Skyrim Lockpicking Guide
Mastering the Art of Picking Locks
By Leto Kersten
Lockpicking, or the art of entering a building uninvited. This is a skill that is largely reliant on your experience with it as a player. Nobody in Skyrim likes you picking locks, and followers with morals will remind you that "you don't belong here" when you use your skill to trespass. Doing this, you can sneak about and steal all the valuables from a home or shop as long as you don't mind breaking the law. Lockpicking is also used often in dungeons to unlock expert or master doors to get to that lovely treasure chest inside.
Benefits of Training Lockpicking
There is no lock you cannot open, aside from quest doors, even if you have a lowly level of 20 Lockpicking. You just need plenty of Lockpicks which many vendors will sell, especially Tonilia in the Thieves Guild. When you encounter a Master lock, have plenty of picks and gradually probe areas around the lock. You'll eventually find a spot that will turn. I use the rust marks and stains around the lock to help me remember where I last tried. Raising your Lockpicking skill seems to widen the sweet spot, enabling you to easier open locks.
The Lockpicking tree is not very practical to sink points into because, let's be honest, with a little practice all you need to have is a level 100 lockpicking skill to open Master locks with little effort. Out of every skill in Skyrim, investing in this skill is, without doubt, the most wasteful way to spend your points AND time training.You need to get to level 100 in it if you want to get your character to level 81, but this will happen naturally as you explore. Harder locks will be harder for you (the player) to pick but you should have plenty of lockpicks to work with. You'll also get much better at it as you play. If you are strong in Alchemy and Enchanting, Lockpicking augmentations can be placed on gear, allowing you to easier pick a lock.
Raising the Lockpicking Skill
You can do some speed training by breaking 10.000 lockpicks on a Master level lock right from the start, and you will raise in skill and level pretty quickly. But this is tedious and for most people boring. A better strategy is to just head to the Guardian Stones and choose the Thief stone for +20% experience in thief skills. You'll then level naturally as you explore dungeons and pick locks. You can also sneak around at night and unlock doors in cities. If you are a member of the Thieves' Guild you can find six empty treasure chests that respawn solely for the purpose of training lockpicking.
There are trainers around who can teach you to pick locks. For those in the Thieves' Guild, Vex can be found in the Ragged Flagon in Riften and is a Master Lockpicking Trainer. One Expert trainer accessible to everyone is Ma'jhad, a Khajiit who travels between Windhelm and Solitude with one of the two Khajiit Caravans in Skyrim.
A Lockpicking Example
Here's a visual example of picking a master lock with level 45 Lockpicking skill.
Skyrim Lockpicking Skill Perks
To fill up this tree to the max the Dragonborn needs to invest 11 perk points, but depending on your build you may not need them all. Remember, you only want to invest points in this tree if you yourself have trouble with Skyrim's Lockpicking system. If I were you, I'd pratice before wasting points.
Novice, Apprentice, Adept, Expert and Master Lock Perks
(level 0/25/50/75/100 Lockpicking Skill required)
Each of these perks makes the corresponding lock type easier to pick. It's not particularly helpful. The only locks that are actually difficult to open are Expert and Master, and even that depends on your Lockpicking level and player experience.
Quick Hands
(level 40 Lockpicking Skill required)
Able to pick locks without being noticed. That means you can stand in front of a door surrounded by NPCs and still be able to pick the lock without anyone paying attention. This seems practical, but you need to invest 3 perks to get it and be level 40 in the skill. Aside from that, lockpicking is best done during the night - the moment you walk in and somebody sees you they will warn you to get out before they call the guards. This is a bad perk choice.
Wax Key
(level 50 Lockpicking Skill required)
Automatically gives you a copy of the of the picked locks key if it has one. Keep in mind that at level 100 in Thieves Guild armor you won't need this perk as it will only take you a few tries to pick a Master Level lock thanks to your character's skill, armor bonuses, and your own experience as a player. This perk will cost you five perk points to unlock as well, which is quite a lot. You'll also waste opportunities to raise your level naturally when you use a wax key instead of picking another lock.
Golden Touch
(level 60 Lockpicking Skill required)
Find more gold in chests. Probably the best of this tree, but know that you are going to get rich in Skyrim very fast and very easy, with or without being willing to steal. This perk will cost you 4 perk points to get and requires level 60 Lockpicking to unlock.
Treasure Hunter
(level 70 Lockpicking Skill required)
50% greater chance of finding special treasure. Finding special treasure means you are more likely to find flawless rubies and enchanted items. Since gold is easy to come by in this game, the perk is not very helpful. If you finish the No Stones Unturned quest to complete the Crown of Barenziah you will be blessed with the infinite duration power 'Prowler's Profit', which increases the rate at which the Dragonborn finds special gems inside any container, even Draugr bodies. This is a better effect than what the Treasure Hunter perk has to offer because it won't cost you a single perk to unlock. But then, you do have to collect all 24 stones...
Locksmith
(level 80 Lockpicking Skill required)
Pick starts close to the opening position. Practical for those hard Master level locks, but is it worth unlocking this perk if it takes 5 points in the tree?
Unbreakable
(level 100 Lockpicking Skill required)
Lock picks never break. That means with just one in your pocket you can unlock everything in the game and sell every other lock pick you find as you don't need them. This seems practical, and it would be if it lockpicks didn't have a 0 weight value and a gold value of 2 coins each. That aside, during the Thieves Guild Quest line (spoiler alert) you will be given the option to hold on to the Skeleton Key for a while, which can open every lock type.
I know I am repeating myself but with the right outfit and player experience, no lock is that hard to open after a while. Lockpicking without perks provides a healthy level of satisfaction, and you have perk points to spend in other areas in your build.
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