot of lockpicks,and probably a decent amount of time.
I tried to auto-unlock a very hard lock and lost about 20 lock picks in the process. I’m not even sure if I was lucky or not.
If you’re about to attempt a “very hard” lock, be sure to quicksave before your attempt, in case you break all your lockpicks. No shame in that.
The Skeleton Key
Now, if you really hate lockpicking, which is understandable, you’re going to want to get your hands on theSkeleton Key, an unbreakable lockpick! Anyone who has played through the Thieves’ Guild questline inSkyrimis going to remember this one (and this time you don’t have to give it back).
First of all,you need to reach level 10to startNocturnal’s Questat the Shrine of Nocturnal north of Leyawiin.
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Follow the quest through to the end, where you can grab the Eye of Nocturnal, and when you head back to the shrine, you will earn the Skeleton Key.
Is this key a little bit overpowered?Perhaps, but this means you may auto-attempt a lock as many times as you want without your pick breaking.
You don’t even need to interact with the minigame if you don’t want to. No more buying picks and scavenging them from the bodies of dead goblins. Can’t argue with that!
